Late Silurian trace fossils from the Melbourne Formation,Studley Park,Victoria, southeastern Australia

An ichnoassemblage of 10 ichnospecies is described for the first time from the Late Silurian Melbourne Formation at Studley Park, Victoria, southeastern Australia. The ichnofauna is preserved in a typical deep-water turbidite succession of alternating thin- to thick-bedded sandstone and thin- to medium-bedded mudrocks. Trace fossils observed within the study site have been assigned to three main ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 is best developed on the linguoid-rippled upper surface of thin sandstone beds and includes Laevicyclus, Aulichnites, Nereites, Helminthoidichnites, small Chondrites and possible Zoophycos. Ichnofacies 2 is very similar to Ichnofacies 1 in ichnospecies composition but instead contains large forms of Chondrites together with other thin burrow types usually poorly preserved and in very low abundance compared with Ichnofacies 1. Ichnofacies 3 is preserved mainly as casts on the underside of medium- to thick-bedded turbiditic sandstones, and has a very low diversity, with Planolites being the most common trace. A detailed analysis of the ichnofabrics and tiering structures of these ichnofacies suggest that Ichnofacies 1 and 3 represent ‘simple tiering’, in contrast to Ichnofacies 2, which is more characteristic of ‘complex tiering’. Despite the differences in ichnospecies composition and ichnofabrics between the three recognized ichnofacies, the collective ichnoassemblage from the study site can be assigned confidently to the Nereites ichnofacies and is, therefore, interpreted to have formed in a distal submarine fan environment of lower bathyal to abyssal depth. Further, it is possible to recognize two main subenvironments within this deep-sea setting to account for the differences between the ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 and 2 are interpreted to represent a typical Nereites ichnofacies located on a level basin floor subenvironment of relatively low energy conditions at the distal end of a submarine fan deposit. In comparison, Ichnofacies 3 is dominated by Planolites with rare other facies-crossing trace fossil forms, and lacks Nereites. It is, therefore, best interpreted as representing a relatively high-energy environment, possibly a distributary channel near the distal end of the submarine fan system.     

Leveraging diplomatic power and influence on the UN Security Council: the case of Australia

ABSTRACT

There is scepticism about whether a state like Australia can secure its interests and exercise influence on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). A case study of Australia’s experience as a UNSC member in 2013–2014 shows that it directly influenced UNSC decision-making in a number of ways: first, in the response to the MH17 incident; second, pushing forward UNSC practice through the first-ever resolutions on both ‘small arms and light weapons’ and police in peacekeeping; and third, as chair of three sanctions committees, influencing the decision-making environment towards greater transparency. While Australia did not achieve all its objectives, it made its views well-known. A second case study demonstrates that Australia’s opportunities to influence UNSC decision-making are not limited to stints of membership. Australia was able to achieve many of its foreign policy objectives in East Timor in 1999 through strategically engaging with key UNSC players through an informal diplomatic grouping: the Core Group on East Timor. Both case studies show that Australia’s diplomatic engagement with the UNSC is desirable, necessary and strategic, whether or not it is a current or prospective member.     

Italy and Australia: a relationship made and unmade by immigration

Australia's new-found post-colonial ‘independence’ in 1901 initially required it to continue to hold on to the apron strings of its colonial master. After World War II, these needs changed, as did the geopolitical power of the leading nations. For Australia, there would be the need to secure its borders, build its labour power, find security arrangements, and adhere to a cold war framework in its geographical region. The USA and the Asian region fell into Australia's sphere of interest. Italy, on the other hand, was a nation of contrasting interests and perspectives. Besides being located in Europe, the post-war period defined Italy by its participation in the concept of a European community and an entirely different set of allies, concerns and trajectories, which made it position itself in a different orbit than that of Australia. Australia's changing economic and social needs required a new and vast migration program in 1947, which would change the dynamics of its relationships. Enter Italy. The two countries now had common destinies in relation to migration—Australia needed people to help build its country, whilst Italy encouraged its impoverished rural population to emigrate to this distant and foreign land. A relationship was born.     

Dogs,jaws, and other stories: Two symbolic objects made of dog mandibles from southeastern Europe

The relationship between people and dogs has its beginnings in the Palaeolithic and extends to contemporary times. This paper explores the role of dogs in Eneolithic communities from the Balkans, with a particular focus on two dog mandibles which were discovered in House No. 14 at Sultana-Malu Ro?u (ca. 4600?–?3950 b.c.) in Romania. The two artifacts belong to different excavation levels. The first mandible was identified in the foundation trench which marks the beginning of the house's lifecycle; the second was found in the abandonment level of the house, marking the end of its lifecycle. Archaeozoological, technological and functional analyses demonstrate the unique character of these prehistoric artifacts, telling the stories of those who used, sacrificed and abandoned them.     

Confidence in paper-based and electronic voting channels: evidence from Australia

Various electronic voting channels have been introduced across a range of countries. In some countries these new channels have proved uncontroversial, while in others, they remain contentious and have even been abandoned. Relatively little is known about whether and why voters have confidence in new and old voting channels. Australia provides a useful case for researching these issues, since it is a mature democracy in which election processes and outcomes are widely accepted. The 2013 Australian Election Study results show that in this context, voters have most confidence in paper-based voting and least in voting via smartphones. Positive political attachments, ease of voting and familiarity with technology are all associated with higher levels of confidence in voting channels.     

Macro- and micro-archaeobotanical study of a vessel content from a Late Neolithic structured deposition from southeastern Hungary

A well-preserved assemblage of pottery and a broken stone artefact were excavated within a long house in the southern part of Tiszasziget, near the town of Szeged, Hungary. The settlement had been inhabited by the Late Neolithic Tisza culture around 5000–4500 BC. Based on the position of the finds it is suggested that the objects represent an ideologically-charged structured deposition. A piece of organic residue found in a mug (No. 18) with three-fold articulation has been subjected to macro- and microfloral analysis. After precise sampling of the residue, the standard methods to recover organic and inorganic plant remains were utilised. Based on the macrofloral and amino acid content analysis, it is suggested that the organic remains were pieces of fermented pastry made of cereal flour. The recovered silicified tissues and articulated phytoliths were subjected to morphometric measurements, which revealed that the food remain placed in the structured deposition was prepared of Triticum and – probably wild – Avena species. Starch granules of cereals were also detected, whilst the palynological evidence supports morphologies most likely to be related to the accompanying weed flora. The fortunate survival of the organic matter and the complex macro- and micro-archaeobotanical approach provided an unique opportunity to gain a better insight to the food preparation of Late Neolithic communities of the Carpathian Basin.     

Campanile (Mollusca: Gastropoda): a new record from the early Miocene of Victoria,Australia

Campanile rupicolum sp. nov. is described from the early Miocene Upper Maude Limestone Member of Maude, Victoria. The genus has not hitherto been recorded from Victoria, a part of the Southeast Australian biogeographic Province, and was thought to be characteristic of the Austral-Indopacific Province. This is the oldest occurrence of the genus so far recorded from Australia.     

Drivers and difficulties in the economic relationship between Australia and the European Union: from conflict to cooperation

ABSTRACT

Economic relations between Australia and the European Union (EU) have always been strong, but they have not always been easy. They have been difficult for Australia because it associated the EU with the loss of the UK preferential export market on its entry into the then European Economic Community. And because Australia associated the EU with the original Common Agricultural Policy, which combined subsidies for agricultural production and high agricultural tariffs to make Australian agricultural exports not competitive. They have been difficult for the EU also. Australia developed a biosecurity system to protect its agricultural sector: quarantine requirements and food safety standards made the importation of EU plant and animal products too costly. Yet Australia and the EU need each other. The EU, which is Australia’s largest services trade and investment partner, supplies the business services that drive a knowledge economy and provides the credit to finance economic development. Correspondingly, the EU needs Australia both as a commercial base in Asia and as a reliable energy supplier. This article analyses the drivers and difficulties in the economic relationship between Australia and the EU as they start negotiations for a free trade agreement.     

Going to war democratically: lessons for Australia from Canada and the UK

This article addresses the role of democracy in Australia’s foreign policy formation. It argues that public debate and deliberation on foreign policy is a normative good. When there is a lack of debate on a government decision, a democratic deficit occurs. Such a deficit is evident in the way Australia goes to war; however, the examples of Canada and the UK show that reforming parliamentary practice is possible. In the context of the ‘war on terror’, this article compares Australia, Canada, and the UK from 2001 to 2015 with regards to ‘war powers’. Drawing from debates recorded in Hansard, it finds that while Canada and the UK took steps to ‘parliamentarise’ their foreign policy formation, the war-powers prerogative of the Australian government remained absolute. It concludes that increasing the role of parliament may go a long way towards democratising the decision of when Australia goes to war. This has practical as well as normative benefits, since it may prevent governments from entering wars that are unsupported by the public. At minimum, it will compel governments to engage more thoroughly in public debate about their proposed policies, and justify their decisions to the nation.     

Artists and policy: a case study of the creative industries in north-eastern Australia

Artists play a major role in the cultural fabric of society. They operate within the creative industries, a sector of activity widely accepted as significant to developed and developing economies. While there is a substantive body of literature relevant to the nature of policy-making as applied to the arts, research that explores the views of practitioners at the grass roots level is limited, and particularly so in regional north-eastern Australia, an area with significant challenges caused by isolation and distance. This article contextualises the issues of relevance in relation to artists’ engagement with policy, after which it presents survey and interview data obtained from those working in the field. The findings reveal the influence of isolation in north-eastern Australia, not only in a geographic sense, but in terms of the number of artists who see themselves as disconnected from policy, arts and cultural strategy.     

Sourcing Iron Age softstone artefacts in southeastern Arabia: results from a programme of analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry/Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-MS/OES)

Iron Age softstone vessels manufactured in southeastern Arabia are widely distributed across that region and in lesser amounts throughout Western Asia. Results from a pilot programme of analysis using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry/Optical Emission Spectrometry on vessel fragments from two southeast Arabian sites are presented. These results indicate the existence of geochemically distinct groups that are separated by both transition metals and rare earth elements. While this indicates the potential for the application of the provenance postulate in softstone analysis, these promising results need to be further tested by an expanded programme of analysis which includes quarry fragments.     

Making an Edgier Interpretation of the Gold Rushes: Contrasting Perspectives from Australia and New Zealand

This article examines the interaction between changing interpretations of history and visitor interpretation provided at heritage tourist sites. Generally, the literature distinguishes between history (which is seen as objective and fixed) and heritage interpretation (which is characterised as biased, selective and serving parochial interests). It is argued that history is actually far more dynamic and subjective and that this requires an ongoing revision of interpretation for visitors as historical interpretations change. To illustrate these processes, Goodman's concept of a new ‘edgier history of Gold’ is applied to interpretation at Sovereign Hill and the Mount Alexander Diggings in Australia and the Central Otago Heritage Trail in New Zealand.     

Jetty-site artefacts from Holdfast Bay, South Australia: tracing the State's historical development from its early years, based on a functional analysis of submerged material culture

The results of an analysis conducted on an assemblage of artefacts recovered from an old jetty site in Holdfast bay, South Australia are presented. More than 5,000 artefacts were recovered during excavations in the 1970s at the site where the State's first settlers landed. Various objects were raised from the seabed, representing aspects of social, religious, economic, military, commercial, and maritime activities. The artefacts were recently recorded, catalogued, and analysed in an attempt to trace the history and development of the township from its early years as well as to assess the significance of the site.     

The Amenity Complex: Towards a Framework for Analysing and Predicting the Emergence of a Multifunctional Countryside in Australia

There is growing consensus among academics, regional development organisations and rural communities that the future growth and development of rural regions is increasingly dependent upon their ability to convey, to both established and prospective residents, the ‘amenity’ of their local physical, social and economic environments. However, little research to date has sought to identify exactly what comprises ‘amenity’ in the rural context, or has examined how this conceptually slippery quality is distributed across rural Australia, or how it influences local demographic, socio‐economic and land use change. This paper attempts a broad scale investigation of rural amenity in the south‐east Australian ecumene, identifying its core components in this context, mapping its distribution and assessing the nature of its influence over in‐migration rates over the past three decades. The paper finds that, at a macro‐scale, amenity tends to follow a general gradient from high to low according to distance from the coast, and that its relationship with in‐migration rates has increased substantially between 1976–1981 and 1996–2001.     

Changes in the Abundance and Diversity of Proteaceae in South‐western Australia: a Review of an Integrated Palaeoenvironmental Study

South‐western Australia is a globally significant hotspot of Proteaceae diversity. This review reports on changes in the abundance and diversity of Proteaceae in south‐western Australia. Using palynology, the data were obtained from three sediment sequences from the Eocene, Pliocene and Holocene, as well as a modern pollen rain study, in the context of a vegetation history framework. The total percentages of Proteaceae pollen in pollen counts indicate that the number of Proteaceae in the vegetation are highest at present, slightly lower, yet still high in the Eocene, reduced by the Pliocene and lowest in the Holocene. It was found that Proteaceous genera can contribute up to 50% of the total modern pollen rain. Sediment from Lake Lefroy showed Nothofagus‐dominated rainforest occurred in the Middle to Late Eocene. Proteaceae species were at least as diverse as today, contributing up to a maximum of 42% of the total pollen rain, and varying across small lateral distances. A laminated Pliocene age sequence from Yallalie confirmed other studies that south‐western Australia was covered by a rich vegetation mosaic consisting of heath and wet rainforest elements. Proteaceae species were a consistent component of the counts, although diversity and abundance (maximum 5%) were low. A Holocene record from Two Mile Lake, near the Stirling Range, recorded little environmental change. Proteaceae species were noted in low abundance, at a maximum of 3.5% of the total pollen count. It is likely that both changing pollination mechanisms and changes in associated vegetation are important in determining the dispersal of Proteaceous pollen.     

From Promising Settler to Undesirable Immigrant: The Deportation of British-born Migrants from Mental Hospitals in Interwar Australia and South Africa

This article examines the process by which British-born migrants to Australia and South Africa were deported from mental hospitals in the 1920s and 1930s. It shows how men and women who arrived as permanent settlers could be re-classified as immigrants subject to expulsion. Debates over who was responsible for those who through mental illness or alcoholism were deemed ‘undesirable’ were conducted at the levels of both high diplomacy and petty bureaucracy. Tracing the history of deportation as a means of social engineering within the empire, this article highlights the tension between the transnational ideology of white supremacy and its expression in national terms. Using the case files of those deported from two settler colonial mental hospitals, Callan Park in Sydney and Valkenberg in Cape Town, as well as official deportation paperwork, it also traces how such diplomatic decisions were refracted through the process of attempted implementation. These files show firsthand both the social history of deportation and the mechanisms through which the settler colonial state aimed to shape its population by excluding not only those perceived to be racially other, but also those judged to be racially unfit. The process of determining domicile and of deportation itself reveals much about the frequently precarious circumstances and life histories of these migrants and their often far-flung networks, as well as the ways in which migrants and their families were able to negotiate the regulatory mechanisms of both the state and the asylum.     

Marine Quaternary dinoflagellate cysts of Australia,Papua-New Guinea,New Zealand and the Southern Ocean: a review

Dinoflagellate cysts are widespread in Australian, Papua-New Guinea, New Zealand and Southern Ocean Pleistocene and Recent marine sediments. They occur in estuaries and deltas as well as on the continental shelf and in ocean basins. They have proven invaluable in palaeoecology for the interpretation of changing temperature, salinity and distance from shore in particular. These changes have also been used to examine climate change in Quaternary sequences. A small number of First Appearance Datums (FADs) and Last Appearance Datums (LADs) within this time period allows only limited biostratigraphic definition. LADs within the Pleistocene of southern Australia include Achomosphaera ramulifera and Spiniferites rubinus. Introduction within the past 50 years of several taxa, such as Gymnodinium catenatum and Gymnodinium microreticulatum, has been attributed to ballast water import.     

(Re)asserting Indigenous Rights and Jurisdictions within a Politics of Place: Transformative Nature of Native Title Negotiations in South Australia

Australia's dominant politics of place has largely failed to give meaningful recognition to Indigenous peoples. The Native Title Act 1993 required governments, industry and others to (re)consider the basis and extent of their authority, unsettling the non‐Indigenous systems’ assumed dominance. While Indigenous hopes about Native title have diminished as a result of subsequent judicial, legislative and administrative responses, Native title negotiations have been pivotal in redefining politics of place and Indigenous–settler relationships in Australia at several scales. Focusing on South Australia's Statewide Indigenous Land Use Agreement Negotiation Strategy, this paper considers such a redefinition. The paper identifies four strategies as critical to success in transformative spatial politics: getting process right; recognising and supporting Indigenous jurisdictions; engaging and transforming non‐Indigenous scales; and shifting Native title process away from legalities, towards people and relationships. Since 1999, these strategies have transformed the politics of place and built more equitable inter‐cultural relationships and networks based on mutual recognition and respect between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous rights and interests in land and waters.