The environment and minor-party insurgency in Australian politics: the case of logging and the ‘liberals for forests’

It is known that many Liberal–National voters are environmentally conscious. However, the lack of importance of environmentalism in influencing voter behaviour in Australia, compared with socio-economic ideologies and issues, means that few Liberal–National identifiers are likely to find appeal in the parties which place most emphasis on protecting the natural environment, as these parties are generally Left-leaning with regard to socio-economic policy. Given the balance of influences on the vote, Liberal–National vulnerability on environmental issues would seem to be most exploitable by a Right-of-Centre environmental party. This article examines the case of the ‘liberals for forests’, a rare example of just such a party, which had some success in Western Australian State elections in 2001. The paper supports the notion that environmental issues, including those such as logging often linked with Left partisan ship, have the potential to influence vote choice, in a positive sense, on the Right as well as the Left of Australian politics. Implications for the Liberal Party and the party system are discussed.     

Effects of residential exposure to steel mills and coking works on birth weight and preterm births among residents of Sydney, Nova Scotia

The Sydney Tar Ponds in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, have been referred to as the most contaminated industrial site in the country. Area residents, aware of the contamination for close to 25 years, are very concerned about their health: past, present and future. In particular, they are concerned about cancer; this is followed closely by reproductive health concerns. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of birth weight and preterm birth among residents living in proximity to an industrial site contaminated with a mix of industrial wastes arising from a former steel mill and coking works (the Tar Ponds) in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. A telephone survey was administered to 500 randomly selected women living in proximity to the site to document reproductive histories. The respondents reported 904 live birth pregnancies occurring in Sydney. The mean birth weight reported for live birth pregnancies was 3,391 g (standard deviation: 570). The reported prevalence of preterm births was 7 percent. Linear regression analyses showed a reduction in birth weight of approximately 85 g among residents in a zone estimated to have higher levels of deposition of airborne effluent from the site. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed a decrease in the risk of preterm birth as residential distance from the site increased (odds ratio 0.65, 95 percent confidence interval 0.42, 0.98). These data suggest that community exposure to industrial contaminants had some, but little, impact on reported birth weights in this sample of respondents. The apparent increase in risk for preterm births suggests further investigation may be warranted, particularly in light of community concerns. Follow‐up investigations using validated birth records and more sensitive measures of environmental exposure could be used to confirm the findings and further explore the intra‐urban variation in health outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of ongoing clean‐up efforts in Sydney.     

Loggers,Development Agents and the Exercise of Power in Amazonia

Many believe that Amazonian communities could benefit from the growing market for timber through self‐governed approaches to forest management. However, there is no clear understanding of how communities are to develop such approaches given logging frontiers that are characterized by informal negotiations with loggers and community forestry initiatives that are promoted by development agents. This article reports on research from four study areas in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru which reveals that external players exercise considerable power over communities. First, loggers and development agents impose forest management schemes directly on communities, hindering them from developing their own approaches. Second, paternalistic relationships with loggers and development agents prevent communities from identifying common interests and expressing these through their representative organizations. Finally, loggers and development agents use powerful discourses to shape acceptable schemes in forest management, silencing communities’ voices in debates. Through these different power mechanisms, external agents thwart the emergence of self‐governed community management approaches.     

CONSIDERING THE SOURCE: DOES THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF FDI MATTER TO ECONOMIC GROWTH?*

ABSTRACT It has long been surmised that firms controlled by different countries may have unequal effects on the host economies in which they locate. By looking at the seven major source countries of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the United States, we provide empirical evidence that the state growth effects of FDI differ by source country. We attribute these differential growth effects to the relative differences in factor endowments between the source country and the state. The implication of this result is that technology transfer, believed to be the engine of economic growth, becomes more costly the more dissimilar the endowments.     

Site Reconnaissance in the Kipsing and Tol River Watersheds of Central Kenya: Implications for Middle and Later Stone Age Land-Use Patterns

Two seasons of archaeological site reconnaissance and geo-archaeological fieldwork in the Kipsing and Tol river valleys of central Kenya have resulted in (1) the location of 58 surface sites and 13 spot finds and (2) the excavation and dating of 11 alluvial stratigraphic profiles. These data are incorporated with our previous work in the study area to yield a preliminary interpretation of Middle and Later Stone Age tool technologies and land-use strategies during the Late Pleistocene period there. Specifically, the nature of the lithic inventories and observed distribution of archaeological sites suggests that people in the Middle Stone Age employed a patch choice resource and land-use strategy while those in the subsequent Later Stone Age period utilized a logistical strategy.Pendant deux saisons de la reconnaissance archéologique d'emplacement et des travaux sur le terrain geo-archéologiques les vallées dans de Kipsing et de Tol fleuve du Kenya central ont eu comme conséquence (1) l'endroit de 58 emplacements extérieurs et 13 trouvailles de tache et (2) l'excavation et dater 11 profils stratigraphiques alluviaux. Ces données sont incorporées avec nos travaux précédents dans le secteur d'étude pour rapporter une interprétation préliminaire de milieu et de stratégies postérieures d'utilisation de la terre de technologies d'outil de âge de pierre pendant la période pléistocène en retard là. Spécifiquement, la nature des inventaire lithic et la distribution observée des emplacements archéologiques suggère que les gens dans le âge de pierre moyen aient utilisé un choix de morceau (patch choice) stratégie de ressource et d'utilisation du territoire, alors que ceux dans la période postérieure suivante de âge de pierre utilisaient un logistique stratégie.     

Unsettling Experiences: Internal Resettlement and International Aid Agencies in Laos

A number of programmes and policies in Laos are promoting the internal resettlement of mostly indigenous ethnic minorities from remote highlands to lowland areas and along roads. Various justifications are given for this internal resettlement: eradication of opium cultivation, security concerns, access and service delivery, cultural integration and nation building, and the reduction of swidden agriculture. There is compelling evidence that it is having a devastating impact on local livelihoods and cultures, and that international aid agencies are playing important but varied and sometimes conflicting roles with regard to internal resettlement in Laos. While some international aid agencies claim that they are willing to support internal resettlement if it is ‘voluntary’, it is not easy to separate voluntary from involuntary resettlement in the Lao context. Both state and non‐state players often find it convenient to discursively frame non‐villager initiated resettlement as ‘voluntary’.