Competition paper. Prostitution and public health in New South Wales

Using historical and contemporary resources, this paper provides a critical account of the contemporary governance of prostitution in New South Wales. A Foucauldian approach is used to analyse the ways in which prostitution has been problematized as a health issue and managed as a public health problem. The analysis differs from other critical studies of prostitution in that it examines specific techniques of power, the operations of which have not been confined to the workings of a repressive criminal justice system. It is shown that there currently co-exists two broad understandings of prostitution in New South Wales, Australia, which have informed current initiatives to manage prostitution. Prostitutes working in public spaces have been presented as sexual agents wilfully engaged in criminal conduct and the spread of contagion. They have been subject to intense official scrutiny and regulated through criminal sanctions. In contrast, prostitutes working in private spaces have been presented as victims of adverse circumstance, deserving of protection and compassion. They have been made subject to strategic interventions that have attempted to normalize prostitution and render the prostitute a hygienic subject.

Speaking too soon : the sabotage of bail reform in New South Wales

Within just over one month of coming into operation in May 2014, the new Bail Act 2013 (NSW), a product of long-term law reform consideration, was reviewed and then amended after talk-back radio ‘shock jock’ and tabloid newspaper outcry over three cases. This article examines the media triggers, the main arguments of the review conducted by former New South Wales (NSW) Attorney General John Hatzistergos, and the amendments, with our analysis of the judicial interpretation of the Act thus far providing relevant background. We argue that the amendments are premature, unnecessary, create complexity and confusion, and, quite possibly, will have unintended consequences: in short, they are a mess. The whole process of reversal is an example of law and order politics driven by the shock jocks and tabloid media, the views of which, are based on fundamental misconceptions of the purpose of bail and its place in the criminal process, resulting in a conflation of accusation, guilt and punishment. Other consequences of the review and amendments process recognised in this article include the denigration of judicial expertise and lack of concern with evidence and process; the disproportionate influence of the shock jocks, tabloids and Police Association of NSW on policy formation; the practice of using retired politicians to produce ‘quick fix’ reviews; and the political failure to understand and defend fundamental legal principles that benefit us all and are central to the maintenance of a democratic society and the rule of law. The article concludes with some discussion of ways in which media and political debate might be conducted to produce more balanced outcomes.

A review and comparative analysis of international drug driving policies. Report to the New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Road Safety

The New South Wales (NSW) Centre for Road Safety (CRS) called for research services to conduct a review of international policy and practice to address drug-driving. The project sought to provide Transport for NSW (TfNSW) with a comprehensive review of current and emerging international practices in this area1. This report is submitted by the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q)...

Caught between a rock and a hard place: Disruptive boys’ views on mainstream and special schools in New South Wales, Australia

Students with disruptive behaviour in the Australian state of New South Wales are increasingly being educated in separate “behaviour” schools. There is however surprisingly little research on how students view these settings, or indeed the mainstream schools from which they were excluded. To better understand excluded students’ current and past educational experiences, we interviewed 33 boys, aged between 9 and 16 years of age, who were enrolled in separate special schools for students with disruptive behaviour. Analyses reveal that the majority of participants began disliking school in the early years due to difficulties with school work and teacher conflict. Interestingly, while most indicated that they preferred the behaviour school, more than half still wanted to return to their old school. It is therefore clear that separate special educational settings are not a solution to disruptive behaviour in mainstream schools. Whilst these settings do fulfil a function for some students, the preferences of the majority of boys suggest that “mainstream” school reform is of first order importance.

Pheromone-trapping of Carpophilus spp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) in stone fruit orchards near Gosford, New South Wales: Fauna, seasonality and effect of insecticides

Traps baited with synthetic aggregation pheromones of Carpophilus hemipterus (L.), Carpophilus mutilatus Erichson and Carpophilus davidsoni Dobson and fermenting bread dough were used to identify the fauna and monitor the seasonal abundance of Carpophilus spp. in insecticide treated peach and nectarine orchards in the Gosford area of coastal New South Wales. In four orchards 67 178 beetles were trapped during 1994–1995, with C. davidsoni (82%) and Carpophilus gaveni (Dobson) (12.2%) dominating catches. Five species (C. hemipterus, C. mutilatus, Carpophilus marginellus Motschulsky, Carpophilus humeralis (F.) and an unidentified species) each accounted for 0.2–3.2% of trapped beetles. Carpophilus davidsoni was most abundant during late September–early October but numbers declined rapidly during October, usually before insecticides were applied. Spring populations of Carpophilus spp. were very large in 1994–1995 (1843–2588 per trap per week). However, despite a preharvest population decline of approximately 95% and 2–11 applications of insecticide, 14–545 beetles per trap per week (above the arbitrary fruit damage threshold of 10 beetles per trap per week) were recorded during the harvest period and fruit damage occurred at three of the four orchards. Lower preharvest populations in 1995–1996 (< 600 per trap per week) and up to six applications of insecticide resulted in < 10 beetles per trap per week during most of the harvest period and minimal or no fruit damage. The implications of these results for the integrated management of Carpophilus spp. in coastal and inland areas of southeastern Australia are discussed.

Stock assessment of the Queensland-New South Wales tailor fishery (Pomatomus saltatrix)

Data on catch sizes, catch rates, length-frequency and age composition from the Australian east coast tailor fishery are analysed by three different population dynamic models: a surplus production model, an age-structured model, and a model in which the population is structured by both age and length. The population is found to be very heavily exploited, with its ability to reproduce dependent on the fishery’s incomplete selectivity of one-year-old fish. Estimates of recent harvest rates (proportion of fish available to the fishery that are actually caught in a single year) are over 80%. It is estimated that only 30–50% of one-year-old fish are available to the fishery. Results from the age-length-structured model indicate that both exploitable biomass (total mass of fish selected by the fishery) and egg production have fallen to about half the levels that prevailed in the 1970s, and about 40% of virgin levels. Two-year-old fish appear to have become smaller over the history of the fishery. This is assumed to be due to increased fishing pressure combined with non-selectivity of small one-year-old fish, whereby the one-year-old fish that survive fishing are small and grow into small two-year-old fish the following year. An alternative hypothesis is that the stock has undergone a genetic change towards smaller fish; the true explanation is unknown. The instantaneous natural mortality rate of tailor is hypothesised to be higher than previously thought, with values between 0.8 and 1.3 yr–1 consistent with the models. These values apply only to tailor up to about three years of age, and it is possible that a lower value applies to fish older than three. The analysis finds no evidence that fishing pressure has yet affected recruitment. If a recruitment downturn were to occur, however, under current management and fishing pressure there is a strong chance that the fishery would need a complete closure for several years to recover, and even then recovery would be uncertain. Therefore it is highly desirable to better protect the spawning stock. The major recommendations are • An increase in the minimum size limit from 30cm to 40cm in order to allow most one-year-old fish to spawn, and • An experiment on discard mortality to gauge the proportion of fish between 30cm and 40cm that are likely to survive being caught and released by recreational line fishers (the dominant component of the fishery, currently harvesting roughly 1000t p.a. versus about 200t p.a. from the commercial fishery).

Tree growth relationships and silvicultural tools to assist stand management in private native spotted gum dominant forests in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Spotted gum dominant forests occur from Cooktown in northern Queensland (Qld) to Orbost in Victoria (Boland et al. 2006) and these forests are commercially very important with spotted gum the most commonly harvested hardwood timber in Qld and one of the most important in New South Wales (NSW). Spotted gum has a wide range of end uses from solid wood products through to power transmission poles and generally has excellent sawing and timber qualities (Hopewell 2004). The private native forest resource in southern Qld and northern NSW is a critical component of the hardwood timber industry (Anon 2005, Timber Qld 2006) and currently half or more of the native forest timber resource harvested in northern NSW and Qld is sourced from private land. However, in many cases productivity on private lands is well below what could be achieved with appropriate silvicultural management. This project provides silvicultural management tools to assist extension staff, land owners and managers in the south east Qld and north eastern NSW regions. The intent was that this would lead to improvement of the productivity of the private estate through implementation of appropriate management. The other intention of this project was to implement a number of silvicultural experiments and demonstration sites to provide data on growth rates of managed and unmanaged forests so that landholders can make informed decisions on the future management of their forests. To assist forest managers and improve the ability to predict forest productivity in the private resource, the project has developed: • A set of spotted gum specific silvicultural guidelines for timber production on private land that cover both silvicultural treatment and harvesting. The guidelines were developed for extension officers and property owners. • A simple decision support tool, referred to as the spotted gum productivity assessment tool (SPAT), that allows an estimation of: 1. Tree growth productivity on specific sites. Estimation is based on the analysis of site and growth data collected from a large number of yield and experimental plots on Crown land across a wide range of spotted gum forest types. Growth algorithms were developed using tree growth and site data and the algorithms were used to formulate basic economic predictors. 2. Pasture development under a range of tree stockings and the expected livestock carrying capacity at nominated tree stockings for a particular area. 3. Above-ground tree biomass and carbon stored in trees. •A series of experiments in spotted gum forests on private lands across the study area to quantify growth and to provide measures of the effect of silvicultural thinning and different agro-forestry regimes. The adoption and use of these tools by farm forestry extension officers and private land holders in both field operations and in training exercises will, over time, improve the commercial management of spotted gum forests for both timber and grazing. Future measurement of the experimental sites at ages five, 10 and 15 years will provide longer term data on the effects of various stocking rates and thinning regimes and facilitate modification and improvement of these silvicultural prescriptions.

GRDC Evaluating the role of brassica crops in South West Queensland and Northern New South Wales grain cropping system

Project to evaluate the role of brassica crops in the western farming system area.

Thekopsora minima causes blueberry rust in south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales

The cause of blueberry rust in eastern Australia was determined by molecular and morphological analysis as Thekopsora minima.

Inspired by the past, driven by the passion: music in state-supported education in New South Wales and Victoria 1848-1920

This investigation considers the development of class music teaching in New South Wales and Victoria during the first seventy-two years of state-supported primary education. The first chapter describes the English background including music teaching methods (resulting from the mid-nineteenth century English choral singing movement) and the subsequent development of music teaching in English elementary schools. The promotion of school music is then considered on a broadly chronological basis in the two states and several themes are identified in relation to school music policy and practice. These include the status of music (core curriculum or extra-curricular subject), who should teach music (generalist or specialist teachers), what teaching methods and music notation should be used (staff or Tonic Sol-fa), musical training for generalist teachers, and curriculum content in relation to the aims and objectives of school music. Comparisons are made between developments in both states and between both states and English school music. The final chapter demonstrates the relevance of many of the historical themes identified for music education today. The thesis concludes by identifying a recurring problem from the past. namely the lack of co-ordination between various aspects of school music policy, as the most serious problem to be overcome in the future.

The political economy of maritime industry non-reform in interwar Australia: the establishment of the Maritime Services Board of New South Wales

From the First World War Australian port administration came under criticism from exporters, shipping companies and the Commonwealth government, all of whom argued that port authorities charges imposed an excessive burden on exporters. They sought the replacement of public port authorities by trusts representative of business interests. The campaign for port administration reform also diverted farmers from criticism of shipping freights and to secure their acquiescence in anti-competitive practices in the shipping industry. The formation of the Australian Overseas Transport Association in 1929 was the culmination of this campaign. Elite conservative political support for such anti-competitive practices reflected a belief that competitive capitalism was inherently unstable. The Scullin Labor of 1929-31 government abandoned Labor's earlier hostility to shipping companies to support cartelisation. Conservative state governments, in a more competitive electoral position than their federal counterparts and under greater financial pressure, deflected business calls for port administration reform. Business groups expected the NSW conservative government elected in 1932 to reform port administration towards a representative model, but the Maritime Services Board established in 1935 merely rationalised existing administrative structures. In the 1980s international economic instability legitimated the project of microeconomic reform, particularly in the maritime sector, but in the interwar period a different balance of capital, labour and the state meant that economic isolationism rather than integration was the policy outcome.

Re-gendering labour: class and gender determinants of New South Wales electoral behaviour 1930-32

Historians have neglected tbe impact of female enfranchisement on Australian electoral outcomes. This papers employs multivariate analysis to explore electoral behaviour in New South Wales during the Great Depression. It argues that women were less prone to support Labor than men, but that women in paid employment constituted a partial exception to this pattern. In 1932 the conservative parties significantly eroded Labor's working-class support. Part of this success was due to the ability of employers to coerce workers with the threat of dismissal. Female wage earners were particularly vulnerable to this coercion. Conservative electoral appeals recast masculinity in terms of family responsibility rather than class assertion. Conflict in the household economy possibly influenced women to vote against Labor due to its identification with the cause of male breadwinners. Overall female voting behaviour was more stable than that of men and this despite the higb profile of issues that would have been expected particularly to influence female voters.

The Archaeology of No man's land: Indigenous camps at Corindi Beach, mid-north coast New South Wales

At Corindi Beach on the mid-north coast of New South Wales are five twentieth century campsites located on the fringes of the township, beside the town racecourse, an area called by local Aboriginal people 'No man's land'. These campsites are important symbols of the self-sufficient lifestyle followed by the Corindi Beach Indigenous community in the twentieth century and are a physical reminder of cross-cultural relationships between local people over the last hundred years. In a collaborative research project with Yarrawarra Aboriginal Corporation, these places are being documented through studying oral history, the cultural landscape and the material culture left behind at these places.