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Trump’s trade tariffs and the Article XXI ‘trump’ card
Get PDFThe recent ‘Trump tariffs’ have heralded concerns about a blooming ‘trade war’ between the US and China. These unilateral measures are a threat to the substance of international trade law. In part, this is due to questions the measures raise about the interpretation of the Article XXI ‘Security Exception’ in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. It is feared that an expansive reading of Article XXI would undermine the World Trade Organization (WTO) by allowing ‘anything under the sun’ to be considered ‘necessary’ for the protection of ‘essential security interests’. This paper argues that WTO Members should respond by narrowing the scope of the exception. This paper also acknowledges, however, that too narrow a reading of the exception also poses problems, as this would reduce the ability of member states to introduce legitimate regulations in regard to national security interests.
 
Gold’s influence on Australian economic development in the nineteenth century
Get PDFThis article seeks to set out the significant ways in which the gold industry, particularly during the booms of the nineteenth century, affected Australia’s development. I argue that the most substantial effects of the gold rush affected two broad aspects of Australian society. First, the gold rush impacted the Australian economy by bringing substantial wealth to Australian shores as an export, stimulating secondary industries, driving population growth and restructuring the manufacturing sector. Second, the gold rush helped shape Australia’s socio-political climate. Compared with the previously hegemonic wool industry, gold provided better economic wages for the working class. These wage increases spread to other industries and, with increased population in Australia, a new era began wherein the working class expected high wages. I posit that this was due to the labour movement dominating Australia’s political left. I suggest that the labour movement’s influence on the political left has fostered more stable social outcomes in comparison with Argentina, an economy that developed a more radical political left
Introducing the AURJ Volume Nine: Forward, Editorial Note, About the Authors, About the Editor, Cover Art
No full textIt is 2019. Research communication efforts are perhaps more critical than ever. The undergraduate students at ANU continue to have meaningful things to say. Some wish for you, too, to engage with what they learn and reason about as their critical thinking skills begin to blossom. The written contributions in the ANU Undergraduate Research Journal (AURJ) are an offering to improve preliminary debate and reflection on things that make up our world.
From global affairs to Australian politics and law, to scientific and humanities explorations, to analysing artistic expression, there is something to be learned from each article in Volume 9 of the AURJ. This cross-disciplinary collection speaks to the strength of the academic community at ANU to include different priorities and fields of enquiry. These articles were selected from a competitive pool of High Distinction essays, and then developed even further into pieces to be appreciated by a wider audience
Grappling with dissent & political silencing during transition: The consequences of Myanmar’s NLD-led government defamation law
Get PDFIn 2013, Myanmar’s government passed the Telecommunications Law to regulate private telecommunication providers. Article 66(d) was intended to provide protection against defamation. Under the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, however, this Article is being used to stifle political dissent and suppress freedoms of media and expression in digital spaces. Wide-ranging public campaigns led by media and civil actors have advocated for the repealing of this Article, though none have been successful. This paper considers the barriers to reforming Article 66(d). It draws on primary interviews with activists, media professionals and academics based in Myanmar alongside secondary research to identify three key barriers to reform: Myanmar’s political context under an NLD-led government, cultural dynamics towards the media, and existing policy frameworks. While this analysis finds that there are potential avenues for reforming the Article, it makes the conclusion that it is unlikely that meaningful reform will take place in the current context. This research provides an interesting insight to how Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar reconcile their political transitions and development with the influence of Western and domestic media
Divergence in floral morphology and pollinator interactions in two sympatric Australian pea plants
Get PDFThe diversification of flowering plants is often attributed to plant-pollinator interactions. Plants often evolve combinations of traits (collectively termed ‘pollinator syndromes’) which attract and utilise specific groups of insects. Oxylobium ellipticum (Vent, R.Br) and Hovea montana (Hook.f.) J.H.Ross are two Australian pea plants found in sympatry in Kosciuszko National Park. These plants differ in floral colour, but exhibit what appear to be identical mechanisms for accepting and depositing pollen from/to a pollinator. Through the analysis of floral morphology and pollinator activity it was found that these species have diverged in floral traits further than previously thought. Oxylobium ellipticum has larger keel petals resulting in a requirement for greater force to open flowers and the pressure point is found further from the base of the flower. These differences may be the result of reproductive competition leading to differential pollinator filtering systems or potentially divergent exploitation of the same pollinators
Rotten spaces: The role of waste in constructing the imaginal of the occupation in East Jerusalem
Get PDFWaste is an evocative aesthetic phenomenon. It is capable of producing a myriad of subliminal messages that permeate through the public space it defiles. During its occupation of East Jerusalem, Israel’s discriminatory waste management policy assumes a particularly powerful role in transforming the experience of the public space. Indeed, it distorts and ‘dirties’ the experience of the city and consolidates the imaginal of the occupation of East Jerusalem. It does so by evoking an array of ideas that align with one’s response to, and rejection of, waste. Consequently, this paper is an interrogation of how this aesthetic experience produced by waste is achieved through interweaving two narratives that are concurrently performed in this public space: the image of Palestinians as a rejected matter within the occupied East Jerusalem, and of Israel’s defiance of international legal convention. These interwoven narratives operate to conjure a powerful image of the burgeoning potency of Israel’s sovereign power in occupied East Jerusalem
The problem of induction in cosmology
Get PDFThis article problematises a crucial assumption in the methodology of modern cosmology, namely the cosmological principle (CP). Given the physical obstacles and limits peculiar to cosmological observation, cosmological inferences ordinarily take the regularity readily observed in our region of space-time as a basis for the purported self-same regularity of physical processes characteristic of unobservable space-time regions. Just this projection of the locally familiar to the globally unfamiliar is of the essence of the CP. This inductive procedure, however, is beset by serious logical difficulties, an analysis of which is undertaken herein, and the strength of which, it is argued, may constitute grounds for tempering our confidence in cosmological inferences on the nature of the large-scale structure of space-time. The article, all the while, seeks to share in and communicate the excitement at the contributions and prospects of a distinctively philosophical engagement with the conceptual problems of mathematical and theoretical physics, an engagement that is at the very heart of contemporary philosophy of science
Intraspecific and interspecific variation in metabolic rate across an elevational gradient in Australian mountain grasshoppers
Get PDFMetabolic rate provides a fundamental linkage between individual energetics and population ecology. Exploring variation in metabolic rate and other traits across environmental gradients such as elevation provides insights into the selective pressures operating in different habitats. Moreover, this variation reveals evolutionary and ecological consequences of individual energetics. Metabolic rate is influenced by temperature and body mass of organisms. Numerous studies have suggested different mechanisms by which body mass and metabolic rate vary with elevational gradients. The metabolic cold adaptation hypothesis proposes that metabolic rate is higher for populations from colder climates. The temperature-size rule indicates that body size should increase with decreasing temperature. Yet, these generalised observations remain controversial. Therefore, we investigate the intraspecific variation in body mass and metabolic rate in Monistria concinna (Walker, 1871) and then use Kosciuscola cognatus Rehn, 1957 for interspecific comparison of metabolic rates. We found that M. concinna reverses the temperature-size rule and displays sexual dimorphism. Elevation and sex are significant determinants of body mass and metabolic rate in M. concinna. Our data suggest that M. concinna and K. cognatus do not show metabolic cold adaptation. Our data also support previous suggestions of an asymmetry in insect cold physiology between the northern and southern hemispheres
The effect of elevation and temperature on metabolic intensity of Eulamprus kosciuskoi in Kosciuszko National Park
Get PDFThe effects of size, elevation and temperature on the metabolic intensity of Eulamprus kosciuskoi (Kinghorn, 1932) were determined by measuring the metabolic rate of 25 skinks from two locations with a 200 m difference in elevation using closed system respirometers. Skink size did influence metabolic rate, but to a relatively small degree, suggesting other factors also play a role. Skinks from higher elevation had extremely high metabolic intensity at 18°C, possibly as this improves fitness. This would benefit them if they face greater intraspecific competition, more predation, different food availability or diseases specific to their environment. Skinks from the lower elevation increased their metabolic intensity with temperature in accordance with the metabolic theory of ecology. Surprisingly, skinks from the higher elevation followed the opposite trend, possibly to prevent overheating. This study demonstrates that skinks do adapt or acclimate to different environments, which could aid their conservation in the face of climate change. It contributes to our understanding of E. kosciuskoi and to the debate surrounding thermal ecology and metabolic cold adaptations in ectotherms. It also paves the way for further research into alpine water skink ecology and the effect of elevational gradients on physiology
Recent progress towards achieving an international plastics convention
Get PDFThis paper identifies that plastic is not only a severe environmental problem, but also a global existential risk that needs greater prioritising in global policy. While issues of macro-scale pollution are increasingly well-known, the role of plastic in other areas such as micro-scale contamination, and the strain plastic production places on global resource limits, enjoys less attention. Focusing on recent data and new or emerging developments, I examine the extent to which a binding international convention on plastics can be considered critical in addressing the many problems caused by plastic and plastic packaging. I argue for the need to understand the problems of plastic holistically and solve them in the same way; by recognising that treaties and conventions are just one critical step among others. Business-led innovations towards circular economies and other emergent, self-organising movements are of equal importance. These other developments represent both near-term solutions, achievable before a convention will be realised, and the precursory steps necessary for creating a binding, international plastics convention