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Before the Barunga Declaration, there was the Barunga Statement, and Hawke's promise of Treaty

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星期五, 六月 23, 2023

This week at Parliament House during Barunga Festival, four NT Land Council representatives presented Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with the Barunga Declaration.

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This week at Parliament House during Barunga Festival, four NT Land Council representatives presented Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with the Barunga Declaration.
Signed by the four NT Land Council representatives, the declaration calls on Australians to vote “yes” in the upcoming referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
NT Land Council representatives Dr Samuel Bush-Blanasi (Northern Land Council), Matthew Palmer (Central Land Council), Gibson Farmer Illortaminni (Tiwi Land Council) and Thomas Amagula (Anindilyakwa Land Council) brought the Barunga Declaration to Parliament House.

Treaty ’88 and the Barunga Statement

The Barunga Statement was the outcome of years of careful deliberation and discussion.
It was delivered from “the Indigenous owners and occupiers of Australia”, requesting the Australian government legislate for national land rights and begin treaty negotiations.
It also called for laws for a national elected Aboriginal body, and recognition of customary law by police and justice systems.
The Barunga Statement was presented during a time where there were increasing calls for a treaty.
The Treaty ’88 campaign declared that Australia was invaded by a foreign power with no treaty.

‘Treaty by 1990’

However, others have highlighted the reconciliation movement’s departure from treaty.
Playwright Wesley Enoch and actress Deborah Mailman’s play 7 Stages of Grieving includes a poem emphasising instead the “wreck”, “con” and “silly” in reconciliation.
This would symbolise the burial of hopes for a treaty, saying
Sovereignty became treaty, treaty became reconciliation and reconciliation turned into nothing.

To properly consider the Voice, we need to look to how we got here

However, the Voice aims to address a key problem that recreates disadvantage: First Nations’ political power.
First Nations peoples have long sought representation to seek particular rights to land, culture and heritage, language, self-determination and self-governance.
The referendum for a Voice is the first of a three-part sequence of reforms, outlined in the 2017 Uluru Statement, followed by treaty and truth-telling.

Fabio Panetta: Central clearing in turbulent times: frontiers in regulation and oversight

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星期五, 六月 23, 2023

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Crowdsourcing new constitutions: How 2 Latin American countries increased participation and empowered groups excluded from politics – podcast

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星期四, 六月 15, 2023

Music, University, Democracy, Education, RSS, Politics, Woman, Central, Research, Government, Occidental College, Legislation, Drug, Piscopo

Over the past few decades, countries across Latin America have witnessed a surge in demands by its people for increased political participation and representation.

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Over the past few decades, countries across Latin America have witnessed a surge in demands by its people for increased political participation and representation.
Colombia and Chile stand out as notable examples of countries responding to these calls with constitutional reform.
It represented a turning point in the country’s history by acknowledging the multicultural fabric of Colombian society, including Indigenous communities and Afro-Colombian populations.

Crowdsourcing the constitution

“If a constitution becomes a stagnant in the past, that constitution is not able, is not relevant anymore.” To reflect those shifts, countries can either enact legislation to supplement the constitution, or they can specify the meaning of the constitution without changing the wording.
But in certain instances, simple amendments of a constitution might not be enough to reflect those social shifts.
“And when there is a big gap between the constitution text and the constitutional reality,” Bernal adds, “the constitution must be replaced to create a new institutional framework that is able to regulate your society.”

Political inclusion

Her work focuses on representation, gender quotas and legislative institutions in Latin America, and how countries involve underrepresented groups in political processes.
She says that during Latin America’s democratic transition in the 1980s, “women were very active in the human rights movements that criticized the abuses under authoritarian governments.
This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, who is also the executive producer of The Conversation Weekly.
She is a Senior Advisor to the Gender Equity Policy Institute in Los Angeles, United States.

I study migrants traveling through Mexico to the US, and saw how they follow news of dangers – but are not deterred

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星期五, 六月 2, 2023

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The Mexican government has said the migrants themselves started the fire after learning they would be deported from Mexico – which is increasingly a destination for migrants and asylum seekers – back to their home countries.

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The Mexican government has said the migrants themselves started the fire after learning they would be deported from Mexico – which is increasingly a destination for migrants and asylum seekers – back to their home countries.
The video spread quickly across social media, and many Mexican migrant advocacy groups and activists decried the event.
Another group also paid close attention to this tragedy – migrants who are in transit through Mexico.
As a sociologist, I have studied the impacts of violence against Central American migrants in Mexico for nearly a decade.

Understanding migrants in Mexico

Hundreds of thousands of migrants from around the world transit through Mexico every year on their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.
That statistic coincides with an overall rise in global migration and rise in migrants trying to reach the U.S.
The majority of migrants crossing the U.S. border come from Latin American countries other than Mexico, including Central American countries, but also Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba.
My interviews with migrants moving through Mexico show that they tend to widely circulate tragic news, such as news of the June 2022 news of migrants found dead locked in a tractor trailer in San Antonio.

How migrants get their news

Migrants don’t receive news from New York Times alerts or nightly news.
Their information-sharing largely occurs in an underground informal information exchange that circulates news and stories among migrants heading toward the U.S. through Mexico.
That information is shared, discussed, interpreted and commented on through social media platforms, chat groups and word of mouth.

A shared response

Through my field work, I have heard migrants repeatedly tell stories about the dire conditions in detention centers in Mexico.
They report that these poor conditions – rotten food, fleas, lack of clothing or blankets for the cold weather – have triggered hunger strikes and protests.

Broader effects

For example, my research suggests that stories and images of violence like the Ciudad Juárez tragedy will generate a further lack of trust in the Mexican government.
If they can, I think that migrants will likely avoid Ciudad Juárez and other areas where they feel they may be detained.

Lickable toads and magic mushrooms: wildlife traded on the dark web is the kind that gets you high

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星期四, 五月 4, 2023

But alongside legal trade in wildlife, there’s a dark twin – illegal trading of wildlife.

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But alongside legal trade in wildlife, there’s a dark twin – illegal trading of wildlife.
In our new research, we probed the dark web – the secretive section of the internet deliberately set up out of view of search engines.
These were almost entirely plants and fungi with psychoactive effects, indicating they are part of the well-known dark web drug trade.
Why aren’t traders in illegal wildlife using the dark web?

What was being sold on the dark web?

We found over 3,000 advertisements selling wildlife species on dark web marketplaces between 2014 and 2020.
Plants made up most of the species being sold, with many coming from Central and Southern America.
We also found 19 species of Psilocybe fungi being sold.

The illegal wildlife trade is hard to stop

Globally, the wildlife trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The number of species traded live outnumbers the regulated trade by at least three times, according to some estimates.
To date, there have been few effective disincentives to stop traffickers from selling illegal wildlife online.

What can be done?

Australia and all other nations that have signed up to CITES have a responsibility to keep track of internet-based wildlife trade.
Since 2019 we have been monitoring the wildlife trade in Australia, drawing data from over 80 websites and forums.
Adam Toomes receives funding from the Australian Research Council and previously the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.

The defence review fails to address the third revolution in warfare: artificial intelligence

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星期五, 四月 28, 2023

The first was the invention of gunpowder by people in ancient China.

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The first was the invention of gunpowder by people in ancient China.
And now, war has – like so many other aspects of life – entered the age of automation.
And all of this raises the question: why has the government’s recent defence strategic review failed to seriously consider the implications of AI-enabled warfare?

AI has crept into Australia’s military

On the sea, the defence force has been testing a new type of uncrewed surveillance vessel called the Bluebottle, developed by local company Ocius.
The government’s just announced A$3.4 billion defence innovation “accelerator” will aim to get cutting-edge military technologies, including hypersonic missiles, directed energy weapons and autonomous vehicles, into service sooner.
You’d expect AI and autonomy would be a significant concern – especially since the review recommends spending a not insignificant A$19 billion over the next four years.

Countries are preparing for the third revolution

Around the world, major powers have made it clear they consider AI a central component of the planet’s military future.
The House of Lords in the United Kingdom is holding a public inquiry into the use of AI in weapons systems.
Unless we give more focus to AI in our military strategy, we risk being left fighting wars with outdated technologies.

Future regulation

I was invited as an expert witness to an intergovernmental meeting in Costa Rica earlier this year, where 30 Latin and Central American nations called for regulation – many for the first time.
Regulation will hopefully ensure meaningful human control is maintained over autonomous weapon systems (although we’re yet to agree on what “meaningful control” will look like).
We can still expect to see AI, and some levels of autonomy, as vital components in our defence in the near future.

We need to prepare

A review that ignores all of this leaves us woefully unprepared for the future.
We also need to engage more constructively in ongoing diplomatic discussions about the use of AI in warfare.

Fabio Panetta: A digital euro: widely available and easy to use

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星期三, 四月 26, 2023

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Four reasons inflation will stay stubbornly high for some time

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星期三, 四月 12, 2023

In the UK, inflation has been above target since August 2021 and in double digits since August 2022.

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In the UK, inflation has been above target since August 2021 and in double digits since August 2022.
I argued for action before high inflation became embedded in the economy and made the UK a poorer country.
But US and UK inflation was already at a four-decade high before the start of the war.

1. ‘De-globalisation’

The economic relationship between the west and Russia –- a major global exporter of energy and commodities – has entered a similar period of decline.
Politicians often promise to protect jobs, rejuvenate industries and reduce national trade deficits by weakening the local economy’s global ties.
The result was higher prices, reduced investment, workforce cuts, and ultimately a lower GDP path for all involved – but chiefly for the UK.

2. Climate change

3. Wage-price spiral

Central banks have been widely criticised for failing to act on inflation earlier and allowing a wage-price spiral to fuel further price inflation.
The wage-price spiral could push inflation higher for a long time unless addressed.

4. Highly liquid global markets

Following the 2008 global financial crisis, central banks pumped more money into major economies through a convoluted process called quantitative easing (QE).
While this didn’t happen, it has created problems for the global economy.
Read more:
Silicon Valley Bank: how interest rates helped trigger its collapse and what central bankers should do next

Solutions to persistently high inflation

This means that interest rate changes – one of the main tools used to fight inflation – has potentially lost its edge and credibility.
Unfortunately there are rarely any miracle solutions in economics, but working to address these deeper causes of inflation will help bring inflation back towards the government’s 2% target.
Overall, it’s important to prevent longer-term damage from this period of high inflation, rising interest rates and uncertainty.

Tanzania-South Africa: deep ties evoke Africa’s sacrifices for freedom

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星期二, 四月 4, 2023

As the South African presidency noted, ties between the two nations date back to Tanzania’s solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle.

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As the South African presidency noted, ties between the two nations date back to Tanzania’s solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle.
This history is an important reminder of the anti-colonial and pan-African bonds underpinning international solidarity with southern African liberation struggles.
It’s also a reminder of the sacrifices many African countries made to realise continental freedom.

Liberation struggle bonds

Tanzania’s support for South Africa’s liberation struggle needs to be understood as part of its broader opposition to colonialism, and commitment to the achievement of independence in the entire African continent.
Nelson Mandela addressed the conference with the aim of arranging support for the armed struggle in South Africa.
It was the first external structure set up by the two liberation movements.
Its capital was chosen as the operational base of the OAU’s Liberation Committee.
Also stationed there were the armies of other southern African liberation movements – ZAPU, Frelimo, SWAPO and the MPLA.

Hitches in the relationship

In spite of Tanzania’s support for the liberation movements, their relationship was not without its contradictions or moments of ambivalence.
In 1965, for example, the ANC had to move its headquarters from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, a small upcountry town far from international connections.
The Tanzanian government had decided that only four members of each liberation movement would be allowed to maintain an office in the capital.

Lived spaces of solidarity

But Tanzania remained a significant place of settlement for South African exiles.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, additional land donations from the Tanzanian government enabled the ANC to open a school and a vocational centre near Morogoro.
Its other aim was to counter the effects of Bantu education, a segregated and inferior education system for black South Africans.
These became unique spaces of lived solidarity between the ANC and its international supporters.

What shapes spillovers from US monetary policy shocks to emerging market economies?

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星期四, 三月 30, 2023

Emerging market economies (EMEs) are facing a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment, with weakening global demand, high inflation amid supply shocks and a synchronised tightening of monetary policy all acting as headwinds to growth.

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Emerging market economies (EMEs) are facing a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment, with weakening global demand, high inflation amid supply shocks and a synchronised tightening of monetary policy all acting as headwinds to growth.
We find that the impact of US monetary policy shocks varies across EMEs and is shaped by macro-financial vulnerabilities and monetary policy actions at the national level.
We use a local projections empirical framework to study the ways in which macroeconomic and macro-financial variables in EMEs respond to monetary policy shocks originating in the United States.
[1] Using US monetary policy shocks identified at high frequency as our key explanatory variable, we estimate the impulse responses of macro-financial variables and look at how these responses are influenced by specific characteristics of the economies concerned.
[2] These responses capture the effect of the surprise component of US monetary policy, rather than the systematic component; they have the expected sign and are economically meaningful in terms of their magnitude.
EMEs with greater vulnerabilities have stronger responses to US monetary policy shocks.
The impact of contractionary US monetary policy shocks on EMEs by level of vulnerability
(peak responses; percentage points)
Sources: Haver Analytics, Refinitiv, Jarociński and Karadi (op.
Moreover, EMEs’ domestic monetary policy stances also help to shape their responses to US monetary policy shocks.
As a result of the rapid rate increases observed so far, many EMEs’ policy rates are close to the levels implied by estimates of their monetary policy reaction functions.
Positive values mean that monetary policy is tighter than the estimated central bank reaction function would imply, and vice versa.
The impact of monetary policy shocks originating in the United States can be mitigated by prudent domestic monetary policy in EMEs.