Third Degree

3rd Degree

1 of 3

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1709

Volume 05 - Semester 01, 2008 » Edition 10 » Attention: Hard Hitting News

We’re Carbon Neutral....sort of By: James MCGRATH Published: 30/05/2008 With the Government’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, and an increase in awareness of the global impact of climate change, businesses are finding that it’s not easy being green, but it is profitable. However, are the green claims of these businesses all they’re cracked up to be? Or are they just a load of ‘greenwash’?

Grey skies for 'eco-firendly' claims? Image by James McGrath

Send Feedback

In the last federal election in the seat of Bennelong, voters chose to endorse Maxine McKew instead of John Howard, and climate change was high among the reasons for doing this. Australian special interest group The Climate Institute polled voters in the seat, and about eight out of ten voters saw climate change as an important issue for the election. This reflected a shift in attitude for the Australian public, and businesses naturally latched onto this trend. Across the nation, marketers for various products started to boast about how their business practices were ‘carbon neutral’, and spruiking their goods as more energy efficient than the next brand. Lately though, consumers and consumer groups have started to cast a sceptical eye over these claims, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has started to take note. In July and August of last year, motor company Saab ran newspaper and magazine ads promoting their green image, and promising to plant 17 trees to offset any carbon emissions that a Saab vehicle caused during its lifetime. Which is nice, but according to the ACCC, the sums didn’t add up. The ACCC alleged that planting 17 trees would offset the carbon emissions during only one year of the vehicle’s lifetime. Subsequently, it took GM Holden Ltd (the company that owns the Saab brand) to court citing breaches in the Trade Practices Act 1974. In August of last year, retailer Woolworths recalled its Select brand of tissue papers because packaging contained promises of being environmentally responsible. The supplier of the tissues, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) made claims that its product had certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). As it turns out, APP hadn’t been certified by the FSC, just audited by them. As CEO of the FSC Michael Spencer told CHOICE last year, “Just because a company has been audited doesn’t mean it’ll receive FSC certification “This is why the FSC rules specifically say that you’re not allowed to make any claims regarding a

13/03/2009 3:37 PM

3rd Degree

2 of 3

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1709 forthcoming certification. “I was particularly concerned that a company which wasn’t certified had broken the rules, and the fact that our name was being associated with a company that wasn’t certified.” Consumer group CHOICE has started to investigate and it has called on the ACCC to scrutinise the claims of companies saying their products are ‘sustainable’, ‘eco-friendly’ ‘biodegradable’, or described in other terms that are open to interpretation and vague. To combat unproven claims of ‘greenness’ on the part of companies, CHOICE wants those companies to comply with the standard AS/NZS ISO 14021 for Self-declared Environmental Claims. At the moment, verifying green claims with this standard is entirely voluntary. CHOICE wants these standards applied to all products or services that make these claims. It’s not just companies at the supermarket spruiking their green credentials. Earlier this year, GE Money started to offer an ‘eco-card’. A credit card which offered a 18.49 per cent per annum. rate. Of this, 1 per cent was to be used to offset the customers ‘carbon footprint’. Sounds great, but CHOICE was suspicious. For example, if you spend $7200 on the card, your contribution to carbon offsets would be a grand total of $72. According to the company with which GE Money purchases the offsets, Origin Energy, your $72 would be enough to offset 4.17 tonnes per year. Origin Energy maintains the average Australian emits 27.6 tonnes of emissions per year, so your contribution would offset 15 per cent of your carbon footprint. Alternatively, the low rate MasterCard offered by GE Money offers 12.99 per cent per year, meaning you pay an extra 5.5 per cent interest on a card that offers to reduce your carbon footprint. With that kind of investment, you’d want value for money. If you calculate 5.5 per cent interest on a $7200 debt, it comes to $396. According to Origin Energy, this would be enough to offset a whopping 83 per cent of your carbon footprint. So what happens to that 5.5 per cent interest? CHOICE advises purchasing your offsets from a dedicated offset provider instead. It seems the ACCC is concerned with the carbon offset practice too. Earlier this year, it released a paper expressing a concern with the validity of the practice. The paper expressed concerns that “Offsets achieved via the purchase of carbon credits ... have not been accurately calculated.” The ACCC is also concerned that companies are “taking advantage of offset activity from which they have already benefited”, a pratice also known as selling already retired credits. So it seems that companies are trying to promote themselves as ‘eco-friendly’, but not all of them are living up to the tag.

© 2009 ECU | disclaimer | webmaster | cricos 00279b | rss 3rd Degree is a production of the Edith Cowan University Communications Programme. http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1709

13/03/2009 3:37 PM

3rd Degree

3 of 3

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1709

13/03/2009 3:37 PM

3rd Degree

1 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1567

Volume 05 - Semester 01, 2008 » Edition 05 » Attention: Hard Hitting News

Fishing for change By: James MCGRATH Published: 25/04/2008 Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, last month tabled proposed changes to current illegal fishing legislation in the lower house of federal parliament. James McGrath goes under the surface to look at the effects of this new Bill.

Plenty of fish in the sea? Image by James McGrath

Send Feedback

The changes to current legislation concerning illegal fishing range from a restructuring of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to introducing more bite to the provisions regarding the pursuit of illegal fishing vessels. But will these changes be effective in stopping illegal fishing in Australian Fishing Zones (AFZs)? According to the AFMA, the fisheries industry contributes about two billion dollars to the Australian economy each year. Western Australia alone contributes just over a billion dollars to the total, primarily from rock lobster and pearls. Illegal fishing in AFZs reduces the amount of stock available to consumers in the Australian market and reduces profits for many operators. Aside from the commercial cost of illegal fishing, there is an ecological cost too. And it is this ecological impact that is of particular concern to the minister. “The sustainability of species such as trepang, shark and Patagonian toothfish are at risk from illegal fishing,” said Mr Burke. These species are particularly prized in the South East Asian market, so the profit to be made from these is worth the risk of circumventing Australian laws. So is this new bill going to stop illegal fishing in its tracks, or will the lure of a big payday still be too much for illegal fishing outfits to withstand? Mr Burke is keen to talk up the changes, saying: “The Rudd Labor Government will continue fighting illegal fishing to protect our seafood industries and our environment”. The legislation outlines changes to the AFMA, which include abolishing the existing board of directors, in favour of eight commissioners including a CEO who will be responsible for exercising AFMA's power with respect to illegal fishing vessels in AFZs. The legislation also changes the eligibility criteria and amps up the conflict of interest disclosure rules for AFMA commissioners. It aims to exclude anyone who holds, or is an executive officer or majority

13/03/2009 3:34 PM

3rd Degree

2 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1567 shareholder in a company which holds, a Commonwealth fishing concession, permit or licence and/or anyone who holds an executive position in a fishing industry association from being appointed as a commissioner. Spokesperson for the AFMA, Nigel Catchlove, told 3rd Degree the fisheries industry would not see dramatic changes in the day to day running of AFMA. “The changes, while significant, are essentially transparent to industry. They won’t notice a whole lot of change,” said Mr Catchlove. He added that AFMA was looking to work closely with the fisheries industry to stamp out illegal fishing in the AFZ. “We are endeavouring to work closer with industry and the move towards co-management with industry [and this] will probably have a bigger impact on the way that we do business than this Act,” said Mr Catchlove. A press release by the minister’s office boasts that the Bill will afford stronger powers to apprehend illegal fishing vehicles to border protection agencies such as the Australian Customs Service, the Australian Navy and the AFMA. These powers include allowing pursuit of support vehicles, such as those that supply petrol or storage to illegal fishing vehicles, and require foreign vehicles that move through the AFZ to stow all fishing equipment. These changes, while a step in the right direction, are only gradual rather than revolutionary according to Mr Catchlove, who told 3rd Degree: “While the changes in legislation are welcome, they are incremental and I don’t see a huge change in the fight against illegal fishing.” He added that some progress had been made over the past two years. “Apprehensions of illegal fishers has dropped from 365 boat apprehensions in 2006 to 125 last year and the numbers this year are panning out about the same," said Mr Catchlove. So while this Bill could make operations against illegal fishing in AFZs more efficient, which is commendable, it seems the changes outlined in the The Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 are hardly likely to send a chill down the collective spines of the operators of illegal fishing vessels. To view a copy of the proposed legislation, click here.

© 2009 ECU | disclaimer | webmaster | cricos 00279b | rss 3rd Degree is a production of the Edith Cowan University Communications Programme. http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1567

13/03/2009 3:34 PM

3rd Degree

1 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1663

Volume 05 - Semester 01, 2008 » Edition 08 » Science and Technology

Net Neutrality: Should ISPs be allowed to tamper with net speed? By: James MCGRATH Published: 16/05/2008 Digital rights advocates fear the great utopian society known as the world wide web may be under threat from big, bad Internet Service Providers (ISPs) looking to make a quick buck. Conspiracy theory or worrying reality? James McGrath remains neutral to bring you the debate. Time running out for internet neutrality? Photo by James McGrath

Send Feedback

In the US and abroad, debate has raged over the concept of "Net Neutrality" and its role in shaping the future direction of the internet. Net Neutrality is the ideal that all information on the internet is available on a level playing field. At the moment, there’s no discrimination from ISPs whether you visit Google or Yahoo. All they’re doing is providing you with the bandwidth and what you do with it and where you visit is entirely up to you. Sounds peachy, no? Well, over the past few years major ISPs have been making noise about being able to give preferential treatment to certain websites who might pay them a handsome fee. How would they do this? By speeding up access to those sites, and slowing down access to competitor sites. So, theoretically, you may find that MySpace is loading video and flash files like a dream, but FaceBook is struggling to load a basic HTML page. If you had two sites and one loaded far quicker than the other one, which website would you choose to visit more often? Some Net Neutrality supporters fear that this could lead to the internet becoming a two-way communication system, where the owners of the networks dictate what you watch (just as they do on television right now). But is this just a good ol’ load of speculation? Well, yes and no. In 2005, the CEO of American company SBC Telecommunications told Newsweek that companies like Google and Yahoo would like to “use my pipes free, but I ain’t going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it”. In January of this year, US ISP Comcast admitted to throttling BitTorrent traffic, in what it says were “carefully limited measures that Comcast takes to manage traffic on its broadband network, including its very limited management of certain P2P protocols”.

13/03/2009 3:36 PM

3rd Degree

2 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1663 Across the pond, CEO of Virgin Media Neil Berkett dismissed the idea of net neutrality as “a load of bollocks” in an interview with the Royal Television Society. He also spoke about plans to talk to content providers about how they might make the Virgin Media customer base more accessible through their broadband network. In Australia however, there is a key difference in ISP service. Whereas in the US, UK and Asia there has been a tradition of selling unlimited Bandwidth plans for a fixed price, here the focus has been on pricing according to consumer demand. For example, in the US you may have a plan for unlimited downloads for a set price per month, whereas in Australia there are different plans for different download quotas. So if US ISPs have to provide unlimited bandwidth to customers for fixed prices, they’re going to try and find a way of making profits from other sources, such as from content providers, instead of passing the costs on to the consumer. So the temptation is there on the part of US ISPs to find new models of profit, but if they are able to give preferential treatment to fee-paying sites in the future, would this impact the way that Australian ISPs do business? Dr Ross Kelso recently completed his PhD at the Queensland University of Technology, where he wrote his thesis on the subject of open access to Next Generation Broadband. When 3rd Degree asked if bandwidth shaping and discriminatory practice on the part of US ISPs could lead to Aussie ISPs doing the same, he said: “Very much so – we follow them!" Luckily, there is current legislation on the table in the US and in Australia that is looking at regulatory practices more closely. In the US, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 has been introduced into Congress, and will be voted on shortly. Of course, in Australia, we’re on the threshold of what the government excitedly calls “the Gigabit Age”, with the rollout of a new $4.7 billion broadband network. Communications Minister Stephen Conroy told a Commsday summit in April 2008 that all ISPs hopeful of gaining access to the network must ensure “that all participants face equivalent terms and conditions of access". So the government is in a position to play hardball with ISPs seeking to hop onto their brand-spanking new network, but will these conditions of access include anti-bandwidth shaping regulation? The government has called for public interest groups and industry to provide submissions regarding regulatory issues surrounding the new network by June 25, to be judged by a panel of experts.

© 2009 ECU | disclaimer | webmaster | cricos 00279b | rss 3rd Degree is a production of the Edith Cowan University Communications Programme. http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1663

13/03/2009 3:36 PM

3rd Degree

1 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1521

Volume 05 - Semester 01, 2008 » Edition 04 » Culture: What's happening?

German cinema rolls into town By: James MCGRATH Published: 11/04/2008 James McGrath puts on his most fetching pair of lederhosen to check out some of the highlights of the Audi Festival of German Films, coming to the Cinema Paradiso. Hot on the heels of the French Film Festival, the Audi Festival of German Films is set to offer Perth a glimpse into the German film scene. The Counterfeiters Image courtesy Audi Festival of German Films

Send Feedback

German cinema has enjoyed international attention over the past few years, with the claustrophobic war time drama Downfall, and Oscar winning The Lives of Others being prime examples of contemporary German film at its best. The festival’s opening film The Counterfeiters treads familiar ground for German cinema, in telling the story of a Nazi counterfeiting operation during WWII, and the Jewish prisoners who worked for them. It raises questions of complicity, as the Jewish prisoners are forced to decide between fuelling the Nazi war machine and death. With such deep potential for drama, The Counterfeiters has received a warm welcome at the Berlin Film Festival and is shaping up to be a standout feature of the Audi Festival of German Films. If war-time drama isn’t your thing, Where is Fred? will provide politically incorrect slapstick relief. Til Schweiger plays the straight man, pandering to the whims of his soon-to-be wife’s son. What the son wants, however, is a signed basketball from a famous German basketball player. However, the basketball is only handed out to the disabled people in the crowd. The son blackmails his soon-to-be stepfather into pretending to be disabled so he can claim the basketball. Skating on the thin ice of political correctness, Where is Fred? will either tickle your funny bone or have you heading for the exit door 20 minutes into the film. From the farcial to the deeply surreal, Head under Water is set in the aptly named Kafka High School, and follows a teenager as he shoots a video about the school and the village it is in. Gradually the complexities of the school and the strange goings on in the town are revealed, and things take a turn for the morbid when the school’s swimming star is found dead. Head under Water follows in the footsteps of the observational surrealism done so well in Donnie Darko and Blue Velvet. If you like leaving the cinema questioning reality, this may just be the film for you.

13/03/2009 3:35 PM

3rd Degree

2 of 2

http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1521 With Reclaim your Brain, the festival dips its toe into the pool of satire. It tells the story of a brazen TV producer who experiences a life-altering event (I’m not going to spoil it for you), and starts to crusade against the nature of the television industry. Directed by Hans Weingartner (who directed the excellent The Edukators), the film challenges exactly how accurate the measurement of audience numbers is and the quality of television programming overall. The closing film of the festival And Along Come Tourists is a drama that retrospectively deals with the atrocities committed at Auschwitz. It tells the story of a young man (played by Alexander Fehling) who chooses to forgo a year of military service, deciding on a year of community service at Auschwitz, the erstwhile Nazi concentration camp that is now a tourist destination. The young man’s perceptions of the place are shaken when he meets a Jewish-Polish tour guide. It’s a film that deals with reparations for past atrocities, the concept of guilt and the desire to close a shameful chapter in Germany’s history. So, from serious drama to politically incorrect farce to satire and then on to the surreal, the Audi Festival of German Films will offer a wide range of German cinema, right here in Perth. The Audi Festival of German Films runs from April 18-20. For more information visit the festival website

© 2009 ECU | disclaimer | webmaster | cricos 00279b | rss 3rd Degree is a production of the Edith Cowan University Communications Programme. http://3degree.ecu.edu.au/articles/1521

13/03/2009 3:35 PM