Centre for Policy Development's Blog, page 79
October 29, 2012
Caroline Hoisington | ABC Rural, 23 Oct 2012
CPD fellow and marine economist Caroline Hoisington’s report for the CPD, Rezoning SA Marine Parks was featured on the ABC Rural news website. The article focuses on the $20 million value of the marine parks to South Australia, which equates to four times the value of fish catches that would be lost from the areas.
Caroline Hoisington is quoted as saying:
“When areas are protected, they function better they are more resistant to environmental problems which we know are coming, like ocean acidification and warming.”
Access ABC Rural’s article highlighting CPD’s report by clicking here.
Miriam Lyons | ABC’s The Drum | 27 September 2012
In a lively debate, Miriam contends that Australians want a social democratic system with strong social services, with the push towards privatisation by the former Labor governments in NSW and QLD helping to hasten their departures from office.
Commenting on Australia’s Security Council bid, and the claim that such an appointment will enhance our ability to combat terrorism, Miriam argues for a more evidence-based approach to counter-terrorism strategy, one that evaluates the effectiveness of measures already in place.
Farming Smarter, Not Harder – Securing our Agricultural Economy
Download Farming Smarter, Not Harder report in full
‘Farming Smarter, Not Harder’, released Thursday 1 November, is a report from the Centre for Policy Development on the future of Australian agriculture in the context of rising global demand, resource scarcity, and environmental pressures.
Global populations are growing and food prices are skyrocketing. This creates new market opportunities for Australian agriculture. But Australia has fragile and vulnerable soils, which are being degraded at an unsustainable rate.
If we continue with ‘business as usual’, we will keep losing soils faster than they can be replaced. Acting now to improve soil condition could increase agricultural production by up to $2.1 billion per year. It could also help farmers cut costs on fertiliser and water use.
“Winners of the food boom will be countries with less fossil fuel intensive agriculture, more reliable production, and access to healthy land and soils” said the report’s lead author Laura Eadie. “How we manage our land and soils will be key to whether Australia sees more of the upsides or downsides of rising global food demand.”
Farming Smarter, Not Harder finds that Australian agriculture can build a lasting competitive advantage through innovation that raises agricultural productivity, reduces fuel and fertiliser dependence, and preserves the environment and resources it draws on. To achieve this, Australia needs to:
Invest in knowledge: increase government investment in research and development by up to 7% a year; increase funding for extension programs; implement the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to set up Rural Research Australia; fund the national soil health strategy with an endowment sufficient to support ongoing research and monitoring for at least 20 years.
Stop chopping and changing support for regional natural resource management:
Federal and State governments should commit to a 10-year agreement to provide stable longterm funding for regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) bodies, including specific funding to monitor long-term trends in natural resource condition.
Enable accountable community governance of land and soil management: To enable farming communities to protect themselves from free-riding, they should be supported to develop stewardship standards based on a shared understanding of what it takes to maintain productive agricultural landscapes over the long term.
Align financial incentives with the long-term needs of sustainable farming communities: In addition to the drought policy reforms announced on October 26, drought assistance policies should support farming communities to take a lead in preparations for more frequent and severe droughts, and should be linked to community stewardship standards.
“Recent projections indicate the potential doubling of exports by 2050, according to the National Food Plan and ANZ-commissioned Greener Pastures report. Our work looks at how to support farmers dealing with the practical challenges of seizing this opportunity, in the context of soil degradation and rising input costs”, said Laura Eadie.
The case to increase research funding and foster innovative farming is made even stronger by the likely impacts of climate change. Without action to adapt to more variable and extreme weather, by 2050 Australia could lose $6.5 billion per year in wheat, beef, mutton, lamb and dairy production.
The report profiles leading farmers who are already seeing the benefits of innovations in sustainable farming. It proposes simple measures to support them and the agricultural communities that depend on healthy farming landscapes.
Download Farming Smarter, Not Harder report in full
Change can happen faster than you think – help us seize the moment and point to the alternatives. Add your voice to ours!
October 22, 2012
Caroline Hoisington | SA media pick up on ‘Zoning SA Marine Parks’
Caroline’s CPD paper generated some excellent media coverage, particularly in South Australia.
With the state government set to finalise and release plans for the marine parks in a matter of weeks, the expectation is that a marine park system will be in place by the end of this year. Government estimates put the consequent financial loss for commercial fisheries at $12.6 million a year however this is more than made up for by the $22.8 million per year at which Caroline’s CPD paper, Zoning South Australia’s Marine Parks valued the potential benefit of marine parks and sanctuary zones. This economic boost will be accompanied by a wealth of ecological benefits, with its knock-on benefits for eco-tourism.
Economist and author of the new report, Caroline Hoisington, said marine plants and animals worked together in unique ecosystems that performed essential services.
“Ecosystem services are from natural processes such as seagrasses and kelp beds providing fish nurseries, natural pest and disease control and climate regulation in the form of carbon and heat storage in the ocean”.
Download Zoning SA marine parks paper in full
Read coverage of Zoning SA marine parks in Adelaide Now
Read coverage of Zoning SA marine parks in the Herald Sun
Hear Caroline Hoisington on ABC Rural Radio, 23 October
Caroline was also interviewed by Reymer Martin on WIN TV News (no link available).
Caroline Hoisington | Zoning SA marine parks
This new CPD paper generated some excellent media coverage, particularly in South Australia.
With the state government set to finalise and release plans for the marine parks in a matter of weeks, the expectation is that a marine park system will be in place by the end of this year. Government estimates put the consequent financial loss for commercial fisheries at $12.6 million a year however this is more than made up for by the $22.8 million per year at which Caroline’s CPD paper, Zoning South Australia’s Marine Parks valued the potential benefit of marine parks and sanctuary zones. This economic boost will be accompanied by a wealth of ecological benefits, with its knock-on benefits for eco-tourism.
Economist and author of the new report, Caroline Hoisington, said marine plants and animals worked together in unique ecosystems that performed essential services.
“Ecosystem services are from natural processes such as seagrasses and kelp beds providing fish nurseries, natural pest and disease control and climate regulation in the form of carbon and heat storage in the ocean”.
Download Zoning SA marine parks paper in full
Read coverage of Zoning SA marine parks in Adelaide Now
Read coverage of Zoning SA marine parks in the Herald Sun
Hear Caroline Hoisington on ABC Rural Radio, 23 October
Caroline was also interviewed by Reymer Martin on WIN TV News (no link available).
Caroline Hoisington | Rezoning SA marine parks
This new CPD paper generated some excellent media coverage, particularly in South Australia.
Economist and author of the new report, Caroline Hoisington, said marine plants and animals worked together in unique ecosystems that performed essential services.
“Ecosystem services are from natural processes such as seagrasses and kelp beds providing fish nurseries, natural pest and disease control and climate regulation in the form of carbon and heat storage in the ocean,” Ms Hoisington said.
Download Zoning SA marine parks paper in full
Read coverage of Zoning SA marine parks in Adelaide Now
October 21, 2012
Zoning South Australia’s marine parks
CPD’s Marine Economy Fellow Caroline Hoisington has analysed the areas proposed for the creation of fully protected sanctuary zones in South Australia’s marine park network. The ecosystem service values covered by the new sanctuaries are conservatively estimated as being worth $20.69 million per year.
Hoisington notes that the sanctuaries are likely to deliver several benefits, both environmental (because healthier marine systems are more resilient) and in terms of productivity (improved fishing, increases in tourism), which have not been calculated in this report.
The value of the fisheries that will be displaced by creation of sanctuary zones are estimated at $5.781 million/year, with impacts varying widely within the region. Displaced fishing is a very small percentage of the Gross Regional Product (less than 1%) but will have regional impacts. This report debunks some of the claims made recently that predict excessive losses.
The report concludes that the proposed sanctuaries are an important investment in the future of South Australia’s marine resources.
Download the report: Zoning South Australia’s Marine Parks, by Caroline Hoisington
October 15, 2012
Tim Roxburgh | Radio Newcastle 1233, 27 Sept 2012
Tim Roxburgh dispels the myths surrounding the purported failures of the Government’s ‘Building the Education Revolution’, designed to stimulate the economy while delivering much-needed infrastructure to our schools.
Responding to claims that such public works programs are poorly managed by governments, Tim looks at the concrete outcome, crunches the numbers, and asks what lessons can be gleaned for future infrastructure projects.
“Infrastructure… enables our economy to grow and prosper and that’s why it’s important we make sure when we spend money on these things, that we do it properly.”
Listen to Tim Roxburgh’s Radio Newcastle interview here
September 26, 2012
Peter Martin | NSW in the firing line over school halls project
The Fairfax economics columnist looks into CPD fellow Tim Roxburgh’s paper, and finds clear patterns of success and failure according to public sector policy and capacity, rather than party lines. Evidence revealed by Tim’s paper also gives the lie to popular perceptions and media coverage received at the time of the stimulus program’s implementation.
WERE the Building the Education Revolution projects run badly? Only in states where governments chose not to run them, according to new research published today that targets NSW and Victoria for special criticism.
Read the full article on smh.com.au here
Read the CPD Public works need public sector skills paper here
September 25, 2012
Ian Dunlop | Four-degree rise demands ninety-degree rethink
As climate change shifts into “a new and dangerous phase,” CPD Fellow Dunlop reveals alarming new climate change projections, and marvels at continued inaction by the political, business and NGOs that might be expected to lead an urgent response.
… on current trends the Arctic will be ice-free in summer by 2015 and ice-free all year by 2030 – events that were not expected to occur for another 100 years…
Australian leaders glibly talk about adapting to a 4-degree world with little idea of what it means – which is a world of 1 billion people rather than the present 7 billion.
Access the Sydney Morning Herald article here
You can also access the full, unedited article below.
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