Academic literature on the topic 'Australian Satire'

This paper investigates media representations of international insecurity through a selection of newspaper cartoons from some of the major daily Australian broadsheets. Since 2001, cartoonists such as Bruce Petty, John Spooner and Bill Leak (in The Age and The Australian) have provided an ongoing and vehement critique of the Australian government's policies of ‘border protection’, the ‘war on terror’ and the words of mass distraction associated with Australia joining the war in Iraq. Cartoonists are often said to represent the ‘citizen's perspective’ of public life through their graphic satire on the editorial pages of our daily newspapers. Increasingly, they can also be seen to be fulfilling the role of public intellectuals, defined by Richard A. Posner as ‘someone whose place it is publicly to raise embarrassing questions, to confront orthodoxy and dogma, to be someone who cannot easily be co-opted by governments and corporations’. Cartoonists enjoy an independence and freedom from censorship that is rarely extended to their journalistic colleagues in the print media and it is this independence that is the vital component in their being categorised as public intellectuals. Their role is to ‘question over and over again what is postulated as self-evident, to disturb people's mental habits, to dissipate what is familiar and accepted, to re-examine rules and institutions’ (Posner, 2003: 31). With this useful — if generalised — definition in mind, the paper considers how cartoonists have contributed to debates concerning international insecurity in public life since 2001.

The absence of the doctrine of fair use from Australian copyright law has been a bone of contention in Australia after the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA). As the Australian government reformed the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) in the aftermath of the FTA it eschewed the option of adopting fair use. Instead, Australia chose to incorporate a version of fair use into its existing fair dealing framework. Accordingly, the Copyright Amendment Act 2006 (Cth) inserted ss 41A and 103AA into the Copyright Act. These provisions provide that a fair dealing with a copyright protected work does not constitute an infringement if it is done for the purposes of parody or satire. These provisions codify part of the ratio of the United States Supreme Court in the seminal case of Campbell v Acuff Rose Music. However, the parameters of these new provisions are unexplored and the sparse nature of fair dealing jurisprudence means that the true meaning of the provisions is unclear. Moreover, two cases from the United States, SunTrust Bank v Houghton Mifflin and Salinger v Colting, underline just how important it is to have legal rules that protect literary ‘re-writes’. Both cases involved authors using an original novel to ‘write back’ to the original author and the broader culture. ‘Writing back’ or the ‘re-write’ has a firm basis in literature. It adds something invaluable to our culture. The key question is whether our legal landscape can allow it to flourish. This paper examines the interaction between fair use and literary re-writes.

‘Dame Edna Everage’, a persona originally created by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries in 1955, is a character designed to simultaneously shock and amuse. Dame Edna voices (and satirizes) the discourse of ‘average’, older, politically conservative Anglo-Australians who feel compelled to ‘tell it like it is’ – no matter how offensive their opinions might be. In the Anglosphere, Edna’s humour is well understood and sustained international success has followed Edna for more than 60 years in Britain, Canada, the US and Australia. However, Edna occasionally misfires. In 2003, for instance, Edna’s satire outraged Latinos across the USA, in fulfillment of Poe’s Law (Aikin, 2009). Simply put, Latinos assumed that Edna’s comments satirising negative mainstream attitudes towards them were expressive of Edna’s authentic racism. This paper investigates the Edna joke in the overall context of failed humour and then specifically for the offensiveness it generated amongst the Latino minority in the United States. It then tests whether this reaction was the result of a discursive frame specific to the US context, by conducting an exploratory study amongst a small sample of highly educated Australian bilingual Latin American immigrants and their adult children, to see whether they thought Edna’s joke was funny. These Australian individuals of Latin American heritage responded via an online questionnaire, and an analysis of their responses is presented here. The study’s main finding is that while these individuals generally demonstrated a high comedic literacy across both English and Spanish, including a prior awareness of Edna’s and Australian humour, they overall rejected the intention and humour of Edna’s joke. This paper asserts that, when it comes to humour, some transnational migrant speech community loyalties transcend other notions of identity and language competence.

This paper examines the contributions of John Clarke to the field of political satire through his interviews with straight-man Bryan Dawe on ABC TV's The 7.30 Report. Clarke's work represents one of the last vestiges of what was once a vigorous satiric tradition in TV comedy, specifically the practice of political caricature. There was The Mavis Bramston Show in the 1960s and The Naked Vicar Show in the 1970s, while The Gillies Report in the 1980s was probably the best example of sustained political caricature in television comedy. Even in later sketch-based shows such as Fast Forward and The Late Show in the early 1990s, political caricature was a significant component of the material, whereas it seems to have all but disappeared from current television comedy. The paper investigates the disappearance of this type of comedy from Australian television screens and also discusses why the longevity, consistency, not to mention accuracy, of Clarke's satire is so important in the current political climate. Clarke's political caricature is almost entirely language-based, expertly parodying the spin-doctored rhetoric of our elected representatives and business leaders. This leads to a secondary focus of the paper, which is a discussion of Clarke's unique form of satire in the context of what an historian (and former satirist) identifies as ‘the decay of public language’.

Protest music is both commercially viable and an important tool for shaping community awareness of socio-political issues. Indonesian and Australian artists have produced protest music which has stimulated significant effect upon community attitudes and behaviours. Socio-political issues can be described and examined in songs using various lyrical methods, including strategic use of characters and narrative. Iwan Fals is a Javanese singer-songwriter who frequently employs satire and parody in relation to weighty political issues. Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly are Australian rock artists who have used real-life events as the inspiration for protest songs, many of which are delivered with a confrontational mode of lyric and performance. Compared to Australian acts, Indonesian artists have faced greater risk to personal freedom by engaging in protest music; this may explain why Indonesian protest songs are often presented with more subtle characteristics. from the abstract or from the body of the text, or from the thesaurus of the discipline. Lagu Protes dari Indonesia dan Australia: Perbandingan Musikologi. Musik protes layak secara komersial dan peranti penting untuk membentuk kesadaran masyarakat tentang masalah sosial-politik. Seniman Indonesia dan Australia telah menghasilkan musik protes yang memberikan pengaruh signifikan terhadap sikap dan perilaku masyarakat. Isu sosial-politik dapat dideskripsikan dan dikaji dalam lagu dengan menggunakan berbagai metode lirik, termasuk penggunaan karakter dan narasi yang strategis. Iwan Fals adalah penyanyi-penulis lagu Jawa yang sering menggunakan sindiran dan parodi terkait dengan isu-isu politik yang berat. Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, dan Paul Kelly adalah artis rock Australia yang telah menggunakan peristiwa kehidupan nyata sebagai inspirasi untuk lagu-lagu protes, banyak di antaranya dibawakan dengan gaya lirik dan penampilan yang konfrontatif. Dibandingkan dengan artis Australia, artis Indonesia menghadapi risiko yang lebih besar terhadap kebebasan pribadi dengan terlibat dalam musik protes; ini mungkin menjelaskan mengapa lagu-lagu protes Indonesia seringkali disajikan dengan ciri-ciri yang lebih halus. dari abstrak atau dari tubuh teks, atau dari tesaurus disiplin.

This article focuses on the satirical Australian show The Chaser’s War on Everything, and uses it to critically assess the potential political and social ramifications of what McNair (2006) has called ‘cultural chaos’. Drawing upon and analysing several examples from this particular program, alongside interviews with its production team and qualitative audience research, this article argues that this TV show’s engagement with politicians and political issues, in a way that departs from the conventions of traditional journalism, offers a significant opportunity for the interrogation of power. The program’s use of often bizarre and unexpected comedic confrontation allows it to present a perhaps more authentic image of political agents than is often cultivated in mainstream journalism. This suggests therefore that the shift from homogeneity to heterogeneity in the news media – which McNair (2006) sees as a key feature of cultural chaos – presents a significant challenge to those who wish to retain control over what the public sees and understands about the political world, and is a development which should be viewed in positive terms.

AbstractCountry music has a reputation for being the music of the American white working-class South and being closely aligned with conservative politics. However, country music has also been played by non-white minorities and has been a vivid way of expressing progressive political views. In the hands of the Indigenous peoples of Australia, country music has often given voice to a form of life-writing that critiques colonial power. The songs of Dougie Young, dating from the late 1950s, provide one of the earliest and most expressive examples of this use of country music. Young's songs were a type of social-realist satire and to be fully understood should be placed within the broader socio-political context of 1950s and 1960s Australia. Young's legacy was also important for Aboriginal musicians in the 1990s and the accompanying reassessment of Australia's colonial past. Country music has provided particular opportunities for minority and Indigenous groups seeking to use popular culture to tell their stories. This use of country music provides a new dimension to more conventional understandings of its political role.

Commentary: The Port Arthur massacre of 28-29 April 1996 was a mass shooting in which 35 people were killed and 23 wounded in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia. The gunman pleaded guilty and was given 35 life sentences without possibility of parole. Fundamental gun control laws within Australia followed. The Christchurch mosque massacre of 15 March 2019 involved two inner city mosques in the South Island city when 50 people were killed (another victim died six weeks later taking the death toll to 51) were killed. The accused gunman, a white supremacist, has been charged with 51 murder and 40 attempted murder counts, and also with terrorism. The author, a leading cartoonist, reflects on the parallels and contrasts between Australia and New Zealand and writes of the vitriol directed at him because of his satire: ‘My effigy was hung in a tree in Ipswich, and we lived daily with the threat of a drive-by attack on the family home. This sort of stuff rattles you to the core, but it also fills you with the adrenaline and conviction to barge on regardless. Such is the power of the pen and satire.’

This thesis examines the contemporary interplay between satire and politics, arguing that it has contributed to three significant shifts within political discourse. Firstly, certain satires are now being used as trusted, legitimate sources of political information and truth. Secondly, politicians increasingly engage with satire in ways that suggest a political attempt at co-option. Finally, online “citizen satire” has, due to the global flow of information, started to contribute to political debates in offline traditional media.

This thesis examines the changing relationships between television, politics, audiences and the public sphere. Premised on the notion that mediated politics is now understood “in new ways by new voices” (Jones, 2005: 4), and appropriating what McNair (2003) calls a “chaos theory” of journalism sociology, this thesis explores how two different contemporary Australian political television programs (Sunrise and The Chaser’s War on Everything) are viewed, understood, and used by audiences. In analysing these programs from textual, industry and audience perspectives, this thesis argues that journalism has been largely thought about in overly simplistic binary terms which have failed to reflect the reality of audiences’ news consumption patterns. The findings of this thesis suggest that both ‘soft’ infotainment (Sunrise) and ‘frivolous’ satire (The Chaser’s War on Everything) are used by audiences in intricate ways as sources of political information, and thus these TV programs (and those like them) should be seen as legitimate and valuable forms of public knowledge production. It therefore might be more worthwhile for scholars to think about, research and teach journalism in the plural: as a series of complementary or antagonistic journalisms, rather than as a single coherent entity.

This thesis examines the changing relationships between television, politics, audiences and the public sphere. Premised on the notion that mediated politics is now understood “in new ways by new voices” (Jones, 2005: 4), and appropriating what McNair (2003) calls a “chaos theory” of journalism sociology, this thesis explores how two different contemporary Australian political television programs (Sunrise and The Chaser’s War on Everything) are viewed, understood, and used by audiences. In analysing these programs from textual, industry and audience perspectives, this thesis argues that journalism has been largely thought about in overly simplistic binary terms which have failed to reflect the reality of audiences’ news consumption patterns. The findings of this thesis suggest that both ‘soft’ infotainment (Sunrise) and ‘frivolous’ satire (The Chaser’s War on Everything) are used by audiences in intricate ways as sources of political information, and thus these TV programs (and those like them) should be seen as legitimate and valuable forms of public knowledge production. It therefore might be more worthwhile for scholars to think about, research and teach journalism in the plural: as a series of complementary or antagonistic journalisms, rather than as a single coherent entity.

This exegesis covers a period of research and art practice spanning from 2004 to 2007. I have combined visual arts with theoretical research practice that considers the notion of Australian colonialism via a post colonial construct. I have questioned how visual arts can convey various conditions relationships between settler and Indigenous cultures and in doing so have drawn on both personal art practice and the works of Australian artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. These references demonstrate an ongoing examination of black and white relations portrayed in art, ranging from the drawings of convict artist, Joseph Lycett, through to the post federation stance of Margaret Preston, whose works expressed a renewal of interest in Indigenous culture. In applying a research approach, I have utilised a Narrative Enquiry methodology with a comparative paradigm within a Creative Research framework, which allows for various interpretations of my themes through both text and visuals. These applications also express a personal view that has been formed from family and workplace experiences. These include cultural influences from my settler family history and settler historical events in general juxtaposed with an accumulated knowledge base that has evolved from my personal and professional experience within Indigenous arts and education. I have also cited examples from Australian colonial and postcolonial art and literature that have influenced the development of my visual language. These include applying stylistic approaches that incorporate various artistic aspects of figuration and the Picturesque and literal thematic mode based on satire and social commentary. Overall, my research work also expresses an ongoing and evolving process that has been guided and influenced by current Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian postcolonial critical thinking and arts criticism, assisting within the development of my personal views and philosophies .This process has supported the formation of a belief system that I believe has matured throughout my research and art practices, providing a personal confidence to assert my own analytical stance on colonial history.

This study arose out of what I saw as a gap in the criticism of Patrick White's fiction in which satire and its related subversive forms are largely overlooked. It consequently reads five of White's post-1948 novels from the standpoint of satire. It discusses the history and various theories of satire to develop an analytic framework appropriate to his satire and it conducts a comprehensive review of the critical literature to account for the development of the dominant orthodox religious approach to his fiction. It compares aspects of White's satire to aspects of the satire produced by some of the notable exemplars of the English and American traditions and it takes issue with a number of the readings produced by the religious and other established approaches to White's fiction. I initially establish White as a satirist by elaborating the social satire that emerges incidentally in The Tree of Man and rather more episodically in Voss. I investigate White's sources for Voss to shed light on the extent of his engagement with history, on his commitment to historical accuracy, and on the extent to which this is a serious high-minded historical work in which he seeks to teach us more about our selves, particularly about our history and identity. The way White expands his satire in Voss given that it is an eminently historical novel is instructive in terms of his purposes. I illustrate White's burgeoning use of satire by elaborating the extended and sometimes extravagant satire that he develops in Riders in the Chariot, by investigating the turn inwards upon his own creative activity that occurs when he experiments with a variant subversive form, satire by parody, in The Eye of the Storm, and by examining his use of the devices, tropes, and strategies of post-modem grotesque satire in The Twyborn Affair. My reading of White's novels from the standpoint of satire enables me to identify an important development within his oeuvre that involves a shift away from the symbolic realism of The Aunt's Story (1948) and the two novels that precede it to a mode of writing that is initially historical in The Tree of Man and Voss but which becomes increasingly satirical as White expands his satire and experiments with such related forms as burlesque, parody, parodic satire, and grotesque satire in his subsequent novels. I thus chart a change in the nature of his satire that reflects a dramatic movement away from the ontological concerns of modernism to the epistemological concerns of post-modernism. Consequent upon this, I pinpoint the changes in the philosophy that his satire bears as its ultimate meaning. I examine the links between the five novels and White's own period to establish the socio-historical referentiality of his satire. I argue that because his engagement with Australian history, society, and culture, is ongoing and thorough, then these five novels together comprise a subjective history of the period, serving to complement our knowledge in these areas. This study demonstrates that White's writing, because of the ongoing development of his satire, is never static but ever-changing. He is not simply or exclusively a religious or otherwise metaphysical novelist, or a symbolist-allegorist, or a psychological realist, or any other kind of generic writer. Finally, I demonstrate that White exceeds the categories that his critics have tried to impose upon him.

Chestnut rot of Castanea sativa Mill. (European chestnut) and Castanea crenata Siebold and Zucc. (Japanese chestnut) x Castanea sativa hybrids is a significant problem facing the Australian chestnut industry. It affects the chestnut kernel, manifesting as pale, medium and dark brown lesions occurring on the endosperm and embryo. Previous surveys of Melbourne Markets showed losses to chestnut rot up to 40% (Anderson 1993)*. This equates to losses of $5.2M in 2010; using projected production figures (HAL 2007). This research project was undertaken to create a better understanding of the scope and distribution of the chestnut rot problem in south-eastern Australia; clarify the confusion surrounding the taxonomy of the chestnut rot pathogen; elucidate the infection process and disease cycle; investigate the effectiveness of flotation disease grading as a post-harvest method of removing rotten chestnuts; and provide recommendations to growers on how to reduce the incidence of chestnut rot in their orchards. Twenty-two orchards were surveyed in 2008 and 21 in 2009, across New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (VIC) (Chapter 2). The highest incidence of chestnut rot at individual orchards was 72%. Incidence varied widely between and within orchards between the two years sampled. Chestnut rot was present in all of the sampled 2 orchards. The important commercial varieties Decoppi Marone (DM), Purton’s Pride (PP), Red Spanish (RS) all displayed examples of both high incidence (>1%), and acceptable incidence (0-1%). This indicates these varieties are susceptible under the right conditions. There was a positive correlation between incidence and December rainfall of the previous year, indicating environmental factors as key to the infection process. In 2008 and 2009, surveys of Sydney Markets showed incidence >1% (2008: varieties DM, PP; 2009: varieties RS, PP), indicating that these varieties were capable of being affected by chestnut rot. Chestnut rot has recently been reported as caused by two fungal species, minorly in New Zealand by Diaporthe castaneti Nitschke. and majorly in Australia and New Zealand by Gnomonia pascoe prov. nom. (Smith and Ogilvy 2008). The current study only observed one causal agent of chestnut rot in Australia, the novel taxon, Gnomoniopsis smithogilvyi sp. nov. Isolates of G. smithogilvyi were obtained from tissues including rotten chestnuts collected in surveys of NSW and VIC, as ascospores from dead burrs from NSW, and as endophytes from asymptomatic female and male flowers, leaves, and stems from NSW. Morphology and phylogenetics were used to elucidate the taxonomy of the fungus. Morphological examination of G. smithogilvyi included the teleomorph from burrs (perithecia, asci, ascospore characters), and the anamorph in culture (colony, conidiomata and conidia characters). The RNA polymerase II (rpb2), internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 3 2 encompassing the 5.8S rDNA (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α), and beta-tubulin (β-tubulin) gene loci were sequenced and analysed in the context of the Diaporthales Nannf., Gnomoniaceae Winter. and Gnomoniopsis Berl. All of the chestnut rot isolates, ascospore isolates, and endophyte isolates on Castanea sativa, and Castanea crenata x C. sativa hybrids in Australia (NSW and VIC) were identified as G. smithogilvyi. An ITS phylogeny analysing the G. smithogilvyi isolates from the current Australian study with isolates of Gnomoniopsis on C. sativa from India, C. sativa from Italy, and C. crenata, C. sativa, and Castanea sp. from New Zealand (Chapter 3) grouped the Australian isolates, the Indian isolates, 17 of the 19 Italian isolates, and 3 of the 4 New Zealand isolates in the same lineage with 100% maximum parsimony (MP) bootstrap support, and 1.0 Bayesian posterior probability (BP). This suggests all these isolates belong to the genus Gnomoniopsis, and are highly likely to be G. smithogilvyi. A multi-gene phylogeny needs to be completed with all of these isolates to unequivocally determine if they are G. smithogilvyi. One of the 4 New Zealand isolates grouped with Gnomoniopsis paraclavulata in this analysis indicating that there is likely to be more than one species of Gnomoniopsis on Castanea spp. in New Zealand. Subsequent to the publication of G. smithogilvyi (Shuttleworth et al. 2012a), Gnomonia pascoe prov. nom. and a recently published taxon reported as the casual agent of nut rot of Castanea sativa in Italy, Gnomoniopsis castanea were all found to be synonyms of G. smithogilvyi based on 4 morphology and a two gene phylogeny (ITS, tef1-α) (Chapter 3). Chapters 3, 4 and 5 isolated the G. smithogilvyi in its anamorph form from rotten chestnuts, in its teleomorph form as a saprobe on dead burrs, and as an endophyte isolated from asymptomatic floral and vegetative chestnut tissues. Historically, there has been significant movement of chestnuts and budwood from Europe to Australia. It is therefore possible that the G. smithogilvyi was imported to Australia from Europe. The fungus could also potentially have been introduced from Japan, China, or the USA as Castanea from these countries have all been transported to Australia. There is also a possibility that the fungus has an endemic Australian origin. Further work with native plant species needs to be completed to determine if this is the case. The fungus could also have been transported between orchards in Australia and New Zealand by exchange of chestnuts and budwood between the two countries. G. smithogilvyi was isolated as an endophyte from various vegetative and floral tissues of Castanea in December 2008, and February, April, August, and December 2009 from an orchard in Mullion Creek, NSW (Chapter 4). The ranking of highest to lowest isolation frequency in chestnut tissues was female flowers (December 2008), mature burr equators, mature pedicels, living male flowers, dead male flowers, terminal leaf margins (April 2009), dead styles, dormant terminal buds, immature burr equators, pedicels (February 2009), leaf mid-veins, current-year stems (August 2009, 5 February 2009), and mature shell equators (April 2009). All other tissue types had ≤20% isolation frequency including current-year stems (December 2008, April 2009), 2 year-old stems, petioles, mature kernels, female flowers (December 2009), immature shell equators, living male flowers (December 2009) and 3 and 4 year-old bark. The endophyte was not isolated from 3 and 4 year-old xylem. There was a decreasing trend of isolation with increasing age of chestnut tissues in four of the five months. There was also a 72% reduction in isolation frequency from female flowers between 2008 (82%) and 2009 (10%), indicating a dynamic distribution of the fungus in chestnut flowers that changes over time. It also suggests a seasonal infection of female chestnut flowers. All tested varieties (DM, PP, RS) had the chestnut rot endophyte isolated from their tissues, indicating that they have the potential to be affected by chestnut rot. The observation of chestnut rot perithecia on burrs is central to the hypothesis of a floral infection by ascospores. This study observed G. smithogilvyi on dead burrs and branches in Mullion Creek, NSW (Chapters 3, 4). This observation of perithecia and ascospores on burrs supports the hypothesis of a floral infection. Ascospore infection of chestnut flowers has previously been found to be the primary stage of infection leading to chestnut rot. In this study ascospores were captured on PDA plates in a closed chamber laboratory experiment with chestnut burrs containing overwintered perithecia and ascospores of the G. smithogilvyi (Chapter 5). Three 6 colonies of the G. smithogilvyi anamorph grew in the second week of incubation. The incubation temperature was stable for the duration of the experiment at 23oC, suggesting fluctuations in temperature are not required for ascospore release, with moisture and humidity likely to be more important. A isolate that was grown from an ascospore was identified using morphological and molecular techniques. A segment of the ITS region of rDNA was sequenced and analysed. The captured ascospore isolate was morphologically identical to G. smithogilvyi, and it grouped next to G. smithogilvyi in the maximum parsimony (MP) ITS phylogenetic tree indicating the isolate is G. smithogilvyi. This experiment indicates that ascospores are released from the dead burrs into the air where they can potentially infect chestnut flowers, again supporting the floral infection hypothesis. Ascospores were found to be the primary source of inoculum in the infection of chestnut flowers, leaves and stems in December, leading to chestnut rot symptoms the following year. Chestnut rot ascospores were captured using a Burkard Volumetric Spore-Trap in an orchard in Mullion Creek, NSW (Chapter 5). The instrument was also used to determine daily patterns in ascospore capture from the orchard atmosphere. The highest mean hourly frequency of ascospore capture was 165 ascospores per m3 of air at 10pm. The time period of peak ascospore capture was between 8-11 pm and between 7-9 am. These times of ascospore capture correspond to sunset and the hours following sunset, and the hours following sunrise. No rain fell during the sampling 7 period, indicating ascospores are released even in the absence of rain. Flotation disease grading is a post-harvest method used to separate rotten chestnuts from healthy ones. Chestnuts that float are considered rotten, those that sink considered healthy. An experiment was carried out to investigate the effectiveness of flotation disease grading as a post-harvest method of removing chestnuts affected by chestnut rot (Chapter 6). Hot water treatment of chestnuts has also been found to be effective against fungal growth on chestnut shells and therefore a desirable treatment method used in combination with flotation disease grading. The temperatures tested were 4oC, 30oC, 50oC, 60oC, and 70oC. Both floating and sinking chestnuts were affected by chestnut rot. The method was most discriminating with water at 70oC, although 22 out of 80 of the chestnuts that sank were rotten in this treatment. The method was observed to work well on chestnuts that are highly desiccated, but less effectively on chestnuts with minor chestnut rot symptoms. However, there are many more rotten non-desiccated chestnuts than desiccated ones. This is a problem because non-desiccated rotten chestnuts increase in chestnut rot with increasing time in storage, especially after 60 days (Anderson 1993). Flotation disease grading needs to be used with caution as the method can potentially reduce grower profits by identifying healthy chestnuts as rotten and mis-identifying rotten chestnuts as healthy. Potential losses from mis-identified chestnuts in this experiment was calculated as 160-260 kg of chestnuts per metric tonne (t), valued at $800-$1300 per t.

Salinity is a limiting factor for rice production globally. Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) is highly sensitive to salinity. I studied the salt tolerance of Australian wild Oryza species to identify diversity in salt tolerance and target genes for molecular breeding. I first performed two physiological salt-screening experiments on nine wild accessions from a range of sites across northern Australia for growth responses to NaCl up to 120 mM. Screens at 40–100 mM NaCl revealed considerable variation in salt sensitivity in accessions of O. meridionalis (Om) and O. australiensis (Oa). Growth of an Oa accession (Oa-VR) was especially salt tolerant compared with other accessions, including a salt-tolerant ‘control’ of O. sativa, Pokkali. At 80 mM NaCl, the shoot Na+/K+ ratio was the lowest in Oa-VR and Pokkali. An image-based screen was then conducted to quantify plant responses to different levels of salinity over 30 d. This revealed striking levels of salt tolerance supporting the earlier screens. Root membrane fractions of two Oa accessions with contrasting salinity tolerance (Oa-VR and Oa-D) were subjected to quantitative proteomics to identify candidate proteins contributing to salt tolerance. Plants were exposed to 80 mM NaCl for 30 d. Root proteins were analysed via tandem mass tag (TMT) labelling. Gene Ontology (GO) annotations of differentially abundant proteins showed those in the categories ‘metabolic process’, ‘transport’ and ‘transmembrane transporter’ were highly responsive to salt. mRNA quantification validated the elevated protein abundances of a monosaccharide transporter and a VAMP-like antiporter in the salt-tolerant genotype. The importance of these two proteins was confirmed by measuring growth responses to salt in two yeast mutants in which genes homologous to those encoding these two proteins in rice had been knocked out. This study provided insights into physiological and molecular mechanisms of salinity responses in Australian native rice species.

The word 'marijuana' was introduced to Australia by the US Bureau of Narcotics via the Diggers newspaper, Smith's Weekly, in 1938. Marijuana was said to be 'a new drug that maddens victims' and it was sensationally described as an 'evil sex drug'. The resulting tabloid furore saw the plant cannabis sativa banned in Australia, even though cannabis had been a well-known and widely used drug in Australia for many decades. In 1964, a massive infestation of wild cannabis was found growing along a stretch of the Hunter River between Singleton and Maitland in New South Wales. The explosion in Australian marijuana use began there. It was fuelled after 1967 by US soldiers on rest and recreation leave from Vietnam. It was the Baby-Boomer young who were turning on. Pot smoking was overwhelmingly associated with the generation born in the decade after the Second World War. As the conflict over the Vietnam War raged in Australia, it provoked intense generational conflict between the Baby-Boomers and older generations. Just as in the US, pot was adopted by Australian Baby-Boomers as their symbol; and, as in the US, the attack on pot users served as code for an attack on the young, the Left, and the alternative. In 1976, the 'War on Drugs' began in earnest in Australia with paramilitary attacks on the hippie colonies at Cedar Bay in Queensland and Tuntable Falls in New South Wales. It was a time of increasing US style prohibition characterised by 'tough-on-drugs' right-wing rhetoric, police crackdowns, numerous murders, and a marijuana drought followed quickly by a heroin plague; in short by a massive worsening of 'the drug problem'. During this decade, organised crime moved into the pot scene and the price of pot skyrocketed, reaching $450 an ounce in 1988. Thanks to the Americanisation of drugs policy, the black market made 'a killing'. In Marijuana Australiana I argue that the 'War on Drugs' developed -- not for health reasons -- but for reasons of social control; as a domestic counter-revolution against the Whitlamite, Baby-Boomer generation by older Nixonite Drug War warriors like Queensland Premier, Bjelke-Petersen. It was a misuse of drugs policy which greatly worsened drug problems, bringing with it American-style organised crime. As the subtitle suggests, Marijuana Australiana relies significantly on 'alternative' sources, and I trawl the waters of popular culture, looking for songs, posters, comics and underground magazines to produce an 'underground' history of cannabis in Australia. This 'pop' approach is balanced with a hard-edged, quantitative analysis of the size of the marijuana market, the movement of price, and the seizure figures in the section called 'History By Numbers'. As Alfred McCoy notes, we need to understand drugs as commodities. It is only through a detailed understanding of the drug trade that the deeper secrets of this underground world can be revealed. In this section, I present an economic history of the cannabis market and formulate three laws of the market.

[Truncated abstract] In southern Western Australia the replacement of deep-rooted native vegetation with annual species has resulted in rising water tables and increased salinity due to insufficient water use. The area has a Mediterranean-type climate where rainfall during summer is generally low but variable resulting in limited plant growth. However, if rainfall does occur it potentially can contribute to to the increased water excess or drainage by increasing the soil water content before the main drainage period in winter. The first study investigated factors controlling soil water content changes during the fallow (December to May) in annual farming systems. This was achieved by examining variation in available soil water storage to a depth of 1.0-1.5 m at three sites within 13 seasons. Reasons for the variation were examined using the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM). This study also investigated the relationship between soil water content at the end of the fallow period (1 May) and the amount of drainage below 2.5 m by using APSIM coupled to historical weather records at three locations. At the end of the fallow a mean of 24 mm (or 25%) of rainfall during the fallow was retained in the soil. Losses of soil water during the fallow were due to evaporation (mean of 60 mm), transpiration from plant cover (mean of 12 mm) and drainage below the root zone and run off (combined mean of 13 mm). Soil water accumulation during the fallow period had a significant impact on simulated drainage under wheat in the following growing season. Every 1 mm increase in soil wetness at the end of the fallow resulted in a 0.7-1 mm increase in simulated drainage during the growing season. ... Variation in the water excess due to variation in rainfall was greater than the reduction in water excess due to lucerne. This makes the decisions about when to grow lucerne to reduce water excess difficult if livestock enterprises are less profitable than cropping enterprises. The findings of this PhD indicate that lucerne does have a place in Mediterranean-type environments because of its greater water use than current farming practices. However, its use needs to be strategic and the strategy will vary from region to region. For example, in the low rainfall region lucerne sowings need to be matched with high soil water contents and phase length will generally be short (2-3 years). In comparison at high rainfall regions lucerne will need to be grown for longer or combined with other strategies to increase water use.

The word 'marijuana' was introduced to Australia by the US Bureau of Narcotics via the Diggers newspaper, Smith's Weekly, in 1938. Marijuana was said to be 'a new drug that maddens victims' and it was sensationally described as an 'evil sex drug'. The resulting tabloid furore saw the plant cannabis sativa banned in Australia, even though cannabis had been a well-known and widely used drug in Australia for many decades. In 1964, a massive infestation of wild cannabis was found growing along a stretch of the Hunter River between Singleton and Maitland in New South Wales. The explosion in Australian marijuana use began there. It was fuelled after 1967 by US soldiers on rest and recreation leave from Vietnam. It was the Baby-Boomer young who were turning on. Pot smoking was overwhelmingly associated with the generation born in the decade after the Second World War. As the conflict over the Vietnam War raged in Australia, it provoked intense generational conflict between the Baby-Boomers and older generations. Just as in the US, pot was adopted by Australian Baby-Boomers as their symbol; and, as in the US, the attack on pot users served as code for an attack on the young, the Left, and the alternative. In 1976, the 'War on Drugs' began in earnest in Australia with paramilitary attacks on the hippie colonies at Cedar Bay in Queensland and Tuntable Falls in New South Wales. It was a time of increasing US style prohibition characterised by 'tough-on-drugs' right-wing rhetoric, police crackdowns, numerous murders, and a marijuana drought followed quickly by a heroin plague; in short by a massive worsening of 'the drug problem'. During this decade, organised crime moved into the pot scene and the price of pot skyrocketed, reaching $450 an ounce in 1988. Thanks to the Americanisation of drugs policy, the black market made 'a killing'. In Marijuana Australiana I argue that the 'War on Drugs' developed -- not for health reasons -- but for reasons of social control; as a domestic counter-revolution against the Whitlamite, Baby-Boomer generation by older Nixonite Drug War warriors like Queensland Premier, Bjelke-Petersen. It was a misuse of drugs policy which greatly worsened drug problems, bringing with it American-style organised crime. As the subtitle suggests, Marijuana Australiana relies significantly on 'alternative' sources, and I trawl the waters of popular culture, looking for songs, posters, comics and underground magazines to produce an 'underground' history of cannabis in Australia. This 'pop' approach is balanced with a hard-edged, quantitative analysis of the size of the marijuana market, the movement of price, and the seizure figures in the section called 'History By Numbers'. As Alfred McCoy notes, we need to understand drugs as commodities. It is only through a detailed understanding of the drug trade that the deeper secrets of this underground world can be revealed. In this section, I present an economic history of the cannabis market and formulate three laws of the market.

This chapter provides an overview of the nature and definition of parody in the context of copyright law. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has introduced two requirements that must be satisfied before a work may be considered a ‘parody’: firstly, it must ‘evoke an existing work while being noticeably different from it’, and secondly, it must ‘constitute an expression of humour or mockery’. The chapter first traces the origin and history of parody in the arts, including music, before discussing the relationship of parody with concepts such as satire, caricature, and pastiche. It then examines why a parody exception has been considered necessary in copyright law. The chapter goes on to analyse the legal evolution of parody in France, Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, showing that the existing international human rights framework may influence the definition of parody in intellectual property law.

Although Dawn of the Dead polarized critics and shocked audiences, the biggest challenge it posed was to the film industry’s regulatory bodies, as this chapter discusses. Dawn of the Dead’s financial success as an unrated film undermined the MPAA rating system, putting pressure on the MPAA to make changes to the system, which eventually resulted in the replacement of the “X”-rating with the “NC-17”. In Britain – according to then BBFC president James Ferman – Dawn of the Dead was considered a threat in terms of confronting the BBFC with “violence never before passed by the Board.” In Ontario, Canada it suffered severe cuts; and in Australia it was initially banned. Part of the threat Dawn of the Dead posed to these regulatory bodies arose because of its status as an independent film. The chapter argues that studio films, such as Friday the 13^th (1979) were felt by the regulators to be mitigated by their essentially conservative moral messages; Romero’s satire of consumer-capitalism was, by contrast, ideologically troubling to censors.

This chapter explores the sequels to George Miller's Mad Max (1979): Mad Max 2 (1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). It also looks at the influence of Mad Max. Mad Max's cultural credentials are evident in the array of films, television shows, music videos, and art installations it influenced, or on works which make direct reference to it. The chapter then studies the video essay Terror Nullius (2018), which was commissioned by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. This playful video essay uses footage from Mad Max to satirise Mel Gibson and denounce his misogynistic, racist rants. The chapter also considers the relationship between Mad Max and The Rover (2014). The Mad Max comparisons largely stem from the fact that The Rover is also set in the future and is situated around a great shift in the country's fortunes. And, as with Mad Max, the future is stripped down and desolate, hinting at rather than showing social decay.

In the article investigational three magazines which went out after Second World war in Germany and Austria in the environment of the Ukrainian emigrants, is «Theater» (edition of association of artists of the Ukrainian stage), «Student flag» (a magazine of the Ukrainian academic young people is in Austria), «Young friends» (a plastoviy magazine is for senior children and youth). The thematic structure of magazines, which is inferior the association of different on age, is considered, by vital experience and professional orientation of people in the conditions of the forced emigration, paid regard to graphic registration of magazines, which, without regard to absence of the proper publisher-polydiene bases, marked structuralness and expressiveness. A repertoire of periodicals of Ukrainian migration is in the American, English and French areas of occupation of Germany and Austria after Second world war, which consists of 200 names, strikes the tipologichnoy vseokhopnistyu and testifies to the high intellectual level of the moved persons, desire of yaknaynovishe, to realize the considerable potential in new terms with hope on transference of the purchased experience to Ukraine. On ruins of Europe for two-three years the network of the press, which could be proud of the European state is separately taken, is created. Different was a period of their appearance: from odnogo-dvokh there are to a few hundred numbers, that it is related to intensive migration of Ukrainians to the USA, Canada, countries of South America, Australia. But indisputable is a fact of forming of conceptions of newspapers and magazines, which it follows to study, doslidzhuvati and adjust them to present Ukrainian realities. Here not superfluous will be an example of a few editions on the thematic range of which the names – «Plastun» specify, «Skob», «Mali druzi», «Sonechko», «Yunackiy shliah», «Iyzhak», «Lys Mykyta» (satire, humour), «Literaturna gazeta», «Ukraina і svit», «Ridne slovo», «Hrystyianskyi shliah», «Golos derzhavnyka», «Ukrainskyi samostiynyk», «Gart», «Zmag» (sport), «Litopys politviaznia», «Ukrains’ka shkola», «Torgivlia i promysel», «Gospodars’ko-kooperatyvne zhyttia», «Ukrainskyi gospodar», «Ukrainskyi esperantist», «Radiotehnik», «Politviazen’», «Ukrainskyi selianyn» Considering three riznovektorni magazines «Teatr» (edition of Association Mistciv the Ukrainian Stage), «Studentskyi prapor» (a magazine of the Ukrainian academic young people is in Austria), «Yuni druzi» (a plastoviy magazine is for senior children and youth) assert that maintenance all three magazines directed on creation of different on age and by the professional orientation of national associations for achievement of the unique purpose – cherishing and maintainance of environments of ukrainstva, identity, in the conditions of strange land. Without regard to unfavorable publisher-polydiene possibilities, absence of financial support and proper encouragement, release, followed the intensive necessity of concentration of efforts for achievement of primary purpose – receipt and re-erecting of the Ukrainian State.