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Environmental Policy in Australia: a Photojoumal

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Environmental Policy in Australia: a Photojoumal Environmental Policy in Australia: A Photojoumal Bridgette Portman January 6, 2005 Western Washington University WESTERN ______B WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY______________________________An equal opportunity university Honors Program HONORS THESIS In presenting this Honors paper in partial requirements for a bachelor ’s degree at Western Washington University, I agree that the Library shall make its copies freely available for inspection. I further agree that extensive copying of this thesis is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood that any publication of this thesis for commercial purposes or for financial gain shall not be allowed without mv written permission. Signatu re Date I Introduction This past sununer, as a participant in the International Student Volunteers program, I had the opportunity to travel across the Pacific and to work with an Australian environmental organization in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. My unforgettable experience allowed me to make a lasting contribution to the local environment as well as to take part in a number of very memorable activities —scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, gliding through the canopy of North Queensland’s tropical rainforests, flying in a small plane over the largest sand island in the world, and seeing the national capital and Parliament of a foreign countiy, among other things. It also inspired me, as a political science major, to learn more about how Australia’s government manages its natural resources and addresses environmental challenges, mainly at the federal, or Commonwealth, level. International Student Volunteers (ISV) is a non-profit organization committed to advancing environmental and humanitarian goals through the efforts of students from universities throughout the United States. In addition to volunteer work directed toward either conservation or community development, ISV programs feature “Adventure Tours” during which participants are able to see and experience places of environmental significance in their host countries. These objectives are reflected in the organization’s stated purpose: “To create an environment that combines conservation, education and recreation into the ultimate adventure travel program for students who desire to make a difference by volunteering in local communities abroad” (ISV, 2004). ISV currently offers programs in Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. 1 learned about the organization in the fall of2003, when representatives from ISV gave a classroom presentation at Western Washington University. I thought that it would be a wonderful opportunity to travel and to help the environment. I applied and was accepted into the Australia program; it was a country that 1 had always wanted to visit, principally because of its unique 1 ecosystems. There were a number of specific volunteer projects available as part of the Australia program, all of which were conservation-based, and 1 was assigned at random to work on a tree­ planting project organized by Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), an Australian non-profit organization. My group departed for Australia on August 18,2004 and stayed for one month. Our first two weeks were spent in the state of New South Wales working on the volunteer project with CVA, and the remainder of our time was spent on an Adventure Tour, during which we traveled to Cairns, Cape Tribulation, Airlie Beach, Fraser Island, Byron Bay, and Sydney. This paper is presented in the form of a photographic journal; each entry details the activities in which I participated that day and presents further information regarding environmental policy in Australia. Most of the photographs were taken with a digital camera, although I used an underwater or regular disposable camera for some shots. All photographs were taken by me or of me, and were taken on the date in which they appearin the journal, unless otherwise indicated. The last section of this paper discusses Australia’s environmental policy in broader terms. For the purposes of this paper, I will define environmental policy as laws or programs enacted to protect, prevent the depletion of, or restore a natural habitat, species, ecosystem, resource, or related element of the natural environment. 1 will generally use the terms “environmental protection,” “environmental sustainability, ” and “conservation” interchangeably when referring to the objective of such policies. Although Australia has made significant advances in environmental protection since the 1970s, it does not consistently rank well in international comparisons, and many critics advocate a stronger, more active role for the Conunonwealth Government in order to reverse environmentally destructive trends. 2 Our Conservation Project Wednesday, Aug. 18,2004— Our ISV orientation program was held this morning and afternoon in Los Angeles, California. Participating students from universities throughout the United States gathered at the Quality Hotel, all dragging backpacks and suitcases heavy with supplies for the trip. I felt particularly weighed down, as I was bringing my laptopcomputer in addition to a large backpack and a smaller one. Volunteers bound for New Zealand and Costa Rica attended the orientation in addition to the 43, including myself, who were traveling to Australia. I was introduced to the six other students in my particular project group: Ilynne Bayan (from California), Jane Hsu (California), Jenny Marmion (New York), Sandy Meier>Schwandt (Wisconsin), Whitney Willis (California), and Patrice Woida (Oregon). During the orientation, which was conducted by ISV leaders, we played games to get to know each other and learned about what to expect and what was expectedof us in the month ahead. Later that night I departed for LAX airport with my project group; our flight left at 10:30 p.m. We were all veiy excited about the journey upon which we were embarking. This would be my first time traveling to another continent and crossing the equator. 3 Timor Sea Gutfo# <-<nx- '■V* , Carp^ntanap, ff'j-' -JjCt Pacific Ocean ''' ■•'•S^r'/ t,’’'*- indian Ocean fane,Til ■'>r IJ k'T % DeMrt Northern I - .Y Territory ^ Karumba Coral Sea Pori Hediand JS-.-'l,!*., f ■ Tcfuiani Credc Moeddmeff '‘^.Aljce : Springs : Rockhampton nyi-J Smojcnl Camarwon '^Rock Ocz^r. I ■ _ I Western Bhrlsvinc Australia Brisbane Gfwit Vjcrcirid ^Goid Coast Lisnore South Australia on Augusta Sydi^’*^•^ ‘=*5**® 'Wollongong Albany Speru r.: G ^tiri^rac is'C'^ Canberra Indian Ocean n“ Adelaide Melboum^K'^^'^' Territory ts Geelong , _ Vjaoria .• V I OJ-’ . (,.r|i<r- .-"ri •ii«j'''.’ * jV.'l 'n.-’ B Tas-nap Sea nobart FIGURE 1: Map of Australia, showing major cities and landfoims Thursday, Aug. 19— We “skipped” this day due to flying over the International Date Line. The flight was fourteen-and-a-half hours long, and it was night the entire time. Each seat had a television screen built into the back, and we were able to watch movies and television and play games such as Tetris and trivia, which helped to pass the time. One student in our group, Ben, was unfortunate enough to have his 21®^ birthday fall on this skippedday. He could only celebrate for about one hour before it became August 20. Although I had always been interested in Australia, I realized that I was soon to arrive in a country about which I actually knew veiy little. I was aware that Australia was both the Earth’s largest island and its smallest continent. I would later learn that it was the flattest continent and 4 also the hottest and driest, although we would not be visiting the arid interior. The value of Australia’s environment to conservationists has much to do with its uniqueness; because of the continent’s isolation over the past fifty million years, eighty percent of the animals and plants that evolved here exist nowhere else on Earth (Bryson, 2001, p. 7). There are also many places, including Fraser Island, the Blue Mountains, and the northeastern rainforests, in which very ancient plant species can be found. Some of these “relic” varieties of palms, ferns, and trees were once glimpsed by the eyes of the dinosaurs, and are an invaluable source of information about prehistoric ecosystems. Sharing Australia’s environment with its unique animals and ancient plants are about 20.2 million people (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). The majority are concentrated on the eastern and southeastern coasts, which are less arid and more habitable dian the interior of the continent; 84 percent of the population is concentrated in the most densely inhabited one percent of land area (Vernon, 2000, p. 1). Like the United States, Australia is a federal nation. It consists of six states—New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia—and two major territories, the Northern Territoiy and the Australian Capital Territoiy, the latter containing the national capital, Canberra. Australia’s federalism is expedientgiven the vast size of the country, but it also imbues policymaking with the complexity inherent in the division of power between the Federal, or Commonwealth, and State Governments. Australia’s system of government is a parliamentary democracy based upon the British, or Westminster, model. The Head of State is the Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth n, who is represented in Australia by the Governor-General. The powers of this official are generally only ceremonial, including rubber-stamping the acts passed by the Parliament, the elected legislative body. The Parliament is bicameral, with its upper and lower chambers termed the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively. As in the U.S, each state’s number of Representatives is proportionalto its population, while each elects an equal number of Senators. The head of the 5 T 0 FIGURE 2: Map of Australia, showing states, territories, and capitals icJ 6. SjWropIcal tiopn and puns ■Ji FIGURE 3: Australia’s climate Executive branch of government is the Prime Minister, who is the leader of the political party that holds a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.
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