Is the cure worse than the disease?

The dangers of lead in the environment are well understood, but unleaded petrol can cause problems of its own.

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Proposals for a new wind turbine site on Robbins Island raise questions about the environmental trade-offs involved even in renewable energy production.

It’s a gas, gas, gas

Victoria’s state government has rejected a plan by AGL to establish a floating liquid natural gas import terminal at Crib Point in Western Port, but is it the right decision?

After the deluge

The impact of recent floods in NSW have shown how landscape changes induced by natural events, climate change and human activity affect water quality and make water supplies for our fast growing cities less reliable.

Lead – but not easily

The Victorian state planning minister has intervened to approve a secondary lead smelter in the Latrobe Valley following the refusal of the local council to issue a permit, but are environmental objections justified?

A heretical view of energy ‘indulgences’

Policy makers should guard against a ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ in the vexed area of energy policy, where individuals acting in their own interest cause significant collective harm.

The man from Inverbrackie

In the 1890s, near Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, a ghost appeared and threatened passers-by on the road to Inverbrackie – has his spirit returned to haunt us again today?

Gippsland lakes revisited

Incorporating traditional cultural values – such as the idea of soil being a living entity – into science can help restore land and water habitats in the Gippsland Lakes and elsewhere.

Has the law been a casualty of COVID?

The unprecedented social restrictions – backed by the full force of the law – in Victoria and the rest of Australia raise some tricky questions about the rights of citizens, the power of politicians and the effectiveness of our government system.

Complying with Victorian guidelines on using recycled water

Major amendments to Victoria’s Environment Protection Act are expected to be passed in 2021, and this paper offers professionals and others a standard method for calculating infrastructure requirements in agricultural water recycling proposals.

A sporting chance for liberty

The over-regulation of Australian Rules football is an example of the nanny state nature of Australia itself. Simplifying the rules of sport and life, rather than adding to them, might produce better outcomes for us all.

Look before you leap to a republic

Revived calls for a Republic of Australia ignore the fact that it could prove less functional than our constitutional monarchy, making democratic change all the more difficult to achieve.