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About the House, your free colour magazine
 About the House is a free colour feature magazine produced five times a year by the Liaison & Projects Office of the House of Representatives. It covers the varied work of Members of the House, especially Committee investigations.
The magazine is available through the offices of every Member of the House of Representatives, or can be ordered directly through the Liaison & Projects Office (tel: 02 6277 2122, email: liaison.reps@aph.gov.au).
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In Issue 22 (August 2004)
Cover story:
Feature articles:
Previous editions
Cover Story - August 2004:
The core of our being
The brain makes us who we are, so when disease strikes it affects the very core of our humanity. We need to know more about brain tumours, how to treat them and how to treat those who suffer them, say members from both sides of the House of Representatives. Story: Peter Cotton
Open a copy of Hansard, the official record of whats said in parliament, and at first glance it may seem a dry and legalistic document. A closer look will show that it also chronicles life stories which by their telling can greatly impact on the way we, as a nation, deal with an issue.
Hansard for the afternoon of May 31st this year records a speech by the Member for Blaxland (NSW), Michael Hatton, during which Mr Hatton told the House of Representatives how both his uncle Lenny and his stepson Robert died from brain tumours.
His account of suffering and loss not only evoked great empathy, it may help boost research funding and change treatment protocols for brain tumours.
Mr Hatton was one of six speakers who gave bipartisan support to a motion, sponsored by the Member for Shortland (NSW), Jill Hall, which sought to raise awareness of brain tumours.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
Keeping our eyes on the road
Thousands of Australians are killed or maimed on our roads every year. Trying to curb this tragic carnage is the bold ambition of a House of Representatives report on national road safety.
On average every year, about 1,700 Australians are killed in road accidents and many more are seriously injured with an economic cost of about $15 billion a year.
In 2003, 1,634 people died on Australian roads, said Transport Committee Chairman Paul Neville (Member for Hinkler, Qld).
While this was an improvement on the previous year, it still marks a worrying trendthe improvement in Australia's road safety record over the last two decades has levelled out.
Mr Neville said the report, National road safetyEyes on the road ahead,addresses a wide range of road safety issues.
It proposes a range of solutions to matters both big and small, all of which have the potential to save lives, he said.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
Pest busters
Pest animals are a major problem in Australia. Their impact on agriculture, and what needs to be done about them, is being investigated by the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee. Mike Braysher looks at the nature of the problem and how some pest management projects are working.
Australia has the dubious honour of having one of the richest assemblages of introduced animals in the world. Between 1840 and 1860 alone, more than 60 different species were introduced to Australia. Most were brought in by acclimatization societies that worked enthusiastically to spread the worlds useful and bountiful species. They included monkeys, mongoose, antelope, llama, banteng cattle, ostrich, pheasants and mute swan. Fortunately, most introductions failed despite actions to protect them, such as killing native predators including birds of prey. Other animals such as foxes, rabbits, deer, water buffalo and starlings did well and are now some of our most serious pests. As well as deliberate introductions, some animals became established accidentally: being domestic stock such as pigs, camels and goats; as well as pets and ornamental species such as cats and goldfish that escaped and established wild (feral) populations.
What makes an animal a pest? The answer may seem obvious but the reality is far more complex. Take feral pigs in far north Australia as an example. They are variously viewed as a pest of agriculture and the environment, an animal of commercial value for recreational hunting and commercial harvest, and an important animal for ceremonial occasions. Their status can even change from season to season. Some Queensland banana growers have said to me that pigs are great at cleaning up fallen fruit when the case price is low, but they want to trap and sell them when the price of bananas is high.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
Making urban sprawl work
Urban sprawl is one of the big challenges facing our cities. With the proper approach it can work, say submissions to a House of Representatives inquiry into sustainable cities.
They are popping up everywherenew urban developments, many on the fringes of our cities, as people move further and further from city centres to get their piece of the Australian dream.
The result is urban sprawl, which is copping the blame for many of the woes of modern day living. Because of urban sprawl were spending too much of our time stuck in traffic getting to and from work. Weve got more pollution because there are too many cars on our roads. Were getting fatter because its too far to walk to school or to the shops. Garbage trucks cant even fit down some of our streets. And we dont know our neighbours any more.
But some submissions to the House of Representatives Environment Committees inquiry into sustainable cities say urban sprawl doesnt need to be a dirty word.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
Delivering justice
Ninety per cent of funding for Aboriginal justice programs is spent on the criminal justice system. Its one of many statistics detailing the experiences of Indigenous Australians with the legal system. Submissions to a parliamentary inquiry give a deeper insight into the issues. Story: Chris Uhlmann
In December 1788, David Collins, Judge Advocate for the settlement of Port Jackson,noted in his journal that the colonists to New South Wales remarked with concern that the natives were becoming every day more troublesome and hostile.
The governor determined that one or two of those people should be seized and brought into the settlement, wrote Collins, so that they might learn to distinguish friends from enemies.
On December 30, the colonists captured a man who was subsequently clothed, a slight iron or manacle put on his wrist and a trusty convict appointed to take care of him.
Arabanoo was the first captive of the settlersa pioneer of a path to be trod by far too many of his people.
Two hundred and sixteen years on the tale of Aboriginal Australias encounters with the law can be measured by a sorry litany of statistics. Perhaps the most telling is that although they comprise roughly two per cent of the general population they make up 21 per cent of the prison population, or, to cut it another way, Indigenous Australians are 16 times more likely to go to jail than non-Indigenous Australians.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
Box office bondage
Success at the box office is both a motivator and task master for Australians working in the film, animation, special effects and electronic games industries. Sandy George gives her views on recent proposals from a House of Representatives committee to boost the success rate of our homegrown talent.
About 10 times as many American films as locally-made films are released into Australian cinemas annually. Each of those made by the Hollywood studios, on average, costs more than $50 million, has a worldwide print and advertising budget of more than $25 million, and is often star laden. All of the 19 Australian features made in 2002/2003 together cost only $49 million, would have been lucky to have $3 million between them to spend on marketing, and only Japanese Story had an international star, the homegrown Toni Collette.
Just this stark reality hints at how Hollywood pockets the vast bulk of the $866 million that Australians spend on movie tickets annually. That dominance flows into other screen-based media through television sets and DVD players in homes, computer screens and playstations.
To read the entire article, you can open this pdf document, or ask the Liaison & Projects Office for a copy of the magazine.
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