Blurred Lines or Stark Contrasts: Are By-laws to Restrict Short-Term Holiday Letting Permissible in Queensland Community Titles Schemes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Pocock

Complex laws regulate the development and management of Queensland community titles schemes. Different legislative regimes co-exist, including the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (Qld) (‘BCCM Act’) and its predecessor, the Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 (Qld) (‘BUGT Act’). This article considers by-laws under the BUGT Act regulating short-term holiday letting post the decisions in Fairway Island GTP v Redman [2019] QMC 13 and Redman v The Proprietors – Fairway Island GTP 107328 [2020] QDC 68. It compares the BCCM Act and BUGT Act requirements and argues that similarities in by-law making powers under the two may appear to blur the divisions between them. However, the positions under each Act are in stark contrast, rendering the cases distinguishable for BCCM Act schemes, a desirable outcome. The article also explores arguments in favour of self-regulation, and the governmental response in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-62
Author(s):  
Vendula Belackova

With proliferating efforts to regulate the quality of cannabis on legalized markets, and recent discussions about drug quality assessment by darknet buyers, it seems timely to explore definitions of the quality of cannabis among consumers. An inductive analysis of in-depth interviews with people who had used cannabis in the past 12 months was conducted, which focused on the respondents’ subjective definitions and assessments of the quality of cannabis. The data are drawn from convenience samples in four localities (Florida [United States], Czechia, Spain, and New South Wales [Australia]) where cannabis was illegal or decriminalized. The findings suggest that the respondents across all four localities used a range of visual and sensory indicators to assess the quality of cannabis. For many respondents, these were independent indicators of the quality of cannabis suggesting that cannabis was not merely an “experience” good. For others, visual and sensory assessments were used as indirect indicators of quality in that they represented the effect of the cannabis. The desired effect was more complex than simple potency (strength) and several respondents preferred mild and not-sedating cannabis. Across the four localities, the respondents also included “proxy” indicators of the safety of cannabis in their definitions of quality. In other words, high-quality cannabis was defined as not causing excessive intoxication or physical harm. Altogether, cannabis was a specific “credence” good when its quality was seen as a result of cultivation techniques, production location, or producers’ (profit) motivations - depending on the locality. These findings suggest that cannabis policies that regulate the cultivation process can be relevant to people who use cannabis. Given that consumers take the safety of cannabis into consideration when assessing its quality, their involvement in the development of quality standards is warranted. Consumer-led self-regulation should also be considered in policies that seek to regulate cannabis supply.


1967 ◽  
Vol 7 (28) ◽  
pp. 412
Author(s):  
JP Drinan ◽  
RB Dun

The association between the face cover and productivity of more than 3000 Merino ewes has been examined in 12 flocks located in the major sheep producing areas of New South Wales. Each flock was divided into Open (scores 1 and 2), Moderate (scores 3 and 4), and Muffled (scores 5 and 6) groups. A significant negative association between face cover and reproductive performance was apparent in two flocks that contained appreciable numbers of muffled-faced ewes. A similar trend was apparent in another Muffled flock, but in one other Muffled flock and four Open flocks, there was no evidence of such an association. The results from the remaining four flocks were not considered, due to the possibility that the results were confounded by face cover scoring after joining. In one Muffled flock, the body weights of weaner lambs were negatively correlated with their dams' face cover. A relationship between face cover score and total greasy fleece weight, corrected for previous reproductive performance, was absent from most flocks and negative in two, despite evidence of a positive correlation with belly weight. There was a trend to inferior fleeces of finer trade count in Moderate and Muffled groups of several flocks. Excess face cover was found to be an undesirable attribute in Merino flocks. Its importance was greatest in flocks containing appreciable numbers of muffled-faced ewes


2019 ◽  
pp. 174889581986851 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke McNamara ◽  
Julia Quilter ◽  
Russell Hogg ◽  
Arlie Loughnan ◽  
Heather Douglas ◽  
...  

Criminalisation theory scholars have examined important questions regarding what behaviours should be criminalised and why. More recently, greater attention has been paid to linking normative accounts with empirical and historicised analyses of criminalisation practices. Building on recent work on modalities of criminalisation as a methodological tool for contextual criminalisation research, this article introduces a second analytical approach for better understanding how criminal laws are made: processes of criminalisation. We discuss the findings of a pilot study of 143 criminal law statutes enacted in three Australian jurisdictions (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria) from 2012–2017. We conclude that a processes approach supports a nuanced appreciation of the conditions under which criminal law statutes are produced, and facilitates scrutiny of whether legislative enactments are evidence-based and a product of meaningful consultation and genuine democratic participation in law-making.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhirup Dikshit ◽  
Biswajeet Pradhan ◽  
Abdullah M. Alamri

Droughts can cause significant damage to agriculture and water resources, leading to severe economic losses and loss of life. One of the most important aspect is to develop effective tools to forecast drought events that could be helpful in mitigation strategies. The understanding of droughts has become more challenging because of the effect of climate change, urbanization and water management; therefore, the present study aims to forecast droughts by determining an appropriate index and analyzing its changes, using climate variables. The work was conducted in three different phases, first being the determination of Standard Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI), using global climatic dataset of Climate Research Unit (CRU) from 1901–2018. The indices are calculated at different monthly intervals which could depict short-term or long-term changes, and the index value represents different drought classes, ranging from extremely dry to extremely wet. However, the present study was focused only on forecasting at short-term scales for New South Wales (NSW) region of Australia and was conducted at two different time scales, one month and three months. The second phase involved dividing the data into three sample sizes, training (1901–2010), testing (2011–2015) and validation (2016–2018). Finally, a machine learning approach, Random Forest (RF), was used to train and test the data, using various climatic variables, e.g., rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, cloud cover, vapor pressure and temperature (maximum, minimum and mean). The final phase was to analyze the performance of the model based on statistical metrics and drought classes. Regarding this, the performance of the testing period was conducted by using statistical metrics, Coefficient of Determination (R2) and Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) method. The performance of the model showed a considerably higher value of R2 for both the time scales. However, statistical metrics analyzes the variation between the predicted and observed index values, and it does not consider the drought classes. Therefore, the variation in predicted and observed SPEI values were analyzed based on different drought classes, which were validated by using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)-based Area under the Curve (AUC) approach. The results reveal that the classification of drought classes during the validation period had an AUC of 0.82 for SPEI 1 case and 0.84 for SPEI 3 case. The study depicts that the Random Forest model can perform both regression and classification analysis for drought studies in NSW. The work also suggests that the performance of any model for drought forecasting should not be limited only through statistical metrics, but also by examining the variation in terms of drought characteristics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Phillips

The effects of short-term disturbances that result in changes to movement patterns and/or behaviour of wildlife are poorly understood. In this study the movements of seven koalas were monitored before, during and after a five-day music festival. During the monitoring program koalas occupied home-range areas of 0.6–13 ha with one or more core areas of activity. Aversive behaviour in the form of evacuation of known ranging areas was demonstrated by three koalas that had core areas within 525 m of the approximate centre of the festival area, the associated responses comprising movements that were perpendicular to and away from staging areas where music was played. Responses contained within known ranging areas were observed in three other koalas whose core areas were located up to 600 m away. The type of response appeared related to the proximity of koala home ranges to music-staging areas, while the maximum distance associated with an aversive response was 725 m. Six of the radio-tracked koalas returned to their home-range areas following the conclusion of festival activities. While the specific stimulus eliciting aversive behaviour was not identified, responses in all instances were initiated during the musical phase of the festival event. The potential for short-term disturbances such as music festivals to significantly influence the ranging patterns of koalas warrants recognition of possible longer-term ecological consequences for planning and management purposes.


1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
HG Cogger

A field study of the thermal relationships of the small agamid lizard A. fordi has been carried out in two areas of mallee in central western New South Wales, where this lizard occurs only in close association with the grass Triodia scariosa. The body temperatures characteristic of various phases in this lizard's die1 cycle have been determined. The behavioural techniques employed to regulate temperature are described; they are similar to those used by a wide range of diurnal heliothermic lizards in other regions. The total effect of these thermoregulatory responses is to maintain an internal thermal environ- ment approaching homoiothermy while the lizard is active. For A. fordi the eccritic body temperature determined from animals in the field is 36.9+-0.16C. Lowering of activity thermal levels occurs in winter, and can be induced at any time by even mild starvation.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Brown

Saccocirrids (archiannelids) were collected from coarse-grained sediments in turbulent water from the central New South Wales coast. Saccocirrus jouinae, sp. nov., and S. tridentiger, sp, nov., are described, and S. krusadensis Alikunhi, 1948 newly recorded in Australia. In these species gonads occur only on the left side of the body and cilia are found on the ventral surface. Of the 17 species attributed to the Saccocirridae, seven species are known to have unilateral gonads and ventral ciliation. They occur only in the Indo-Pacific region. Species with gonads on both sides of the body have not been described with cilia on the ventral surface. Their distribution is world-wide.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Vicary ◽  
Mike Clare ◽  
Judy Tennant ◽  
Tine Hoult

Internationally, there is a growing trend for children and young people to participate in decisions affecting their lives (Bellamy 2002; Hart 1997). The active participation of children and young people is clearly articulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). However, despite the international movement towards children's participation, there are precious few opportunities for Australian children and young people to contribute to policy and research debate in a sustainable manner. A review of the literature demonstrates that there are few ongoing research or policy advisory groups made up of children and young people, and those that are operational are generally auspiced by Children's Commissioners (e.g. New South Wales) and policy offices addressing the issues of children and young people.In Western Australia, when children and young people are consulted, the dialogues tend to be short-term and issue-specific in nature. This paper will briefly discuss a number of techniques employed to engage Western Australian children and young people in dialogues about important issues affecting their lives. Using these examples, the barriers that challenge efficacious children's and young people's participation are discussed; finally, some suggested ways forward are delineated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean I. FitzGibbon ◽  
Amber K. Gillett ◽  
Ben J. Barth ◽  
Brendan Taylor ◽  
William A. Ellis

It is imperative that the reported results of scientific studies are based on sound data analyses and unbiased interpretation, especially where they may be used to guide government policy and regulation. A recent paper by Phillips (2016) evaluated the behavioural response of radio-collared koalas to an inaugural large music festival held in 2010 in northern New South Wales. The study concluded that six of seven koalas showed an aversive response. However, we regard the paper as misleading because it contains serious errors in the examination of koala home ranges and in the subsequent assessment of ‘aversive behaviour’ during the music festival. We conclude that Phillips’ paper is based on sufficient data to state that three, not six, of the koalas he studied displayed a short-term behavioural response to the music festival. These koalas temporarily moved outside of their estimated ranges during the festival period (10–80 m). Further, Phillips fails to report crucial ecological data regarding the high level of disease and mortality he recorded, which are presented in their entirety in the author’s prior, unpublished report. For the two deaths that are reported, no mention is made that these koalas had pre-existing disease. Rather, the author raises the possibility that the mortalities may have been related to festival-induced stress. The omission of such key data is prejudicial to the interpretation of results. The reported short-term impact of the festival upon some of the study animals is indeed noteworthy; however, it is apparent that the impact has been considerably overstated due to errors of analysis and the omission of critical ecological data. Our critique highlights our concerns by drawing on the author’s unpublished report as well as our own research at the same site over the past five years. Our aim is to ensure that debate over the impact of music festivals on wildlife is based on sound data analyses and unbiased interpretation, to provide guidance to relevant regulators and land managers.


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