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Almost half the men surveyed think they could land a passenger plane. Experts disagree

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/guido-carim-junior-1379129">Guido Carim Junior</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-campbell-1414564">Chris Campbell</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-marques-1362476">Elvira Marques</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nnenna-ike-1490692">Nnenna Ike</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-ryley-1253269">Tim Ryley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>Picture this: you’re nestled comfortably in your seat cruising towards your holiday destination when a flight attendant’s voice breaks through the silence:</p> <blockquote> <p>Ladies and gentlemen, both pilots are incapacitated. Are there any passengers who could land this plane with assistance from air traffic control?</p> </blockquote> <p>If you think you could manage it, you’re not alone. <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2023/01/02/fd798/3">Survey results</a> published in January indicate about one-third of adult Americans think they could safely land a passenger aircraft with air traffic control’s guidance. Among male respondents, the confidence level rose to nearly 50%.</p> <p>Can a person with no prior training simply guide everyone to a smooth touchdown?</p> <p>We’ve all heard stories of passengers who saved the day when the pilot became unresponsive. For instance, last year <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbMoyWukjbs">Darren Harrison</a> managed to land a twin-engine aircraft in Florida – after the pilot passed out – with the guidance of an air traffic controller who also happened to be a flight instructor.</p> <p>However, such incidents tend to take place in small, simple aircraft. Flying a much bigger and heavier commercial jet is a completely different game.</p> <h2>You can’t always rely on autopilot</h2> <p>A pilot spends about 90% of their time monitoring autopilot systems and making sure everything is working as intended. The other 10% is spent managing problems, taxiing, taking off and landing.</p> <p>Takeoffs and landings are arguably the most difficult tasks pilots perform, and are always performed manually. Only on very few occasions, and in a handful of aircraft models, can a pilot use autopilot to land the aircraft for them. This is the exception, and not the rule.</p> <p>For takeoff, the aircraft must build up speed until the wings can generate enough lift to pull it into the air. The pilot must <a href="https://youtu.be/16XTAK-4Xbk?si=66yDo5g5I086Q2y2&amp;t=65">pay close attention</a> to multiple instruments and external cues, while keeping the aircraft centred on the runway until it reaches lift-off speed.</p> <p>Once airborne, they must coordinate with air traffic control, follow a particular path, retract the landing gear and maintain a precise speed and direction while trying to climb.</p> <p>Landing is even more complicated, and requires having precise control of the aircraft’s direction and descent rate.</p> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/u_it9OiTnSM?si=xNZrLB9ZH870LEa3&amp;t=360">To land successfully</a>, a pilot must keep an appropriate speed while simultaneously managing gear and flap configuration, adhering to air traffic regulations, communicating with air traffic control and completing a number of paper and digital checklists.</p> <p>Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power and adjust the rate of descent – ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway.</p> <p>On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nyx4NyMrvOs?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Both takeoff and landing are far too quick, technical and concentration-intensive for an untrained person to pull off. They also require a range of skills that are only gained through extensive training, such as understanding the information presented on different gauges, and being able to coordinate one’s hands and feet in a certain way.</p> <h2>Training a pilot</h2> <p>The journey from student to commercial pilot is a long one. It normally starts with a recreational licence, followed by a private licence, and then a commercial licence (which allows them to fly professionally).</p> <p>Even before stepping into a cockpit, the student must study aerodynamics, air law and flight rules, meteorology, human factors, navigation, aircraft systems, and performance and flight planning. They also need to spend time learning about the specific aircraft they will be flying.</p> <p>Once the fundamentals are grasped, an instructor takes them for training. Most of this training is conducted in small, lightweight aircraft – with a simulator introduced briefly towards the end.</p> <p>During a lesson, each manoeuvre or action is demonstrated by the instructor before the student attempts it. Their attempt may be adjusted, corrected or even terminated early in critical situations.</p> <p>The first ten to fifteen lessons focus on takeoff, landing, basic in-flight control and emergency management. When the students are ready, they’re allowed to “go solo” – wherein they conduct a complete flight on their own. This is a great milestone.</p> <p>After years of experience, they are ready to transition to a commercial aircraft. At this point they might be able to take off and land reasonably well, but they will still undergo extensive training specific to the aircraft they are flying, including hours of advanced theory, dozens of simulator sessions and hundreds of hours of real aircraft training (most of which is done with passengers onboard).</p> <p>So, if you’ve never even learned the basics of flying, your chances of successfully landing a passenger aircraft with air traffic control’s help are close to zero.</p> <h2>Yet, flying is a skill like any other</h2> <p>Aviation training has been democratised by the advent of high-end computers, virtual reality and flight simulation games such as Microsoft’s <a href="https://www.flightsimulator.com/">Flight Simulator</a> and <a href="https://www.x-plane.com/">X-Plane</a>.</p> <p>Anyone can now rig up a desktop flight simulator for a few thousand dollars. Ideally, such a setup should also include the basic physical controls found in a cockpit, such as a control yoke, throttle quadrant and pedals.</p> <p>Flight simulators provide an immersive environment in which professional pilots, students and aviation enthusiasts can develop their skills. So if you really think you could match-up against a professional, consider trying your hand at one.</p> <p>You almost certainly won’t be able to land an actual passenger plane by the end of it – but at least you’ll gain an appreciation for the immense skill pilots possess.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218037/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/guido-carim-junior-1379129"><em>Guido Carim Junior</em></a><em>, Senior Lecturer in Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/chris-campbell-1414564">Chris Campbell</a>, Adjunct Associate Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/elvira-marques-1362476">Elvira Marques</a>, Aviation PhD candidate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nnenna-ike-1490692">Nnenna Ike</a>, Research Assistant, Griffith Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-ryley-1253269">Tim Ryley</a>, Professor and Head of Griffith Aviation, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: </em><em>Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-half-the-men-surveyed-think-they-could-land-a-passenger-plane-experts-disagree-218037">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Travel Trouble

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Survey unveils Aussies thoughts on tourism tax

<p>Earlier this year, Bali launched a controversial tourism tax, which meant that every traveller entering the island would have to pay a $15 fee, which the Indonesian province have said will be used for environmental and cultural projects. </p> <p>Now, Aussies have shared their thoughts on introducing a similar system here, and survey results have revealed that many are keen for the tourism tax to be introduced here. </p> <p>Travel provider InsureandGo conducted the survey and found that 60 per cent of Australians would support the government introducing a tax to combat the rising environmental toll of tourism.</p> <p>"Tourist taxes are a relatively new concept, but as travel demand swells, we are seeing more countries adopt the levy," InsureandGo Chief Commercial Officer Jonathan Etkind said. </p> <p>"What's heartening is that only a minority of 37 per cent of respondents don't support tourism taxes, demonstrating just how many Australians support the concept of sustainable travel."</p> <p>The response comes amid increased sustainability concerns on our flora and fauna, which are being threatened by over-tourism. </p> <p>The tax is particularly supported by younger Aussies aged between 18 to 30, with 73 per cent of them saying yes to tourism taxes. </p> <p>Etkind said that this may be because younger Aussies are typically more aware of the environmental impacts of travel compared to the older generation, who may be less accustomed to the tax. </p> <p>Along with Bali, other cities and countries have started introducing similar fees to combat overtourism,  with Venice set to charge day-trippers a fee of 5 Euros ($8.20) per visit. </p> <p>Amsterdam, Netherlands has the highest tourism tax in Europe, with the former 7 per cent hotel tourist levy rising to 12.5 per cent this year. </p> <p>New Zealand also charges international visitors excluding Aussie citizens and permanent residents $25 levy ($32.64 AUD) to address the challenges created by tourism in its conservation areas. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

International Travel

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Survey reveals over a third of us are neglecting our hearing

<p dir="ltr">A survey conducted by hearing healthcare group Audika - and hosted by Decibel Research - has revealed the hard truth that Australians just aren’t keeping on top of their hearing.</p> <p dir="ltr">Research even found that for 88% percent of respondents - 1,020 individuals over the age of 40 - the thought of losing their eyesight was a bigger concern than losing their hearing. </p> <p dir="ltr">People had a whole host of reasons, but most circled back to the stigma that surrounds hearing loss - they feared that hearing aids would make them look older, or that they might be too uncomfortable, or even that they’re simply too expensive for the average person, despite 37% of those surveyed admitting that they would probably benefit from one. </p> <p dir="ltr">34% - roughly one third of the participants - confessed that they probably do have difficulty hearing, but have never undergone testing or sought out any sort of treatment. Meanwhile, 61% admitted that the chances of them partaking in a hearing test in the following 12 months were slim to none. </p> <p dir="ltr">Even more concerning were the 51% - over half of those surveyed - said that they would put off wearing a hearing loss “as long as possible”, even to their own detriment. Their minds wouldn’t change even if they received a hearing loss diagnosis. </p> <p dir="ltr">And this is all despite 69% of those with hearing loss reporting that their lives had been negatively impacted, from 35% citing their personal relationships as the area of concern to 35% noting their social life in general, and 19% looking to their career. </p> <p dir="ltr">Those same respondents shared that they have experienced difficulty communicating and that others don’t always understand them, often withdrawn from various events, and have faced a lack of confidence in navigating social situations. None of which can have been helped by the jokes from loved ones that a quarter of them also reported. </p> <p dir="ltr">It is more important than ever to address these statistics, and to overcome the stigma that surrounds hearing loss, as the World Health Organisation has estimated that by 2050, 1 in every 4 people around the world will experience hearing loss of some degree. On top of this, it’s believed that up to one third of the world’s population may be both undiagnosed and consequently untreated.</p> <p dir="ltr">Luckily for us, preventative measures can be taken, and the first - and arguably most important step - is to take our hearing health seriously, and make the necessary changes that will benefit us in the long run. The importance of taking such measures cannot be stressed enough, from managing symptoms all the way to preventing other “serious health conditions”.</p> <p dir="ltr">As Audika’s Audiologist and Clinical Trainer Lauren McNee put it, “poor hearing, if untreated, is linked to a number of other health conditions including mental health challenges. </p> <p dir="ltr">“The results of the recent survey indicate that Aussies don’t seem to be aware of how common hearing loss can be. They also appear to be unaware of the serious daily impacts that are felt by people that are hard of hearing, and their loved ones.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Unfortunately, stigma surrounding hearing health is still prevalent across our society – yet more than half (51%) of the survey respondents said that they have a loved one that experiences it. </p> <p dir="ltr">“With greater understanding of the impacts of hearing loss and compassion for each other, we can work towards more open conversations around hearing loss and encourage those we care about to be more proactive with their hearing health.”</p> <p dir="ltr">To help Australians on their way towards a better hearing future, Audika are encouraging people over the age of 26 to head out, learn to ‘Love Your Ears’, and visit an Audika clinic for a free hearing check. </p> <p dir="ltr">And for those who’d prefer to do it from the comfort of home, you can head over to <a href="https://www.audika.com.au/online-hearing-test">Audika’s five-minute online hearing check</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr">For more information, visit <a href="https://www.audika.com.au/">Audika’s official website</a>. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

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Why does my dog eat grass? And when is it not safe for them?

<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-hazel-402495">Susan Hazel</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joshua-zoanetti-1439474">Joshua Zoanetti</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p>Have you ever wondered why your dog is eating your beautifully cropped lawn or nibbling at the grass at the dog park?</p> <p>Eating grass is a common behaviour in pet dogs. Some surveys show <a href="http://raw-feeding-prey-model.fr/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/WhydogogsandcatseatgrassGrassVetMed2008-2.pdf">up to 80%</a> of guardians notice their dog regularly snacking on the grass.</p> <p>Grass eating isn’t a new behaviour either, or only done by our new designer dog breeds. Studies in Yellowstone National Park show plant matter (mostly grass) is found in up to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/7/1923S/4664711">74% of wolf scats</a>, suggesting the behaviour is possibly inherited from the beginning of doggy time.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529490/original/file-20230601-21796-wl09tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <h2>So why does my dog eat the grass?</h2> <p>A lot of people think dogs eat grass when they have a sore stomach, believing grass causes dogs to vomit. This is probably not the case; a study with <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/32446/bjone-brown-price-grass-eating20patterns-raan-2007.pdf">12 dogs that ate grass daily</a> found there were few vomiting episodes and the ones that did occur came after the dog had eaten a meal.</p> <p>And if a dog has a mild gastrointestinal disturbance because of something they’ve been fed, they are in fact <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159109003311">less likely</a> to eat grass than if they are fed a normal diet.</p> <p>Other theories include that dogs eat grass because they want a laxative or that it provides roughage in their diet (get that fibre!).</p> <p>Like the vomiting discussed above, there is little to no scientific proof for most of these theories. For example, in the study of <a href="https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/32446/bjone-brown-price-grass-eating20patterns-raan-2007.pdf">12 dogs mentioned above</a>, all of them were wormed and had no previous digestive problems. Yet all 12 still happily ate grass (709 times).</p> <p>Their main finding was that when the dog had not yet had their daily meal, they were more likely to eat grass. In short, the hungrier the dog, the more likely they were to eat some grass.</p> <p>The answer to why your dog eats grass may simply be: because they like to. Your dog may be bored, and chewing on grass is something to do.</p> <p>Maybe your dog just enjoys eating grass. Ripping grass from the ground can be satisfying. The texture and taste of grass offers something different to what they usually eat. You may even notice they prefer grass in certain seasons; perhaps fresh spring grass a favourite delicacy.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529491/original/file-20230601-23190-7g4mhp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <h2>Is there any reason why you shouldn’t let your dog eat grass?</h2> <p>Well, yes, there are several. Firstly, you may not want your dog eating your neighbour’s immaculately presented fancy Kikuyu lawn.</p> <p>More importantly, though, grass is sometimes treated with herbicides. Grass at the local oval or parkland may have been treated or sprayed. Some local councils use a non-hazardous dye to show where grass has been sprayed with <a href="https://www.yassvalleytimes.com.au/general-news/council-to-use-marker-dye-when-spraying-weeds/">herbicide</a>, which is very helpful.</p> <p>Lawn chemicals are frequently detected in lawn for up to 48 hours after they’re applied, and have also been detected in the urine of dogs with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969713003100?via%3Dihub">access to grass</a> treated this way.</p> <p>Research has suggested there may be a <a href="https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/224/8/javma.2004.224.1290.xml">link</a> between bladder cancer in dogs and exposure to herbicides.</p> <p>In fact, dogs may even act as sentinels; the same chemical exposures appear in the urine of dogs and people <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-clinical-and-translational-science/article/environmental-chemical-exposures-in-the-urine-of-dogs-and-people-sharing-the-same-households/C3F9330A4AA7723FE78CE5D492071F55">sharing the same environment</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529492/original/file-20230601-22271-5juhsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p>If you are using herbicides on your own grass, remove your dog, their toys, food and water bowls from the area prior to any application.</p> <p>Make sure the pesticide has completely dried out before you allow the dog back in the area, and be certain to check the packaging for the appropriate drying time period.</p> <p>This is particularly the case for granular pesticides or fertilisers that soak into the soil, as these can require up to 24 hours or longer.</p> <p>If you want to reduce the risk even further, hand weeding may be a <a href="https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/is-weed-killer-safe-for-pets-what-to-know/">better option</a>.</p> <p>Apart from grass, many leaves, flowers and berries from common plants can be toxic to your dog. <a href="https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/o?&">This includes</a> plants such as oleander and arum lily; even oregano and bay leaves can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs.</p> <p>One of the best things you can do for your dog is take them for a walk. And if they eat some grass along the way, provided it has not been sprayed with herbicide, you have nothing to worry about.</p> <p>Don’t worry if they occasionally vomit. If there is more serious vomiting or diarrhoea, however, please consult your vet.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205658/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-hazel-402495">Susan Hazel</a>, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joshua-zoanetti-1439474">Joshua Zoanetti</a>, PhD candidate in Veterinary Bioscience, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-adelaide-1119">University of Adelaide</a></em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-my-dog-eat-grass-and-when-is-it-not-safe-for-them-205658">original article</a>.</p>

Family & Pets

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Bizarre, "distressing" survey given to new mums in hospital

<p>A survey sent to Queensland mothers who had recently given birth at a Brisbane hospital has been slammed for its inappropriate and “distressing” questions.</p> <p>Some of the questions asked mothers to rate their own behaviour during labour and if they had any fantasies of their newborns facing harm.</p> <p>Two surveys went out to mothers who had given birth at the Mater hospital in Brisbane, one prior to the birth and one six weeks afterwards.</p> <p>One question asked mothers to rate their experience, including “what happened when labour was most intense”, where they were given a scale of “I behaved extremely badly” to “I did not behave badly at all”.</p> <p>Another question asked, “Had you, during the labour and delivery, had any fantasies that your child would die during labour/delivery?” where mothers could respond between “never” and “very often”.</p> <p>In the surveys sent to mothers prior to delivery, they were asked to rate how they expected they’d behave during pregnancy.</p> <p>The survey was part of the CERPA study and asked several questions.</p> <p>The study explores the “CErebro Placental RAtio as (an) indicator for delivery following perception of reduced fetal movements”, according to an online entry.</p> <p>The survey questions were originally written in Swedish and were translated to English.</p> <p>A potential mistranslation has copped the blame for why the questions were so alarming.</p> <p>“Mater recognises the English translation in some questions is unsuitable and regrets that this may have caused distress to respondents,” a spokesperson for Mater Hospital said.</p> <p>One mother, Toni-Ann Drury, visited the Mater hospital toward the end of her pregnancy after she moved to Queensland.</p> <p>She received a call from the hospital soon after visiting, where they asked her to answer questions via email.</p> <p>“I had no idea that it was as part of a research program or anything like that,” she explained.</p> <p>They informed her during the call she should expect more questions thrown her way six months after giving birth.</p> <p>Drury described that the questions in both surveys were “distressing”.</p> <p>“How do women behave badly during labour?" she said.</p> <p>“I don’t think that labour and birth should be put in the same sentence as behaving badly.</p> <p>“Women go through extreme pain and body changes and all that sort of stuff, so I don’t think that any woman should associate the way that they responded to pain with behaviour.</p> <p>“The other questions were quite distressing in nature and the wording that was used.”</p> <p>Drury added that the mistranslation explanation is not a good enough reason.</p> <p>“I think Mater Hospital, as fantastic as they are, have a responsibility to the women that they’re providing services to,” she said.</p> <p>“To protect them from the stuff that they are delivering, ultimately, because their name is on that email that is going out.”</p> <p>The Maternity Consumer Network described the questions on the survey as “some of the worst, paternalistic, misogynistic, thoughtless BS we’ve ever seen asked of women”.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p>

Caring

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20 years of tracking sexual harassment at work shows little improvement. But that could be about to change

<p>The fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces shows little has changed since the last survey in 2018 – or indeed since the first survey in 2003.</p> <p>It points to the importance of the legislative changes being pursued by the Albanese government, including reforms that passed parliament on Monday.</p> <p>The <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/time-for-respect-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey of 10,000 Australians</a> was commissioned by the Australian Human Rights Commission and conducted by Roy Morgan Research in August and September. It shows 33% of workers were sexually harassed at work in the previous five years – 41% of women and 26% of men.</p> <p>This compares with 39% of women and 26% of men <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/AHRC_WORKPLACE_SH_2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in 2018</a>, and with 15% of women and 6% of men <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sexual-harassment-workplace-key-findings-overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in 2003</a> (though these results cannot be easily compared with the latest figures due to changes in survey methodology).</p> <p>The most common form of sexually harassment were:</p> <ul> <li>comments or jokes (40% of women, 14% of men)</li> <li>intrusive questions about one’s private life or appearance (32% of women, 14% of men)</li> <li>inappropriate staring (30% of women, 8% of men)</li> <li>unwelcome touching, hugging, cornering or kissing (28% of women, 10% of men)</li> <li>inappropriate physical contact (26% of women, 11% of men).</li> </ul> <p>Men were responsible for 91% of harassment of women, and 55% of harassment of men.</p> <p>Most of those harassed said their harasser also sexually harassed another employee. Just 18% formally reported the harassment. Of those, only 28% said the harassment stopped as a result, while 24% said their harasser faced no consequences.</p> <h2>Slow work on reforms</h2> <p>These results highlight the importance of the reforms now being made by the Albanese government, implementing the recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s 2020 <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/respectwork-sexual-harassment-national-inquiry-report-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Respect@Work</a> report.</p> <p>That report made 55 recommendations. The Morrison government acted on just a handful.</p> <p>It amended <a href="https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us-legislation-fair-work-system/respect-work-reforms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Fair Work Act</a> to enable individuals to apply to the Fair Work Commission for a “stop sexual harassment” order, and to make it clear sexual harassment is grounds for dismissal.</p> <p>But it ignored the key recommendation: placing a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment, requiring them to treat harassment like other work health and safety issues.</p> <p>This was needed, the report argued, because treating sexual harassment as being about aberrant individuals led to a workplace focus on individual complaints. It did little to change structural drivers of such behaviour.</p> <h2>Albanese government commitments</h2> <p>On Monday, the Albanese government finally made this pivotal reform, when parliament <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/passage-respectwork-bill-major-step-preventing-harassment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed its Respect@Work bill</a>.</p> <p>It is now no longer enough for employers to have a policy and act on complaints. They must also take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation.</p> <p>The government has committed to implementing all 55 recommendations. The Respect@Work bill implements seven.</p> <p>Others should be achieved with the omnibus industrial relations bill now before the Senate. Improving the conditions and bargaining power of those in insecure and low-paid work, and reducing gender inequalities, should lessen the vulnerabilities that enable harassment to flourish.</p> <h2>Ratifying the ILO convention</h2> <p>Last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/address-international-trade-union-confederation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committed</a> to ratifying the International Labor Organisation’s convention on <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/violence-harassment/lang--en/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the World of Work</a>.</p> <p>So far, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=1000:11300:0::NO:11300:P11300_INSTRUMENT_ID:3999810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">22 nations</a> have ratified the treaty. Ratification will oblige Australia to align its laws and regulations with the treaty’s provisions.</p> <p>This is significant not just because the convention is the first international treaty to enshrine the right to work free from violence and harassment as its focus. It also breaks with the historical framing of sexual harassment as an individual interpersonal conflict.</p> <p>The convention calls for an integrated approach to eliminating workplace violence and harassment. In Australia’s case, this will require developing approaches that break down the policy and regulatory fences between anti-discrimination measures, and those covering workplace rights and work health and safety.</p> <p>This could prove challenging – with sexual harassment being only one form of gender-based violence. But implementing all 55 recommendations of the Respect@Work report is a good start.</p> <p>Hopefully the sixth national workplace survey will have a better story to tell.</p> <p><strong>This story originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/20-years-of-tracking-sexual-harassment-at-work-shows-little-improvement-but-that-could-be-about-to-change-195554" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Legal

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What’s taking the biggest toll on our mental health?

<p>The new Labor government arrives at a time of mounting mental health strain: Australians have endured COVID, extreme weather events and financial stress from increased living costs.</p> <p>The new government has a lot to fix in the mental health system but policy priorities should be guided by the voices of Australians.</p> <p>To learn more about the nation’s priority mental health concerns, our <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new research</a> surveyed more than 1,000 adults aged 18 to 85 across the nation.</p> <p>Without being prompted, participants consistently highlighted three major issues: the mental health service system, financial stress, and social disconnection.</p> <p><strong>A strained mental health system</strong></p> <p>The COVID pandemic added pressure to an already <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/news-media/speeches/mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strained mental health-care system</a>. Countless Australians – many experiencing mental ill-health for the first time – were left without appropriate support.</p> <p>Participants described overwhelming barriers to accessing treatment, including high costs, wait-lists and inaccessibility:</p> <blockquote> <p>The out of pocket expense makes receiving regular, effective psychological treatment prohibitive, especially as a single parent.</p> <p>– female, late 30s, NSW</p> <p>When people are in crisis, they need the help at that time. Not six months down the track when an opening finally becomes available at the counselling centre.</p> <p>– non-binary person, early 70s, Tasmania</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Financial stress</strong></p> <p>Respondents shared how the pandemic “pressurised” other mental health triggers, like financial stress, as JobKeeper and the Coronavirus Supplement were wound back and cost of living increased.</p> <p>A NSW woman in her late-20s living with a disability shared that prior to receiving the Coronavirus Supplement: “I felt it would be better to kill myself than try and make it work”, but with the supplement, “For the first time in years money wasn’t so tight.”</p> <p>The removal of the supplement was described by another as:</p> <blockquote> <p>crushing and damaging to your mental health</p> <p>– female, late 20s, Tasmania</p> </blockquote> <p>The low payment amount after the supplement was removed was not seen as “sufficient income to live a ‘reasonable life’”.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467066/original/file-20220606-58478-ztwpxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Person wringing their hands" /><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Cost of living pressures have had a significant impact on Australians’ mental health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/qbTC7ZwJB64" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Unsplash/Ümit Bulut</a></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>Together, the stress of low incomes and the return of demanding mutual obligation requirements for JobSeeker (the <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/media_release/acoss-analysis-shows-mutual-obligation-requirements-are-causing-harm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">often-unrealistic</a> set of job-related tasks which recipients must undertake to keep receiving payments) worsened some peoples’ mental health, making recovery difficult.</p> <blockquote> <p>The social welfare system isn’t equipped to support those of us who struggle to work because of mental health issues. I cry every day at my full-time job and would like to focus on recovery, but the tiny rate of Centrelink payments means I keep struggling through</p> <p>– female, early 30s, Victoria</p> </blockquote> <p>With increasing living costs, a NSW man in his late 20s reported “stressing about having money to make ends meet […] the cost of food going up, and not having money to heat my home in winter”. He described making difficult financial decisions like choosing to “not eat” in favour of “making sure my dog is fed”.</p> <p>Many spoke of financial stress in relation to housing as a key priority for their mental health, particularly “unaffordable housing prices” (female, early 30s, NSW) and “prohibitive rent” (female, late 60s, Victoria).</p> <p><strong>Social disconnection</strong></p> <p>Many described a lack of social and community connection as a mental health priority, perhaps unsurprising with COVID lockdowns and strict border controls.</p> <p>Some felt this was linked to a lack of physical spaces for socialising:</p> <blockquote> <p>We need facilities for people and communities to socialise in a healthy environment. Get rid of the poker machines and make pubs a place where people can openly socialise again</p> <p>– male, late 40s, NSW</p> </blockquote> <p>Others sensed a broader cultural shift away from valuing community:</p> <blockquote> <p>We need supportive communities […] We are too ‘private’ don’t share our troubles, don’t ask for help</p> <p>– female, late 40s, NSW</p> <p>[S]ociety has become very individually focused and less about support</p> <p>– male, late 40s, Victoria.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Building resilience</strong></p> <p>The voices of diverse Australians included in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our study</a> provide clear guidance for the government to build a more resilient and mentally healthy future.</p> <p>Labor’s election promise to re-instate the <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/regional-mental-telehealth-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telepsychiatry Medicare item</a> in regional and rural areas is important, but the government must address other pressing service issues, including long wait-times and high costs.</p> <p>The government also needs to address the <em>causes</em> of mental ill-health, such as financial insecurity and social disconnection.</p> <p>While Labor has promised to tackle <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/secure-australian-jobs-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">job security</a> and <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/safer-and-more-affordable-housing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">housing affordability</a>, it didn’t back an increase to income support benefits. This should be revisited.</p> <p>In 2021, <a href="https://alp.org.au/media/2594/2021-alp-national-platform-final-endorsed-platform.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Labor</a> committed to addressing loneliness and social isolation, although no related election promises were made. Doing so would require changes outside the “health” portfolio. We need a whole-of-government <a href="https://mentalhealththinktank.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/BuildingMentallyHealthyFutures_YouthRecoveryPlan.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social and emotional well-being lens</a> on all federal policies.</p> <p>Finally, our study highlighted that drivers of poor mental health are further strained in disaster settings, such as pandemics or extreme weather events. As the Labor government develops its <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/disaster-readiness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disaster readiness plan</a>, mental health impacts – in addition to economic and infrastructure impacts – must be a key consideration.</p> <p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184148/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/marlee-bower-1000885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marlee Bower</a>, Research Fellow, Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sydney</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/maree-teesson-1274573" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maree Teesson</a>, Professor &amp; Director of The Matilda Centre. Chair, Australia's Mental Health Think Tank, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sydney</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/scarlett-smout-1350860" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scarlett Smout</a>, PhD Candidate and Research Program Officer at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health &amp; Substance Use and Australia's Mental Health Think Tank, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-taking-the-biggest-toll-on-our-mental-health-disconnection-financial-stress-and-long-waits-for-care-184148" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Mind

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Canberra takes out bronze in worldwide healthy city rankings

<p dir="ltr">The world’s healthiest cities have been crowned for 2022, with Australia’s capital claiming bronze.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d9998b29-7fff-7f0e-603c-b9722c8b99bb">A <a href="https://www.money.co.uk/mortgages/healthiest-places" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new study</a> from Money.co.uk has ranked Canberra in third place, two places higher than last year’s rankings.</span></p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaOaNydoLR5/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaOaNydoLR5/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Visit Canberra (@visitcanberra)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The study analysed a range of factors, including obesity levels, life expectancy, air pollution, the number of sunlight hours, and safety, along with some related to the pandemic such as healthcare accessibility and the number of healthcare professionals in each country.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though the study ranked Japan as the healthiest country to live in, the top two healthiest cities were both in Spain, with Valencia retaining the top position for another year.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-72c27626-7fff-aa9f-16b9-d60a9b53a913"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Australia also cracked the healthiest countries list, coming in 16th place.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cagbx_5qF8I/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cagbx_5qF8I/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Visit Canberra (@visitcanberra)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">According to the study, Canberra significantly improved from 2021 to 2022. It is one of the safest cities in the world, has a high average life expectancy at 82.9 years, and experiences a whopping 2,813.7 hours of sunlight each year.</p> <p dir="ltr">In fact, the capital city ranked second when it came to cities with the cleanest air, followed by Wellington.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other Australian cities that made the list include Adelaide in 9th place and Brisbane in 16th place.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9970f9c-7fff-e0d6-ea6e-255dfb6c5763"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @visitcanberra (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Survey reveals the best and WORST age to be

<p><strong>Survey says that having a family and watching them grow leads to a truly happy life</strong></p> <p>As we age, we reminisce on our lives, looking back at what truly made us happy, and what, if anything, would we change. <span><a href="https://www.country-cousins.co.uk/">Country Cousins,</a></span> leading providers of live-in care to those living with Dementia, wanted to know more about what makes people happy, what they credit to an enriched life and what age was their favourite. So, they asked 1,000 UK adults aged between 50-75, and the results are not what we expected.</p> <p><strong>Men prefer their twenties, yet women preferred their thirties</strong></p> <p>The survey found that 27% of men preferred their twenties and only 22% of men favoured their thirties.</p> <p>On the other hand, women seemed to much prefer their thirties as 25% said they were the best years of their life, typically a time when they’re settled and have a young family, and only 21% of women favoured their twenties.</p> <p><strong>Are the teenage years really the worst in our lives?</strong></p> <p>92% of respondents say being a teenager, a time when you’re carefree and have no major obligations, were some of the <em>least enjoyable</em> years of their lives?</p> <p>Perhaps it’s because 2% of people of the 1,000 respondents said watching their family grow around them helped them to live an enriched life, and 17% said having a family leads to a truly happy life.</p> <p>Along with that, 36% of those over the age of 60 credit watching their family grow and mature around them to be the most rewarding thing about getting older.</p> <p><strong>What can we take from this?</strong></p> <p>So, it seems that to live a truly happy, enriched life, we should aspire to have a family and enjoy watching them grow, learn, and maybe one day have a family of their own.</p>

Retirement Life

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Retired couples, have your say

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As we approach retirement, we face a new and often drastic change in our lives. From cutting down on work to downsizing, this new stage of life can signal the start of a healthy and enjoyable period of your life or one that offers no direction.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To combat this, we are encouraged to save for retirement, pursue hobbies and learn new skills, and stay in touch with friends, loved ones, and our wider community. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But there is one aspect of life that many of us look past that can have a significant effect on our retirement years.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The answer: our romantic partners.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two-thirds of Australian retirees are in relationships where they live with a significant other, but the impact of our significant others on us (and vice versa) is less well understood.</span></p> <p><strong>Researchers investigate the impact of our personal relationships</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ayeesha Abbasi, a PhD candidate at the Australian National University (ANU) College of Business and Economics is looking to improve our understanding of retirement and how our experiences are shaped by our personal relationships. Specifically, she is investigating the influence of partners on each other as they transition into and experience retirement.</span></p> <p><strong>Have your say</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To do this, cohabiting couples who have retired completely, semi-retired, or otherwise left the workforce are invited to participate in a survey. Hearing from both partners will help to better understand the influence partners have on each other. Both partners can complete the Couples in Retirement Survey and answer questions regarding how you feel about retirement, relationships, health, social support, and more.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To participate, and contribute to important research, take the time to head </span><a href="https://anu.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1F9q3qpbOlxPYgJ"><span style="font-weight: 400;">here</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>

Retirement Life

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50% of Australians are prepared to pay more tax to improve aged care workers’ pay, survey shows

<p>The final report from the aged care royal commission this week was damning. Speaking of a system in crisis, it calls for an urgent overhaul.</p> <p>The Morrison government has been facing difficult questions regarding which of the 148 recommendations it will adopt. It also needs to grapple with how to pay for the much-needed changes.</p> <p>On this question, the royal commissioners disagree. Commissioner Lynelle Briggs calls for a levy of 1% of taxable personal income, while commissioner Tony Pagone recommends the Productivity Commission investigate an aged care levy.</p> <p>A 1% levy could cost the median person who already pays the medicare levy about $610 a year, while boosting funds for the aged care sector by almost $8 billion a year.</p> <p>So far, the government has played down the idea of new taxes. There is a view this would be hard sell for a Coalition elected, at least in part, to lower taxation.</p> <p>But as debate continues about how to make the changes we need to aged care (and not just talk about it), our research suggests many Australians support a levy to improve the quality and sustainability of our aged care system.</p> <p>Our research<br />In September 2020, we surveyed over 1,000 Australians aged 18 to 87 years, representative by age, gender and state. We wanted to find out how the pandemic influenced attitudes to health, well-being and caring for others.<br />Our findings indicated overwhelming public support for aged care reform, to ensure all older Australians are treated with dignity.</p> <p>The vast majority of our respondents (86%) either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” Australia needed more skilled and trained aged care workers. On top of this, 80% thought aged care workers should be paid more for the work that they did.</p> <p>More than 80% also either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that nurses working in aged care should be paid at an equivalent rate to nurses working in the health system. Currently, nurses working in aged care are paid, on average, about 10-15% less.</p> <p><strong>The crunch point</strong><br />Importantly, 50% of our respondents showed a willingness to pay additional tax to fund better pay and conditions for aged care workers. Of those willing to pay more tax, 70% were willing to pay 1% or more per year.</p> <p>This finding supports previous larger-scale research we undertook for the royal commission, before the pandemic.</p> <p>Here we found similar levels of public support for increased income tax contributions to support system-wide improvements. This suggests politicians seem to underestimate the public appetite for improvements to the system, and people’s willingness to contribute to achieve this.</p> <p><strong>Changing ideas about economic ‘success’</strong><br />Our survey findings also highlighted a growing recognition among Australians of the importance of a broader range of social and economic goals.</p> <p>For some time, economists, academics, organisations and peak bodies have been calling for a move away from traditional economic indicators (such as economic growth and expanding gross domestic product) at any cost, towards a broader definition of success.</p> <p>This would see governments focus on policies that promote a more equal distribution of wealth and well-being, where the fundamentals of community cohesion are highly valued and our natural resources are protected.</p> <p>We asked our survey respondents to rank the relative importance of seven key areas of public policy in framing Australia’s pathway to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including:</p> <ul> <li>dignity (people have enough to live in comfort, safety and happiness)</li> <li>nature and climate (a restored natural world which supports life into the future)</li> <li>social connection (a sense of community belonging and institutions that serve the common good)</li> <li>fairness (equal opportunity for all Australians and the gap between the richest and the poorest greatly reduced)</li> <li>participation (having as much control over your daily life as you would want)</li> <li>economic growth (an increase in the amount of goods and services produced in Australia), and</li> <li>economic prosperity (full employment and low inflation levels).<br />The criteria ranked most important by the largest proportion of our survey respondents were dignity (20.1%) and fairness (19.3%).</li> </ul> <p>Traditional economic indicators were not the highest priorities for the Australians we surveyed. Instead, economic growth and prosperity were only ranked as a top priority by 15.3% and 15.2% of our respondents respectively.</p> <p>This suggests the general public recognises the importance of moving beyond the traditional markers of a successful society.</p> <p><strong>What Australians want</strong><br />Our research shows significant aged care reform is entirely consistent with the current priorities of the Australian public.</p> <p>The burning question now is whether the Morrison government will step up to the challenge.</p> <p class="p1"><em>Written by Rachel Milte and Julie Ratcliffe. This article first appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-of-australians-are-prepared-to-pay-more-tax-to-improve-aged-care-workers-pay-survey-shows-156299"><span class="s1">The Conversation</span></a>.</em></p>

Retirement Income

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A little ray of sunshine as 2021 economic survey points to brighter times ahead

<p>Suddenly, economic forecasters are optimistic.</p> <p>Six months ago the forecasting team assembled by The Conversation was expecting Australia’s recession to continue into 2021, sending the economy backwards a further 4.6% throughout the year.</p> <p>This morning, in the survey prepared ahead of the Reserve Bank board’s first meeting for the year and an address by the Reserve Bank governor to the National Press Club on Wednesday, the same forecasting team is upbeat.</p> <p>It expects the recovery that began in the</p> <p> September quarter of last year to continue, propelling the economy forward by a larger than normal 3.2% throughout 2021, with growth slowing to more sedate 2.1% per year by the middle of the decade, still well above than dismal 1.7% per year expected six months ago.</p> <p>The unemployment rate is now expected to remain near its present 6.6% throughout 2021, instead of soaring to almost 10% as expected six months ago.</p> <p><span></span>But improvement in the unemployment rate is expected to be slow, and as house prices and share market prices climb, most of the panel expect the Reserve Bank to lose its patience and begin to lift interest rates from their emergency lows before the end of next year, ahead of its published schedule.</p> <p>The 21-person forecasting panel includes university-based macroeconomists, economic modellers, former Treasury, IMF, OECD, Reserve Bank and financial market economists, and a former member of the Reserve Bank board.</p> <p><strong>Economic growth</strong></p> <p>Only two of the panel expect the economy to shrink further in 2021.</p> <p>The rest expect the economy to grow, two of the panel by at least 5%, something that isn’t out of the question given that the economy shrank by 7% during the worst three months of the 2020 coronavirus restrictions and clawed back only<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/it-isnt-right-to-say-we-are-out-of-recession-as-these-six-graphs-demonstrate-151210">3.3%</a><span> </span>in the three months that followed.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="bH5sm" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bH5sm/3/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p>Panellist Saul Eslake who forecast growth of 3.5% in 2021 six months ago is now forecasting growth of 5.25%, saying the transition away from JobKeeper and other supports has been going more smoothly and the property market and residential building market have holding up much better than he had expected.</p> <p>Growth will be constrained by unusually slow population growth, a gradual tightening of government purse strings and anticipation of higher interest rates.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="WPE9k" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WPE9k/2/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>China’s 2021 growth, expected to be 4% six months ago, is now expected to be 6.3% as it reaps the fruits of having recovered early from its coronavirus crisis with its production systems intact. Panellist Warren Hogan cautions that longer term China is likely to place less importance on economic growth and more on military adventurism.</p> <p>The continuing COVID crisis in the United States is expected to push its recovery out into the second half of the year as vaccination programs and President Biden’s stimulus measures take hold.</p> <p><strong>Unemployment</strong></p> <p>Although few on the panel expect unemployment to get much worse, most believe it will be many years before the unemployment rate shrinks to the 4.5% to 5% the Reserve Bank has adopted as a target.</p> <p>Panellist Julie Toth says the end of JobKeeper in March will reduce the ability of struggling businesses to keep their employees. Closed boarders mean skill mismatches and shortages will grow alongside persistent unemployment and underemployment.</p> <p>Other panellists warn of a “jobless recovery” as large organisations that held onto labour during the crisis start to shed staff as part of digitisation programs.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="qaVR7" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qaVR7/3/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Living standards</strong></p> <p>Annual wage growth, at present a minuscule 1.4% – the lowest in the 23 year history of the index – is not expected to improve at all in the year ahead, ending 2021 at 1.4%.</p> <p>At the same time annual inflation is expected to climb from last year’s unusually low 0.9% to 1.6%, putting it above wage growth for the first calendar year on record, sending the buying power of wages backwards.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="NSbFV" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NSbFV/4/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>A broader measure of living standards, real net national disposable income per capita, which takes account of the hours worked in each job and other sources of income, is expected to continue to climb in 2021, continuing the recovery begun in last year’s September quarter after the precipitous slide of 8% during the first half of last year.</p> <p>Household spending is expected to climb a further 3.4% in real terms, continuing the recovery begun in the September quarter after a slide of 13.8% in the first half of last year.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="GqSAx" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GqSAx/2/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Interest rates</strong></p> <p>The panel expects the Reserve Bank to lift its cash rate from the present all-time low of 0.10% well ahead of the “<a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2020/mr-20-32.html">at least three years</a>” timeframe set out by the bank.</p> <p>The bank had promised not increase the cash rate until actual inflation was “<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-the-reserve-bank-is-going-to-bat-for-australia-like-never-before-149311">sustainably within</a>” its 2% to 3% target range.</p> <p>And it had moved the<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-the-reserve-bank-is-going-to-bat-for-australia-like-never-before-149311">three-year bond rate</a><span> </span>to 0.10% as a sign that it expected the cash rate to stay at 0.10% for at least three years.</p> <p>Although few on the panel expect inflation to climb back to the Reserve Bank’s target range by the end of next year, most expect the bank to begin to lift its cash rate by then.</p> <hr /> <p><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381256/original/file-20210129-13-1ifkzho.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /><span class="caption"></span><span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Conversation</span>,<span> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-ND</a></span></p> <p>Panellist Mark Crosby says rising home and other asset prices will put the bank under pressure to backtrack on its commitment in the knowledge that the economy is in a position to withstand more normal rates.</p> <p>Long-term interest rates are already higher than they were at the start of this year.</p> <p>The panel expects the ten-year benchmark used to set the rates at which the government can borrow to gradually climb from last year’s all-time lows.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="hWglQ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hWglQ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Asset prices</strong></p> <p>Sydney home prices are expected to climb 4.9% after climbing<span> </span><a href="https://www.corelogic.com.au/sites/default/files/2021-01/CoreLogic%20home%20value%20index%20Jan%202021%20FINAL.pdf">2.7%</a><span> </span>in COVID-hit 2020. Melbourne prices are expected to climb a lesser 4.4% after slipping 1.3%.</p> <p>Saul Eslake says Melbourne’s economy has been far more reliant on interstate and international migration than any other part of Australia and has damaged its image as a desirable destination by its handling of the pandemic.</p> <p>Other panellists draw a distinction between apartment price growth, which should be weak because of lower demand for international student rentals, and freestanding home prices which should be supported by an implicit Reserve Bank guarantee of three years of ultra-low interest rates.</p> <p>The panel expects housing investment to climb 3.8% after falling 5% during the first nine months of 2020.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="Q1Dwo" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Q1Dwo/3/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>The Australian share market collapsed 37% in just over a month in the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis and spent the rest of 2020 recovering.</p> <p>Although opinion is split about 2021, the panel’s average forecast is for growth of 3.5%</p> <p>Panellist Mala Raghavan says low interest rates are forcing long term investors to take positions in companies with strong fundamentals. Craig Emerson says he expects the equities bubble to burst at some point, but probably not while low interest rates continue.</p> <p>At US$160 a tonne, the iron ore price has almost doubled since the start of 2020.</p> <p>On balance the panel expects it to ease to US$133 throughout 2O21, noting that at some point Brazil is going to return to full production after a series of dam collapses and pandemic-related problems. China is thought to prefer to buy from Brazil.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="7qg2U" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/7qg2U/3/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Business</strong></p> <p>The panel expects Australian businesses to find any lift in the share market and consumer spending uninspiring.</p> <p>After collapsing 24% in the first nine months of 2020 the panel expects non-mining business investment to climb by only 2% in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022.</p> <p>It cites low immigration and uncertainty over COVID and the shape of new business practices as more important in determining investment decisions than the government’s generous tax incentives.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="9GSTa" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9GSTa/2/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p><strong>Government</strong></p> <p>The panel’s central budget deficit forecasts are not too far from the latest government forecasts<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/so-far-so-good-myefo-budget-update-shows-recovery-gathering-pace-152227">released in December</a><span> </span>at A$192 billion in 2020-21 and $114 billion in 2021-22.</p> <p>Panellists note that the government will have little opportunity to restrain spending in the lead up to the election and will be under pressure to boost the JobSeeker unemployment benefit which is due to sink back to its pre-COVID level on<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/top-economists-want-jobseeker-boosted-by-100-per-week-and-tied-to-wages-150364">April 1</a>.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="ZzfIZ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZzfIZ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p class="p1"><em>Written by Peter Martin. This article first appeared on The Conversation.</em></p>

Retirement Income

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Are you looking for love or friendship in an over 50s community?

<p class="p1"><em><strong>The heart-warming story of two downsizers who fell in love and then started a new life together in a retirement village has prompted OverSixty.com.au and Downsizing.com.au to launch a survey about romance and friendship in over 50s communities.</strong></em></p> <p class="p1">David and Anthea Yates, both in their early 70s, married in February 2020 and in the same month moved from their homes in the regional centre of Waikerie to Stockland Hillsview retirement village in Happy Valley, south of Adelaide.</p> <p class="p1">David and Anthea met around two years ago, after David - as a local men’s shed volunteer - helped Anthea move into her home at Waikerie. David had joined the men’s shed after the passing of his previous wife.</p> <p class="p1">“It blossomed into a love affair,” said David.</p> <p class="p1">The couple decided to get married, have their honeymoon and move into a retirement village - all in the same month. </p> <p class="p1">David and Anthea had several reasons to make their move, including to find better weather, be closer to family, meet new friends, reduce home maintenance and simply to leave the past behind.</p> <p class="p1">“We’ve both had heartaches during our lives and we needed to move away to be able to ease the hurt and the memories...not to completely forget but to ease the pain, and to start a new life together,” David said.</p> <p class="p1">For Anthea, it was important that she moved closer to her daughter and grandsons, and also meet new friends in a like-minded community.</p> <p class="p1">“I found that, in a small and very close community (such as Waikerie), and as someone who was a retiree who didn’t take children to school, that it was hard to meet people,” Anthea said.</p> <p class="p1">“I enjoy living here in the retirement village where everyone is in a similar age group and friendly.”</p> <p class="p1"><strong>Fill out our survey:</strong></p> <p class="p1"><em>OverSixty.com.au and Downsizing.com.au have <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2ZTNXG8">launched a survey on the subject</a>.  </em></p>

Downsizing

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Most Australians struggle managing their debts amid COVID-19, survey finds

<p>The coronavirus pandemic has turned economies upside down, and Australia is no exception. More than three-quarters of Aussies said they felt stressed about their financial situation amid the outbreak, a new survey has found.</p> <p>A research by consumer insight company J.D. Power – which polled 1,415 Australian adults between April 28 and May 13 – found that 77 per cent said they experienced some level of financial stress, with 24 per cent saying they were extremely stressed.</p> <p>This stress was reflected in people’s behaviour. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 39 per cent reported feeling worried or anxious, while 35 per cent said they felt tired and were losing energy.</p> <p>More than three in five respondents (62 per cent) could not manage their debt. Nearly one in five (19 per cent) said they could no longer make their minimum monthly credit payment, while 11 per cent said they were not able to pay their mortgages. One in ten (10 per cent) said they could not afford enough food to eat.</p> <p>Most did not believe their banks were doing enough during the pandemic. Only 29 per cent said their bank had shown concern for their personal financial situation. About a third of NAB and ANZ customers said their banks showed them concern in these challenging times, while only 28 per cent of Westpac customers and 26 per cent of Commonwealth Bank customers expressed similar sentiments.</p> <p>Customers also found more difficulties getting in touch with a bank representative through the phone. One in four customers (25 per cent) said they experienced long wait times, and 17 per cent were unable to find someone to talk to.</p> <p>“Banks can make sure that they are communicating information that is in tune with customer needs, such as understanding if monthly service fees can be waived or if branches near to them are still operating,” said Bronwyn Gill, head of banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power.</p> <p>While coronavirus restrictions are being eased across the country, it would not be enough to relieve people’s financial stress, Gill said.</p> <p>“35 per cent of Australians [said] that they feel the worst is yet to come,” she said.</p> <p>“In the meantime government income support will continue to be important, especially as 21 per cent currently say that it is a major benefit for them.”</p> <p>Many Australian workers have resorted to support from the government, including JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments.</p> <p>More than 830,000 applications for early access to superannuation have also been paid out, with the average payment now sitting at $7,629. Under the government’s new scheme, eligible applicants can access up to $10,000 from their super this financial year and a further $10,000 in the next.</p>

Retirement Income

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Has coronavirus changed your retirement plans?

<p><em><strong>OverSixty and Downsizing.com.au have launched a major community survey to determine how the coronavirus pandemic is changing the retirement and financial decisions of Australia’s over 50s.</strong></em></p> <p>The survey takes around two minutes and is completely anonymous, with no personal information or social media data collected.</p> <p>This survey will highlight new trends emerging in retirement planning and living, and help ensure that adequate consideration is given to meeting the critical housing and financial needs of older Australians through the coronavirus and beyond.</p> <ul> <li><a rel="noopener" href="https://o60.me/9arNcr" target="_blank">FILL OUT THE SURVEY HERE </a></li> </ul> <p>The survey seeks to determine whether the coronavirus pandemic means Australians are:</p> <ul> <li>Bringing forward downsizing or retirement plans</li> <li>Changing the intended location of any future retirement property</li> <li>Looking to access their home equity, to compensate for the loss of other retirement savings or loss of their employment</li> <li>Looking to rent rather than buy</li> <li>Using the government supplements to support older people to compensate for the loss of retirement savings</li> </ul> <p>Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, retirement and lifestyle communities have provided a supportive environment for over 50s.</p> <p>This includes ensuring residents have access to <a href="https://www.downsizing.com.au/news/673/Youre-not-alone-retirement-communities-band-together-to-beat-the-virus-crisis">essential items such as fresh food and toilet paper,</a> along with providing safe and socially distant entertainment including<a href="https://auraholdings.com.au/theavenuemaroochydore/blog/balcony-bingo/"> balcony bingo </a>and <a href="https://vimeo.com/404503255">courtyard concerts</a>. </p> <p>Many communities have created virtual tours and one-on-one inspections of vacant dwellings, instead of holding open days.</p> <p>The community survey builds upon an existing community survey undertaken by <em>Downsizing.com.au</em> over the last three years.</p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://o60.me/9arNcr" target="_blank">The survey can be accessed here.</a></p>

Retirement Life

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Survey reveals the brands Aussies trust the most

<p><span>The coronavirus pandemic is forcing change, and that includes the trust that people have in brands.</span></p> <p><span>In the 21st annual list of <em>Australia’s Most Trusted Brands</em>, the list identifies the brands that we have faith in and the innovative ways brands are responding to new issues.</span></p> <p><span>The independently conducted survey has polled a cross-section of more than 3,000 people, to name the most-trusted brands across more than 70 leading consumer categories. Not only were the <em>Most Trusted Brands</em> polled, Our most-trusted professions have also been polled, and the results appear exclusively in the latest issue of <em>Australian Reader's Digest</em>.</span></p> <p><span>The key findings shown by an independent poll concluded:</span></p> <ul> <li><span>Band-Aid is Australia’s overall most trusted brand</span></li> <li><span>Vegemite is Australia’s ‘Most Iconic’ brand</span></li> <li>Guide Dogs is Australia’s most trusted charity</li> <li>Healthcare workers (Doctors, nurses, paramedics) top ‘Most Trusted Professions’</li> </ul> <p><em>Reader’s Digest</em> editor-in-chief Louise Waterson said: “While COVID-19 has certainly changed the marketplace, and the way we go about being consumers, other things remain the same when it comes to our relationships with brands.</p> <p>“For the brands themselves, trust matters when it comes to weathering a crisis, and ultimately trust is built on the traditional foundations of quality, consistency, honesty and delivering on your promise.</p> <p>“In terms of this current situation, with this pandemic, that also means getting proactive and reaching out to your customers like never before. It’s very much about maintaining a relationship with that particular individual.”</p> <p><strong>How a brand is likely to be voted as a <em>Trusted Brand</em></strong></p> <p>There are many things a brand can do in order to be voted as a <em>Trusted Brand</em>, but the main message is to be reassuring, reliable, consistent, and offer value for money as these are the common traits shared by brands that Australians trust.</p> <p>Another beneficial tip is to respond well in a crisis, which has been shown by many brands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>We’re seeing brands that are on the frontline supporting customers with their concerns, advising how to get help, and reassuring them in a very personal way.</p> <p>With Dettol (3) upping its communications on how to kill germs in our homes, Qantas (7) flying in our stranded family members home from overseas and Toyota (19) keeping their service centres open to make sure that Australians still have reliable vehicles, brands are expected to support customers with their concerns and offer reassurance during this crisis.</p> <p>Other brands are striving for consistency and innovation, which helps brands remain in the top spot. Winner of this year’s<span> </span><em>Iconic Brand</em>, Vegemite (16) has a range of fun and delicious recipes to help with the boredom of being at home during a pandemic on their website.</p> <p>This year, <em>Trusted Brands Australia</em> has also included the '<em>Most Trusted Professions'</em>, which saw doctors take out the top spot, with nurses and paramedics quickly following behind in second and third place.</p> <p>Unlike amateur experts or celebrities motivated to increasing their own popularity, doctors stick to the observable facts, they avoid controversy and are the calm protectors we all turn to when we and our families are feeling most vulnerable.</p> <p>Together with paramedics and nurses, who came in 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup>, these professions are the real deal.</p> <p><strong>Australia’s top 20 most trusted brands – across all categories are:</strong></p> <ol start="1" type="1"> <li>Band-Aid</li> <li>Energizer</li> <li>Dettol</li> <li>Colgate</li> <li>Dyson</li> <li>Cadbury</li> <li>Qantas</li> <li>Dulux</li> <li>Finish</li> <li>Sanitarium Weet-Bix</li> <li>Weber</li> <li>Panadol</li> <li>Cancer Council Sunscreen</li> <li>Bega Cheese</li> <li>Bridgestone</li> <li>Vegemite</li> <li>Aerogard</li> <li>Bunnings</li> <li>Toyota</li> <li>Victa</li> </ol> <p><em>Check out the full results at <a id="LPlnk469183" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.trustedbrands.com.au/" target="_blank">www.trustedbrands.com.au</a></em></p>

Money & Banking

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We just spent two weeks surveying the Great Barrier Reef – What we saw was an utter tragedy

<p>The Australian summer just gone will be remembered as the moment when human-caused climate change struck hard. First came drought, then deadly bushfires, and now a bout of coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef – the third in just five years. Tragically, the 2020 bleaching is severe and the most widespread we have ever recorded.</p> <p>Coral bleaching at regional scales is caused by spikes in sea temperatures during unusually hot summers. The first recorded mass bleaching event along Great Barrier Reef occurred in 1998, then the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/archive/media99.shtml">hottest year on record</a>.</p> <p>Since then we’ve seen four more mass bleaching events – and more temperature records broken – in 2002, 2016, 2017, and again in 2020.</p> <p>This year, February had the<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-15/cyclone-great-barrier-reef-bleaching-record-seas-temperatures/12050102"> highest monthly sea surface temperatures</a> ever recorded on the Great Barrier Reef since the Bureau of Meteorology’s records began in 1900.</p> <p><strong>Not a pretty picture</strong></p> <p>We surveyed 1,036 reefs from the air during the last two weeks in March, to measure the extent and severity of coral bleaching throughout the Great Barrier Reef region. Two observers, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, scored each reef visually, repeating the same procedures developed during early bleaching events.</p> <p>The accuracy of the aerial scores <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21707?dom=icopyright&amp;src=">is verified</a> by underwater surveys on reefs that are lightly and heavily bleached. While underwater, we also measure how bleaching changes between shallow and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05741-0">deeper reefs</a>.</p> <p>Of the reefs we surveyed from the air, 39.8% had little or no bleaching (the green reefs in the map). However, 25.1% of reefs were severely affected (red reefs) – that is, on each reef more than 60% of corals were bleached. A further 35% had more modest levels of bleaching.</p> <p>Bleaching isn’t necessarily fatal for coral, and it affects <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">some species more than others</a>. A pale or lightly bleached coral typically regains its colour within a few weeks or months and survives.</p> <p>But when bleaching is severe, many corals die. In 2016, half of the shallow water corals died on the northern region of the Great Barrier Reef <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0041-2">between March and November</a>. Later this year, we’ll go underwater to assess the losses of corals during this most recent event.</p> <p>Compared to the four previous bleaching events, there are fewer unbleached or lightly bleached reefs in 2020 than in 1998, 2002 and 2017, but more than in 2016. Similarly, the proportion of severely bleached reefs in 2020 is exceeded only by 2016. By both of these metrics, 2020 is the second-worst mass bleaching event of the five experienced by the Great Barrier Reef since 1998.</p> <p>The unbleached and lightly bleached (green) reefs in 2020 are predominantly offshore, mostly close to the edge of the continental shelf in the northern and southern Great Barrier Reef. However, offshore reefs in the central region were severely bleached again. Coastal reefs are also badly bleached at almost all locations, stretching from the Torres Strait in the north to the southern boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.</p> <p>For the first time, severe bleaching has struck all three regions of the Great Barrier Reef – the northern, central and now large parts of the southern sectors. The north was the worst affected region in 2016, followed by the centre in 2017.</p> <p>In 2020, the cumulative footprint of bleaching has expanded further, to include the south. The distinctive footprint of each bleaching event closely matches the location of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21707?dom=icopyright&amp;src=">hotter and cooler conditions in different years</a>.</p> <p><strong>Poor prognosis</strong></p> <p>Of the five mass bleaching events we’ve seen so far, only 1998 and 2016 occurred during <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a008-el-nino-and-australia.shtml">an El Niño</a> – a weather pattern that spurs warmer air temperatures in Australia.</p> <p>But as summers grow hotter under climate change, we no longer need an El Niño to trigger mass bleaching at the scale of the Great Barrier Reef. We’ve already seen the first example of back-to-back bleaching, in the consecutive summers of 2016 and 2017. The gap between recurrent bleaching events is shrinking, hindering a full recovery.</p> <p>After five bleaching events, the number of reefs that have escaped severe bleaching continues to dwindle. Those reefs are located offshore, in the far north and in remote parts of the south.</p> <p>The Great Barrier Reef will continue to lose corals from heat stress, until global emissions of greenhouse gasses are reduced to net zero, and sea temperatures stabilise. Without urgent action to achieve this outcome, it’s clear our coral reefs will not survive business-as-usual emissions.</p> <p><em>Written by Terry Hughes and Morgan Pratchett. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

Travel Tips

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"Dismal": 2020 economic survey predicts bleak year ahead

<p>2020 is shaping up as a dismal year for the economy, with no progress on many of the key measures that matter for Australians.</p> <p>Unemployment will stay above 5% and probably rise rather than fall.</p> <p>Economic growth will continue to have a “1” in front of it, instead of the “2” or “3” that used to be common, and living standards will grow more slowly.</p> <p>Wage growth, forecast in the budget to climb to 3%, will instead remain stuck near 2.2%, where it has been for half a decade.</p> <p>Those are the <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/857/2020___CONVERSATION_ECONOMIC_SURVEY.pdf?1579661077">central forecasts</a> of a panel of 24 leading economists from 15 universities in six states assembled by The Conversation to review the year ahead, a year they expect to be marked by one only more interest rate cut, more modest growth in house prices, and a return to slower growth in the share market.</p> <p>The panel comprises macroeconomists, economic modellers, former Treasury, IMF, OECD, Reserve Bank and financial market economists, and a former member of the Reserve Bank board. Combined, their forecasts are more likely to be correct than those of any individual member. One-third are women.</p> <p>They expect the long-promised budget surplus to all but disappear as a result of responses to the bushfires and weaker-than-predicted economic growth.</p> <p><strong>Economic growth</strong></p> <p>The Treasury believes the Australian economy is capable of growing at a sustained annual pace of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australias-economy-grew-08-per-cent-in-june-quarter-20170906-gybpqu.html">2.7%</a>, but it hasn’t grown that fast since mid-2018. Growth slipped below 2% in March 2019 and hasn’t recovered. It now has been below 2% for <a href="https://theconversation.com/gdp-update-spending-dips-and-saving-soars-as-we-stash-rather-than-spend-our-tax-cuts-128297">three consecutive quarters</a>, the longest period since the global financial crisis.</p> <p>The panel’s central forecast is for economic growth to stay at or below 2% for at least another year, producing the longest period of low economic growth since the early 1990s recession. The average forecast for the year to December is 1.9%.</p> <p>Panellist Saul Eslake says it will be the result of persistently slow growth in household disposable incomes, reflecting “very slow growth in real wages, the increasing proportion of gross income absorbed by tax, and weakness in property income (interest and rent) as well as (at the margin) the impact of the drought on farm incomes”.</p> <p>It will be domestic rather than overseas conditions that hold back Australian growth. US economic growth is expected to remain little changed at 2.1% notwithstanding trade friction with China, and China’s officially reported growth is expected to ease back only slightly from 6% to 5.8%.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="2I7gi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2I7gi/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Living standards</strong></p> <p>One of the best measures of overall living standards (the one the Reserve Bank watches) is real net national disposable income per capita, which takes better account of buying power than gross domestic product does. In the year to September it climbed an unusual 3.3%, pushed up by a resurgence in iron ore export prices.</p> <p>The iron ore price has since slid from US$120 a tonne to around US$90 a tonne, and the panel’s average forecast is for it to fall further.</p> <p>As a result it expects growth in living standards to slow to 2.4% in 2020, a result that will still be better than between 2012 and 2016 when a dive in export prices sent it backwards.</p> <p>Growth in nominal GDP, the raw total unadjusted for inflation, is also expected to slow, slipping from 5.4% to 4.4% as export prices weaken, producing a decline in revenue growth the government has already factored in to the budget.</p> <p>The unemployment rate is expected to end the year near the top of the 5%-to-5.5% band it has been stuck in for the past two years, rather than falling to the 5% forecast in the budget or towards the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/smp/2019/nov/overview.html">4.5%</a> the Reserve Bank believes is possible.</p> <p>Only one of the panel, Warren Hogan, expects the unemployment rate to end the year below 5%.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="5RnFy" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5RnFy/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Wages and prices</strong></p> <p>The panel’s central forecast is for inflation to remain below the bottom of the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target band, where it has been for most of the past five years.</p> <p>One panellist, Margaret McKenzie, breaks ranks. She expects the drought and bushfires and floods to sharply push up the cost of food and essential items including energy, quickly pushing inflation into the range the authorities have long wanted, but not for the reasons they wanted.</p> <p>“I don’t think people have thought about it, because there hasn’t been inflation for so long,” she says. “The problem is that the fires are likely to contract an already weak economy, impelling the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates further, even though its inflation targeting regime would tell it not to.”</p> <p>Wage growth is forecast to be well below the highest inflation forecast and only a little above the central forecast, resulting in continued low real wage growth and seeing the budget miss its wage growth target for the eighth year in a row.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="GN8R8" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GN8R8/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Business</strong></p> <p>Household spending barely grew in the year to September, inching ahead by a shockingly low 1.2%, the least since the financial crisis, and not enough to account for population growth.</p> <p>The panel’s central forecast is for a recovery in spending growth to a still-low 2.4%, with spending held back by low consumer confidence and what former Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development director Adrian Blundell-Wignall calls a “sense that we are living on borrowed time”.</p> <p>“China is slowing, bank-financed housing has been pushing the envelope and is very expensive, and the governments have never had a plan for the next phase of sustainable growth,” he says. “This perception of no confidence in the government has not been helped by the bushfire events.”</p> <p>There are few signs of a recovery in business investment, notwithstanding record-low interest rates.</p> <p>The panel’s average forecast is for investment by mining and non-mining companies to grow by only 1.7% and 1.9% in 2020, which will represent a turnaround for mining, in which investment fell 11.2% in the year to September.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="rUx3F" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rUx3F/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Markets</strong></p> <p>Financial markets should provide less support to households in the year ahead, with the ASX 200 share price index expected to climb only 6.4% after soaring 20% in the year just ended.</p> <p>None of the panellists expect last year’s growth to continue.</p> <p>The Australian dollar is expected to end the year at 68 US cents, close to where it is at present. The iron ore price is expected to fall to US$75, a smaller slide than was assumed in the budget.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="WFAig" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WFAig/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Home prices</strong></p> <p>Housing investment (homebuilding) is expected to stabilise in 2020, falling only slightly from here on, after sliding 9.6% in the year to September 2019.</p> <p>Sydney and Melbourne home prices are expected to continue to recover, growing by 5% in 2020.</p> <p>Panellist Nigel Stapledon says the higher home prices will in time boost perceptions of wealth, opening up the possibility that consumer spending will “surprise on the upside”.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="sVb2U" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sVb2U/6/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><strong>Interest rates and budget</strong></p> <p>The panel’s central forecast is for only one more cut in the Reserve Bank’s cash rate this year, in the first half, followed by no further cuts in the second half. This would allow the bank to avoid so-called unconventional monetary policy or “quantitative easing” in which it forces down longer-term rates by buying government and private bonds, an option Governor Philip Lowe said it would only resort to after it had cut its cash rate to 0.25%.</p> <p>The single cut would take the cash rate to an all-time low of 0.5%. In anticipation the ANZ cut its online saver account rate from 0.1% to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/anz-cuts-deposit-rates-to-all-time-low-20200123-p53tzd.html">0.05%</a> on Thursday.</p> <p>The cut could come as soon as next week when the board holds its first meeting for the year on February 4. Governor Lowe has scheduled an address to the National Press Club for <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/media/">the following day</a>.</p> <p>Most of the panel think quantitative easing will not be needed and many question its effectiveness, saying the government could achieve much more by fully abandoning its commitment to surplus in order to stimulate the economy.</p> <p>The panel expects the government’s 10-year bond rate to remain historically low at 1.3%. That makes it about as cheap as it has ever been for the government to borrow for worthwhile purposes.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="9nmRo" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9nmRo/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has abandoned his absolute commitment to return the budget to surplus this financial year, saying his first priority is “<a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/transcripts/doorstop-interview-treasury-canberra">meeting the human cost of the bushfires</a>”.</p> <p>The 2019-20 surplus was forecast at A$7.1 billion in the May budget and then downgraded to $5 billion in the December update.</p> <p>The panel’s average forecast is for a bushfire-ravaged $2.2 billion.</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="9ON15" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/9ON15/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>Most of the panel believe that with good management the government can avoid a recession for another two years, propelling the Australia economy into what will be its 30th straight year of expansion.</p> <p>On average they assign a 27% probability to a recession within the next two years, down from their average forecast of 29% in June.</p> <p>Several point out that, whereas the main risks to continued growth come from overseas, China appears to be managing its slowing economy better than expected, although the emergency triggered by the new and deadly <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-be-worried-about-the-new-wuhan-coronavirus-130366">Wuhan coronavirus</a> might change that.</p> <p>Among those who do fear a home-bred recession is Julie Toth who has lifted her estimate of the likelihood of a recession from 25% to 50%, saying growth is already so weak that it won’t take much to send it backwards.</p> <p>“The bushfire disaster presents the real and immediate possibility of two quarters of negative growth for the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of of 2020,” she says.</p> <p>“Even if disaster relief and fiscal stimulus are delivered swiftly, resource constraints (a lack of skilled tradespeople, water, equipment and appropriate building materials) mean reconstruction will be very slow.”</p> <hr /> <p><iframe id="WPaz5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WPaz5/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p>The panel began compiling its responses when the bushfires weren’t as bad as they subsequently became and before the emergence of the Wuhan coronavirus.</p> <p>It delivered its final forecasts on January 20 when the worst of the bushfires appeared to have passed but before the coronavirus had <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wuhan-coronavirus-is-now-in-australia-heres-what-you-need-to-know-130580">spread</a> to Australia.</p> <p>The effects of both won’t be known for some time.</p> <p>2020 is turning out to be a year of uncertainty, as well as low expectations.</p> <hr /> <h2>The Conversation 2020 Forecasting Panel</h2> <p><em>Click on economist to see full profile.</em></p> <p><iframe id="tc-infographic-457" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/457/bf44ce885daf5a3f6f0c3f21add509bc262c561f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none;" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><span><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-martin-682709">Peter Martin</a>, Visiting Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/crawford-school-of-public-policy-australian-national-university-3292">Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University</a></em></span></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/2020-survey-no-lift-in-wage-growth-no-lift-in-economic-growth-and-no-progress-on-unemployment-in-year-of-low-expectations-130289">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Survey results revealed: Should Prince Charles step aside for William

<p>According to a survey conducted by<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://honey.nine.com.au/royals/prince-charles-abdication-one-in-3-people-believe-it-is-the-right-thing/d81c5df7-f89a-4368-8fe1-f3b7dc3b014d" target="_blank">Nine.com.au</a>, one in three people that Prince Charles should step aside in favour of his son Prince William when he is handed the role as King.</p> <p>The survey was completed by 829 participants and saw that 32 per cent of people agreed that abdication of the throne was the best course of action for the Prince of Wales.</p> <p>As Prince Charles is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth, it is expected that he takes on the role of King when it is time.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0vA-fQFQgb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0vA-fQFQgb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Wishing a very happy birthday to The Duchess of Sussex today! 🎈</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/kensingtonroyal/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Kensington Palace</a> (@kensingtonroyal) on Aug 4, 2019 at 1:01am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Whether the Queen will abdicate her throne or pass it onto her son naturally is a different question entirely as she is the longest reigning monarch in the world.</p> <p>By law, tradition and by expectation, the next King or Queen of the United Kingdom and the rest of the Commonwealth realms will always be the eldest child of the current reigning monarch.</p> <p>This was disappointing to survey respondents as there are also reports that the Queen has been using her time to train Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.</p> <p>It is understood that when Prince Charles becomes king, the Duchess of Cornwall will not take the usual title of Queen consort and will be recognised as Princess consort instead.</p> <p>This is because the Duchess of Cornwall has made it clear that she has no interest in taking the future role of Queen, which is also a view that was held by Princess Diana of Wales.</p> <p>41 per cent have expressed that Prince Charles deserves to serve his time, but a further 27 per cent expressed that they had no interest in the matter at all.</p>

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