Defence set to give US greater military access

- They are agreeing to giving each other greater access to each others' military facilities (mainly in WA)
- The AUSMIN summit
- China
- They are looking for ways to move around the world and increase an international presence
- Cyber security, progress in Afghanistan and the state of the Joint Strike Fighter project
- It means we're pandering to America in the way of giving it more presence than ever before and ensureing its superiority through our resources

Mapping Skills: Geography Preliminary - 2006

- 0.75%
- 60000000
- Africa
- 1000000
- 3800000
- It could be because it's simply much harder to attain a high age in the living conditions endured by those in Ethiopia than those in Italy

Go Back To Where You Came From - Reflection

- My initial view was that the show would be a very interesting social experiment conducted by educated people
-
- I think it's due in part to the lack of education about the issue, but the real problem lies in the difficulties concerned with actually processing the asylum seekers - many who are in favour of receiving the illegal immigrants don't understand that a lot needs to be done in respect to making sure the arrivals are legally registered (without which they cannot receive the benefits afforded to citizens)
- Between Denmark and Cyprus
- The Commonwealth has unquestionable obligation to assist those who ask (or, in this case, who risk their lives) but the problem lies in, as previously discussed, the difficulty in processing arrivals is immense. There is an imperative need to read into both sides of the issue, as governments try to do, and although as signatories to the UN convention we have acknowledged the rights of asylum seekers but difficulties still lie in the issue - difficulties that we are always trying to solve.
- Refugees have no definitive advantage in terms of benefits.
- About 11
- It means Malaysia could be liable to possible mistreatment of refugees, and that the refugees residing there may not be afforded basic protections

ASEAN members start moves to harmonize policies

1. To improve and harmonize trade and investment policies
2. ERIA is the Economic Research Group for ASEAN and East Asia and they plan to help countries identify commitments that will deliver the best results toward integration
3. The ASEAN Economic Community, for which ERIA is reviewing financial standards
4. Trade and Transport, Services and Investment Facilities
5. Every year
6. Possible tools members can use to pursue effective reforms
7. Dato Lim Jock Hoi (Brunei Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary) Brunei has a population of 401890 and a GDP of $20382000000000, the population is smaller but the GDP larger than those of Australia
8. A more linked consensus on policy making and economic reform
9. I think it is terrible for Australia to be tied to economies so slow in their reform (with the exceptions of Singapore and Brunei) and it would be detrimental is our policies (meant for our country alone) were to be replaced with a larger plan for a collective economy that clearly won't work.

Military - US/Australia Alliance

1. Stephen Smith is the Minister for Defence, and he represents Australia's defence interests at home and abroad.
2. The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
3. The US is one of the most important allies Australia has, and as part of the ANZUS treaty is called on in any time of need pertaining to military action.
4. Australia could be considered the US' main stratregic hold in the Asia-Pacific region.
5. Australia has participated in all of the US' wars; Korea (1950-1953), Vietnam (1965-1972), The Gulf (1990), Iraq (2003-) & Afghanistan (2004-). The US also involved itself in Australia's East Timor intervention.
6. He said that Australia as an ally adds value to the American economy.
7. It's an attempt to bolster relations between Australia and the US.
8. China.
9. A better rapport and stronger economic ties (after incidents relating to WikiLeaks and other talks).
10. Because Australia needs more allies in the region (after East Timor intervention).

1. A military base in Woomera, for a strategic outpost in the region
2. The armed forces of Australia and the US will be more closely coordinated than ever before

Government, Malaysia sign Swap Deal - Summary

1. 800 Asylum Seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 'genuine' refugees.
2. They will be treated with dignity and respect, protected by human rights.
3. Very badly.
4. Yes.
5. They will be processed in Australia and sent to Malaysia.
6. The government can't guarantee the upholding of human rights.
7. To stem the constant flow of asylum seekers.

8. I don't think it will work - the planning and consideration behind this idea is non-existent and not only will it be logistically inefficient, but human rights will be brought into total disregard by Malaysia - Howard's Nauru plan was both effective and humane and, if they (the asylum seekers) were to be sent back to Nauru, there would be concrete guarantee that they would not end up being caned.

Immigration

1. According to international refugee law, a refugee is someone who seeks refuge in a foreign country because of war and violence, or out of fear of persecution.

2. People leave their countries in search of a better life, whether it be for reasons pertaining to hunger (perhaps famine), persecution (often political or religious) or another issue affecting the quality of their life.

3. Refugees must qualify for different criteria depending on the country in which they are seeking asylum - generally the criteria is composed of the reasons stated above.

4. The Middle East, places such as Afghanistan, sometimes places such as Sri Lanka and (previously) South East Asia/Vietnam.

Australia may be a Nuclear Target - Summary

1. Foreign Minister - this entails representing Australia abroad (occasionally) and looking after matters related to foreign affairs

2. That Australia may become a target of the products of the North Korean long range missile program

3. The ASEAN Regional Forum

4. North Korea has been involved in several military gaffes lately involving shell fire and weapons testing over the border into South Korea

5. North Korea's missile testing and capabilities

6. Rudd is trying to achieve status and get attention for what he believes is a problem, and wants to consolidate ties with the rest of the region

7. Although ties with the US may be as strong as ever, it could be said that ties will not make much of a change for the better

Foreign Aid Review - Summary

From Hugh White's article on the levels of aid given by Australia (written on 19 July), we can discern that White opines:

- This country spends too much on aid

- Aid that has been given has varying amounts of effectivity

- Poverty, although reduced, is still rife (1000000000 people earning <$1.25 a day)

- The World Bank predicts further decline in poverty numbers

- The primary reason of growth in Third World nations is not aid intake but economic growth

It is my belief that Australia is contributing more aid as a result of either pressure from other parts of the First World or guilt permeated by publications (often from the UN) on increasing poverty. It needs to be understood that while aid may give immediate help, growth is the primary reason of recovery economically - White is completely correct in this respect. His statement on the dwindling power of the West is provocative (and maybe slightly brash) but raises an interesting point - this article provides very interesting commentary and raises a good point - perhaps poverty (like many other problems that affect the world) has solutions beyond continual spending.

Hong Kong in Five Images/五香港圖片

Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories make up the city of Hong Kong, located in Southern China with a population of about 7000000 people and one of the world's highest population densities. Hong Kong was a British colony from 1842 to 1997 (with a brief period of Japanese occupation from 1941-1945), when it joined Mainland China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in the People's Republic of China, meaning it has more economic and political freedom than other parts of China (excluding Macau, the other SAR). Hong Kong's population is 95% Chinese - the people of Hong Kong speak Cantonese and write in Traditional Chinese script. Hong Kong enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world. Below are five images of what makes Hong Kong unique.

Hong Kong has an iconic skyline. The astronomical level of population density and the relative lack of  space to accommodate it has led to a need for immense urban consolidation, making Hong Kong the world's most vertical city. Hong Kong's economy has become one of the world's greatest and the skyscrapers, often a sign of commercial success, are a prime example of this. The above picture is of the view from Victoria Peak, the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island.

The lack of space in Hong Kong has led to extremely expensive real estate, thus the vast majority of people live in apartments in high-rise housing estates such as this one. People living in such apartments often have access to many amenities, as many estates include a shopping complex or a market. Such establishments are the norm in Hong Kong and only the very wealthy have large, detached homes. The above picture is of a private housing estate, Hong Kong Parkview.

Hong Kong is highly commercialised, with a very technologised population. Shopping is very diverse and popular, with many large-scale shopping malls and upmarket stores. Statistics such as the fact Hong Kong has more mobile phones per capita than anywhere else in the world, or the fact that there are more Mercedes-Benz in Hong Kong than there are in Germany itself demonstrate how commercial Hong Kong has become. The above picture is of Tong Lau, traditional shophouses and still a common sight.


90% of Hong Kong's residents practice a mix of local religions. The mixture of old and new is prevalent in Hong Kong, with many locals maintaining belief in Confucian concepts of harmony, Taoist traditions of ancestor worship and countless cultural superstitions, such as the architectural philosophies of Feng Shui (meant to bring harmony into a structure or space through nuances such as building features or furniture placement). The above picture is of a Tin Hau Temple in Causeway Bay, a declared monument.

 Stilt houses, known as Pang Uk, provide a disappearing window into what Hong Kong may have looked like centuries ago as a collection of fishing villages. A fire in 1953 in the Shek Kip Mei area destroyed the shanty (slum) homes of 53000 people. This later prompted the response of creating a public housing scheme to house lower-class communities in the city, which has succeeded dramatically. A fire 11 years ago destroyed 2000 of these stilt houses. The above picture is of the few remaining, in the Tai O area.

In conclusion, the eclectic mixture of old and new, East and West is what makes Hong Kong a truly unique city to live in, and, although possessing one of the world's highest qualities of life and being one of the world's most modern cities, a city constantly making efforts to preserve a millenia-old culture and its traditions.

The Science of Big Waves

Pre-viewing:
1. Where do ocean waves come from? What gets them started? 
        Ocean waves come from the 'wave factory' in the Pacific Ocean. When the high and low pressure systems meet, pressure is released from the air and pushed right into the water.
2.  What do you think a surfer should know about waves before they try and ride a wave while surfing? 
Where they break, when they break how they break. How best to exit the wave if you need to.

Questions for the Video

1. Observe all the waves that you see and describe how they form and break. Use as many words found in the segment for you descriptions. 
  The steep reef, headland, pressure systems, wind and fetch all come into play to form the Maverick waves.
2. Describe how waves are formed, how they originate, and how they are measured? 
They start thousands of miles away in a place called the 'wave factory' in the Pacific, the low pressure system meets the high pressure system and the energy is transferred from the air to the water. Windspeed (60 km/h), fetch (2000 miles) and duration (4days) .
They are measured in three waves; height, period and wave length (peak to peak or trough to trough). The longer wave length, the longer the period between waves.
3. What is a maverick wave and what is special about the way it is formed?
Some of the biggest in the world. the "mount everest of surfing". The sharp ocean floor converts the potential energy into kinetic energy. The wave refraction causes the wave to bend and rise and it feeds the energy to form the perfect wave. 
4. How is energy stored and transferred during wave  
The enrgy rotates the water, and that energy is used to propel the wave.
5. List any kind of advice given by the surfers about how to survive these “big waves.” 
"The trick is to get in there and steal some fire before the full wrath of the wave is unleashed".
Sufers need to respect the full power of these waves as it could quickly turn into a fight for survival.

Big waves - The Cribbar

The Cribbar (English: Ploughed Reef), also known as the Widow Maker, is a reef off the Towan Headland in Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

The Cribbar is best known for creating annual big waves, popular with experienced big wave surfers from across the world. Wave faces can be in excess of 30-40ft. The Zorba is a reef 2 miles further off the coast and creates waves of 50ft or more.

The Cribbar's location in Cornwall, England

Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project Questions

1.  Offshore sand bars were beginning to form and they were a hazard to the ships that were offloading or onloading their cargo at Tweed River. The easiest solution was to build a breakwater.
2. The natural transportation of sand up the coast towards the Gold Coast was cut off as the sand stopped moving and built up at the Breakwaters.
3. Longshore drift moved sand up the coast North towards the Gold Coast, meaning sand build up across the mouth of the river. This then beacme a hazard for ships trying to travel up the river as they could become stuck or damaged by the sand bars.
4. It was a short-term solution only as the process was expensive and innefficient.
5. Pipelines underground pump the sand from where it accumulates to the beaches that are lacking sand on the Gold Coast
6. This project has been regarded as one of the most successful coastal management strategies implemented in Australia because it is so efficient and subtle. I think the process is really clever and there is no better solution to such a situation. The dredging of the sand was both expensive and environmentally unfriendly whereas the pipeline is very efficient and inexpensive (in comparison to the dredging).
7. 

8. The beach has become more square and the is more sand has built up around the recently built Breakwater.
9. 500m

Summarisung the TRESB Project

1. The problem that led to the TRESBP was that longshore drift moved sand (that was moving North) across the mouth of the Tweed River, this then put boats and ships moving into the river at risk as the offshore sand bar could damage them.

2. There was one unsuccessful solution - they updated it and now the solution is considered one of the greatest  management strategies introduced. The first solution was the dredging and transport of the built-up sand north towards the Gold Coast, this was expensive and environmentally unfriendly so there was a need to update and improve the strategy. The new strategy was then to build underground pipelines that pumped the built-up sand north to the beaches that have been deprived of sand.
3. The result of the project was the beaches were replenished with sand - the TRESB was a success

7.5 Coastal Management on the Gold Coast

Refer to the topographic map and aerial photograph on pages 164 and 165 to answer the following questions.

7. Express the scale of the map as a statement: One centimetre on the map represents 25kilometres on the ground.

8. The contour interval on the map is 10 metres.

9. a) 175 m

    b) 300m

    c) 200m

    d) 275m

    e) 120m

    f) roughly 15 minutes

10. The lighthouse at Point Danger at 32m

11.  25:30... not too sure about that one...

12. 30m

13. a) a bridge

      b) roads/built up area

      c) Point Danger Lighthouse

      d) Border Park Raceway

      e) Caravan Park

      f) Jetties

14. a) Boyd Islands (mangroves)

      b) Terranora Inlet

      c) Kirra Beach

      d) Mount Murraba

      e) Inter Tidal Flat

      f) Tweed River Mouth

15. GR 521842

16. Very low, only building is the sand dredging station.

17. AR5282 because much of 5281 is taken up by water and sports fields wheres, despite there also being much open, natural space in 5282, there is less than that of 5281

18.a) N

     b) ENE

     c) SSE

     d) NE

7.8 Dune Revegation Questions

1. Stuarts point in coastal mid-north NSW
2. 1893 (the Stuarts Point spit separates the river from the sea) May 1965 (seedlings were introduced to the area to restabilise the area) August 1965 (grazing cattle ate the seedlings and prevented restablilisation) 1970 (the government introduces one of the country's largest revegation project) Now (the dunes have been successfully restabilised)
3. The community put up fences and signs to stop people, and cattle, from destroying ot delaying the revegation process
4. Tourism and Fishing Industries make this area a valuable aspect to the local community
5. The gradual introduction of stronger and more stabilising plants in the essential parts make the revegation process so successful.
6. The roots move down into the dune, holding the sand in place meaning the wind cannot move the sand dune anymore
7. The cattle grazing stopped the initial seedling plantations as the cows then ate the seedlings before they were big enough to stabilise.
8. Fences put up would have stopped cattle getting at the seedlings but the lack of vegetation could mean the movement of the dunes due to wind and water etc.
9. The local community, Australian and NSW governments and tourists.
10.  Assess, Evaluate, Tractors were used to create the foredune, essential for the regeneration, planting trees was the next stage.

7.2 Waves: Water on the Move

The top left corner is the path of water particles. The top right is the surf zone (the peak is travelling faster than the base). The bottom left is deep water, the bottom is the shallow depth (the wavelength decreases, the wave height increases). The middle right is the beach.

At the top left are ripples, which chop waves. In the centre on the top are fully developed seas, and a changing to swell in on the top right. The wind is at the bottom left, the length of fetch at the very bottom and the direction of the waves on the right.

At the top is a spilling wave, which breaks far from the shore with gentle slope. In the middle is a plunging wave, which break on beaches where the slope is moderately steep - they form 'tubes' which are good for surfing. And at the bottom is a surging wave, which occurs on steep beaches and causes erosion.

At the top is Wavelength, at the tops of the waves are Crests, between the waves is Wave height and at the bottom is trough.

Coastal Management Questions 7.1

Describe how the settlement plan of Australia is related to issues in the coastal environment?

Australians have mostly settled on the coast throughout our history - even today, 85% of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coastline. Such heavy concentration of coastal lifestyles has a great effect on the coastal environment Therefore great attention needs to be paid to these issues.

Why is the sustainable development of the coastline the aim of coastal management strategies?

To preserve the coastline for future generations, more and more of which will be living increasingly coastal lifestyles.

What trend has been labelled ‘sea change’?

When people move from larger cities to smaller coastal towns for the more relaxed lifestyle.

Describe one government response to ‘sea change?

Residential caps in some towns have been placed to curb overdevelopment in the area.

Select four of the geographical issues facing the coastal environment presented in this unit. For each issue identify the human actions that cause the issue?

1. Pollution - When people carelessly litter without thinking of the consequences of their actions, they cause mass pollution problems that continue to be pressing issues across many beaches.

2. Tourism and Recreational Pressures - The attraction of the beach and the economic benefits that accompany can be detrimental to the environment, notably through littering.

3. Introduced Plants - Introduced species have always been a problem for the Australian environment, and the effect on the coastline can be bad through the domination of local species of plant.

4. Inappropriate Development - This has become a large problem in recent years and councils are making efforts to curb this.

What role do geographers play in developing management solutions to issues in coastal environments? Authorities such as councils and governments often enlist the help of experts in geographical fields in order to attain a balanced perspective on what issues may have arisen.

Find an example that you and/or others feel in an example of inappropriate development. Describe why this is considered inappropriate. Give one way that this type of development can be fixed? In Adelaide, the Holdfast Shores development was created, and, although very beneficial to tourists and residents of the complex, locals feel this creation has stained the aesthetic of the beach area. Local councils and state governments should be taking action to disapprove or at least curb the scale of such development.