This archive covers progress stories from Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Island nations. Expect reporting on environmental protection, Indigenous-led initiatives, public health advances, and policy wins that reflect the region’s distinct challenges and strengths.
The law, which is expected to come into force in 2021, means that selling, supplying or distributing a “prohibited plastic product” will be illegal. The list of banned items includes plastic straws, cutlery, and drink stirrers, as well as polystyrene cups, bowls, plates, and clamshell containers.
With over 1,000 trees and 20,000 plants on its exterior, the Urban Forest will boast more trees than a nearby park in Brisbane, Australia. The project is hailed as one of the world’s most densely-forested greenery-covered buildings by designer Koichi Takada Architects.
The team from Australia’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research found that a certain concentration of honeybee venom could be used to induce death in 100 percent of the cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells largely unharmed
Queensland has become the first state in Australia to criminalize gay conversion therapy, after state politicians voted to make the “highly destructive and unethical” practice illegal. Practitioners found guilty will now face up to 18 months in jail.
New Zealand’s parliament has unanimously passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill that ensures that women in historically underpaid female-dominated industries receive the same remuneration as men in different but equal-value work.
Central Sydney, Australia is now entirely powered by renewable energy. By using locally sourced clean energy from wind and solar farms, the region will now see CO2 emissions reduced by around 20,000 tonnes each year. The move will save an estimated A$500,000 per year over the next decade.
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched in the US for six consecutive nights over the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Demonstrators now have gathered in London, Berlin and Auckland, among other cities, in solidarity with the US crowds.
Results from the trial were “really, really encouraging”, the project’s lead scientist Daniel Harrison from Southern Cross University said.
The court found Aboriginal people held a special status and were exempt from immigration laws, after it considered the cases of two convicted criminals whom the Government wanted to deport.
Scientists at Monash University in Australia have developed a battery with a capacity five times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries that could lead to drastically cheaper electric cars and grid energy storage.
