Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Radio Australia'

This thesis examines community radio in Western Australia and its relationship to "the public sphere". The public sphere is that field in which private. persons interact with other private. persons and in so doing construct a 11public". Public opinion is formed through this interaction in the public sphere. The media provide a major part of that interaction. Moreover, the media determine which voices are privileged within the communicative sphere. Drawing from Jurgen Habennas I explore theories of the public sphere arguing that community radio constructs a new form of public sphere in contemporary culture. I explore notions of democratic radio following the theories of Harold Innis to explore how elites have attempted to control communication. I argue that community radio provides a participatory medium which democratises the medium and allows for a more comprehensive formation of public opinion through the creation of informed rational discussion in the public sphere. This thesis provides an overview of broadcasting and the public in Western Australia with background on the history and development of community radio. It examines the notion of the public as a site of struggle and examines how community radio seeks to challenge the status quo in Western Australian culture. as well as seeking to facilitate- ideas on the role of radio as a democratic medium.

Although community radio in Australia is now well established and considered an important part of the radio sector, in today’s economically driven world it is at the bottom of the media money pile. In order to argue for its continuing existence, funding and development in an ever-changing media landscape, some means of capturing its value is essential. This thesis develops a theoretical framework of value for community radio from existing literature and through the testing of the framework at three community radio stations in Perth, Western Australia. Through a combination of interviews with staff, observation/participation and audience focus groups the testing exercise provides a multimodal insight into the values and operation of community radio as reflected in real life practice. The analysis will reveal whether the framework of value can be successfully operationalised in the field, how value is perceived by the study participants, and to what extent value is contingent upon the characteristics of the individual community radio stations. The evidence collected also has the potential to inform policy-making at a community radio station.

The community radio sector is an important cultural resource for the Australian community. It is experiencing rapid growth with an increase in the number of licensed radio stations, however, government funding has not proportionally increased and this is threatening the financial viability of many stations. The key issue addressed in this research is the need to find ways to enhance community radio's sources of funding without imperilling its status as a not-for-profit sector. This study argues that there is no inherent conflict between entrepreneurial principles and not-for-profit principles, and as long as all revenue is invested back into the station, then there should be no limit on income generation for community radio. Overseas community radio experience supports this argument.

The community radio sector is an important cultural resource for the Australian community. It is experiencing rapid growth with an increase in the number of licensed radio stations, however, government funding has not proportionally increased and this is threatening the financial viability of many stations. The key issue addressed in this research is the need to find ways to enhance community radio's sources of funding without imperilling its status as a not-for-profit sector. This study argues that there is no inherent conflict between entrepreneurial principles and not-for-profit principles, and as long as all revenue is invested back into the station, then there should be no limit on income generation for community radio. Overseas community radio experience supports this argument.

The main proposition of this thesis is that the news media serve as public connectors in sustaining and stabilizing national citizens’ transnational public connection to the global public sphere. The term transnational public connection refers to civic orientation to affairs beyond national borders. This approach builds on Couldry et al.’s (2006, 2007)’s notion of nationally based “public connection”. This thesis contends that in order to fulfill such a role, the news media need to provide international news with a transnational outlook, which interprets and describes international events and affairs in relation to different countries, the region and ultimately the globe.
Considering different factors affecting international news reporting, this thesis posits that news content carried by international broadcasters would generally have a broader outlook than national news media. Hence it focused its effort on examining one type of international broadcaster: government-funded shortwave radio. This thesis argues that shortwave radio broadcasting is still relevant in today’s multimedia environment. This thesis contends that shortwave radio broadcasting functions as a crucial supplementary “external public connector” in connecting publics located in the world’s less developed regions and/or under repressive regimes to the global public sphere. Therefore it is important for them to incorporate transnational news outlook in their news reporting.
This thesis argues that shortwave radio broadcasters’ core mission of carrying out government public diplomacy does not necessarily act as an impediment to their incorporating a transnational outlook in their news reporting. It proposes that the changing notion of public diplomacy is theoretically intertwined with the concept of transnational public connection; hence it is potentially an impetus for news with transnational outlook to emerge. But for such potential to be fully realized, this thesis argues that the broadcasting stations needs to have certain levels of editorial independence and be able to balance the interests of its home country and target region in its news coverage.
Using Australia’s international shortwave broadcaster, ABC Radio Australia as a case study, this research attempts to discover whether international news with a transnational outlook could be found and to try to define the parameters of such a type of news. Operationalizing a three dimensions approach proposed by Berglez (2008) in a quantitative content analysis, this study examined news content broadcast by Radio Australia’s flagship news program Connect Asia over a period of nine weeks. It found that news with a transnational outlook does exist in Connect Asia’s news coverage and the emergence of this type of news is closely linked with news topics. This type of news is more likely to emerge in news topics such as environment and health. It also found that news with a transnational outlook comprises a very small proportion of the totality of Connect Asia’s news coverage. The frequency of such news is limited by Connect Asia’s overwhelming focus on the news topic of politics. This thesis discusses several contributory factors which resulted in Connect Asia’s overall emphasis on politics and contends that government-funded international broadcasters, as well as other international broadcasters might need to de-politicize and broaden the scope of their news coverage in order to further incorporate a transnational outlook.

House cat movements in Canberra suburbs adjacent to grassland and forest/woodland areas were examined using radio-telemetry over 9 months. Information on the composition of vertebrate prey caught by house cats in Canberra was also collected by recording prey items deposited at cat owners' residences over 12 months. Home range areas of 10 suburban house cats, and a colony of seven farm cats, were examined using 95% convex polygons. Nocturnal home range areas of the suburban cats varied between 0.02 and 27.93 ha (mean 7.89 ha), and were larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0.02 to 17.19 ha - mean 2.73 ha). Nocturnal home range areas of cats from the farm cat colony varied between 1.38 and 4.46 ha (mean 2.54 ha), and were also larger than diurnal home range areas (range 0.77 to 3.70 ha - mean 1.70 ha). Activity levels were greater at night than during the day, though diel activity patterns varied seasonally in response to ambient temperature. Four suburban house cats moved between 390 m and 900 m into habitat adjoining the suburb. Movements further than 100-200 m from the suburb edge were always made at night. Polygons describing the home ranges of these animals were strongly spatially biased away from the suburban environment, though the cats spent the majority of their time within the bounds of the suburb. In addition to nocturnal and diurnal effects, home range areas, and subsequently habitat utilisation, appeared primarily determined by the density and spatial distribution of cats utilising separate food resources, and the dominance of individual cats in local social hierarchies, rather than gender or neutering effects. Home ranges of cats in the farm cat colony overlapped extensively, as did those of cats living at the same suburban residence. There was little or no overlap between the home ranges of cats from different residences. Barriers, in the form of busy roads, appeared to also significantly influence home range size and shape. Within home range areas, house cat movements during the day appeared strongly influenced by available cover (drains, tall grass, fences and shrubs etc.), and the location of resting/sunning spots and hunting sites close to home. At night, movement patterns appeared influenced by the location of favoured hunting sites toward the outer edges of home range areas (in this study, tall grass and scrub/forest habitat, and farm buildings). Nineteen hundred and sixty one prey items representing 67 species were reported or collected. Sixty-four percent of the prey items were introduced mammals, with native birds comprising 14%, introduced birds 10%, unidentified birds 3%, reptiles 7%, amphibians 1% and native mammals 1%. Predation appeared to be largely opportunistic with respect to spatial and temporal (daily and seasonal) prey availability and accessibility. All amphibians and 62% of mammals taken by cats not confined at night, were caught at night. In contrast, 70% of birds caught, and 90% of reptiles, were taken during the day (45% of birds between 0600 h and 1200 h, and 61% of reptiles between 1200 h and 1800 h). There was some evidence that small mammals are preferred prey of house cats. The mean number of prey items reported per cat over 12 months - 10.2 � 2.66 (2SE, n=138) - was significantly lower than mean predation per cat per year - 23.3 � 6.16 (2SE, n=138) - estimated by cat owners before the prey survey began. Seventy percent of cats were observed to catch less than 10 prey items over 12 months, but for 6% of cats, more than 50 prey items were recorded. Because counts of the amount of prey caught per house cat per unit time were highly positively skewed, data assumptions and statistical parameters used to extrapolate results from the study sample of cats, to the house cat population of Canberra, had a significant effect on estimates of total predation in Canberra. The precision of the total predation estimate was low (± 25%), from a sample of 0.3% of the Canberra house cat population. The accuracy of such estimates are dependent on how representative the study cat sample is of the wider house cat population, and on the proportion of prey items not observed by cat owners. The total amount of prey taken was not significantly influenced by cat gender, age when desexed, or cat breed. Nor did belling or the number of meals provided per day have a significant influence on predatory efficiency. Cat age and the proportion of nights spent outside explained approximately 11 % of the variation in the amount of prey caught by individual cats. House cat density and distance to prey source areas (rural/grassland habitat) explained 43% of variation in predation on introduced mammals and birds. The impact of predation beyond suburb edges is likely to be most significant on populations of small to medium sized arboreal and ground-dwelling mammals, because of their nocturnal nature, and because they appear to be preferred prey types of house cats. Impacts on diurnally active prey, such as most birds and reptiles, are likely to be confined to within 200 m of residential housing (possibly further where good cover is available). Properly enforced nocturnal confinement should restrict the range sizes of cats that roam widely and utilisation of habitat beyond suburb edges, and also reduce predation on mammals and amphibians. Night-time curfews however, are unlikely to greatly reduce predation on diurnally active species, including most birds and reptiles. Curfews are currently neither widely adopted nor effectively practiced in Canberra. Estimates of predation by house cats, particularly extrapolated estimates, should be treated with caution. They do not necessarily reflect relative impacts on different prey types. Nor do high rates of predation prove prey populations are detrimentally effected, particularly in urban environments. Nonetheless, on a small (backyard) scale in suburban environments, and in habitat within 1 km of residential housing, including isolated private properties, predation by individual cats may threaten populations of native wildlife. Hunting by house cats is particularly undesirable in relatively undisturbed habitat because of fundamental differences in the ecological processes operating in these areas (especially isolated remnants) compared with contrived and modified suburban environments. Adverse impacts on native fauna will always be potentially greatest in undisturbed habitat adjacent to new residential developments

This study investigates the relationship between media and democracy with a particular focus on Australian community broadcasting. I put forward the thesis that the value and purpose of community broadcasting are located in its community development function, rather than in its ability to transmit alternative information. This suggests that an analysis should emphasise community rather than media. Community development promotes the empowerment of ordinary people so that they can confidently participate in management and decision-making - that is, the procedures and norms that underpin democratic practices. In the case of community media, the relationship between democracy and media is located primarily in its volunteers. To understand this relationship, I link together concepts of the public sphere and social capital. The public sphere is understood as multiple and diverse and linked to other publics via the web of relationships forged among people with shared interests and norms. I argue that a community public sphere should be understood as a cultural resource and managed as a common property. The public sphere is thus conceived to have a more or less porous boundary that serves to regulate membership. Understood as a bounded domain, the public sphere can be analysed in terms of its ideological structure, its management practices and its alliances with other publics. This approach also allows for a comparison with other similar public spheres. The study identifies two main ideological constellations that have shaped the development of Australian community broadcasting - professionalism and community development, with the former gaining prominence as the sector expands into rural and regional communities. The ascendancy of professional and quasi-commercial practices is of concern as it can undermine the community development potential of community broadcasting, a function that appears to be little understood and one which has attracted little research. The study presents a case study of three regional and remote rural community radio stations and compares them from a social capital perspective. Social capital is a framework for understanding the relationship between the individual and the community and explores this relationship in terms of participation in networks, reciprocal benefits among groups and individuals and the nature of active participation. Demographic and organisational structures of the three stations are also compared. By taking this approach, each station's capacity for community development and empowerment is addressed. The results of the fieldwork reveal that the success of a community radio station is related to 'community spirit' and demographic structure. They reveal that the community radio station in the smallest community with the lowest per capita income was best able to meet the needs of its community and its volunteers.

During the early 1980s the Warlpiri at Yuendemu, a remote Aboriginal community in Central Australia, began their own experiments in local television and radio production. This was prior to the launch of the AUSSAT satellite in 1985 which brought broadcast television and radio to remote Australia for the first time. There was concern amongst remote Aboriginal communities, as well as policy makers, that the imposition of mass media without consultation could result in permanent damage to Aboriginal culture and language. As a result, a policy review 'Out of the Silent Land' was published in 1985 and from that developed the Broadcasting in Remote Aboriginal Communities Scheme (BRACS) which allowed communities to receive radio and television from the satellite. BRACS also provided the option to turn off mainstream media and insert locally produced material. This study of the Warlpiri at Yuendemu has found that, since the original experiments, they have enthusiastically used modern communication technology including radio, video making, locally produced television, and, more recently, on-line services. The Warlpiri have adapted rather than adopted the new technology. That is they have used modern communications technology within existing cultural patterns to strengthen their language and culture rather than to replace traditional practices and social structures. The Warlpiri Media Association has inspired other remote broadcasters and is now one of eight remote media networks that link to form a national network via the National Indigenous Media Association of Australia. The Warlpiri have actively adapted modern communication technology because it is to their advantage. The new technology has been used to preserve culture and language, to restore, and possibly improve, traditional communications and to provide employment and other opportunities for earning income. It appeals to all age groups, especially the elders who have retained control over broadcasts and it also provides entertainment.

This study focuses on the organisation and operation of the Australian Government’s Department of Information that operated from 1939 to 1950. Equal weighting is given to the wartime and peacetime halves of the Department’s existence, allowing a balanced assessment of the Department’s role and development from its creation through to its abolition. The central issue that the Department had to address was: what was an appropriate and acceptable role for a government information organisation in Australia’s democratic political system? The issue was not primarily one of formal restrictions on the government’s power but rather of the accepted conception of the role of government. No societal consensus had been established before the Department was thrust into dealing with this issue on a practical basis. While the application of the Department’s censorship function attracted considerable comment, the procedures were clear and accepted. Practices laid down in World War I were revived and followed, while arguments were over degree rather than kind. It was mainly in the context of its expressive functions that the Department had to confront the fundamental issue of its role. This study shows that the development of the Department was driven less by sweeping ministerial pronouncements than through a series of pragmatic incremental responses to circumstances as they arose. This Departmental approach was reinforced by its organisational weakness. The Department’s options in its relations with media organisations and other government agencies were, broadly, competition, compulsion and cooperation. Competition was never widely pursued and the limits of compulsion in regard to its expressive functions were rapidly reached and withdrawn from. Particularly through to 1943 the Department struggled when it sought to assert its position against the claims of other government agencies and commercial organisations. Notwithstanding some high profile conflicts, this study shows that the Department primarily adopted a cooperative stance, seeking to supplement rather than supplant the work of other organisations. Following the 1943 Federal elections the Department was strengthened by stable and focused leadership as well as the development of its own distribution channels and outlets whose audience was primarily overseas. While some elements, such as the film unit, remained reasonably politically neutral, the Department as a whole was increasingly employed to promote the message of the Government of the day. This led to a close identification of the Department with the Labor Party, encouraging the Department’s abolition following the Coalition parties’ victory in the 1949 Federal elections. Nevertheless in developing its role the Department had remained within the mainstream of administrative practice in Australia. While some of its staff assumed a greater public profile than had been the practice for prewar public servants, this was not unusual or exceptional at that time. Partly through the efforts of the Department, the accepted conception of the role of government had expanded sufficiently by 1950 that despite the abolition of the Department most of its functions continued within the Australian public sector.

Community radio in Australia was established to empower ordinary citizens. However, people with disability are less heard than others in community radio, as with mainstream media. Listening to experiences of community radio staff and volunteers with disability can provide the foundation for plans to increase participation, agency and voice. Using semi-structured interviews, this practice-led research asked people with disability in the sector what empowers them, and how policy change, training and awareness-raising might increase their participation. It's The People's Radio, an accompanying 4 part radio documentary, tells the stories of community radio participants with disability in their own voices.

This study examines talk-radio relations in advance of digitisation, testing the continuity of patterns of listener formation, to assess the accuracy of claims that 'interactivity' and individuated informational flows are demand-driven. Australian talk broadcasters are shown discursively creating a living 'thirdspace' or 'real virtuality' of transactional locations. Listener-caller participation arrays varying social orders across this imagined-yet-real terrain. Radio talk thus becomes a 'euphemised' form of social pre-dispositioning power, differentially locating power across communities. Four sets of talk-radio texts are examined in detail, using a socially contextualised form of linguistic analysis. Transcripts from 2UE's 'The Stan Zemanek Show' reveals an openly-gendered and more covertly classed discourse. The address to private rather than to public 'selves' in late-night sex-counselling talkback is examined. The study then examines programming from the community radio sector of volunteer-produced, local radio transmission. Finally, the study examines 'The prison show', a community radio music request and message programme for Aboriginal prisoners. The study concludes by suggesting that talk radio's role within cultural formation is complex in its articulations, but deeply implicated within the major cultural formational activities of contemporary consumer culture, on which are being modelled digital audio broadcasting's newly intensified flows of interactivity
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001.
Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the Doctorate of Philosophy (Applied Communications), University of Western Sydney, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 452-498.

The ionosphere above the Murchison Radio Observatory (MRO) has been characterised over half of solar cycle 24 and its response to impinging low-frequency radio waves described. The outcomes of this thesis will contribute to an operational requirement of the Murchison WideField Array (MWA) radio telescope (calibration) and delivery of the project’s scientific goals (high fidelity imaging) and shows that the MRO site is an excellent location from which to conduct low-frequency radio astronomy.

This thesis seeks to explain the extent and quality of financial ratio disclosures within the 2007 annual reports of 300 Australian listed firms. Agency theory is utilised as the underlying theoretical framework. The extent of financial ratio disclosures (EFRD) is captured through a 43-item financial ratio disclosures index. A 12- item qualitative matrix using the IASB Conceptual Framework is created measuring the quality of financial ratio disclosures (QFRD).The findings reveal that the EFRD of sample firms is 5.3%. Share Market Measures, Capital Structure and Profitability are slightly more popular ratios (still below 10%) with virtually no communication of the Liquidity and Cash Flow sub-categories. The QFRD disclosure is 37.8%. Reliability and Understandability are better handled, followed by Comparability and Relevance qualitative characteristics.Regression analysis indicates firm size and ownership concentration are statistically significant predictors of EFRD. Larger firms with greater disperse ownership structure disclose financial ratios more extensively than their smaller counterparts. Larger firms also provide more qualitative information supporting the use of financial ratios. Better corporate governance structures and greater capital management initiatives do not appear to explain the extent or quality of financial ratio disclosures.These thesis findings have important implications for understanding managerial communication incentives as they relate to the extent and quality of financial ratio disclosures within the annual reports of ASX listed firms. One key policy implication is that financial ratio disclosures are a valuable tool highlighting major financial and operational characteristics of firms. Small firms and those firms with less concentrated ownership structures should consider allocating further resources in disclosing financial ratio information. Accounting policy makers can reasonably target loss making firms and non-Big4 clients with the view of providing mechanisms to enhance financial ratio disclosures. Such moves are desirable since accountability, transparency and adherence to corporate governance attributes would likely be enhanced.

In general, the adoption and diffusion of Information Systems (IS) in agriculture industry is a neglected issue in academia, let alone the livestock sector. In livestock industry, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is currently used in order to ensure meat safety. Generally, the livestock supply chain involves a large number of people and organisations/farms. To ensure a successful animal-tracing system, the examination of the adoption behaviour of those stakeholders is worthwhile. So far, no initiative has been made by the researchers to investigate the adoption process and relevant factors in a livestock setting. This research aims to close this research-gap. Furthermore, the ultimate success of an innovation is dependent not just on the adoption but on its continued and extended use. Scholars have been investigating on adoption and continuance behaviour of an innovation but not in an integrated fashion.This current research has studied both the adoption and continued and extended usage behaviour of Australian livestock industry regarding RFID technology in a single framework. Moreover, the extension decision of an innovation is a continuous and complex process. It is not easy for farms to identify a correct extension application from many possibilities. As has not been done yet a Decision Support System (DSS), which is based on Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), is developed in this research aiming to aid farms to choose the best extension-project.It is assumed that the adoption factors in a mandatory environment would be different than that of in a voluntary environment. In literature, it is very rare to find a comparative study of the adoption factors of a single innovation in both voluntary and mandatory environments. This research studied the both environments.This research adopted the ‘mixed method’ methodology. Face-to-face direct interview with semi-structured questionnaire has been used for the collection of qualitative data. Data obtained from the field study have been analysed using NVivo software package. On the other hand, Partial Least Square (PLS)-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique has been used for analysing the quantitative data obtained from a national survey on the variables identified earlier from the qualitative method.The findings of this research confirmed that environmental factors, organisational factors, and technological factors influence the adoption of RFID technology in livestock industry. The continued use and extended use of RFID systems are dependent on satisfaction obtained from using the current system. Moreover, confirmation bridges the adoption and continuance; this is the stage which influences the further-use of an innovation after being adopted.This current research has both theoretical and practical implications. Investigating the adoption factors along with continued and extended use factors in a single framework is a unique initiative by far in literature. This research strengthens the adoption-diffusion research of IS by getting insights from the livestock sector. Using the factors and variables, obtained from the research to develop a practical decision making process (i.e., the DSS) is innovative. As practical implications, governments and other organisations that have the power to make an industry to adopt an innovation should consider the findings of this study for efficient policy development and implementation. Similarly, the innovation-vendors/manufacturers may look at the derived factors for a successful acceptance of an innovation. Finally, the DSS does have the merit to be made more extensive and used at farm level in order to assist the farm decision-makers to choose their extension projects.

Sex-ratio is an important demographic parameter, however, the literature surrounding bird and mammal sex-ratio is incredibly inconsistent. Some bird and mammal species provide strong evidence for sex-ratio adjustment because observed sex-ratio results match the predictions of sex manipulation hypotheses. However, some bird and mammal species exhibit sex-ratio results that conflict with the predictions of sex manipulation hypotheses. The need to rectify bird and mammal sex-ratio inconsistencies is paramount when considering many conserved populations face demographic collapse in the presence of climate change. Therefore, this study has reviewed all known bird and mammal sex manipulation hypotheses, and chosen to examine a species that theoretically displays few sex manipulation hypotheses for a simple study design. Displaying two sex manipulation hypotheses, Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) were predicted to exhibit an even sex-ratio; whether they possessed the means to adjust sex-ratio or not. To test the above prediction, Little Penguin blood samples were retrieved from chicks nesting on Penguin Island and Garden Island and sexed via the CHDI genetic sexing technique, using the established PL/PR primer pair. Little Penguin chick weight and foot length data were also recorded and examined via the logistic growth curve to determine whether the study’s assumption of ‘equal net costs associated with raising either offspring sex’ was true. The sex-ratio for Little Penguin populations on Penguin Island and Garden Island was marginally female-biased, (P = 0.092 and 0.096 respectively). Possible reasons why the predicted sex-ratio of 1:1 was not observed are;(1) the prediction was based on inaccurate species knowledge as the assumption of ‘equal net costs associated with raising either offspring sex’ was determined false, (2) a small sample size for both Penguin Island and Garden Island (41 and 19 respectively), or (3) aspects beyond those covered in sex manipulation hypotheses influenced what the most adaptive brood sex-ratio is for the species, such as sex manipulation constraints, a lagged processes, or cryptic benefits.

The purpose of this study was to examine the financial patterns of Australian industrial firms along the lines of Pinches et al.’s (1973; 1975) study. The financial ratios used in prior Australian corporate failure studies were used to derive a reduced set of factors that was predictive of corporate failure (e.g., Castagna & Matolesy, 1981: Booth, 1983). These factors were examined for the short – and long-term stability of these factors. The set of firms used was selected from FINSELECT database, which covered the period from 1989 to 1997. A random list of 199 Australian industrial firms that survived between 1989 and 1997 was selected. A total of thirty-one unique financial ratios were calculated based on the models derived in prior Australian failure prediction studies. These financial rations were factor analysed. The financial factors that were predictive of corporate failure were Return on Investment, Short-Term Liquidity (I and II), Financial Leverage (I and II) and Decomposition Measure.

Increasing energy consumption in Australian transport sector, rapidly depleting amount of Australian oil reserves, and the environmental concerns that arise from the associated greenhouse gas emissions produced by the combustion of large amount of fossil fuels during transport activities have increased the interest in using renewable transport fuels, especially ethanol and biodiesel, as replacements for petrol and diesel fuels, respectively, in the transport sector.In Western Australia, there is a potential for replacing diesel fuel consumed in its transport sector by biodiesel produced from rapeseed (canola) grown as one of the break crops between cereal crops. Apart from the availability of raw material, sustainable biodiesel production from rapeseed needs to be analysed from, among other factors, its energy efficiency, which can be determined from the energy ratio of the overall biodiesel production process, defined as the ratio of energy output from biodiesel to the total primary energy consumed during rapeseed growing and processing into biodiesel.In this study, the energy ratio of biodiesel production from rapeseed in Western Australia is evaluated through an energy balance analysis, considering typical Western Australian rapeseed growing practices and rapeseed processing parameters. The energy ratio is then used to evaluate the land, water, and labour requirements of a large scale biodiesel production to analyse its feasibility as a replacement for fossil diesel fuel consumption in Western Australian transport sector. The energy ratio and feasibility of the biodiesel production process are then compared to those of ethanol production from mallee in Western Australia since both biofuels are produced as alternative transport fuels and an assessment is therefore needed to decide which fuel is more feasible to produce, considering the competition for limited resources, e.g. arable land, during their production.Without by-products utilisation, the energy ratio of biodiesel production from rapeseed is found to be less than 1, indicating a negative energy return. The most significant improvement to the energy ratio is achieved when all by-products are utilised, resulting in an energy ratio of 1.70.A feasibility analysis using the net energy approach with an energy ratio of 1.70 shows that the land and labour requirements of a large scale biodiesel production are the major constraints to its realisation as an alternative to diesel fuel in Western Australian transport sector. Replacement of a significant fraction of diesel fuel consumption in the transport sector would cause severe competition for arable land with production of other crops. The net biodiesel production rate is also lower than that required to maintain the current transport activities that are supported by diesel fuel produced by Western Australian energy sector.Feasibility analysis of large scale ethanol production shows, on the other hand, that there is potential to replace approximately 15% of the total petrol fuel consumption in Western Australian transport sector with ethanol produced from mallee grown in Western Australian wheatbelt to tackle dryland salinity problem. The net ethanol production rate would also be sufficient to maintain the current transport activities that are supported by petrol fuel produced by Western Australian energy sector. The feasibility of the large scale ethanol production is, however, dependent on the availability of sufficient water, and hence rainfall, to maintain a consistent mallee yield per hectare of agricultural area.The results of energy balance and feasibility analyses in this study imply that wide implementation of rapeseed-based biodiesel in Western Australia is unsustainable. Possible future implementation should be directed at smaller and more specific targets and should be supported by development of key strategies in both rapeseed growing and rapeseed processing stages aimed at increasing rapeseed yield and reducing main energy input contributors to improve the energy ratio and productivity of the whole production process. The results also show that ethanol production from mallee grown in Western Australian wheatbelt to tackle dryland salinity problem provides an option for a large scale biofuel production to play significant role in future energy security in Western Australian transport sector.

This thesis sheds light on the ways in which audiences are made through the relationships between organisational policy and news production practice. It explores the relationships between news practitioners� perceptions and definitions of audiences, production, and organisational policies, using the radio news service of the Australian national public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In so doing, the thesis demonstrates that production, in its institutional context, is a crucial site for the creation of audiences in the study of news journalism. In the process, it illuminates the role of public service broadcasting, in a world of digital media The conceptual framework utilises a new approach to framing analysis. Framing has been used to examine the news "agenda" and to identify the salient aspects of news events. This thesis demonstrates ways in which framing can be used to research important processes in news production at different levels, from policy level to that of professional culture, and generate insights to the relationship between them. The accumulated evidence of the bulletin analysis - using structural and rhetorical frames of news - field observation and interviews, shows that a specific and coherent audience can be constructed as a result of newsroom work practices in combination with organisational policies. The thesis has increased knowledge and understanding both of how news workers create images of their audiences and what the institutional factors are that influence the manufacture of audiences as they appear in the text of news bulletins.

The objective of this study is to introduce a more refined methodological approach for signalling corporate collapse. The proposed methodological approach provides informed stakeholders in a corporation with a tool that would help them signal impending collapse with a higher degree of accuracy than the existing mainstream methodology. By doing so, the proposed methodological approach helps stakeholders take appropriate measures, if possible, to save their company from collapse. The motivation behind this study emanates from a need in the literature in relation to coming up with a new methodological approach that is superior to what is available. For example, Jones and Hensher (2004), one of the most recent studies in the field, stated that over the past three decades there has been a conspicuous absence of modelling innovation in the literature on financial distress prediction, as well as a failure to keep abreast of important methodological developments emerging in other fields of the social sciences. Specifically, this study introduces a new ratio-based multivariate methodological approach for signalling corporate collapse, called Multi-Level Modelling (MLM). Moreover, this study demonstrated that MLM provides informed stakeholders in a corporation with a tool that would help them signal impending collapse with a higher degree of accuracy than Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA), which is the mainstream benchmark methodological approach. By doing so, MLM helps stakeholders take appropriate measures, if possible, to save their company from collapse. The empirical results depicted the superiority of MLM over MDA. MLM generated better overall predictive power and dramatically reduced the occurrence of Type I error (classifying a collapsed company as non-collapsed). Moreover, MLM achieved those results while at the same time capturing variations in industry sectors among the data sample of companies. This is something that MDA was not capable of.

This thesis examines the capital structure choice of Australian firms with an emphasis on the impact of market timing and liquidity considering 1438 available firms for the period, 1997 to 2005. The relationship between capital structure and its determinants is the main focus of this thesis, with four empirical analyses. These analyses are all conducted within the Baker and Wurgler (2002) and Hovakimian (2006) models with both pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed effect panel analysis. The theory of market timing introduced by Baker and Wurgler (2002) has received considerable attention in recent years. Baker and Wurgler (2002) contend that past market timing has a long lasting impact on capital structure and thus, capital structure is the cumulative outcome of the past attempts at equity market timing. This thesis examines the Baker and Wurgler (2002) argument in an Australian context. It is found that the variation in leverage was explained by the market-to-book ratio and the effect of market-to-book ratio was explained by equity issues as market timing theory implies. However, the results are sensitive to data sample choice with variation in the strength of the negative relationship observed between external finance weighted average market-to-book and leverage. This suggests that while market timing appears to affect capital structure choice, it does not support the hypothesis that past market timing decisions have a long lasting impact on Australian firm capital structure. Hovakimian ( 2006) questions the Baker and Wurgler (2002) conclusion about firm behaviour and finds evidence that past market-to-book ratio has a significant impact on current financing decisions because it contains information about growth opportunities, not captured by the current market-to-book ratio. This thesis also examines the Hovakimian (2006) argument and finds evidence to support the argument of Hovakimian (2006) that, growth opportunities provide a reasonable explanation for the past market-to-book ratio effect for Australian firms. Analysis also focuses on broad industry differences. And it is found that there are significant differences between mining and non-mining firm in the determinants of capital structure. Finally, the impact of liquidity on Australian capital structure choice is analysed within the context of the Baker and Wurgler (2002) and Hovakimian (2006) models. It is found that liquidity is important to a firm's leverage choice. There is evidence that liquid firms tend to have lower leverage. Further, while liquidity has little effect on the sensitivity of leverage to market-to-book for Baker and Wurgler (2002) filtered data, a liquidity effect is evident in a broader set of four standard deviation filtered data. It is also found that greater liquidity is associated with less sensitivity of leverage to cash flows and that the asset tangibility relation with leverage is also sensitive to liquidity. Finally, there is evidence that more liquid firms are more sensitive in their tendency to revert to some long run leverage value.

The South African primary rebate is governed by Section 6 of the Income Tax Act (58 of 1962). This primary tax rebate entitles taxpayers to a tax-free income portion up to a certain level depending on the rebate amount (also referred to as the tax threshold). The concept of tax thresholds in a tax system in essence adhere to the first tax canon of Smith (1776:676), which suggests that individuals should pay taxes in proportion to each person’s ability to pay tax. The implication of this tax canon is that individuals who have a limited or no ability to pay tax should only be subject to pay tax in relation to their ability. Therefore, before tax can be levied, an amount for the necessities-of-life must be deducted from the taxpayer’s income (Vivian, 2006:85). The primary rebate system thus gives individuals a tax-free income portion which is supposed to first compensate for an individual’s necessities-of-life expenses or put differently the costs to survive. The main purpose of the present study is to critically analyse and compare the fairness of the primary rebates in South Africa in relation to other countries. To meet the main purpose a comparison was done between South Africa’s primary rebate and related government grant programs to that of Brazil and Australia. It was found that South Africa rebate system creates significant vertical and horizontal unfairness and that it compares poorly to the fairer multiple rebate and government grant systems of Brazil and Australia. Accordingly it was recommended that the unified primary rebate system of South Africa is reviewed and brought in line with the multiple rebate systems implemented in countries such as Brazil and Australia.
Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Taxation
unrestricted

While much has been written on the Australian film and television industry, little has been presented by actual producers, filmmakers and technicians of their time and experiences within that same industry. Similarly, with historical documentaries, it has been academics rather than filmmakers who have led the debate. This thesis addresses this shortcoming and bridges the gap between practitioner experience and intellectual discussion, synthesising the debate and providing an important contribution from a filmmaker-academic, in its own way unique and insightful. The thesis is presented in two voices. First, my voice, the voice of memoir and recollected experience of my screen adventures over 38 years within the Australian industry, mainly producing historical documentaries for the ABC and the SBS. This is represented in italics. The second half and the alternate chapters provide the industry framework in which I worked with particular emphasis on documentaries and how this evolved and developed over a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010. Within these two voices are three layers against which this history is reviewed and presented. Forming the base of the pyramid is the broad Australian film industry made up of feature films, documentary, television drama, animation and other types and styles of production. Above this is the genre documentary within this broad industry, and making up the small top tip of the pyramid, the sub-genre of historical documentary. These form the vertical structure within which industry issues are discussed. Threading through it are the duel determinants of production: ‘the market’ and ‘funding’. Underpinning the industry is the involvement of government, both state and federal, forming the three dimensional matrix for the thesis. For over 100 years the Australian film industry has depended on government support through subsidy, funding mechanisms, development assistance, broadcast policy and legislative provisions. This thesis aims to weave together these industry layers, binding them with the determinants of the market and funding, and immersing them beneath layers of government legislation and policy to present a new view of the Australian film industry.

The Brigham Young University (BYU) Radio Astronomy group, in collaboration with Cornell University, the University of Massachusetts, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), have in recent years developed and deployed PAF systems that demonstrated the advantages of PAFs for astronomy. However, these systems lacked the necessary bandwidth and acquisition times to be scientifically viable. This thesis outlines the development of a 20-MHz bandwidth system that can acquire for much longer periods of time and across much larger bandwidths than previous BYU systems. A report of the deployment of this system on the 305-meter reflector at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is also summarized.The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is currently constructing a PAF-equipped synthesis imaging array named the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) that offers great promise for widening FOVs and enhancing RFI mitigation techniques. Previous work in RFI mitigation has demonstrated effective cancellation for synthesis imaging arrays under the assumption that the processing bandwidth is narrowband and correlator dump times are short. However, these assumptions do not necessarily reflect real-world instrument limitations. This thesis explores simulated adaptive array cancellation algorithm effectiveness as applied on the ASKAP instrument given realistic bandwidths and correlator dump times. The results demonstrate that active RFI mitigation performed across long baselines is largely ineffectual.

This thesis presents a collection of papers that has been published, accepted or submitted for publication. They assess price, volatility and market relationships in the five regional electricity markets in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM): namely, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme (SNO) and Victoria (VIC). The transmission networks that link regional systems via interconnectors across the eastern states have played an important role in the connection of the regional markets into an efficient national electricity market. During peak periods, the interconnectors become congested and the NEM separates into its regions, promoting price differences across the market and exacerbating reliability problems in regional utilities. This thesis is motivated in part by the fact that assessment of these prices and volatility within and between regional markets allows for better forecasts by electricity producers, transmitters and retailers and the efficient distribution of energy on a national level. The first two papers explore whether the lagged price and volatility information flows of the connected spot electricity markets can be used to forecast the pricing behaviour of individual markets. A multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (MGARCH) model is used to identify the source and magnitude of price and volatility spillovers within (intra-relationship) and across (inter-relationship) the various spot markets. The results show evidence of the fact that prices in one market can be explained by their own price lagged one-period and are independent of lagged spot prices of any other markets when daily data is employed. This implies that the regional spot electricity markets are not fully integrated. However, there is also evidence of a large number of significant ownvolatility and cross-volatility spillovers in all five markets indicating that shocks in some markets will affect price volatility in others. Similar conclusions are obtained when the daily data are disaggregated into peak and off-peak periods, suggesting that the spot electricity markets are still rather isolated. These results inspired the research underlying the third paper of the thesis on modelling the dynamics of spot electricity prices in each regional market. A family of generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH), RiskMetrics, normal Asymmetric Power ARCH (APARCH), Student APARCH and skewed Student APARCH is used to model the time-varying variance in prices with the inclusion of news arrival as proxied by the contemporaneous volume of demand, time-of-day, day-of-week and month-of-year effects as exogenous explanatory variables. The important contribution in this paper lies in the use of two latter methodologies, namely, the Student APARCH and skewed Student APARCH which take account of the skewness and fat tailed characteristics of the electricity spot price series. The results indicate significant innovation spillovers (ARCH effects) and volatility spillovers (GARCH effects) in the conditional standard deviation equation, even with market and calendar effects included. Intraday prices also exhibit significant asymmetric responses of volatility to the flow of information (that is, positive shocks or good news are associated with higher volatility than negative shocks or bad news). The fourth research paper attempts to capture salient feature of price hikes or spikes in wholesale electricity markets. The results show that electricity prices exhibit stronger mean-reversion after a price spike than the mean-reversion in the normal period, suggesting the electricity price quickly returns from some extreme position (such as a price spike) to equilibrium; this is, extreme price spikes are shortlived. Mean-reversion can be measured in a separate regime from the normal regime using Markov probability transition to identify the different regimes. The fifth and final paper investigates whether interstate/regional trade has enhanced the efficiency of each spot electricity market. Multiple variance ratio tests are used to determine if Australian spot electricity markets follow a random walk; that is, if they are informationally efficient. The results indicate that despite the presence of a national market only the Victorian market during the off-peak period is informationally (or market) efficient and follows a random walk. This thesis makes a significant contribution in estimating the volatility and the efficiency of the wholesale electricity prices by employing four advanced time series techniques that have not been previously explored in the Australian context. An understanding of the modelling and forecastability of electricity spot price volatility across and within the Australian spot markets is vital for generators, distributors and market regulators. Such an understanding influences the pricing of derivative contracts traded on the electricity markets and enables market participants to better manage their financial risks.

This thesis presents a collection of papers that has been published, accepted or submitted for publication. They assess price, volatility and market relationships in the five regional electricity markets in the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM): namely, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland (QLD), South Australia (SA), the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme (SNO) and Victoria (VIC). The transmission networks that link regional systems via interconnectors across the eastern states have played an important role in the connection of the regional markets into an efficient national electricity market. During peak periods, the interconnectors become congested and the NEM separates into its regions, promoting price differences across the market and exacerbating reliability problems in regional utilities. This thesis is motivated in part by the fact that assessment of these prices and volatility within and between regional markets allows for better forecasts by electricity producers, transmitters and retailers and the efficient distribution of energy on a national level. The first two papers explore whether the lagged price and volatility information flows of the connected spot electricity markets can be used to forecast the pricing behaviour of individual markets. A multivariate generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (MGARCH) model is used to identify the source and magnitude of price and volatility spillovers within (intra-relationship) and across (inter-relationship) the various spot markets. The results show evidence of the fact that prices in one market can be explained by their own price lagged one-period and are independent of lagged spot prices of any other markets when daily data is employed. This implies that the regional spot electricity markets are not fully integrated. However, there is also evidence of a large number of significant ownvolatility and cross-volatility spillovers in all five markets indicating that shocks in some markets will affect price volatility in others. Similar conclusions are obtained when the daily data are disaggregated into peak and off-peak periods, suggesting that the spot electricity markets are still rather isolated. These results inspired the research underlying the third paper of the thesis on modelling the dynamics of spot electricity prices in each regional market. A family of generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH), RiskMetrics, normal Asymmetric Power ARCH (APARCH), Student APARCH and skewed Student APARCH is used to model the time-varying variance in prices with the inclusion of news arrival as proxied by the contemporaneous volume of demand, time-of-day, day-of-week and month-of-year effects as exogenous explanatory variables. The important contribution in this paper lies in the use of two latter methodologies, namely, the Student APARCH and skewed Student APARCH which take account of the skewness and fat tailed characteristics of the electricity spot price series. The results indicate significant innovation spillovers (ARCH effects) and volatility spillovers (GARCH effects) in the conditional standard deviation equation, even with market and calendar effects included. Intraday prices also exhibit significant asymmetric responses of volatility to the flow of information (that is, positive shocks or good news are associated with higher volatility than negative shocks or bad news). The fourth research paper attempts to capture salient feature of price hikes or spikes in wholesale electricity markets. The results show that electricity prices exhibit stronger mean-reversion after a price spike than the mean-reversion in the normal period, suggesting the electricity price quickly returns from some extreme position (such as a price spike) to equilibrium; this is, extreme price spikes are shortlived. Mean-reversion can be measured in a separate regime from the normal regime using Markov probability transition to identify the different regimes. The fifth and final paper investigates whether interstate/regional trade has enhanced the efficiency of each spot electricity market. Multiple variance ratio tests are used to determine if Australian spot electricity markets follow a random walk; that is, if they are informationally efficient. The results indicate that despite the presence of a national market only the Victorian market during the off-peak period is informationally (or market) efficient and follows a random walk. This thesis makes a significant contribution in estimating the volatility and the efficiency of the wholesale electricity prices by employing four advanced time series techniques that have not been previously explored in the Australian context. An understanding of the modelling and forecastability of electricity spot price volatility across and within the Australian spot markets is vital for generators, distributors and market regulators. Such an understanding influences the pricing of derivative contracts traded on the electricity markets and enables market participants to better manage their financial risks.

This thesis examines the stock market price variations associated with physical asset expenditure announcements in Australia. With the exception of the study of Chen and Ho (1997) in Singapore, most capital expenditure studies in other markets investigate the announcement effects associated with changes in budgeted capital expenditures. The fact that there is almost never any firm level capital budget announcement in Australia presents a unique opportunity to examine individual physical asset expenditure announcements. ¶ Three primary hypotheses pertaining to growth opportunities, free cash flow theory, and the capital market monitoring argument are developed and tested. These arguments are formulated to explain the abnormal return variations associated with physical asset expenditure announcements. The growth opportunities hypothesis posits that the abnormal returns at physical asset expenditure announcements are positively related to a firm's growth opportunities. Both free cash flow theory and capital market monitoring hypothesis postulate that the abnormal returns at physical asset expenditure announcements are negatively related to a firm's free cash flow, and cash flow respectively. Other control explanators are incorporated from the merger and takeovers literature. ¶ Event study methodology is used to examine the abnormal returns associated with physical asset expenditure announcements. Two sets of data, intraday and daily, are used to investigate the market reaction. Intraday returns are calculated on a time-weighted approach and two methods are used to calculate intraday abnormal returns. The first method defines abnormal returns as the difference between actual returns and market returns. The second method defines abnormal returns as the difference between market-adjusted returns and market-adjusted returns on a control portfolio. Daily abnormal returns are calculated using the market model. ¶ Both univariate and multivariate analyses provide strong support for the growth opportunities hypothesis. The results suggest the quality of firms' growth opportunities is the key variable determining the direction and magnitude of the abnormal returns at announcement. Support for the capital monitoring argument and the free cash flow theory is mixed, generally with a lack of support. The free cash flow variable is found to be significantly negatively related to abnormal returns, only when a finer dummy is used in the multivariate regression. All other control variables are found to be insignificant in explaining the stock market variations once the growth opportunities variable is included in the regression. ¶ This thesis makes the following contributions. First, this thesis presents the initial empirical evidence concerning physical asset expenditure announcements in Australia. Second, the thesis shows that the quality of a firm's growth opportunities is the key factor in determining the direction and magnitude of abnormal returns around physical asset expenditure announcements. These results also suggest that the equity market in Australia reacts to physical asset expenditure announcements which contain information pertaining to growth opportunities rather than the relative size of the physical asset expenditure transactions to firm value. Third, support for the capital monitoring argument and the free cash flow theory is not strong. Fourth, all other control variables are found to be insignificant in explaining the stock market variations once market to book ratio is included in the regression. Fifth, the results suggest that prior research which fails to segregate market to book ratio and free cash flow proxy into finer partitions may have possibly underestimated the market to book and the free cash flow effects.

Over the past decade studies into the application of radiometrics for soil and regolith mapping have met with mixed response. While the use of radiometric data for regolith mapping has been generally well received, radiometric methods have not commonly been adopted to assist and improve soil mapping. This thesis contributes to the development of radiometric techniques as soil and regolith mapping tools by examining soil characteristics and radiometric response using non-standard radiometric methods. This is accomplished through the development of new data processing methodologies, which extracts additional information from standard radiometric data that is unattainable using standard processing methods, and development of a new interpretation approach to soil and regolith mapping employing the multispectral processed radiometric data. The new multispectral processing methodology resolves seven gamma ray peaks from standard 256-channel NaI radiometric data to produce new radiometric uranium ternary, thorium ternary and uranium ratio imagery. Changes in the gamma ray relationships, identified through the new imagery, identify changes in soil and/or environmental conditions that are absent or difficult to identify in the standard radiometric imagery. With the isolation of non-standard thorium channels 228 [superscript] Ac (900 keV) and 228 [superscript] Ac (1600 keV), case studies in this thesis demonstrate how the difference of 1.9 years (half-life) between thorium 228 [superscript] Ac and 232 [superscript] Th decay daughter products can be mapped through the interpretation of thorium energy using ternary imagery [red: 208 [superscript] Tl (1764 keV), green: 228 [superscript] Ac (900 keV), blue: 228 [superscript] Ac (1600 keV)]. Energy peak differences may be be linked to local variations in soil chemistry, soil movement, and water movement.Additionally, through the isolation of non-standard uranium channels 214 [superscript] Bi (1120 keV) and 214 [superscript] Bi (1253 keV), preferential attenuation of lower energy gamma-rays from 214 [superscript] Bi decay events are exploited to map variations in soil density and/or porosity. These variations are illustrated through the interpretation of uranium energy using ternary imagery [red: 214 [superscript] Bi (1764 keV), green: 214 [superscript] Bi (1120 keV), blue: 214 [superscript] Bi (1253 keV)] and uranium peak energy ratio [214 [superscript] Bi 1120 keV / 214 [superscript] Bi 1764 keV] pseudo colour imagery. Case studies examined in this thesis explore the characteristics of 256-channel radiometric spectrum from different resolution datasets from different Western Australian soil types, provide recommendations for acquiring radiometric data for soil mapping in different agricultural environments, demonstrate how high resolution 256-channel radiometric data can be used to model soil properties in three-dimensions, and illustrate how three-dimension soil models can be used to separate surface waterlogging influences from rising groundwater induced waterlogging.

L’Holocène a été marqué par une variabilité plurimillénaire, ponctuée par une variabilité millénaire rapide. L’étude d’enregistrements à forts taux de sédimentation couplée à une approche multi-proxy s’avère indispensable pour comprendre la dynamique de la machine climatique au cours de l’Holocène à travers tous ses compartiments climatiques: cryosphère, océan, banquise, atmosphère et biosphère. Nous avons appliqué ce type d’approche multi-échelle et multi-proxy à deux enregistrements marins de la marge continentale Est Antarctique afin d’appréhender les variations climatiques d’une échelle plurimillénaire à séculaire au cours de l’Holocène dans l’environnent singulier de la zone marginale des glaces. Cette étude a permis de caractériser la réponse des différents compartiments climatiques en Antarctique aux variations d’ordre plurimillénaire à millénaire et de documenter la cohérence spatiale de ces changements à l’échelle de l’Antarctique grâce à une comparaison modèle-donnée. Cette approche a permis de souligner les forçages climatiques intervenant à l’échelle du forçage orbital et de documenter les connections inter sous-systèmes climatiques, mettant en lumière le rôle clé de la banquise. A l’échelle sub-Milankovitch, les compartiments climatiques affichent aussi des réponses synchrones mais les facteurs forçant restent à éclaircir
The present Holocene interglacial period was affected by long-term and rapid millennial short-term climatic changes. Multi-proxy high-resolution studies are crucial to better understand the climatic system via all the sub-systems involved: crysophere, ocean, sea ice, atmosphere, and biosphere. A multi-scale and multi-proxy approach on two high resolution marine sediment cores off East Antarctica allowed us to provide accurate reconstructions of Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch climatic variability of the sea ice zone. We characterized the response of climatic sub-systems to long- and short-term climatic changes and documented the spatial coherence of these changes over Antarctic thanks to coupled model-data comparison. This study highlights the forcing factors involved at Milankovitch timescales, the relationships linking the different climatic components and particularly the key role played by sea ice in the Earth climate. Forcing factors acting at the sub-Milankovitch timescales are less clear although sub-systems components display synchronous response

Over the past decade studies into the application of radiometrics for soil and regolith mapping have met with mixed response. While the use of radiometric data for regolith mapping has been generally well received, radiometric methods have not commonly been adopted to assist and improve soil mapping. This thesis contributes to the development of radiometric techniques as soil and regolith mapping tools by examining soil characteristics and radiometric response using non-standard radiometric methods. This is accomplished through the development of new data processing methodologies, which extracts additional information from standard radiometric data that is unattainable using standard processing methods, and development of a new interpretation approach to soil and regolith mapping employing the multispectral processed radiometric data. The new multispectral processing methodology resolves seven gamma ray peaks from standard 256-channel NaI radiometric data to produce new radiometric uranium ternary, thorium ternary and uranium ratio imagery. Changes in the gamma ray relationships, identified through the new imagery, identify changes in soil and/or environmental conditions that are absent or difficult to identify in the standard radiometric imagery. With the isolation of non-standard thorium channels 228 [superscript] Ac (900 keV) and 228 [superscript] Ac (1600 keV), case studies in this thesis demonstrate how the difference of 1.9 years (half-life) between thorium 228 [superscript] Ac and 232 [superscript] Th decay daughter products can be mapped through the interpretation of thorium energy using ternary imagery [red: 208 [superscript] Tl (1764 keV), green: 228 [superscript] Ac (900 keV), blue: 228 [superscript] Ac (1600 keV)]. Energy peak differences may be be linked to local variations in soil chemistry, soil movement, and water movement.
Additionally, through the isolation of non-standard uranium channels 214 [superscript] Bi (1120 keV) and 214 [superscript] Bi (1253 keV), preferential attenuation of lower energy gamma-rays from 214 [superscript] Bi decay events are exploited to map variations in soil density and/or porosity. These variations are illustrated through the interpretation of uranium energy using ternary imagery [red: 214 [superscript] Bi (1764 keV), green: 214 [superscript] Bi (1120 keV), blue: 214 [superscript] Bi (1253 keV)] and uranium peak energy ratio [214 [superscript] Bi 1120 keV / 214 [superscript] Bi 1764 keV] pseudo colour imagery. Case studies examined in this thesis explore the characteristics of 256-channel radiometric spectrum from different resolution datasets from different Western Australian soil types, provide recommendations for acquiring radiometric data for soil mapping in different agricultural environments, demonstrate how high resolution 256-channel radiometric data can be used to model soil properties in three-dimensions, and illustrate how three-dimension soil models can be used to separate surface waterlogging influences from rising groundwater induced waterlogging.

The purpose of this thesis is to test the extended industry shock hypothesis, which accounts for a macro-economic capital liquidity element, in determining the drivers of merger waves. Various theories have been extended by the literature and these are broadly classified under the neo-classical theory of merger waves and the behavioural theory of merger waves. Behavioural theories have explained merger waves by taking into account the psychology of stock markets and the occurrence of merger waves during a stock market boom. The industry shock hypothesis (a neo-classical theory) however, argues that merger waves are due to the clustering of industry shocks that affect an industry’s operating environment. Along with this shock, the mis-valuation caused by a stock market boom increases asset values, thereby lowering transaction costs and hence increasing capital liquidity in the economy. This capital liquidity factor causes merger waves to cluster even if industry shocks do not. The findings in this study show that industry level merger waves exist in Australia and they occur when there is sufficient capital liquidity in the economy. The industry shock variables are found to be insignificant; however they do improve the explanatory power of the explanatory variables used in predicting the start of a merger wave. The mis-valuation variables used in this study: market-to-book ratio, 3-year return and standard deviation of the 3-year return, are insignificant and do not have any explanatory powers in predicting the start of a merger wave. Merger and acquisition announcements made to acquire Australian firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), are collected and analysed for the period from 1996 to 2007. The methodology used in this study is adopted from Harford (2005), which uses legit models to predict the start of merger waves. The explanatory variables are also adopted from Harford’s (2005) study and include proxies for mis-valuation, industry shock and capital liquidity. Overall, the results obtained for the Australian merger and acquisition data are inconclusive as to whether industry shocks because industry merger waves as Harford (2005) documented for the US merger and acquisition data. However, industry level merger waves do exist, as there is clustering in time of firm-level mergers within industries. Moreover, sufficient capital liquidity must be present to accommodate the necessary transactions.

A dinâmica da matéria orgânica particulada (MOP) nos oceanos, desde sua formação até seu consumo/exportação, é um elo importante no ciclo biogeoquímico do carbono e elementos associados, que ganhou importância nas últimas décadas devido ao aumento do CO2 antropogênico. Para melhorar os modelos e as previsões climáticas, projetos oceanográficos investigam os fatores que influenciam na dinâmica da MOP, sobretudo em regiões produtivas e representativas em escala global. No Atlântico Sul, a região mais produtiva é ao largo do continente africano, devido à contínua ressurgência de borda leste. Entretanto, regiões hidrograficamente dinâmicas também podem contribuir com elevadas taxas de produção dependendo das condições ambientais, cuja importância no reservatório de MOP ainda é desconhecida. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar a dinâmica do MOP em suspensão em duas regiões também produtivas do Atlântico Sudoeste: (i) o setor externo da Margem Continental Sudeste Brasileira (Capítulo 1); e (ii) o setor Austral ao sul de 30ºS (Capítulo 2). São discutidos os efeitos das condições oceanográficas no reservatório de MOP e seus padrões interanuais de distribuição geográfica.
The dynamics of particulate organic matter (POM) in the oceans, from its formation to its consumption/export, is an important link in the biogeochemical cycle of carbon and associated elements, which gained importance in the last decades due to increase of anthropogenic CO2. To improve models and climate predictions, oceanographic projects investigate the factors that influence the POM dynamics, especially in productive and representative regions on a global scale. In the South Atlantic, the most productive region is off the African continent, due to permanent Eastern Boundary upwelling. However, dynamic hydrographic regions can also provide with high production rates depending on environmental conditions, whose importance in the POM reservoir is still unknown. This work aims to study the suspended POM dynamics in two productive regions of the southwest Atlantic: (i) the outer Brazilian Southeast Continental Margin (Chapter 1); and (ii) the Austral sector south of 30ºS(Chapter 2). The effects of different oceanographic conditions in the POM reservoir, their interannual pattern and geographic distribution are discussed.

This thesis reports on new scientific results gleaned from test observations of well-known astronomical sources with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope. Presented are three self-contained papers that demonstrate the capabilities of this recently commissioned radio interferometer array and provide new insights into the astrophysics of the Moon, Centaurus A and Fornax A at low frequencies. One of the main scientific goals of the MWA is the detection of the redshifted 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen from the epoch of reionization (EoR). To investigate the possibility of using the Moon as a calibration source for EoR detection and to test novel observing modes for the MWA, the Moon was observed over a frequency range of 80-170 MHz with the MWA 32-tile prototype. The observations show that the Moon's radio emission is as expected for a cool thermally emitting body, but that the spectrum is corrupted by reflected transmissions from Earth. In particular, the observed flux density of the Moon abruptly increases in the internationally recognized frequency modulated (FM) radio band. The implications for EoR detection using the Moon as a spectrally smooth reference source are discussed and the flux density of the Moon in the FM radio band is used to estimate the Earth's radio leakage and its potential for detection by an extraterrestrial race. Observations of our closest neighbouring radio galaxy, Centaurus A, were made at 118 MHz with the MWA 32-tile prototype. The resulting images demonstrated the widefield imaging capabilities of the MWA and provided the first evidence in total intensity for a southern counterpart to the well-known northern middle lobe of Centaurus A. A detailed spectral analysis of the radio lobes between 118 MHz and 1.4 GHz reveals significant spatial variation of the spectral index across the lobes, supporting a scenario of multiple outbursts of central activity being responsible for the large-scale morphology. Another nearby radio galaxy, Fornax A, was observed with the complete 128-tile MWA at 154 MHz. The MWA data were used in combination with radio, microwave, X-ray and gamma-ray data to model the spectral energy distribution of Fornax A and investigate, for the first time, the origin of the gamma-ray emission. It was found that the multi-wavelength data are poorly fit by a purely leptonic, inverse-Compton scattering model and that hadronic processes may account for the gamma-ray emission from Fornax A.

This thesis examines the genre of radio news texts. It shows how latent meanings brought to bear on the outside world are mediated through radio news. Certain recurrent moral judgments is and political orientations are identified in a framework constructed by the radio network newsroom. The framework tends to confirm the respective audience's own ideological positions. In this process, the style of the news service is seen to be as important as its content. The method compares an extensive sample of the news texts of two Adelaide radio stations from two perspectives. Firstly, quantitative content analysis is applied to determine the selection of stories for news items. This indicates the different notions of newsworthiness that are being applied by the two newsrooms. It is shown that news bulletins regularly are patterned in a preferred order which provides the elements of a structure of interpretation of the world. Secondly, qualitative discourse analysis is used to elucidate the process of composition of news texts, to determine the meaning of the messages of the texts. A narrative and rhetorical method is developed to explicate the dimensions of the messages in terms of the formal characteristics of language, the content or themes, and the kind of reality presented.
Thesis (MA) -- University of Adelaide, Depts. of Education and English, 1989

The central concern of this study is how media personnel in one area of community based radio, namely Maltese radio broadcasters operating in Melbourne, come to understand their cultural output and their status as "cultural producers"; what is their perception of the role of "ethnic media" in a multiculturalist context and to what degree does their output in Maltese language based radio programs help to create and sustain cultural identity. What role do they think they are playing in implementing this project? In this context, this study will attempt to uncover some of the underlying cultural assumptions of what they put to air and of what they say about their fimction as "ethnic broadcasters". A key question then becomes to what extent are these media personnel serving as cultural producers who are governed by a "philosophy" of "assimilationism", "difference" or what Stuart Hall (1992, 1993) calls "hybridity".

The Australlan Broadcasting Corporation, created in 1932 and reconstructed in 1983. is a public-fundod national broadcasting organisation. It was estabilshed to provide a oomprehensive, innovative and impartial radio and television service for all Australians. The ABC is a statutory corporation. intended to be accountable to Parliament for it's actions, but independent of the government of the day. Controversy about ABC news and current affairs serv1ces, about whether Corporation programs are obective, impartial, balanced and free from political interference, is a hardy perenial of Australian public life. The ABC'c public credibility depends on its perceived ability to function without government influence over program content. The ABC does not operate in isolation. It must negotiate for finance and resources with a federal bureaucracy 11nd conform to standards of accountability set by Parliament. Corporation claims to independence cannot be assessed in absolute terms, but must be viewed within its setting in a world of complex interaction between Parliament, the government and the Corporation. Within this framework, ABC independence must be viewed in two arenas - the administrative independence of the organisation to control and aliocate Its resources, and function a/ Independence to make program judgements without outside interference. This dissertation examines both dimensions of the contemporary ABC. Through institutional analysis it seeks to determine whether the ABC in practice enjoys the independence which in theory is guaranteed by its legislative form. The thesis opens with a discussion of the theoretlcal assumptions underlylng the ABC and a description of the organisation's environment: the origins of the ABC in the ideology of pubiic service broadcasting, Its place in the Australian broadcasting system and its relationship with governments and the Public Service. It is argued that the precise objectives and aims of the ABC have never been clear. that a lack of agreed goals makes it difficult for the organisation to win public aupport against governmental intervention in ABC administration, and that the structure of the Australian broadcasting system enables commercial media rivals to lobby governments to restrict the ABC to marginal activities. ABC decision-making is then examined: the influence of the ABC's legislative basis, structure, the role of the Board of Directors, ABC management, the internal allocation of resources and the work environment. The focus is on the relative involvemont of directors and managers on ABC output; it is argued that structural impediments limit the influence Directors can exercise over Corporation policy, while confused lines of responsibility, the structure of the organisation and the production process make it difficult for ABC managers to tightly control program output. With the external and internal context established, the production of ABC news and current affairs programs and the political control of ABC resources are examined. The study concludes with an assessment of whether the rhetoric of an independent but accountable ABC is realised, or whether the Corporation is part of the general machinery of government, with its independence a convenient fiction.

Radio propagation in the presence of fire is known to be problematic to communications. In this thesis we use both experimental and theoretical approaches to examine and understand radio propagation in fire environments. Propagation is examined for three small scale fires with broadband equipment operating from 50MHz to 1GHz. Results for line of sight propagation show a strong interaction of fire with electromagnetic propagation. The next section develops electromagnetic modelling of the fire environment. A model of the combustion induced plasma is developed, as well as a refractive index model of the surrounding atmosphere of a fire. Simple propagation calculations are undertaken, using the developed fire models, to provide an intial understanding of propagation in fire environments. The next portion of the thesis considers propagation using a more rigorous electromagnetic simulation technique. A modified Finite Difference Time Domain method is presented and is utilised to examine three dimensional propagation in the small scale fire experiments. The outcome is a more solid understanding of propagation and the contributing factors. The last portion of the thesis is the application of the above electromagnetic modelling and simulation methods to bushfire scenarios. Various scenarios that are problematic to radio communication are examined. Discussion and recommendations are made concerning radio communication frequency selection and considerations for propagation in fire environments.
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Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2009

Radio propagation in the presence of fire is known to be problematic to communications. In this thesis we use both experimental and theoretical approaches to examine and understand radio propagation in fire environments. Propagation is examined for three small scale fires with broadband equipment operating from 50MHz to 1GHz. Results for line of sight propagation show a strong interaction of fire with electromagnetic propagation. The next section develops electromagnetic modelling of the fire environment. A model of the combustion induced plasma is developed, as well as a refractive index model of the surrounding atmosphere of a fire. Simple propagation calculations are undertaken, using the developed fire models, to provide an intial understanding of propagation in fire environments. The next portion of the thesis considers propagation using a more rigorous electromagnetic simulation technique. A modified Finite Difference Time Domain method is presented and is utilised to examine three dimensional propagation in the small scale fire experiments. The outcome is a more solid understanding of propagation and the contributing factors. The last portion of the thesis is the application of the above electromagnetic modelling and simulation methods to bushfire scenarios. Various scenarios that are problematic to radio communication are examined. Discussion and recommendations are made concerning radio communication frequency selection and considerations for propagation in fire environments.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 2009

This thesis presents studies of cosmic populations of extragalactic radio sources. The problems selected for this thesis are 1) the derivation of constraints on the emergence of new sub-mJy populations at flux density below about 1mJy (at1.4 GHz) paying careful attention to including sources with low surface brightness and counting sources rather than components 2) development of a new method to estimate the asymmetry in the large scale galaxy environment with respect to the axes of extended radio sources and use this to examine for evidence of impact of the environment on the morphology of radio sources. The studies presented herein have been carried out using the Australia Telescope Low Brightness Survey (ATLBS), which is a sensitive radio survey at 1.4 GHz, imaging 8.42 square degrees of the sky along with accompanying optical observations of the same region. There are multiple populations of extragalactic radio sources in the cosmos. These consist of populations of powerful radio-loud quasars and radio galaxies to populations of weaker radio sources such as star-forming galaxies. These populations of radio sources show evidence of evolution with cosmic epoch. Because the radio galaxy phenomenon and the AGNs at the centers of their host galaxies may influence the evolution of the galaxy via feedbacks, examinations of these source populations over cosmic time are a necessary complementary study to understanding the process of galaxy formation and in general, cosmology. Below we give brief introduction to the problems studied in this thesis. Sub-mJy Radio Source Counts Radio source counts, which have historically been a key probe of cosmology, now represent a measure of cosmological evolution in radio source populations. Currently, the estimation of source counts at sub-mJy flux density as well as the nature and evolution of these sources is undetermined. At flux densities ≤1.0 mJy a ‘flattening’ of normalized differential source counts has been widely reported in literature( Windhorst et al.(1985),Hopkins et al.(2003),Huynh et al.(2005) and references therein). The flattening is observed as an apparent change of slope for the normalized differential source counts from ∼0.7 at5.0 −100.0 mJy to about 0.4 in the 0.25 −5.0 mJy range. Attempts to understand the nature of the sub-mJy population have arrived at discordant results and identify the sub-mJy sources with different populations: starburst galaxies(Condon(1989), Benn et al. (1993), Huynhet al. (2005)), early type galaxies (Gruppioniet al., 1999),low(radio) luminosity activegalactic nuclei(AGNs)(Huynh et al.,2008) or a mixture of these. Due to unavailability of spectroscopically complete samples of hosts of sub-mJy sources, the exact nature of the sub-mJy radio source population is currently uncertain. However, the presence of a population which emerges at sub-mJy flux density and is different from the AGN-dominated radio source population is not in doubt. The studies in the literature are inconsistent in identifying the precise location of the emergence of flattening in counts at sub-mJy flux density. Several studies show that the source counts are consistent with a continuation in the slope of the differential counts below mJy flux density (Prandoniet al.(2001) and Subrahmanyan et al.(2010)). The scatter in the sub-mJy counts from different studies may be because of the relatively small areas covered by deep surveys(in many cases, a single pointing of an interferometric array) which may have relatively large errors arising from large scale clustering in the spatial distribution of cosmic radio sources(however the study by Condon (2007) concludes that the scatter in the source counts stems from variations in corrections and sensitivity in different studies)In contrast, wide-field surveys may not reach the depth to probe sub-mJy counts. Another reason is the correction applicable to the observed source counts necessary to estimate the true source counts; these are especially pertinent at low flux densities. To resolve these is-sues, a survey which combines the attributes of wide spatial coverage as well as excellent sensitivity and a procedure which accounts for the biases in estimation of the sub-mJy source counts is needed. In conclusion, accurate measurements of the source counts at sub-mJy flux densities are needed to correctly estimate the cosmic evolution of radio sources. Environments of Extended Radio Sources Another issue of importance in the study of extragalactic radio sources is their interaction with their environments. The gas environments in which radio sources reside and evolve ought to have an influence on the morphology of the radio sources. This has been shown in many case studies where the radio structures have been compared with the X-ray gas environments (Blanton et al. (2011); Boehringer et al.(1993)). Studies of the optical environments of radio galaxies have also been carried out previously (Longair & Seldner, 1979; Yee & Green, 1984; Hill & Lilly, 1991; Zirbel, 1997). The motivation behind these studies has been to examine differences between different classes of radio sources, the evolution of environments with cosmic epoch as well as the possibility of identifying clusters/groups of galaxies using radio sources as a tracer(Wing &Blanton, 2011). Many previous studies have found that the environments of FRI/FRII sources are different and are dependent on the cosmic epoch. FRI sources, typically, are found in rich environments. FRII sources in the local universe are generally hosted by field galaxies, but at higher red shifts are found in richer environments(Hatch et al.,2011;Best et al.,2003;Overzier et al.,2008). However, there have been fewer studies that relate the richness of the environments and morphological asymmetries of radio galaxies. Earlier investigations by Subrahmanyan et al. (2008) and Safouris et al.(2009) are noteworthy in this regard where the radio structures of two giant radio galaxies were examined in the context of the large-scale galaxy distributions in their vicinity(also see Chen et al.(2012) and references therein). The study was also used to infer properties of the ambient thermal gas medium in which the structures evolved. Clear correlations between structural asymmetries and associated extended emission-line gas were also found for radio galaxies that have relatively smaller sizes of a few hundred kpc(McCarthy et al., 1991). Thesis Work To progress the field in the problems highlighted above, the following work has been done in this thesis. Radio Imaging of ATLBS Survey To characterize the cosmic evolution of radio sources and their properties, observations and imaging of faint radio sources is essential. The Australia Telescope Low Brightness Survey(ATLBS), which has been used in the studies presented in this thesis, has been designed specifically to image diffuse radio emission to relatively high red shifts(z ∼1−1.5). Therefore obtaining good surface brightness sensitivity was a prime objective in planning the radio observations and in imaging the data obtained from these observations. This requires a nearly complete synthesized aperture and observations of a representative patch of the extra galactic sky. These requirements have been fulfilled in ATLBS survey, which has excellent uv coverage, especially at short spacings, and images a region off the galactic plane that is devoid of strong radio sources. The observations were carried out for two adjacent fields, designated as A and B with their centers at RA:00h 35m 00s,DEC:−67◦00 00 and RA:00h 59m 17s,DEC:−67◦00 00 ,in the 20 cm band, with a center frequency of1388MHz,infullpolarization mode. The radio data was imaged by using techniques such as multi-frequency deconvolution and self-calibration to make two mosaics of region A and B which are free of artefacts. These high-resolution radio images(with beamFWHM of 6 “)of the ATLBS survey regions cover 8.42 square degrees sky area with rms noise 72 µJy beam−1 and are of exceptional quality in that there are no imaging errors or artifacts above the thermal noise over the entire field of view. The images have excellent surface brightness sensitivity and hence provide good representation of extended emission components associated with radio sources. Optical Imaging of ATLBS Survey The ATLBS survey region has been also observed in SDSS r band, specifically for providing information about the galaxies hosting radio sources observed in ATLBS survey as well as galaxies in the neighbourhood of the radio sources. The optical observations were carried out using the CTIO 4 meter Blanco Telescope in Chile and using theMOSAICIIimager,whichisamosaicof8CCDs. In total, 28 optical images were created from the optical data. Each image was formed from a set of 5 dithers, using which spurious sources in the images were rejected. The final images are complete down to a magnitude of 22.75. Radio Source Counts Using the sensitive radio and optical images, a study of radio source counts was carried out. This study made use of some novel strategies and algorithms to generate a source list and correct it for various biases to obtain the radio source counts. More specifically, care was taken to identify sources with low surface brightness by making use of low resolution images for initial identification, and using multiple indicators (including optical images) to identify components of sources. The blending issues inherent in using low resolution images has been avoided using higher resolution images to identify blended sources. Thus, use of low resolution images( beam FWHM =50”′) almost completely removes effects of resolution bias and the use of high resolution images avoids blending issues. These strategies, together with use of optical images to locate candidate galaxy hosts and a careful visual examination of resolved and complex sources instead of automated classification ensures that the ATLBS catalog is a ‘source catalog’ as opposed to a ‘component catalog’. The distinction between ‘sources’ (which are single sources) as opposed to components(parts of a single source appearing separate) is crucial in estimating the true source counts. The source list was used toestimatetheradiosourcecountsdownto0.4 mJy. Comparing the counts with previous work shows that the ATLBS counts are systematically lower and the upturn in sub-mJy source counts has not been found down to the noise limited flux densities probed. The systematically low counts for ATLBS relative to most previous studies are attributed to the ATLBS counts representing sources as opposed to components, as well as corrections for noise bias as well as clustering effects that may affect source counts derived from the small sky coverage typical of deep surveys. This study also demonstrates the substantial difference in counts that result from using component catalogs as opposed to source catalogs: at 1 mJy flux density component counts may be as much as 50% above true source counts. This implies that automated image analysis for counts may be dependent on the ability of the imaging to reproduce connecting emission with low surface brightness as well as the ability of the algorithm to recognize sources, which require that source finding algorithms effectively work with multi-resolution and multi-wavelength data. Galaxy Environments of Extended Radio Sources in ATLBS Survey A study of the galaxy environments of the extended sources in the ATLBS survey was carried out using the optical images. This study of the environments of radio sources from the ATLBS survey is restricted to those that are extended and hence to a subset of the ATLBS-ESS(Extended Source Sample) sources. Briefly, the ATLBS-ESS subsample consists of 119 radio sources that have angular size ex-ceeding0’.5. Applying a red shift cut(to exclude sources with high red shifts whose optical environment may be beyond the depth of the optical images) as well as other constraints(such as availability of optical magnitudes of the host galaxy), a sub-sample of 43 sources was formed, including sources of diverse radio morphologies(FRI/FRII, WATs and HTs)as well as7 radio sources which are highly asymmetric in their radio morphology. For these sources, where no spectroscopic data was available, a red shift estimate was obtained from a magnitude-red shift relation derived from other sources in the ATLBS survey. Using the optical images convolved with a matched filter(following the prescription from Postman et al. (1996))consisting of a radial and magnitude filter, smoothed maps were formed for each source in the sample. These give the likelihood of a cluster being present in a given position in the map (in this case the location of interest being the position of the radio source in the map). Further, five parameters were defined in this study, which give estimates of the angular anisotropy of galaxy density around the axis of the radio source. This method used to quantify environmental asymmetry for the study presented in the thesis is new. The parameters defined thus were used to examine the environments of radio sources in the sample over a wide range in red shift. Specifically a comparison of FRI/FRII environments was made in two different red shift regimes(above and below z = 0.5) and it was found that the FRI and FRII sources inhabit environments of similar richness at low and high red shifts, with no evidence for red shift evolution. The WAT and HT sources were(as expected from earlier studies in literature)found in the most dense environments. Examination of the anisotropy parameters for the asymmetric radio sources clearly showed the influence environment has on radio source morphology, specifically in that the higher density of galaxies was found on the shorter side of the radio sources in almost all cases. Images and Other Resources The radio and optical images are an excellent resource for examining with auto-mated algorithms for source finding, parameter fitting, and morphological classification, and as a resource for testing such algorithms that would be used on upcoming all-sky continuum surveys with the LOFAR and ASKAP/SKA. The techniques and methods developed and presented in the thesis may be used in future studies of radio source populations.

This thesis argues that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s sound art program The Listening Room has been , both through broadcasting and related activities, a major factor in the life and growth of sound art in Australia. The thesis also argues that, internationally, The Listening Room is accepted as a leading member of the world sound art community by its contribution to the artistic development and wider recognition of the genre. In order to examine the influence of The Listening Room, interviews and case studies with Australian composers and overseas producers and observers are recounted and analysed. Finally, pertinent data from historical summaries, interviews and case studies are conflated to demonstrate the depth and significance of The Listening Room.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The present study aims to find out more about the function and potential of community based Vietnamese language radio in Melbourne. The research took place in three stages. The first stage explored broad patterns of media consumption among Vietnamese-Australians. The second stage required the profiling of all existing community radio based Vietnamese language programs in Melbourne. The final stage involved an in-depth discussion with members of the Vietnamese community based around a "radio scenario", where a sample of participants were asked to assume the role of radio producer for an imagined three hour Vietnamese language program to be broadcast on a community radio station.

This study focuses on the organisation and operation of the Australian Government’s Department of Information that operated from 1939 to 1950. Equal weighting is given to the wartime and peacetime halves of the Department’s existence, allowing a balanced assessment of the Department’s role and development from its creation through to its abolition. ...

In 1970, the Federal Government made preliminary moves to establish a broadcasting service in the Northern Territory for Indigenous Australians. However, Aboriginal people would not be invited to run this service themselves, nor would it be used to 'maintain' Aboriginal cultural traditions. Rather, these new facilities would deliver programs that 'informed' Aboriginals about 'plans for their future advancement'. By 1985, the position had changed dramatically. The government was now funding 'Aboriginal-controlled' media organisations throughout the country 'to restore and rebuild' Aboriginal 'cultural identity'. It was also underwriting the launch of an Aboriginal-owned commercial satellite service covering a third of the Australian continent. In this thesis, I have attempted to understand the policies that led to this remarkable change in government thinking. In undertaking this work, I have not attempted to construct a 'resistant' Aboriginal 'voice', positioned against 'the media establishment' and the state to explain these transformations in Aboriginal policy. Although such a voice routinely appears in the literature on Aboriginal broadcasting, I argue that such an approach simply replicates the rhetoric surrounding the state's own policies of 'Aboriginal self-determination' and, more problematically, masks the complex operations of government itself. It also assumes the pre-discursive existence of a particular kind of Aboriginal agency, without considering the specific conditions that gave rise to it. In this study, I have sought to demonstrate how this agency was largely constituted through the policies of Aboriginal self-determination. I argue that under these policies, the state would no longer act on Aboriginals as it had in the past. Rather, Aboriginals would be invited to act on themselves in managing programs proffered by the state. Through these means, the Aboriginal 'self' became an indispensable element in the operations of the government. However, since the Aboriginal self would be expected to carry out the work of the state, it also became the object of intense governmental scrutiny. Here, I show how a multiplicity of governmental technologies emerged throughout the 1970's that served to regulate, channel and enhance Aboriginal subjectivity in accordance with a number of governmental ends. In undertaking this task, I have focused primarily on the development of the 'incorporated Aboriginal association'. I will argue that such bodies not only allowed Aboriginal people a degree of 'self-management', but also provided the state with an institutional framework through which it could constitute both a competent and verifiable Aboriginal agency. The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, CAAMA, was one of numerous bodies established under these governmental technologies. The development of this complex organisation will serve as the main case study in this thesis. In taking this analytical approach, I have adopted one of Michel Foucault's primary objectives which is to examine the ways in which the human subject is constituted through relations of power, and attempted to respond to the following set of queries Foucault poses: How was the subject established, at different moments and in different institutional contexts, as a possible, desirable, or even indispensable object of knowledge? How were the experiences that one may have of oneself and the knowledge that one forms of oneself organised according to certain schemes? How were these schemes defined, valorised, recommended, imposed? (Foucault, Subjectivity and Truth, 2000:87)

In this research project I analysed the composition and structure of the cold neutral hydrogen (H i) gas at the locations of the MAGMO (Mapping the Galactic Magnetic field through OH masers) survey observations. To enable this analysis I developed an automated pipeline and used that to produce H i absorption and emission spectra from the MAGMO observations. This pipeline was designed with the aim of being applicable to future large surveys such as GASKAP, the Galactic Australian SKA Pathfinder survey. The MAGMO observations targeted the sites of 6.7-GHz methanol masers, which are associated with star-forming regions. These very active regions have complex structures with bubbles formed by stellar winds from young, high mass stars. In these regions it is reasonable to expect there will be significant reserves of cold gas. The MAGMO H i dataset provided an excellent opportunity to examine the cold neutral medium (CNM) towards these regions and to compare it with the overall CNM population. In Chapter 2 I provide a summary of the current knowledge of the Milky Way’s cold H i gas and an introduction to other topics which will assist the reader in understanding the analysis. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of the data, and the pipeline developed for its analysis. This is more detailed than is typical in order to explain the decisions in developing the automated processing. In Chapter 4 I provide the results from the observations. In Chapter 5 I compare the results to results from similar studies, discuss the overall findings and assess the effectiveness of the processing pipeline. Finally in Chapter 6 I summarise the main findings and discuss future potential for both this data set and the processing pipeline.

碩士
國立中央大學
太空科學研究所
98
With the improvement of observation techniques and physical theories, scientists became more familiar with the gravity waves, a key factor of the atmospheric dynamics. In the past, atmospheric profiles were not supportive enough for us to conduct research on some hard-to-reach areas, such as the oceans and the Polar regions. Data shortage has caused many difficulties in climate studies until the launch of Formosat-3 in April, 2006. The constellation consists of six Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites at the height of 800 km, providing 2000 to 2500 soundings per day. The main scientific goal is to utilize the radio occultation (RO) signals to infer the atmospheric parameters, including refractivity, temperature, pressure, and relative humidity fields. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC has provided a very favorable data platform to perform the investigation of the gravity wave activities. This paper is focused on the studies of the seasonal variations of gravity wave activities using the temperature profiles obtained by the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC RO technique at height of 20~40 km, from September 2006 to December 2009. The average potential energy (AveEp) of the gravity waves was estimated to quantify the seasonal variations and compare those between Asian and Australian Monsoon regions（45°N~45°S, 60°E~160°E）. The study area was divided into 30 non-overlapped regions, each representing a 15 by 20 degree grid, in latitude and longitude, respectively. We compared those grids in different latitudinal intervals over different geographic locations. The result showed that the larger AveEp values of the 15°N~30°N and 15°S~30°S intervals occurred in summer - JJA for the northern hemisphere and DJF for the southern hemisphere. However, for 30°N~45°N and 30°S~45°S intervals, larger AveEp values appeared in winter - DJF for the northern hemisphere and JJA for the southern hemisphere. Furthermore, the spatial analysis of gravity wave activities indicated that within the higher AveEp value latitudinal intervals, the largest AveEp value located at the Indian Peninsula in the northern hemisphere summer (JJA) and Northern Australia in the southern hemisphere summer (DJF). In this study, we also found that the AveEp values were much higher than those in 07/08DJF and 08MAM. We believed the gravity anomalies were attributed to the strengthening of the Walker Circulation, which was caused by the La Nina phenomenon.