Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Songs of Central Australia'

This thesis is about the depth of colonisation through translation. I develop an analytic framework that explores colonisation and translation using the trope of romantic love and an experimental textual construction incorporating translation and historical reconstruction. Utilising both the first and the final drafts of “Chapter X, Songs of Human Beauty and Love-charms” in Songs of Central Australia, by T. Strehlow, I show how that text, written over thirty years and comprised of nine drafts, can be described as a translation mediated by the colonising syntax and grammar. My interest lies in developing a novel textual technique to attempt to illustrate this problem so as to allow an insight into the perspective of a colonised person. This has involved a re-examination of translation as something other than a transtemporal structure predicated on direct equivalence, understanding it instead as something that fictionalises and reinvents the language that it purports to represent. It begins by establishing an understanding of the historical context in which the translated text is situated, from both objective and personal viewpoints, and then foregrounds the grammatical perspective of the argument. Utilising the techniques and processes of multiple translation, Internet-based translation software, creative writing and historical reconstruction, it continues to consider the role of imagination and begins the construction of a visceral argument whereby the reader is encouraged to experience a cognitive shift similar to that understood by the colonised other, which is revealed in a fictional autobiography written by an imagined other. It concludes by considering the coloniser within the same context, using, as an example T. Strehlow, who had a unique understanding of the Arrernte language. Tracking his extensive alterations, revisions and excisions within his drafts of Chapter X, this thesis traces a textual history of change, theorising that the translator, no matter how "authentic", is as much translated by the text as she or he is a translator of the text.

Through an analysis of Tiwi song composition techniques and comparison between performances recorded over the last hundred years, I give, for the first time in the literature, a comprehensive musical description of the Tiwi song repertory, showing that while it is primarily based on innovation, it forms a continuum of oral tradition, relying upon the acquisition of complex musical, linguistic and poetic composition skills. I place the Tiwi initiation ceremony, Kulama, as the centre-point of song creativity and instruction and suggest that its near-disappearance, along with social and linguistic change, have put the future of Tiwi extemporised song practice in jeopardy. The framework for this study is the repatriation to the Tiwi community of ethnographic field–recordings of Tiwi songs, made between 1912 and 1981, archived at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra. Drawing from the corpus of approximately 1300 recorded song items, I find that the fundamentally contemporary, topical and current nature of the Tiwi song culture has resulted in a rich social, cultural and historical oral record being preserved amongst the song texts. Documenting the physical, emotional and artistic journeys of a particular group of elders who travelled to Canberra to reclaim the recordings, I recount some of the outcomes of the reclamation and I discuss the impact the recordings’ return is having on the current performance practice, the future of song knowledge transmission and the future of improvisatory composition skills. In the context of Ngarukuruwala- we sing songs, a collaborative music project involving a group of song-women from the Tiwi Islands and jazz musicians from Sydney, I also report on new music projects instigated by a group of Tiwi women who are working to maintain and develop song and language skills in young Tiwi people, negotiating new forms of music while maintaining Tiwi song traditions.

"Submitted by Simon Charles Nepean Pockley ... as a partial requirement for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Project 18th July, 1998". "WARNING culturally sensitive material". Available [on line] http://www.cinemedia.net/FOD/FOD0043.html Archived at ANL http://purl.nla.gov.au/nla/pandora/FOD http Text, graphics, sound and animation The Flight of ducks is a multi-purpose on-line work built around a collection of archival material from a camel expedition into the central Australian frontier in 1933. This journey was revisited in 1976 and retraced in 1996."- leaf 1.

The Palm Valley oasis in arid central Australia is characterised by stands of palm trees (Livistona mariae). How these unique plants, separated by nearly a 1000 kilometres of arid country from their nearest relatives persist, has long fascinated visitors. Defining the hydrogeology of the Hermannsburg Sandstone, a regionally extensive and thick Devonian sequence of the Amadeus Basin that underlies Palm Valley, is the major thrust of investigation. Appraisal of drilling data shows this aquifer to be a dual porosity fractured rock aquifer which, on a regional scale, behaves as a low permeability, hydraulically continuous resource. Groundwater is low salinity (TDS <1000 mg/L) and bicarbonate rich. Slight variations in cation chemistry indicate different flow paths with separate geochemical histories have been sampled. Stable isotope (????H, ???????O) results from Palm Valley show groundwater to have a uniform composition that plots on or near a local meteoric water line. Radiocarbon results are observed to vary from effectively dead (< 4%) to 87 % modern carbon. To resolve groundwater age beyond the radiocarbon window the long lived radioisotope 36Cl was also used. Ratios of 36Cl/Cl range from 130 to 290 x 10-15. In this region atmospheric 36Cl/Cl ratio is around 300 x 10-15. Thus an age range of around 300 ka is indicated if, as is apparent, radioactive decay is the only significant cause of 36Cl/Cl variation within the aquifer. A review of previous, often controversial, 36Cl decay studies shows results are usually ambiguous due to lack of certainty when factoring subsurface Cl- addition into decay calculations. Apparently, due to the thickness of the Hermannsburg Sandstone, no subsurface sources of Cl- such as aquitards or halites, are encountered along groundwater flow paths, hence the clear 36Cl decay trend seen. The classic homogenous aquifer with varying surface topography, the "Toth" flow model, is the simplest conceptual model that need be invoked to explain these isotope data. Complexities, associated with local topography flow cells superimposed on the regional gradient, signify groundwater with markedly different flow path lengths has been sampled. The long travel times (> 100 ka) indicate groundwater discharge would endure through arid phases associated with Quaternary climate oscillations. Such a flow system can explain the persistence of this arid zone groundwater-dependent ecosystem and highlight the possibility that Palm Valley has acted as a flora refuge since at least the mid- Pleistocene.

Predation by exotic predators (cats Felis catus and foxes Vulpes vulpes) is believed to be one of the factors that has contributed to the decline of medium-sized mammals in arid Australia. Other factors include habitat degradation by introduced herbivores (rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus and grazing stock) and altered fire regimes after Aboriginal people moved into permanent settlements. In general, the impact of exotic predators on arid zone mammals is believed to be significant only when predator numbers have been elevated by increased food availability from exotic prey species (rabbits, house-mice Mus domesticus, cattle carcasses) or when native prey populations have already been dramatically reduced by competition from introduced herbivores. In much of the spinifex grasslands of the central Australian deserts, pastoralism never occurred, rabbit colonisation was extremely patchy and in some areas, traditional burning was still being practised when the extinctions commenced. None of the current models of mammalian extinctions adequately explain the declines in this environment. In this study I examined predator-prey interactions in two areas of the Tanami Desert to investigate whether predation by exotic predators may be a primary agent of extinction in its own right, capable of causing mass declines even in the absence of other human-induced perturbations. If this were the case then the following would be expected: (i) cats and foxes would eat medium-sized mammals when they are available, but be able to survive on alternative prey when mammals are scarce; (ii) populations of cats and foxes would be buffered against the declines of mammals during droughts, or would be able to recover more quickly than medium-sized mammals after droughts; (iii) medium-sized mammals would be more vulnerable to predation by cats and foxes than by dingoes Canis lupus dingo and other native predators, and (iv) there would be a correlation between the timings of the extinctions and the colonisation (or sudden increase) of cats and foxes. These predictions were investigated by monitoring the diets and relative abundance of cats, foxes and dingoes in relation to fluctuating prey availability in two areas of the Tanami Desert at latitudes separated by approximately 400 km. Mean annual rainfall is higher and more reliable in the northern study area which was situated in the centre of bilby Macrotis lagotis distribution within the Northern Territory, whereas the southern study area was located on the southern edge of the bilby�s range. Within each study area, monitoring occurred at three sites, approximately 20 km apart. Each site contained a sub-plot in each of two habitat types. Field work was conducted between September 1995 and December 1997. When the study began, the southern study area was experiencing drought conditions, however both study areas received significant rainfall in early 1997. The population dynamics of a variety of potential prey groups were monitored to examine their resilience during droughts, patterns of recolonisation after rainfall, and use of two habitat types: the ubiquitous sandplain, and the moister, nutrient enriched palaeodrainage habitat which is believed to have provided a refuge for medium-sized mammals during droughts. Native mammals were uncommon throughout the study period. Bilbies and macropods were significantly more abundant in the northern study area, and tended to occur more frequently in palaeodrainage habitat than sandplain. However, the palaeodrainage habitat did not appear to provide adequate refuge for the medium and large mammals during drought conditions in the southern study area, as they disappeared from the study sites altogether. Small mammals were significantly more abundant in the southern study area but densities remained low (less than 2% trap success) throughout the study, and showed little response to improved seasonal conditions. In contrast, the abundance and species richness of birds showed a marked increase following rainfall in the southern study area. Flocks of nomadic birds arrived within several months of drought-breaking rains, increasing the relative abundance of birds from 9.3 per km of transect in December 1996 to 49/km in July 1997. Reptiles were the most resilient prey group during the drought conditions. Both varanids and smaller reptiles were equally abundant in the wet and dry years and showed no difference in abundance between study areas. However, reptiles showed marked temperature-related patterns in activity, with many species becoming inactive in the winter months. A total of 142 cat scats, 126 fox scats and 75 dingo scats were analysed to investigate predator diets in the two study areas. Unlike cat, fox and dingo diets elsewhere in Australia (and the world), mammalian prey did not dominate. Reptile was the prey category that was most frequently consumed by cats and foxes in �summer� (October-April) and by dingoes throughout the year, and was identified as a �seasonal staple� prey type for all three predators in the Tanami Desert. When biomass of prey was taken into account, the varanids (predominantly the sand goanna Varanus gouldii) were the most important prey sustaining predators in the two study areas. Birds were an important part of the diets of cats and foxes in winter when reptiles were less active. Small mammals were consumed by cats and foxes throughout the study, in proportion to their field abundances. Invertebrates were a major component of the diets of foxes, representing 31% of prey items consumed. There was considerable overlap in the diets of the three predator species, but dingoes ate more medium (100-999 g) and large (greater than 1000 g) prey than cats and foxes did. The scarcity of medium-sized mammals in the study areas provided little opportunity to find evidence of predation events on such prey. However, bilby remains were found in two cat scats and one dingo scat in the northern study area, mulgara Dasycercus cristicauda remains occurred in several cat and fox scats from the southern study area, and there were fourteen occurrences of marsupial mole Notoryctes typhlops in predator scats during the study, primarily in fox scats. Elsewhere in Australia, there is ample evidence that cats and foxes regularly consume medium-sized mammalian prey (e.g. rabbits and ringtail possums Pseudocheirus peregrinus) when it is available. Overall cats were the most abundant eutherian predators in the two study areas, and they were significantly more abundant in the northern study area than the southern study area. Surveys revealed that cats can persist into droughts by feeding on reptilian prey. When the study commenced, cats occurred on five of the six sub-plots in the southern study area, despite six consecutive years of below-average rainfall. However, by the end of the first year, they could only be detected on one sub-plot. Recolonisation of the sites rapidly occurred after significant rainfall (260 mm in 2 months), when nomadic birds colonised the sites and provided a plentiful food source. Foxes also declined to very low densities during drought in the southern study area, but they had recolonised all sites by the winter of 1997. This coincided with the increase in abundance of birds, which became their most frequently consumed prey item. Overall, foxes were equally abundant in the two study areas, but statistical analyses revealed a significant interaction between latitude and habitat because in the southern study area foxes tended to utilise the palaeodrainage habitat more than the sandplain, whereas in the northern study area the majority of fox sign was detected in the sandplain habitat. This may have been due to the abundance of dingoes in the palaeodrainage habitat in the northern study area. Dingoes were significantly more abundant in the northern study area than the southern, where they were usually only present at one of the three sites. The northern study area had higher densities of macropods (supplementary prey for dingoes) and more reliable access to drinking water, which persisted in the palaeodrainage channels for up to 6 months after significant rain events. Dingo numbers were relatively stable throughout the study and did not increase in response to improved seasonal conditions in the southern study area in 1997. This study revealed that the distribution of foxes extends further north into the Tanami Desert than has previously been reported, and is not necessarily tied to the distribution of rabbits in the Northern Territory. Furthermore, discussion with Aboriginal people who lived a traditional lifestyle in the area until the 1940s, revealed that foxes were already present in the northern Tanami desert at that time, before the disappearance of many medium-sized mammal species. The patterns of medium-sized mammalian extinctions in the northern and western deserts between 1940 and 1960 is thus consistent with the colonisation of the fox. Although cats had been present in central Australia for at least 50 years before the mammalian declines occurred, this does not discount them from contributing to the extinction process. It is postulated that during the early decades of their colonisation of the arid interior, cat populations may have been maintained at low levels by predation from dingoes and also Aboriginal people (for whom cats were a favoured food). But between 1920 and 1960 the western deserts were depopulated of Aboriginal people, and human hunting of cats diminished. This coincided with the introduction of the dingo bounty scheme, which encouraged many Aboriginal people to continue making regular excursions into the deserts to collect dingo scalps. In this study, cat remains occurred in 9% of dingo scats, suggesting that dingoes may be an important predator of cats. Thus, there may have been an increase in the cat population between 1930 and 1960, producing a more significant impact on native mammal populations than had previously occurred. Information collected during this study was used to construct a new model of mammalian extinctions in the spinifex grasslands of central Australia that promotes predation by cats and foxes as the primary agent of extinction. The model proposes that cats and foxes will eat medium-sized mammals when they are available, but are capable of subsisting on naturally occurring alternative prey when mammals are scarce. Thus, cats and foxes can persist into drought periods by feeding on reptilian prey, which remains an abundant resource regardless of rainfall (at least during the warmer months). Predator populations eventually decline after a series of dry winters. When the drought breaks, the rapid response of nomadic birds provides a readily available food source for cats and foxes as they recolonise areas and commence breeding. Predation by cats and foxes thereby has the potential to exacerbate the declines of native prey populations during droughts and delay their recovery when seasonal conditions improve. In this way, introduced predators are capable of causing local extinctions of medium-sized mammals when populations contract during drought periods, even in the absence of introduced herbivores and altered fire regimes. Although dingoes also prey upon medium-sized mammals, dingoes did not cause extinctions of medium-sized mammals in the spinifex grasslands because (i) they are more reliant on drinking water than foxes and cats, thus waterless areas would have provided some degree of predation refugia, and (ii) their social structure and territoriality prevent high densities accumulating, even when resources are abundant. If further extinctions of medium-sized mammals (such as the bilby) are to be prevented, it may be necessary for wildlife managers to establish a series of predation refugia where fox and cat populations can be controlled without extinguishing local dingo populations. This could be achieved with a combination of predator-proof enclosures, zones in which foxes are killed through poison baiting and areas where Aboriginal people are employed to utilise traditional hunting methods to control introduced predators.

Thinking about Aborigines and tourism has a short but dynamic history. Twenty years ago Aboriginal presence was seen as an intrusion on white enjoyment of geological formations and wildlife in an unpeopled landscape

The Arumbera Sandstone consists of mappable informal units which are repeated in a vertical, cyclic succession. Sandstones of fluvial origin form resistant strike ridges separated by strike valleys, which consist of recessive sandstones and mudrocks of marine origin. Lithofacies 1a, 2b, and 3a are probably of marine origin in intertidal environments. Trace fossil assemblages in lithofacies 3a suggest Skolithos and Cruziana inchnofacies were present. Lithofacies 1e, 2a, 2c, 3b, and 4a are probably of fluvial origin, as the result of coalescing braided stream deposits. The Arumbera Sandstone probably was deposited in a deltaic environment characterized by low wave energy, a micro tidal range, and high input of sand-sized sediment br braided streams. In the western MacDonnell Ranges, the Arumbera overlies the Julie or Pertatataka formations along a sharp but conformable contact. The present upper contact is a low-angle regional unconformity which contains paleotopographic elements that resemble pediments, stripped structural plains, and steep erosional scarps. These paleotopographic surfaces are overlain from east to west by the Chandler, hugh River, and Cleland formations in an onlap relationship. The Arumbera Sandstone is considered part of a molasse sequence associated with the Late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian Petermann Ranges orogeny, which occurred along the present southern and southwestern margin of the Amadeus Basin. The uplifted Petermann Ranges shed detritus from metamorphic, sedimentary, and minor amounts of plutonic rocks. Paleocurrents suggest most terrigenous material was derived from the southwestern margin of the basin. The composition of detrital grains and lack of weathering features in labile detrital grains suggest a hot, semiarid to arid climate in the source area and in the basin of deposition. Sandstone samples examined petrographically primarily are subphyllarenites, subarkoses, arkoses, feldspathic litharenites, and lithic arkoses. The inferred paragenetic sequence is: Eogenetic: (1) mechanical compaction, (2) "dust rims" of hematite, illite, and chlorite, and (3) hematite cement; Mesogenetic: (4) syntaxial feldspar overgrowths, (5) syntaxial quartz overgrowths, (6) hematite cement, (7) carbonate cement, (8) kaolinite replacement, (9) formation of secondary porosity; Telogenetic: (10) chert cement and (11) gibbsite or hematite cement.

This thesis is a study of the Laozi zhongjing, an early medieval Chinese text, preserved in the Daoist Canon (Daozang) in two versions. In the first chapter, I compare the extant versions, inquiring into the relationship between them, and then establish the interval for the text's possible dates of composition. In the second chapter, I argue that the text was deliberately written as an esoteric scripture and analyze the techniques which the text uses to create an atmosphere of secrecy; I then suggest that the best way to approach an esoteric scripture consists in scrutinizing the text in order to unravel its understanding of the categories which underlie its lifeworld. The third chapter is an investigation of the practices described in the Laozi zhongjing; I aim to demonstrate that their main goal, immortality, is consistent with the text's cosmological model and is achieved via nurturing the Red Child, a numen residing within one's body that is associated with one's self.
Cette thèse est une étude du Laozi zhongjing, un texte chinois datant du début du Moyen Âge, préservé dans le Canon taoïste en deux versions. Dans le premier chapitre je compare les versions existantes et examine la relation entre les deux; ensuite j'établis un intervalle approximatif de la date de composition de ce texte. Dans le deuxième chapitre, je soutiens que le texte a été délibérément conçu comme une écriture ésotérique et j'analyse les techniques utilisées dans le texte afin de créer une atmosphère secrète; ensuite je propose que la meilleure façon d'approcher une écriture ésotérique est d'examiner minutieusement le texte afin de discerner sa compréhension des principales catégories de son monde vécu. Le troisième chapitre est une investigation des pratiques décrites par le Laozi zhongjing; mon but est de démontrer que leur l'objectif principal, l'immortalité, est en accord avec le model cosmologique de ce texte, et qu'il est atteint en entretenant l'Enfant rouge, un numen qui réside à l'intérieur du corps et qui est associé avec le soi humain.

Over the past thirty years, price relativities and technological development have motivated an increase in the area of land allocated to cropping, as opposed to pasture production, throughout the central wheat belt of Western Australia. Nevertheless, reducing the proportion of pasture in these rotations has challenged the future productivity of farming systems in this area. First, the frequent application of selective herbicides for weed control in extended cropping rotations has promoted the development of herbicide resistance in a number of major agricultural weeds. Second, the primary use of annual plants has promoted the development of soil salinisation by allowing a significant proportion of rainfall to recharge saline water tables. The inclusion of perennial pasture phases between extended periods of cropping may mitigate or delay these constraints to production through (a) allowing the use of costeffective forms of non-selective weed control, and (b) through creating a buffer of dry soil that absorbs leakage occurring beneath subsequent crops. This study consequently explores the value of including perennial pasture phases in dryland agricultural systems in the eastern-central wheat belt of Western Australia, accounting for benefits related to herbicide resistance and water table management. A novel computational algorithm for the solution of multiple-phase optimal control problems is developed and used to conduct a conceptual analysis of the value of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) pasture for managing annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaudin), the primary weed in wheat belt cropping systems. The competitiveness and fecundity of annual ryegrass provide strong economic incentives to maintain a low weed population, irrespective of herbicide-resistance status. Consequently, the ineffectiveness of selective herbicides primarily reduces the profitability of cropping by motivating the adoption of more costly non-selective forms of weed control. The inclusion of lucerne in land-use rotations is only optimal in the presence of severe herbicide resistance given (a) the low efficiency of alternative weed-management practices available during the pasture phase, relative to selective-herbicide application; (b) the significant cost of establishing this perennial pasture; and (c) the high relative profitability of cereal production in the absence of resistance. The value of lucerne, relative to annual pastures, for weed management is explored in greater detail through the use of compressed annealing to optimise a sophisticated simulation model. The profitability of candidate rotations is also manipulated to account for the long-term production losses accruing to the recharge of saline groundwaters that occurs beneath them. Sequences incorporating lucerne are only more profitable than those that include annual pasture at the standard set of parameter values if (a) annual ryegrass is resistant to all selective herbicides, (b) the water table is so shallow (approximately less than 3.5 m deep) that frequent rotation with perennials is required to avert soil salinisation, or (c) sheep production is highly profitable. The value of perennial pasture is sufficient under these circumstances to overcome its high establishment cost. Consistent with intuition, these benefits are reinforced by lower discount rates and higher rates of leakage occurring beneath annual-based systems. Formulation of an effective communication strategy to report these results to producers is justified given the complexity involved in determining the true magnitude of these intertemporal benefits through alternative means, such as field trials.

This dissertation is the first major study of a slave trade that captured up to one million slaves along the Russian and Iranian frontiers over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries alone. Slaves served as farm-workers, herdsmen, craftsmen, soldiers, concubines, and even, in rare cases, as high-ranking officials in the region between the Caspian Sea and westernmost China. Most of these slaves were Shīʿites who were captured by Sunni Turkmens and sold in Central Asian cities and towns. Despite the Central Asian slave trade’s impressive dimensions, and the prominent role of slaves in the region’s history, the topic remains largely unstudied by historians of the region and of the broader Islamic world. Drawing on unpublished autobiographical sources and eyewitness accounts, I argue that slaves’ resistance and resourcefulness helped to define the contours of the slave labor system and played a key, unacknowledged role in their emancipation. While previous studies of slavery in the Muslim world have emphasized the role of colonial governments in fostering abolition, I argue that slaves in Central Asia, by fomenting the largest slave uprising in the region’s history, triggered the abolition of slavery in the region as a whole.
Inner Asian and Altaic Studies

The management and sustainable use of Central Australian rangelands for livestock production and conservation requires improved knowledge of the temporal and spatial distribution of primary production in this region. To provide such information, this thesis investigated methods that could rapidly and efficiently estimate regional herbage biomass production in these arid landscapes. Two different approaches were examined, using (1) ground-based or (2) satellite-based data sources. Soil moisture and herbage growth data were collected over several growth seasons and five landscape types in Central Australia, and the data used to develop a model of soil moisture balance and herbage production for the region. The model has few parameters and only requires inputs of rainfall and potential evaporation to predict daily soil moisture and plant growth. Moisture loss in the 0-500 mm soil profile was modelled using a negative exponential function that depends on available soil moisture and is driven by potential evaporation. The growth of herbage, whilst soil moisture is above wilting point, is a linear function of actual evapotranspiration, with the decay of plant material represented by a logistic curve through time. Soil moisture, herbage biomass and species composition assessments made at hectare and square kilometre scales at four locations within Central Australia were examined to determine if a small sample area could be used to accurately describe the soil and plant conditions at a landscape scale. Moisture levels of the 0-200 and 0-500 mm soil profiles from nine samples were analysed for the beginning and conclusion of a growth season, whilst herbage biomass and species composition from 50 samples were compared at the end of the growth season. Results suggest that mean soil moisture levels determined in a 1 ha area are comparable with mean values in the surrounding 1 km2 area. Herbage biomass and species richness for a square kilometre can be assessed at a hectare site for some landscape types, but a larger sampling area (> 1 ha) is recommended for most rangeland assessments. Satellite data (NOAA-11) were examined for their potential application in assessing primary productivity in Central Australia. Several image correction techniques were tested to minimise the adverse effects of atmospheric contamination and illumination. Two measures of atmospheric moisture: (1) radiosonde data and (2) temperature differences between bands 4 and 5 of the NOAA satellite (split-window) were used to explain variations in NOAA-11 normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) on inert desert sites. The splitwindow approach provided the best single factor relationship (r2=0.63) and, when combined with scattering angle (illumination) effects, up to 81% of the variation in NDVI data could be explained. Field measurements of herbage biomass were correlated with four growth indices derived from NOAA-11 NDVI data. The influence of preflight and sensor degradation calibrations of Bands 1 and 2, and atmospheric correction techniques were also tested. Correlations between temporal sums of NDVI and herbage biomass data were relatively poor (r2<0.42) and unsuitable for herbage assessment in Central Australia. However, correlations between atmospherically corrected and background-adjusted maximum NDVI data and observed herbage biomass were strong (r2=0.91), that will allow primary production in the arid rangelands of Central Australia to be assessed rapidly and efficiently using remotely-sensed information.

Pisolithus is an important ectomycorrhizal genus world-wide, however to date we remain largely ignorant of the genetic and functional variation that exists within isolates of this genus. Fifty-three isolates of Pisolithus were obtained from various locations in central and eastern Australia and genetic variation within the isolates was assessed using ITS-RFLP and ITS sequencing analyses. RFLP analysis initially grouped the isolates into eight RFLP types. Neighbour-joining analysis of ITS sequences with Pisolithus ITS sequences available in databases clustered the majority of isolates into four groups within two major clades, each comprising isolates of similar basidiospre characteristics. Most Australian isolates correspond with recent provisional descriptions of P. albus or P. marmoratus. One isolate (LJ30) had low sequence identity (61.6-78.0%) to the other isolates and probably represents a separate undescribed Australian species. Significant intraspecific variation was observed in ITS-RFLP profiles for the putative P. albus isolates, suggesting that the sole use of RFLP analysis in diversity assessment may over-estimate Pisolithus species richness. Investigations were also initiated to identify if a relationship exists between genetic and physiological diversity in Australian Pisolithus. It is, however, clear that extensive physiological variation exists in Australian Pisolithus isolates. The size and distribution of genets of Australian Pisolithus species I and II ( putative P. albus and P. marmoratus) was also assessed using microsatellite-primed PCR to gain a better understanding of the likely distribution of underground mycelial networks and possible reproduction strategies in native soils. The data demonstrate that both species have the ability to be long-lived and extend for significant distances in native soils in undisturbed conditions. The field site for Pisolithus species I, however, also contained of a large number of small individuals suggesting that this species may employ a life-history strategy combining r-, C and S characteristics depending on local soil conditions
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis examines the responses of non-indigenous pastoralists in Central Australian rangelands to two social movements that profoundly challenge their occupancy, use and management of land. Contemporary environmentalism and Aboriginal land rights have both challenged the status of pastoralists as valued primary producers and bearers of a worthy pioneer heritage. Instead, pastoralists have become associated with land degradation, biodiversity loss, and Aboriginal dispossession. Such pressure has intensified in the 1990s in the wake of the native Title debate, and various conservation campaigns in the arid and semi-arid rangelands. The pressure on pastoralists occur in the context of wider reassessment of the social and economic values or rangelands in which pastoralism is seen as having declined in value compared to ???post-production??? land uses. Reassessments of rangelands in turn are part of the global changes in the status of rural areas, and of the growing flexibility in the very meaning of ???rural???. Through ethnographic fieldwork among largely non-indigenous pastoralists in Central Australia, this thesis investigates the nature and foundations of pastoralists??? responses to these changes and critiques. Through memory, history, labour and experience of land, non-indigenous pastoralists construct a narrative of land, themselves and others in which the presence of pastoralism in Central Australia is naturalised, and Central Australia is narrated as an inherently pastoral landscape. Particular types of environmental knowledge and experience, based in actual environmental events and processes form the foundation for a discourse of pastoral property rights. Pastoralists accommodate environmental concerns, through advocating environmental stewardship. They do this in such a way that Central Australia is maintained as a singularly pastoral landscape, and one in which a European, or ???white???, frame of reference continues to dominate. In this way the domesticated pastoral landscapes of colonialism and nationalism are reproduced. The thesis also examines Aboriginal pastoralism as a distinctive form of pastoralism, which fulfils distinctly Aboriginal land use and cultural aspirations, and undermines the conventional meaning of ???pastoralism??? itself. The thesis ends by suggesting that improved dialogue over rangelands futures depends on greater understanding of the details and complexities of local relationships between groups of people, and between people and land.

Pisolithus is an important ectomycorrhizal genus world-wide, however to date we remain largely ignorant of the genetic and functional variation that exists within isolates of this genus. Fifty-three isolates of Pisolithus were obtained from various locations in central and eastern Australia and genetic variation within the isolates was assessed using ITS-RFLP and ITS sequencing analyses. RFLP analysis initially grouped the isolates into eight RFLP types. Neighbour-joining analysis of ITS sequences with Pisolithus ITS sequences available in databases clustered the majority of isolates into four groups within two major clades, each comprising isolates of similar basidiospre characteristics. Most Australian isolates correspond with recent provisional descriptions of P. albus or P. marmoratus. One isolate (LJ30) had low sequence identity (61.6-78.0%) to the other isolates and probably represents a separate undescribed Australian species. Significant intraspecific variation was observed in ITS-RFLP profiles for the putative P. albus isolates, suggesting that the sole use of RFLP analysis in diversity assessment may over-estimate Pisolithus species richness. Investigations were also initiated to identify if a relationship exists between genetic and physiological diversity in Australian Pisolithus. It is, however, clear that extensive physiological variation exists in Australian Pisolithus isolates. The size and distribution of genets of Australian Pisolithus species I and II ( putative P. albus and P. marmoratus) was also assessed using microsatellite-primed PCR to gain a better understanding of the likely distribution of underground mycelial networks and possible reproduction strategies in native soils. The data demonstrate that both species have the ability to be long-lived and extend for significant distances in native soils in undisturbed conditions. The field site for Pisolithus species I, however, also contained of a large number of small individuals suggesting that this species may employ a life-history strategy combining r-, C and S characteristics depending on local soil conditions

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2000.
"Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, School of Science, University of Western Sydney (Nepean)." "October 2000." Bibliography : leaves 143-179.

This study concerned a primary health care approach to trachoma control in two Central Australian Aboriginal communities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has advocated that the best method to control trachoma is the SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial hygiene, and Environmental improvements), and this approach was adopted.
The communities, Pipalyatjara and Mimili, with populations slightly less than 300 each, are located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara (AP) lands of Central Australia, in the northwest corner of the South Australia territory. At Pipalyatjara, a full SAFE-type intervention was undertaken, with the ‘E’ component designed and implemented by the NHC (Nganampa Health Council Inc.). At Mimili, only a SAF-type of intervention was implemented.
Baseline data was gathered for 18 months from March 1999 through September 2000 (five visits to Pipalyatjara and four at Mimili), and included determining trachoma prevalence levels using the WHO system, facial cleanliness, and nasal discharge parameters. A trachoma health program was implemented at the end of this period and a one-time dose of azithromycin was given in September of 2000. The chief focus of the study was children under 15 years of age.
Improvements in road sealing, landscaping, and the creation of mounds were started to improve dust control. Concurrently, efforts were made in the houses of the residents to improve the nine healthy living practices, which were scored in two surveys, in March 1999 and August 2001. Trachoma prevalence, and levels of facial cleanliness and nasal discharge were determined at 3, 6, and 12 months following antibiotic administration.
In children less than 15 years of age, the pre-intervention prevalence level of TF (Trachoma Follicular) was 42% at Pipalyatjara, and 44% at Mimili. For the 1-9 year age group, the TF prevalence was 47% and 54% respectively. For TI (Trachoma Intense), the pre-intervention prevalence was 8% for Pipalyatjara, and 9% for Mimili. The TF prevalence, adjusted for clustering, and using only individuals present at baseline and follow-up (3, 6, and 12 months post-intervention), was 41.5%, 21.2%, 20.0%, and 20.0% at Pipalyatjara respectively. For Mimili, the corresponding prevalence figures were 43.5%, 18.2%, 18.2%, and 30%.
In the 1-9 year age group, a lower TF prevalence existed between the pre-intervention and 12-month post-intervention points at Pipalyatjara compared to Mimili. The TF prevalence after the intervention was also lower for males compared to females, when the cohorts were grouped by gender, rather than community. It is posited that reinfection was much higher at Mimili within this age group, however, in both communities, there appeared to be a core of females whose trachoma status did not change. This is speculated as mainly being caused by prolonged inflammation, though persistent infection C. Trachomatis cannot be ruled out.
Facial cleanliness and nasal discharge continued to improve throughout the intervention at both communities, but at the 3-month post-intervention point no longer became a good predictor of trachoma.
It is not known whether the improvements in the environment at Pipalyatjara were responsible for the reduction in trachoma prevalence 12 months after the intervention, relative to Mimili.

The term 'Main Street' is used to describe a particular approach to town centre revitalisation aimed at mitigating the economic, social and environmental impacts of urban decline and decay. Originally a North American phenomenon, the concepts of Main Street have evolved under the auspices of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States since 1977, and the Heritage Canada Foundation since 1979. As a relatively recent import, Main Street is currently being introduced throughout Australia as a means of addressing the various symptoms of town centre decline. As such, Main Street can be viewed as the successor of a long series of interventions aimed at urban improvement. The programme's strength is commonly nominated to be its integrated method. Adopting and modifying the North American 'four point approach', Main Street as it has come to be practiced in this country promotes a five point approach that involves action related to organisation, design, heritage, business and promotion. When considering these actions, three major objectives of Main Street become apparent. These priorities generally fall under the headings of economic, social and physical objectives. In practice, these three objectives are interdependent, working together to bring about significant long term change and improvement. While the methods and intentions of Main Street are clearly established and well documented, one particular area related to the programme remains somewhat unexplored. This area is the assessment of the process itself. The imperative of the programme is quite obviously improvement. Yet the measure of improvement is an activity rarely undertaken. This is largely due to the fact that guidelines and precedents for such a process do not exist as part of the Main Street methodology. The recording of progress in the three areas of economic, social and physical change offer quite different challenges. Appraisal of economic factors, if programmed correctly, can be easily incorporated in an assessment procedure through the consideration of variables such as. land values, retail sales figures, occupancy and rerital rates. Similarly, the social impact of an improvement programme can be noted through surveys of businesses and residents. Yet methods of recording the impact of physical change remam somewhat undeveloped, rarely venturing beyond the haphazard routine of 'before and after' photos. It is the intention of this thesis to examine the issues related to the measurement of physical improvement. Particular attention will be paid to the consideration of four factors related to the physical features of a streetscape, and the manner in which such factors can be reliably rated as a record of streetscape condition. Such an investigation will test Main Street's capacity to fulfil its self-appointed role as a catalyst in the process of town centre regeneration and urban improvement.

Throughout the James Ranges and Gardiner Range the Arumbera Sandstone forms prominent strike ridges with distinctive dark reddish slopes and pale red to orange-white cliffs. Because of their lithologic and stratigraphic similarities, the names Eninta and ''Quandong" for these units should be suppressed in favor of the name of Arumbera Sandstone, which has precedence. The stratigraphic and lithologic differences observed between the Quandong Conglomerate in the type locality and the Arumbera Sandstone in the study area suggest that these units are not equivalent. Similarites with the Areyonga Formation suggest the Quandong Conglomerate could be part of the Areyonga Formation. Lithofacies la, ld, and 2b, and Unit 3 of the Arumbera and its equivalents are typically recessive arkoses, subarkose, and mudrocks. They are interpreted as nearshore-marine to coastal deltaic deposits which include intertonguing tidal-flat, tidal-channel, and beach sediments. Lithofacies 1b and 2a consist of cliff-forming arkoses, subarkoses, and lithic arkoses. Lithofacies 2c is also resistant, and consists of orthoconglomerates and conglomeratic sandstones. Lithofacies 1e is moderately resistant, and consists of paraconglomerates, conglomeratic sandstones, and mudrocks. It and lithofacies 2c contain pebbles and small cobbles of chert, quartzite, vein quartz, silicified ooids, and limestone, dolostone, shale, and sandstone. These four lithofacies are interpreted as braidplain and fluvial sheet sands. In the east-central part of the Amadeus Basin the Arumbera Sandstone probably was deposited in a coastal environment as a sequence of deltaic sediments that was dominated by fluvial processes. The Arumbera Sandstone appears to be the molasse derived from the Late Proterozoic and Early Cambrian Petermann Ranges orogeny. Source rocks include sedimentary, low- to middle-rank metamorphic, and plutonic granites. Grain mineralogy and weathering characteristics suggest a hot, semiarid climate during deposition of the Arumbera. The Arumbera Sandstone and Quandong Conglomerate contain fair to good porosity and permeability, and petrographic evidence shows mesogenetic generation of secondary porosity. Previous and present burial depths are adequate for the generation of petroleum. The presence of suitable underlying .source rocks, overlying salt of the Chandler for a seal, and stratigraphic and structural traps suggest a good potential for petroleum. Production of dry gas from the lower part of the Arumbera at Dingo field, north of Deep Well Homestead, confirms the petroleum potential of this formation.

All forms of cultural interaction are expressive and creative. In particular, what the performing arts express is not always the conscious, the ideal and the rational, but more often the preconscious, pre-verbal, asocial and irrational, touching on darker undercurrents of human and extra-human interrelations, experiences, beliefs, fears, desires and values. So what is performance and how does it differ in cultures? A performance is a translation of an idea into a synaesthetic experience. In the context of this thesis, however, translation does not imply reductive literal translation as can be attempted by analogy in spoken or written descriptions and notation systems. The translation is one through which participating groups and individuals seek to understand the being in the world of the Other by means of mutual, embodied negotiation of meaning - sensually, experientially, perceptually, cognitively and emotionally - that is, by means of performance. As a contribution towards a social theory of human performance, the author offers reflections on an exchange between two performance ecologies - those of a group of Aboriginal Australian performers from Mimili, Central Australia and a mixed ethnic group of Australian performers from Penrith, NSW, Australia.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Neoproterozoic (815.4 ± 4.3 Ma) Aries kimberlite intrudes the King Leopold Sandstone and the Carson Volcanics in the central Kimberley Basin, northern Western Australia. Aries is comprised of a N-NNE-trending series of three diatremes and associated hypabyssal kimberlite dykes and plugs. The diatremes are volumetrically dominated by massive, clast-supported, accidental lithic-rich kimberlite breccias that were intruded by hypabyssal macrocrystic phlogopite kimberlite dykes and plugs with variably uniform- to globular segregationary-textured groundmasses. Lower diatremefacies, accidental lithic-rich breccias probably formed through fall-back of debris into the vent with a major contribution from the collapse of the vent walls. These massive breccias are overlain by a sequence of bedded volcaniclastic breccias in the upper part of the north lobe diatreme. Abundant, poorly-vesicular to nonvesicular, juvenile kimberlite ash and lapilli, with morphologies that are indicative of phreatomagmatic fragmentation processes, occur in a reversely-graded volcaniclastic kimberlite breccia unit at the base of this sequence. This unit and overlying bedded accidental lithic-rich breccias are interpreted to be sediment gravity-flow deposits (including possible debris flows) derived from the collapse of the crater walls and/or tephra ring deposits that surrounded the crater. ... This Fe-enrichment may have resulted from Fe-Mg exchange with olivine during slow cooling of the peridotite host rocks. Textures reflecting the cooling history of some mantle xenoliths are preserved in the form of fine exsolution rods of aluminous spinel in diopside and zircon in rutile grains in aluminous spinel- and rutile-bearing serpentinised ultramafic xenoliths, respectively. These textures suggest nearly isobaric cooling of host rocks in the lithospheric mantle, and indicate that at least some aluminous spinel in spinel-facies peridotites formed through exsolution from chromian 4 diopside. Episodes of Fe-Ti-rich metasomatism in the spinel-facies Kimberley mantle are the likely source of high-Ti phlogopite-biotite + rutile and Ti, V, Zn, Ni-enriched aluminous spinel ± ilmenite associations in several ultramafic xenoliths. U-Pb SHRIMP 207Pb/206Pb zircon ages for one granite (1851 ± 10 Ma) and two serpentinised ultramafic xenoliths (1845 ± 30 Ma; 1861 ± 31 Ma) indicate that the granitic basement and lower crust beneath the central Kimberley Basin are at least Palaeoproterozoic in age. However, Hf-isotope analyses of the zircons in the ultramafic xenoliths suggest that the underlying lithospheric mantle is at least late Archaean in age.

The Chinese Central Government has focused significant attention on the social work profession as a pivotal solution to address social issues and tensions resulting from rapid social and economic development. In 2006, the Chinese Government announced an ambitious target of educating a workforce of three million social workers by 2020. Even when, subsequently, this number was halved, it continues to remain an ambitious goal. To achieve the new target of 1.5 million social workers, graduates from associated disciplines are allowed to become social workers by taking the Professional Level Examination. Despite these measures, and although social work in China is advancing rapidly, the social work profession remains relatively underdeveloped. China faces many challenges in developing both social work education and the profession itself. This thesis argues that to meet these challenges, Chinese social work needs to experience an indigenisation and a professionalisation process to adapt Western values, theories, and knowledge into the Chinese cultural, social, and political contexts. Three main issues relate to this process of indigenisation and professionalization: social work’s low status, a lack of knowledge about the profession, and its blurred professional roles in China. These factors have led to reluctance by many Chinese students to study and practise social work. Little is known about the experiences of Chinese social work students who have straddled both Western and Chinese education boundaries, with their different learning styles and practices. This study investigated Chinese undergraduate students’ experiences of learning social work in both a China-based program and in a joint China-Australia program, by asking two research questions. Why and how do Chinese students learn social work in China and in Australia? What is Chinese students’ understanding of the social work profession both in China and in a cross-cultural context? This research draws on participants within a joint social work program between GU and CCNU, the first collaborative initiative at the undergraduate level (CCNU, 2019) and established in 2011 with a collaborative Bachelor of Social Work program to deliver a 2 plus 2.5-year joint degree program between China and Australia. This study recruited participants from two cohorts of Chinese students. One cohort studied exclusively in China, while the other studied first in China and then in Australia. From 2014 to 2015, a qualitative study with an insider approach was adopted. Data were collected from several stages of semi-structured interviews with two cohorts of participants over 1.5 years of learning in China and in Australia. Data were first transcribed in Chinese, then translated into English, and converted into NVivo for analysis. Six steps of thematic analysis were applied, from familiarisation with the data, coding, searching for themes, reviewing (including translating)) and refining. The study concludes that participants reported five different reasons for studying social work, with only one student who studied social work because of an interest in the profession. In regard to how they learned social work, five components emerged that were used to compare and contrast between Chinese and Australian universities, namely classroom learning experiences, experiences of undertaking assessment, teacher and student relationships, support systems, and challenges in learning. In terms of how participants learned social work in practice, the application of learning emerged with two themes including the ability to use theory in practice and learning influenced values. In relation to the second research question regarding students’ understanding of the profession, the study found three perspectives and the results on professional identity. The first perspective reported participants’ perceptions of social work with two themes. The second perspective was the influence of the government on the role of social work, and two themes were reported. The third perspective related to incongruities in values and ethics, and two themes emerged. The study has concluded that the weak professional identity that both cohorts developed led to their reluctance to choose social work as a future career. Although a relatively small study in terms of number of participants, this research has some implications for social work education in both China and Australia. It concludes that Chinese universities would benefit from improved promotion of social work to assist Chinese students to understand the profession and that Chinese social work education could adopt five possible changes to provide students with practiceoriented learning in the Chinese context. It also concludes that Australian universities could provide more specific and tailored assistance to Chinese students to enable them to participate fully in their education.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Health Sci & Soc Wrk
Griffith Health
Full Text

This study investigates the ecology of one of the best known Australian marsupials, the Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula, in central Australia. Trichosurus vulpecula is one of few medium-sized mammal species that persist in arid Australia today. Its distribution within the arid zone has declined markedly since European settlement. Two populations, one within the East MacDonnell Ranges along the Hale River and the other on Irving Creek, a River Red Gum creek in the Petermann Ranges, were studied in the southern Northern Territory. Others locations in the region were visited opportunistically. Trie central Australian Trichosurus is not distinct genetically from populations elsewhere in Australia. The diet of T. vulpecula consisted of a range of leaves, flowers and fruits of perennial dicotyledonous species as well as some ephemeral herbs. Grasses were absent from the diet. Variation in the diet reflected seasonal availability in flowers and fruits. The species preferentially consumed at each site had significantly higher moisture content and dry matter digestibility than species not consumed. Preferred species included Amyema maidenii leaves (a mistletoe), Acacia spp. flowers and fruits, Santalum lanceolatum leaves (a shrub), Marsdenia australis leaves (a vine), Solarium quadriloculatum fruit (shrub) and Euphorbia spp. leaves (herb). Small amounts of invertebrate material were consumed throughout the year. Other non-plant material consumed included honeycomb and unfledged birds eg. Budgerigars. There were no significant differences in the diet between the sexes. Trichosurus vulpecula were found in six main habitats: Acacia aneura/Callitris glaucophylla on rocky hills; E. camaldulensis sandy creek-lines; mixed Acacia rocky hills, Rocky Eucalyptus creek-lines; Degraded drainage lines; and Wet gullies. Logistic regression modelling revealed a significant correlation between mistletoe species richness, higher levels of soil nitrogen and the presence of T. vulpecula. In habitats occupied by T. vulpecula species richness of mistletoes was associated with the absence of fire and the presence of reliable ground water supplies. Trichosurus vulpecula were highly mobile with mean home ranges at Hale River of 44.21 � 22.76 ha and considerably higher than those recorded in previous studies in Australia. Mean home ranges at Irving Creek were much smaller, at 4.99 � 1.46 ha and VII similar to that recorded in other studies in Australia. At both sites, males had larger home ranges and there was a high degree of overlap with other males and females. At the Hale River study site, T. vulpecula predominantly denned in caves or cavities in rocks, whereas at Irving Creek all den sites were in large Eucalyptus camaldulensis on the drainage line. Adult and pouch young sex ratios were at parity. During this study, T. vulpecula was found to breed continuously, with births recorded in almost all months. Growth of the young were more rapid than previously recorded for Trichosurus in Australia. This is interpreted as an adaptation for living in an arid environment, enabling the young to achieve independence before quality food supplies diminish. No single exotic predator or competitor was solely responsible for the decline of T. vulpecula in arid Australia, implying an interactive impact. Prey switching by dingoes from rabbits to T. vulpecula, macropods and echidnas followed the crash of rabbit populations at Hale River. Predation by dingoes on T. vulpecula was only recorded once, at the Irving Creek study site, where numbers of rabbits remained stable throughout the study. The impact of exotic herbivores occurred through habitat degradation rather than competition. Evaluation of the ecological data collected during this study generally supports current models of decline and extinction in medium-sized mammals in arid Australia, integrating the effects of predators, competitors, drought and fire. However, the importance of each factor on populations of T. vulpecula was found to vary depending on their location in the landscape. This study suggests two separate models to explain the decline of T. vulpecula in arid Australia after the arrival of Europeans. The first operates in the riparian lowlands and the second on the rocky ranges. In both models, prior to European settlement, T. vulpecula occupied refuge habitats characterised by readily available moisture for plant growth (run on areas and/or shallow water tables) and soils with higher soil nutrient concentrations. The impact of fires on these refugia was minimal, as Aboriginal burning practices protected them with mosaic burning generally preventing large-scale fires from developing. Following European settlement, the forces impacting on populations were different in the riparian lowlands from those affecting rocky ranges. In the riparian lowlands, the effects of rabbits and livestock together with predation were found to have the major impact on T. vulpecula populations. Fire was not a significant factor in these areas. In the rocky ranges, fire was the most significant factor affecting T. vulpecula populations. Introduced herbivores did not degrade these habitats as they did in the riparian lowlands because the rugged and steep nature of the ranges acted as a physical barrier. Similarly, predator numbers were lower because of the relative difficulty in moving over rough ground and the generally lower relative abundance of preferred prey such as rabbits. An adaptive management strategy needs to be implemented to determine the effects of different management regimes on T. vulpecula population viability. The key elements of a management strategy in the riparian lowlands involves the manipulation and monitoring of predators, rabbits and livestock numbers. In the rocky ranges, the key management strategy involves the implementation of a patch burning to prevent fires entering habitats occupied by T. vulpecula. Importantly, any management strategies should involve Aboriginal people. Trichosurus vulpecula is an important part of Aboriginal culture. Its decline is of great concern to many people and several of the remaining populations and potential reintroduction locations are on Aboriginal land. Because of their relationship with the land and the animals, people have both the knowledge of the animal and the skills (such as patch burning) to provide information to managers which will assist with management. To achieve these management directions a coordinated national education programme is required to inform and convince the Australian community that conservation of T. vulpecula is deserving of attention in arid and semi-arid Australia. This is particularly important given the perception that T. vulpecula is a common species throughout Australia, despite its massive decline in arid Australia since European settlement.

Spatial and temporal information on catchment sediment sources and sinks can provide an improved understanding of catchment response to human-induced disturbances. This is essential for the implementation of well-targeted catchment-management decisions. This thesis investigates the nature and timing of catchment response to human activities by examining changes in sediment sources and sinks in a dry-tropical subcatchment of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment area, in northeastern Australia. Changes in catchment sediment sources, both in terms of spatial provenance and erosion type, are determined using sediment tracing techniques. Results indicate that changes in sediment source contributions over the last 250 years can be linked directly to changes in catchment land use. Sheetwash and rill erosion from cultivated land (40-60%) and channel erosion from grazed areas (30-80%) currently contribute most sediment to the river system. Channel erosion, on a basin-wide scale, appears to be more important than previously considered in this region of Australia. Optically stimulated luminescence and 137Cs dating are used to determine pre-and post- European settlement (ca. 1850) alluvial sedimentation rates. The limitations of using 137Cs as a floodplain sediment dating tool in a low fallout environment, dominated by sediment derived from channel and cultivation sources, are identified. Low magnitude increases in post-disturbance floodplain sedimentation rates (3 to 4 times) are attributed to the naturally high sediment loads in the dry-tropics. These low increases suggest that previous predictions which reflect order of magnitude increases in post-disturbance sediment yields are likely to be overestimates. In-channel bench deposits, formed since European settlement, are common features that appear to be important stores of recently eroded material. The spatially distributed erosion/sediment yield model SedNet is applied, both with generic input parameters and locally-derived data. Outputs are evaluated against available empirically-derived data. The results suggest that previous model estimates using generic input parameters overestimate post-disturbance and underestimate predisturbance sediment yields, exaggerating the impact of European catchment disturbance. This is likely to have important implications for both local-scale and catchment-wide management scenarios in the GBR region. Suggestions for future study and the collection of important empirical data to enable more accurate model performance are made.

Author's previously published articles appended. Bibliography: leaves 191-201. This thesis describes research in which geochemical and petrographic techniques were used to investigate genetic relationships between potential source rocks and hydrocarbon accumulations in the Cooper (Late Carboniferous-Triassic) and Eromanga (Jurassic-Cretaceous) Basins of central Australia.

Land-use change and its impacts on catchment hydrology has been for a long time one of the most important environmental issues around the world. The conversion between forest to other land-use types, i.e. deforestation and afforestation, is one of the most dramatic examples of land use change. Our enhanced understanding of the interaction between water and forest is of strategic importance to decision-making in effective land-use and water-resource management, especially for dry regions where water supply is limited. While extensive research has been undertaken to determine how catchment hydrology responds to forest cover change around the world, no consistent conclusion has been drawn, especially for relatively large catchments (>1,000 km2). For small catchments, experimental methodologies, such as paired catchment studies, were favoured, leading to a general conclusion that deforestation would increase the flow volume and afforestation would decrease the flow. For large catchments, however, diverse and even contradictory conclusions tended to be reached, and hydrological models were probably the most widely used tools for impact assessment compared to other methods including statistical techniques and elasticity analysis. The inconclusive results with respect to the impacts of forest cover change on flow were also obtained for a large catchment in Central Queensland, Australia. Central Queensland of Australia, having a dry sub-tropical climate, witnessed dramatic land clearing from the 1960s to the 1980s resulting from a government sponsored development scheme, known as the Brigalow Development Scheme. More than half of the region (around 79,800 km2) was cleared between 1960 and 1972, with the annual clearing rate of over 6,600 km2/yr. There have been a number of investigations into the effect of land use change on basin water balance at a range of spatial scales, while discrepant conclusions were drawn by two previous studies with respect to hydrological response to land clearing for catchments at a large scale. One of the studies suggested an increase of 40% in streamflow due to land clearing and the other attributed changes in streamflow mostly to climate variability. To determine the impact of large-scale land clearing on catchment hydrology in Central Queensland, two large catchments, namely the Comet and Upper Dawson (area> 15,500 km2), were selected for investigation. For each of the two catchments, three distinct periods, i.e. pre-clearing (1920-1949), transitional (1960-1989) and post-clearing (1989-2018) periods, were identified according to land clearing rates and remanent forest cover. Overall, four research objectives were proposed: (1) to determine the direction and magnitude of the impact; (2) to quantify the impact using suited hydrological models; (3) to interpret the impacts with meaningful land-use-related parameter values and (4) to improve the modelling performance by taking into account of the spatial variability of climate, land use and vegetation cover. To address the first objective, a series of methods, i.e. the Budyko framework, Tanh function, flow duration curve, double mass curve and SimHyd, were applied to provide multiple lines of evidence for determining the impacts. It was concluded that (1) the effect of land clearing on water yield of large basins in Central Queensland are unmistakably detectable; (2) the impact of land clearing manifested itself mostly during wetter years or for wetter basins; (3) for a given basin, the greater the extent of land clearing the larger the effect on water yield. The second objective was addressed by assessing and comparing three hydrological models, i.e. AWBM, Sacramento and SimHyd, in terms of their ability in capturing rainfall-streamflow relationship for the two catchments under change, i.e. pre- and post- land clearing. It was concluded that AWBM outperformed the other two models and can be further simplified as AWBM_Ca. The model parameter, i.e. the average storage capacity (Ca), could be related to land use/cover. The Ca value was decreased by 21- 30% for post-clearing period, indicating the same degree of decrease water amount potentially available for transpiration due to deforestation. While considering the spatial variability of climate and land use/cover, performance of AWBM_Ca was improved, and different Ca values were assumed for differing land use types including cropping, grazing and forest. It was found that the Ca value for forest was higher than those for cropping and grazing by 35-53%, indicating a higher capacity for runoff generation from the catchment when forests were cleared. The distributed AWBM_Ca calibrated for the Comet catchment was validated by predicting flows for 4 nested catchments satisfactorily with the Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency ranging from 0.69 to 0.98. For different scenarios of afforestation sequences, the relationship between forest cover change and flow was nonlinear and exhibited a “lily leaf” shaped envelope curve, which was driven by the combined effect of the spatial variability of climate and the “uncertainty” of where afforestation occurs. The “lily leaf” shaped envelope curve led to the conclusion that flow reduction was more sensitive to tree plantation in wetter areas of the catchment and that 10% of afforestation would cause on average a decrease of 5.8% in flow. Overall, this study highlights the need of a better understanding of the relationship between forest cover and water yield for large catchments, with the main findings as follows: (1) an increase in flow due to land clearing has certainly occurred for large catchments in Central Queensland supported with multiple lines of evidence; (2) hydrological models such as AWBM performed well in capturing rainfall-flow relationship to represent the hydrological response to forest cover change; (3) model parameter for AWBM_Ca, i.e. the average storage capacity (Ca), was found to be capable of representing the increased evapotranspiration from the forested area comparing the cropping and grazing areas; and (4) hydrological response to forest cover change is enhanced in relatively wetter areas, and thus the spatial variability of climate and land use need to be taken into consideration for impact assessment.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Eng & Built Env
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
Full Text

The main aim of the research was to develop a methodology for inferring complex sub-surface shallow structures from seismic data that are of a high relevance to hydrological studies in Perth Basin. A set of realistic 2D and 3D numerical modelling experiments were conducted that show that in the best case it is possible to interpret complex geological structure from 3D seismic data.

This thesis is about the depth of colonisation through translation. I develop an analytic framework that explores colonisation and translation using the trope of romantic love and an experimental textual construction incorporating translation and historical reconstruction. Utilising both the first and the final drafts of “Chapter X, Songs of Human Beauty and Love-charms” in Songs of Central Australia, by T. Strehlow, I show how that text, written over thirty years and comprised of nine drafts, can be described as a translation mediated by the colonising syntax and grammar. My interest lies in developing a novel textual technique to attempt to illustrate this problem so as to allow an insight into the perspective of a colonised person. This has involved a re-examination of translation as something other than a transtemporal structure predicated on direct equivalence, understanding it instead as something that fictionalises and reinvents the language that it purports to represent. It begins by establishing an understanding of the historical context in which the translated text is situated, from both objective and personal viewpoints, and then foregrounds the grammatical perspective of the argument. Utilising the techniques and processes of multiple translation, Internet-based translation software, creative writing and historical reconstruction, it continues to consider the role of imagination and begins the construction of a visceral argument whereby the reader is encouraged to experience a cognitive shift similar to that understood by the colonised other, which is revealed in a fictional autobiography written by an imagined other. It concludes by considering the coloniser within the same context, using, as an example T. Strehlow, who had a unique understanding of the Arrernte language. Tracking his extensive alterations, revisions and excisions within his drafts of Chapter X, this thesis traces a textual history of change, theorising that the translator, no matter how "authentic", is as much translated by the text as she or he is a translator of the text.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The statistically defined disadvantage of remote-living Indigenous children has often been the target of state intervention in Australia. In this thesis I present an ethnography of an international NGO that attempted to improve the lives of such children through a participatory and culturally respectful community development project. Originally setting out to answer the question of whether participatory practices derived from “international development” could be useful in the context of Indigenous Australia, this study instead deploys the ontological approaches of Annemarie Mol (2002) and Bruno Latour (2005) to return to the dichotomous way in which such questions are framed: as a “global” organisation interacting with a “local” community. The distinction between the global and the local inhabits and structures other binaries that run throughout the thesis: between organisation and community, expertise and “cultural” knowledge, the developed and the to-be-developed, and between White and Indigenous, or in locally salient terms, Kardiya and Yapa. I ask after the effects of this framing: how do such dualisms define who participates in development, and in what ways? What forms of knowledge emerge as significant and important under these conditions? How do Indigenous people and White NGO staff negotiate the moral landscape of “helping?” What kinds of relationship are produced? And how does my ethnographic writing, as another knowledge practice, engage with development? I demonstrate the ways in which development is performed through an examination of the day-to-day practices of the NGO: drawing upon expertise and evidence to justify intervention (chapters two and three), monitoring and evaluating project impacts (chapter four), building “intercultural” relationships (chapter five), ensuring participation (chapter six), and marketing to raise project funds (chapter seven). I argue that because NGO practice enacts the objects of development (Mol 2002), and is therefore entangled with them, participatory approaches that rely upon a boundary between the developed and the to-be-developed are destabilised. The performance of this boundary is important however, as it serves as both the problem to be overcome and the crucial ethic through which well-meaning, settler-colonial NGO staff negotiate their work and professional identities in remote Indigenous Australia. I draw upon participant observation within the NGO to present an ethnographic account that unbinds development from its normative, instrumental representations, while eschewing denunciation as the necessarily alternative research position. My work brings the critical anthropology of development into conversation with an Indigenous Australian setting, and seeks to contribute to the growing field of NGO ethnography.

The Central Queensland Public Health Unit (CQPHU) is one of 10 strategically located Public Health Units (PHU) across Queensland and provides services to both the Central Queensland and Central West Hospital and Health Service (CWHHS). CQPHU is responsible for the surveillance, prevention and control of communicable diseases in the Central and Central West Queensland region and has been the location of my MAE field placement since February 2019. It has also been my place of employment as a senior Public Health Nurse (PHN) for the past 5 years. The role of a public health unit is distinguished from other roles within a health system by its focus on the health and well-being of populations, rather than individuals. Given my MAE has been part of my role as a PHN, my projects had specific goals to align with the objectives of CQPHU: undertake health surveillance and disease control initiatives including response to disease outbreaks; support public health programs for priority health issues of national, state-wide and local significance; surveillance and analysis of routinely collected data on the distribution, determinants and control of disease in the local community to inform planning and delivery of health care and community programs; and translational research utilising routinely collected data to inform public health actions and policies both locally and regionally. This thesis presents the projects undertaken during this field placement and consists of: the first reported locally acquired dengue virus outbreak in Central Queensland in over 30 years; a combined data analysis and epidemiological investigation of 3 mumps outbreaks within the Central Queensland area; and the establishment of a new syndromic surveillance system for COVID-19 close contacts in quarantine for the Central Queensland public health unit. The combined use of all mandatory MAE core competencies have been further demonstrated in a chapter dedicated to 'field epidemiology in practice', reporting the first COVID-19 outbreak in a residential aged care facility in Queensland. This thesis also describes a teaching experience to first year MAEs; a lesson from the field delivered to MAE colleagues; and other experiences such as the first Queensland reported COVID-19 outbreak in an aged care facility, detailing the public health response and my role in this outbreak. These projects and experiences demonstrate the core requirements of the Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) program by Australian National University.