Inner city living doesn’t leave a lot of space for grand landscape gardens, but  this is no obstacle for local botanist and terrarium expert Christopher Beavon.  I had the honor of speaking with him about these amazing ecosystems.

What is a Terrarium?

CB: A terrarium is a mini ecosystem inside a glass container. The best ones should be mostly self-sustaining, but this can take some time to get right.

How did you come to be a grower of these self-sustaining ecosystems?
CB: I made my first terrarium just out of interest. I am a plant-nerd, i.e.
botanist, by trade. So, anything green tends to pique my interest. Now I make and sell custom terrariums and run workshops.

What kind of plants can you grow in a terrarium?
CB: The best plants for enclosed terrariums are moss, ferns and certaingroundcovers or creepers. Succulents and cacti tends to like a bit more air movement, so they tend to struggle in the closed systems but are great in open top containers.

Have you always had a green thumb?

CB: Kind of. My earliest memory of any kind of gardening is following my great-grandmother, Nonna, around her award-winning vegetable patch. I would help with the weeding, but mainly the harvesting. My interest in botany really took off when I was about eighteen, and ever since I’ve always had plants growing at home; whether that be a veggie patch, herbs, flowers, cacti or terrariums.

If someone would like to learn about how to grow terrariums, where could they go?

CB: Honestly, the Internet is a great source of information and there are plenty of DIY guides out there. The hardest part is getting all the bits and pieces and using the correct method. I run workshops about once a month, everything is supplied and we go through each stage and I explain all the different layers and why they are important. You can find me on Facebook as
MossyAntlers.

What would be your advice for people wanting to grow terrariums?

CB: Make sure you follow a method that includes layers to control water movement and retention in the system. And don’t worry if your plants are struggling a little bit at first. One big thing is to find the best place for your terrarium – a bright place with relatively steady temperature and no direct sunlight. I’m happy to answer any questions on my Facebook page.

It was standing room only as 350 people crammed into the Souths Leagues Club in West End on Wednesday night to hear about the Kurilpa Riverfront Renewal Plan.

They got what they came for, rousing calls for an international exhibition, reminders about the resident’s victory over the Bjelke Petersen government that resulted in Southbank Parklands and presentations offering stark choices between the crowded skyscrapers of Hong Kong or Manhattan and the open, creative spaces of Vancouver and Amsterdam.

The LNP proposal to put an extra 11,500 residents into the north west corner of the Kurilpa peninsula (between the Go Between Bridge and the Souths Rugby Club at Davies Park) by building a wall of 30 and 40 story skyscrapers was launched to developers and business leaders at a $150 a seat dinner last month. See original story

Local Councillor for the Gabba Ward, Helen Abrahams; State MP for South Brisbane, Jackie Trad and President of West End Community Association (WECA) Dr Erin Evans all described the nervous titters of disbelief as the plan was revealed to developers at the Business Development Association and Brisbane Marketing lunch.

“This is not a plan. This is simply an invitation to developers to build as high and as close as they like. It is just a bunch of coloured boxes on a page. My four year old granddaughter could have done that.” Helen Abrahams’ granddaughter received roars of acclamation.

The new plan has an extra ten stories added to the revised Riverfront neighbourhood plan, described in the article West End’s Green Heart published in Westender’s print edition of May 2014. That plan itself was inconsistent in a number of areas with earlier council planning documents including the 2006 Woollongabba and South Brisbane Plan developed under the auspices of ex Lord Mayor and local legend Tim Quinn.

Long term West End activist Professor Phil Heywood quoted population density figures (leaping from imperial to metric as he went). Brisbane metro currently has around 20 persons per hectare, West End has around 100. The new development will concentrate people to about 1200 persons per hectare, putting it right up there with the most crowded cities in the world. Hong Kong has around 1400.

Jackie Trad reminded residents that the 11,500 new residents that come with the Kurilpa Riverfront plan are only a fraction of the 30,000 new residents proposed for the 4101 postcode. “Can you imagine the grid lock getting on and off the peninsula when the population goes from 20,000 to 50,000 people?” quipped one town planner in the audience.

“And it’s on a flood plain,” thundered Helen Abrahams as the first microphone failed under the excitement.

Jackie Trad and Professor Heywood reminded residents of the people-power that overthrew a deal between the BJP government and developer Theiss on the Expo site on the south bank of the Brisbane River.

“Do you remember River City 2000? The islands in the river bursting with sky scrapers?” Professor Hayworth’s rhetoric conjured up past visions of a gloriously crowded future. “It was the people of Brisbane who put a stop to that.”

Questions from the floor teased out the methods whereby the Kurilpa Riverfront Renewal Plan might be consigned to the same scrapheap.

Greens candidate for South Brisbane, Jonathon Sri, called for engagement with the broader Brisbane Community; an apartment dweller with a verandah opening onto the 94 decibel soundwall of the trainline described the downside of high density dwelling, a proposal for community owned real-estate was laid out. City wide engagement, alternative visions, alternative surveys, ambit claims, integrated community development, false consultation boycotts and Parkour parks were all put into the mix.

WECA and the Kurilpa Futures Campaign Group (operating out of the Trades Hall in Peel Street) will coordinate the community response.

Academic rigour, journalistic flair

The Australian government has just received a vitally important report to guide their decisions on the future of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET).

But it’s not the RET review report of the Coalition-appointed expert panel, led by Dick Warburton, which was released last week.

Rather it is the draft final report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report, which has just been sent to the governments of the IPCC’s 195 member countries. The report integrates the three previous reports on the science, impacts, and mitigation of climate change already released over the past year.

Its intent is to provide policymakers with a scientific foundation, based upon the work of the thousands of researchers volunteering their time to the IPCC, to tackle the challenge of climate change.

Carbon emissions need to rapidly decrease starting now

The report will be publicly released in November but a draft copy for review was recently leaked to the media. Its language is considerably more forceful than the previous report of 2007, noting that:

Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems.

The report also highlights the growing challenges already posed by climate change including extreme weather such as heat waves, flooding and droughts, and its potential to worsen violent conflicts, refugee flows and food production.

A key focus of the report is on the growing risks of climate change – the synthesis report apparently uses the term “risk” 351 times in just 127 pages.

In 2009 countries around the world, including Australia, made a commitment to keeping global warming below 2C. However, the report says that it is looking more likely that the world will shoot past that point. Limiting warming to this level is possible but would require dramatic and immediate cuts in greenhouse emissions.

Indeed, the IPCC’s work on mitigation options suggests that near-complete decarbonisation of the electricity sector by 2050 will likely be required and that renewable energy has a key role to play, particularly given the evident challenges facing other low-carbon generation options including carbon capture and storage and nuclear power.

Renewable energy to reduce risk

By comparison, the report of the Warburton review gives almost no consideration of these climate change challenges, and the Renewable Energy Target’s contribution to addressing them. This is surprising given that the RET is, after all, one of the most significant greenhouse emission reduction policies that Australia has implemented to date, and has already started to transform the Australian electricity industry towards a lower carbon future.

The review, however, framed its climate change considerations in terms of the Australian government’s current 5% emission reduction target from 2000 levels for 2020 — a target which the government’s own Climate Change Authority has determined is entirely inadequate given the scale of the climate challenge, and the efforts of other countries to date.

Furthermore, the Warburton review assumes that the target can best be achieved by the government’s proposed Emissions Reduction Fund — part of the Direct Action plan — a measure that remains largely unspecified and hasn’t yet been modelled, let alone legislated.

Instead, the main modelling undertaken by the review towards its first term of reference — the need to consider the economic, environmental and social impacts of the RET scheme — assumes there are no costs associated with the greenhouse emissions of fossil fuel generation out to 2030.

How, then, do they consider the future uncertainties associated with international action on climate change? They don’t, other than the inclusion of one scenario in their analysis featuring a token shadow carbon price of A$10 per tonne of carbon dioxide starting in 2021. Such a shadow price is not meaningful in terms of the climate challenge – even oil multinationals like BP and Shell are using a shadow carbon price of US$40 per tonne for their own investments.

Modelling work by groups including our Centre for Energy and Environmental Markets here at the University of NSW has highlighted that increased renewable generation provides an excellent hedge against the risks future international gas and carbon price increases currently pose for the Australian economy.

The other RET review

Fortunately, the Australian government does have before it an excellent and highly detailed report on ways to reform some of the present inadequacies of the RET.

Unfortunately, that’s not the Warburton report either.

It’s the 2012 report from the government’s Climate Change Authority on the RET. It rightly argues against changing the current target for renewable generation and highlights the importance of providing some measure of investment certainty to facilitate timely and least-cost renewables deployment. It also suggests a series of useful suggestions on how the scheme’s operation and performance might be improved. By comparison, the Warburton review offers two possible ‘reform’ options that both would pretty much kill the existing renewable energy support provided by the scheme.

Some light relief

After reading the IPCC and Climate Change Authority work, members of the government may well be needing some light relief.

And fortunately, they also have a report for that — yes, the Warburton review. The review was specifically asked by the government to consider the impact of the RET towards rising household and business prices. Its modelling, however, found — in broad agreement with other modelling exercises including again work here at UNSW — that the RET is likely to reduce these prices by increasing market competition.

Rather than households paying for the emission reductions delivered by the scheme, it is the incumbent fossil-fuel generators.

Seeing the panel tie themselves in knots trying to explain why they recommend ending or greatly reducing the target even though it will increase emissions, increase household and business electricity prices and deliver windfall profits to the large fossil-fuel generators is quite something to behold.

But after this light relief, the work of the government to actually address our climate change challenges still remains to be done. Confirming that the RET target will not be reduced is the place to start. Expanding the target for 2030 and beyond should come next.

Forgotten Australians & Former Child Migrants living in South Queensland were invited to create a work of art in response to the theme “What is Justice?” within a 20x20cm wooden box. Lotus Place held creative workshops during August to support participants in responding to a theme which is particularly confronting for survivors who have experienced a lack of justice for the trauma, neglect and abuse inflicted upon them in their early years and the resulting effects of these circumstances.

It is estimated 500,000 children spent their childhood in more than 800 children’s homes and institutions across Australia throughout the 20th century. On 16th November 2009, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to the Forgotten Australians on behalf of all Australians, acknowledging this painful and regrettable chapter in our nation’s history.

This year marks 5 years since the apology and 15 years since the Forde Inquiry, making it a perfect opportunity to reflect on the question of justice, an issue that is never far from the minds of Forgotten Australians & Former Child Migrants. This exhibition is a conversation about their justice, whether it is possible and what it might look like.

Opening Reception Friday 12th September 12pm
Exhibition runs Thurs 11 – Sun 14 September. 9am-5pm
Brisbane City Hall, Sherwood Room, 64 Adelaide Street
Guest speakers, light refreshments and performance by FAN Theatre Group “Forgotten No More”

Artists

Allan A, B S, Bryan H, Chris B, Colleen S, Danuta S, Debra C, Dee S, Denise P, Dennis D, Diane C, Diane T, Donna S, Eric H, Frank M, Gavan L, Gloria L, Greg L, Hank L, Hanna W, Janette T, Jessie M, Juanita B, Karen H, Karen C, Kathleen B, Katrina W, Kelly B, Kevin D, Lana S, Leonie W, Malcolm V, Margaret M, Margaret H, Marlene W, Mary A, Michael C, Michele U, Noel H, Olga A, Peter C, Robert T, Ruby S, Sherie H, T Collins, Terrencia B, Theresa W and others who wish to remain anonymous.

Westender had the exclusive opportunity to speak with one of the Oz Comic-Con’s guests this morning, Christopher Judge, the actor who played Teal’c in the Stargate TV series.

Judge told us that he is really excited about meeting his Australian fans, as he finds them to be well mannered and amaze him with their enthusiasm with the Stargate franchise.

“The fans supported us for so long, that I really take it very personally being able to … shake hands, hug [them] and say ‘thank you’ to just as many fans as I can.”

Even though the show ended a few years ago Judge has noticed the popularity of Stargate continues to grow. Something he attributes to those who grew up watching Stargate as teens.

“I think a lot of people were in their teens have now their own children [whom they are] introducing to the show — which is fantastic.

“That was one of the things I loved about the show in the first place, that it was one of the few shows that families could get together and watch as a single unit.

“There still isn’t that many shows you can do that.”

The success of Stargate, from the start, can easily be attributed to the timing of it’s release Judge explains.

“When we started in 1997 there were kind of a vacuum, as far as sci-fi shows go. The Star Trek franchise was winding down, and this was before the big comic book and fantasy movie boom.

“And we had MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) — sci-fi plus MacGyver, we were going to get a few eyeballs.

“What sustained it, and grew it, was the team of characters and that you could tell that the characters really cared about each other.”

He adds that it was also the humour that made Stargate so unique.

“No matter how dire the circumstance, there was still a laugh to be had somewhere.”

Judge says that sci-fi is “a great form for allegory to a lot of stuff that is going on in the world today.”

“You can play out these different social and economic problems we are going through without hitting people over the head with it.

“You can either watch it as pure entertainment, or you can make those ties to what is going on [around us].

“People are looking to escape at night, not to be overwhelmed by doom-and-gloom type shows.”

When asking Judge what he enjoyed the most when playing Teal’c, he says it was because the character was so straightforward.

“There was no halfway.

“He had this kind of child-like innocence about him.

“Teal’c was the big tough-guy, but he had a huge heart. And I think a lot of fans could sense that.

“I’m especially proud how he resonated with kids.”

Judge also finds Teal’c’s moments of naiveté to be memorable.

“[Like] when he tried to express feelings to some of the other characters, and not quite know the correct verbiage.”

Not forgetting “when he was wearing these wild, silly shirts.” That is something Judge still laughs about today.

Judge makes a point that he admires smart sci-fi and its audience.

“What I love about sci-fi [is that] I truly believe that the sci-fi audience is the smartest of all the genre audiences.

“They can smell a rat — they can smell when you’re not truly invested in it.

“For sci-fi the bar is higher. That’s one of the great things about it I think.

“Good sci-fi will never pander to it’s audience, because it doesn’t have to.”

As a final note, “I hope everyone will come [to Oz Comic-Con] as I’m looking forward to meeting as many people as I can, but for those of you who can’t, I just really want to say thank you for these 17 odd years of support and love.”

What: Oz Comic-Con — www.ozcomiccon.com
When: Sept 6th — 7th, 2014 / 9 am to 6 pm
Where: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre