Did you know that a person who loves to read is called a ‘lectiophile’; a person who loves to read books is a ‘bookworm’ or ‘bibliophile’, a person who likes to read in bed is a ‘libroculturalist’, but there is no word for a person who likes to read newspapers?   

The News – Fact or Fiction group, convened by Brian Harker, provides a structured round table forum for discussing the reporting of selected stories and issues which affect our lives and the society in which we live by different media organisations. 

​Interested? The group meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 10am in Meeting Room 1.  

When classes resume after the current lockdown, The News – Fact or Fiction, held on the third Tuesday from 10 – 12, will return to the U3A Meeting Room in the Seniors Community Centre. 
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Brian Harker

This group is learning how various editions of the daily newspapers report so differently on a number of items.    The views of the owners of these papers become obvious, especially when reporting on Climate change, politics etc.     Come along and be enlightened.    This group is held at the Hub on the 3rd Tuesday of the Month from 10 to 12. 
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Brian Harker

An adjunct to the Politics and Current Affairs course, The News - Fact or Fiction provides a structured round table forum for selected stories and issues which are hitting the headlines which affect our lives and the society in which we live.

The News – Fact or Fiction class will be meeting at the Cooinda Hub in 2021.  Classes, held on the 3rd Tuesdays from 10 am to 12 midday, begin on Tuesday 16th February . 

Brian Harker 5762 8464

This new activity was well attended and very informative.   The group looked at the different editions of newspapers, comparing what was important to make page one, page two etc.  and each of the newspapers’ different responses to the current news.   The group will also look at a particular topic, i.e. Climate Change, NDIS, etc. and discuss it in the second half of the session.
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Brian Harker

Hot Topics went local this month with guest speaker Cr. Barbara  Alexander outlining the work of Benalla's Community Plan Implementation Steering Committee. The group then discussed what Benalla needs for a future growing rural city from a caravan park to another Bridge.

There will not be another Hot Topic session in November as Carole's grandson is being married that afternoon.

It has been great fun running Hot Topics but we'll leave it to others for 2019. If you are interested in 'hot topics' and willing to take the course (it is only once a month) please contact Terry Case.
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Carole Marple and Joan Laing

The second half raised the need or otherwise for a Bill or Charter of Human Rights for Australia.  This led with a video of the lecture  'The Case for a Charter of Human Rights in Australia' by Gillian Triggs,  former President of the Human Rights Commission. (Dean's Lecture Series,The University of Melbourne, 23 July 2018). ​

A heated discussion followed with the group agreeing to disagree on the subject. 

​At our next gathering of Hot Topics we will look at the forward planning for Benalla – what does the future hold and what is our role in that future?   Hoping to see you there on Friday October 19th at 1.30pm.  


Carole Marple 

A number of the topics we choose for 'Hot Topics' would come under the category of what are called in the policy literature 'Wicked Problems' and 'Super Wicked Problems'.

The following extracts have been taken by an article by Chris Riedy, Professor of Sustainability Governance at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology, Sydney,  titled 'Climate Change is a Super Wicked Problem' .  

"In Tackling Wicked Problems from the Australian Public Service Commission:

• Wicked problems are difficult to clearly define — different stakeholders have different views of what the problem is and appropriate responses
• Wicked problems have many interdependencies and are often multi-causal — there may be conflicting goals for those involved
• Attempts to address wicked problems often lead to unforeseen consequences — wicked problems exist in complex systems that exhibit unpredictable, emergent behaviour
• Wicked problems are often not stable — understanding of the problem is constantly evolving
• Wicked problems usually have no clear solution — there is no right or wrong response, although there might be worse or better responses
• Wicked problems are socially complex — it is social complexity, rather than technical complexity, that is overwhelming
• Wicked problems hardly ever sit conveniently within the responsibility of any one organisation — these problems cross governance boundaries
• Wicked problems involve changing behaviour — with all the difficulties that poses
• Some wicked problems are characterised by chronic policy failure — they have become intractable, despite numerous attempts at solutions...."

"Climate change as a ‘super wicked’ problem....According to Kelly Levin and co-authors, super wicked problems are a new class of global environmental problem with four key features:

• time is running out
• those who cause the problem also seek to provide a solution
• the central authority needed to address them is weak or non-existent
• irrational discounting occurs that pushes responses into the future.

Together these features create a tragedy because our governance institutions, and the policies they generate (or fail to generate), largely respond to short-term time horizons even when the catastrophic implications of doing so are far greater than any real or perceived benefits of inaction...."
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Chris Riedy, Professor of Sustainability Governance at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology, Sydney

The following video provides a comedic 'way in' to considering the diversity of opinion in relation to climate change while at the same time presenting a graphic presentation of the strength of the weight of scientific opinion.

Our discussion on climate change will be framed in terms of the relevance and impact of climate change on us at our stage of life, and our shared reflections on whether and how our family, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren are responding/coping with the issue of climate change.  John Lloyd is unable to attend but has given us a power point to work through.  

Our second topic is 'Do we need a Bill (or Charter) of Rights in Australia?'  We will be watching a recent lecture by Gillian Triggs.

Dean's Lecture Series - Melbourne University - July 30 2018

Two large topics were discussed at our last gathering. Led by Freida Andrews, the first topic was ‘Should Australia be providing international aid, and if so, who to and how?’. Foreign Aid from Australia has dropped in real terms by one third in our budget over the past three years.  One of the major issues explored was whether developing countries are better off receiving government to government aid or would they be better off without it, even if it meant the collapse of the country? Australia is number 16 in the world in percent of our gross National Income given in foreign aid at 0.27%.  This is well below the UN agreement with OECD countries of .7% and also well below our best efforts under Holt & Gorton of .48%.  Is 0.27% the right amount at $3.22 billion, or should it be less or more?

This led us on to the second topic, Drought Aid. Many questions arose, not least should our international aid go to our farmers or can we do both? There was a good deal of discussion on how we and farmers deal with drought. Questions on how we prepare for drought came up with Brian Vial giving us a great run down on how farmers manage drought and that as with all areas of work some take up new ideas better than others.

Our next Hot Topics are from the top of the list of topics chosen by participants - ’Climate Change - is it relevant for us at our age?’ and ‘Do we need a Bill of Rights?’ This will be held on September 21st at 1:30pm and all are welcome.
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Carole Marple

Is the handing out of aid/money the right thing to do for developing economies?
Is the handing out of aid/money the right thing to do for farmers?
Is it the right thing to do to stop funding overseas aid and divert the money to farmers?

Joan Laing - 'Foreign Aid Spending - Fact Check' 
​Joan's Handouts:
"Facts (?) of Australian Foreign Aid Spending, including 
How has Australia's foreign aid spending changed over time?
Foreign Aid as a % of Gross National Income (GNI)
Foreign Aid Contributions to UN total by donor nations

Freida Andrews - 'Should Australia be providing international aid, and if so, who to and how'

Freida drew on a lecture she heard on Big Ideas -  'Re-engineering the aid industry - a priority for the 21st Century'. ​The 2018 Mitchell Oration, it was delivered by Professor Sir Richard Feachem, Director of the Global Health Group at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Institute for Global Health Sciences and Professor of Global Health at both UCSF and the University of California, Berkeley. 

Early in his lecture, Professor Feacham discusses the origins of aid policies, with particular reference to the Marshall Plan; Colonies and the Cold War.  

Freida's Handouts -
​Freida's Handout including Discussion Questions
Frieda's Summary of the Lecture:

Hot Topic - Social Media 'Trending Topic' - 'this vs that' binary - overseas aid v farm aid 

'Australia's foreign aid budget called into question when farmers face drought' Alexandra Beech's article, ABC August 10 2018 - provides a perspective on at the current 'trending topic'  on social media....for example...  

TEA BREAK

Quiz - to get our minds back on track!

Carole Marple - 'Is the handing out of aid money the right thing to do for farmers' 

Resource:  Irvine J & Hannam P (2018) 'Holding our breath - Another drought bites & questions grow over the future of Australia's arable land' The Age, Sat August 4 2018

Questions for discussion arising from the article:
Drought -

• Are we managing farming families and their farms well enough?
• What is so special about farming?
• Are we managing climate change?
• Are all areas now farmed sustainable?
• When is the best time to plan for the next drought?
• Do we encourage farms to keep their stocking rates too high?
• How do we know which farmers to support in the future?
• Should all farmers have an agricultural certificate of some type?

Follow up reading/watching:

Overseas Aid: 

Drought Aid:
​

Coming up in September:  From the top of our list of preferences: 

1.  Is climate change relevant to us at our age?
2.  Do we need a Bill of Rights? 

'Hot Topics' started on the third Friday in July at 1:30 pm with an enthusiastic group of participants ready to discuss our first topic "Where to now for our War Memorial in Canberra". We looked at the issue of whether it should be a place of contemplation or an entertainment museum and who should pay for the extensions, requested by the powers to be who run the AWM, at a cost of 500 million. It has been suggested that producers of war products could be such sponsors.  

One of our next topics will be Funding of Foreign Aid.  Why do we give aid?  Why has it been cut?  This topic will be led by Freida Andrews with lots of information to start us off and keep us on track. All welcome to join us on Friday 17th August at the usual place at 1:30 pm.

​Carole Marple

Key Resources on this topic:

​The Medical Association for the Prevention of War launched their “Commemorate Don’t Commercialise” campaign to get those with vested interests in warfare out of the Australian War Memorial on the 18th June.  There is an informative segment on the Drum covering this 'Hot Topic'. - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-22/the-drum-tuesday-may-22/9788900  Commences 20.46 mins in 

“Commemorate Don’t Commercialise” is a part of MAPW’s campaigning to raise awareness of the intrusion of weapons companies into many aspects of Australian life.  There is an online petition on their website, together with the letter accompanying the petition:  You can read it here - http://www.mapw.org.au/news/australian-war-memorial​

Dr Sue Wareham, from the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, is interviewed in this podcast from Canberra's 2CC - ​http://2cc.net.au/podcasts/10592-should-the-australian-war-memorial-reconsider-accepting-sponsorship-from-weapons-manufacturers.html2cc.net.au/podcasts/10592-should-the-australian-war-memorial-reconsider-accepting-sponsorship-from-weapons-manufacturers.html

Do you enjoy discussing current affairs?  In today’s world of disasters with half-baked solutions we feel  that we all have some of the solutions to these problems and yet we have no outlet for our views.  Well, we have now!  It is called ‘Hot Topics’ and will cover topics ranging from Reality Television to the Uluru Statement, from Climate Change to Tabloid Journalism, from Euthanasia to the Newstart allowance. 

Topics discussed will be wide ranging, but there will always be a topic set for a chaired discussion and you will get a chance to prepare your thoughts for the next session. 

Come along, It will be great to get things ‘off your chest’. 

Third Friday 1.30 to 3.30 pm in the U3A Meeting Room.   Contact Carole 5762 6165  or joan@spectak.com