Aussie's urged to say no to plastic bags
The nation-wide Clean Up Australia Day organization declared
March as "Bag Yourself a Better Environment"
month and is encouraging consumers to find alternatives
to plastic bags.
Each year Australians use 6.9 billion plastic bags,
the environmental impact of which is staggering. Over
100,000 birds, turtles, whales and other sea mammals
are killed each year from plastic waste.
Clean Up Australia Day organizers have enlisted the
help of the nation's major retailers and supermarkets
in the education and awareness campaign.
So far, over 1800 retail stores and 170 local councils
have signed on to the project, including the entire
city of Brisbane in Queensland.
To help Australians change their bag habits, participating
retailers will set up "plastic bag free" lanes
and provide in-store recycling bins.
"We choose to use 6.9 billion plastic bags every
year. That's almost one bag per day for each Australian.
Then we choose to send 6.67 billion of those bags to
landfill, bypassing recycling completely. Another 50-80
million end up as litter," says Ian Klernan, Chairman
and Founder of Clean Up Australia.
The campaign aims to reduce plastic bag use by 50 per
cent and increase plastic bag recycling by 50 per cent.
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Labour party keeps NSW
The Labour party won a convincing victory in the New
South Wales election last week, with Premier Bob Carr
returning to office promising to fix the education and
health systems.
Carr roared to his third straight victory over the
Liberal party led by newcomer John Brogden.
Brogden said although he lost the election he would
not change much of the Liberal party's stance on the
major issues, adding that Labour swamped his party with
an expensive advertising blitz.
The premier's first announcement indicated he would
shake up his front bench, hinting that unpopular police
minister Michael Costa may be pushed into the transport
portfolio.
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Brain tumour patients given
hope
A group of Queensland researchers has discovered a new
way of treating brain tumours.
The team announced this week that they have developed
a trial gene therapy treatment that makes tumours more
sensitive to radiation therapy.
Although a cure is still a distant dream, the new treatment
may prolong the lives of patients with fatal brain tumours.
The head of the team, Dr. Teong Chuah, said his research
could add a year or more to the life of patients.
"This new therapy, which is gene therapy, can
potentially prolong a life for more than one year,"
says Teong.
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Australia and Singapore Sign
Free Trade Agreement
Australia signed a free trade agreement with
Singapore (SAFTA) last month, the first free trade deal
it has brokered in more than 20 years.
The new deal will allow Australia access to Singapore's
banking, legal and educational services in Asia while
putting Singapore businesses on amore equal footing
in Australia.
Singapore expects to save up to S$31.6 million from
tariff concessions, a substantial amount for a country
reeling in a prolonged recession.
Australia plans to use Singapore as its northern entry
into Asia, using the agreement to save on banking and
other business costs.
"We believe this Agreement will create opportunities
for synergies between the business sectors in Australia
and Singapore, and will contribute to a stronger bilateral
partnership that will encompass the private sector and
the broader community as well as government. SAFTA will
help both countries in continuing to play strong roles
in contributing to the economic progress of our region,"
stated the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Australia.
Australia's chief trade negotiator, Stephen Deady,
says the treaty is a model for the free trade agreements
currently under negotiation with Thailand and the United
States.
The last free trade agreement Australia entered was
with New Zealand.
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