Australia lost 0.01 point to Norway in the 'best place to live' index, but does Norway have urban views like this?

The United Nations’ Human Development Index has ranked Australia as the second-best place in the world to live – being beaten by the tiniest margin by Norway, of all places.

The score: Norway 0.94 – Australia 0.93.

The HDI, an independent global development monitor, ranks the wellbeing of the world’s humans by comparing factors such as educational level, life expectancy, and income per capita. Norway nudged ahead on the latter point.

Educationally, the average Aussie spends 12 years studying, compared to a UK average of nine years. And they live an average of 82 years – pretty close to longevity chart-toppers Japan, whose average life expectancy is 83.

Australia is way better than the USA when it comes to income equality and health care – in other words, it doesn’t have America’s desperate underbelly of poverty. Or crime, for that matter.

So Australia shines! Norway nudged ahead by 0.01 points on a slightly higher income level, but when you think about it, all that free and ample sunshine has got to give Australia the edge when it comes to easy living.

The HDI doesn’t measure things like alfresco dining and hitting the beach after work, but we think that if it did, Australia would be way ahead in the most Wonderful Place to Live list. We think it’s officially the happiest place on Earth.

Great Britain, meanwhile, ranks at no.28, some way below the likes of Israel, Iceland, the Czech Republic, Ireland and the USA, all of whom are having a better life than the beleaguered Brits.

And the worst place on Earth to live?  The Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa, whose citizens can expect to live just 48 years, of which 3.5 are spent in education… and 60 percent live below the poverty line. Its HDI index ranking is just 0.29.

Missing link between birds and mammals: the platypus of eastern Australia

Arguably Australia’s weirdest animal, the platypus, is at the centre of a new theory about mammalian evolution.

The platypus is a strange, halfway house species, caught in time between the egg layers and the placental mammals. Bridging the gaps between bird, reptile and mammal it is warm-blooded and furry, but lays eggs rather than giving birth to live young. The echidna, also found in Australia, is the only other example.

This is a process that all mammals must have been through at some point in our evolutionary past, as life on Earth, for reasons best known to itself, moved from everyone laying eggs, towards certain species giving birth instead. Monotremes – mammals who still lay eggs – have therefore been very useful in understanding the origin of our sex chromosomes.

Professor Grutzner at the University of Adelaide says that the platypus gives key insight into how the mammalian genome has evolved over the past 200 million years. He has been working on an international project, led by the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, that uses new technology to highlight the active genes within different tissues and organs of different species, from mice to hens to humans.

The study has revealed that certain tissues, like the sexual organs, have evolved faster between different species than brain tissue has. In other words, the brains of different species are not as different as our other parts are.

The platypus was included in the study because of its ‘missing link’ status – representing our distant mammalian relative.

“We already know that our sex chromosomes emerged after the separation of monotremes from other mammals,” Professor Grutzner reports. “This allowed us to examine in this study how the activity of genes changes once they found themselves on a sex chromosome.”

The platypus brain was also found to be particularly active in explorative and navigational activity, something it has in common with fellow forager the mouse, but is less active in some other more domesticated beings.

The research will enable connections to be made between the physiology, anatomy, behaviour and underlying genes of different species, which can eventually help to map evolutionary history with animal characteristics and behaviour.

“It’s a very important starting point for further study,” Professor Grutzner said.

• More information: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news

Jamie Oliver's Italian grub is serving up in Sydney from next week

UK chef’s Jamie Oliver’s popular restaurant chain Jamie’s Italian is heading Down Under, with a brand new restaurant opening in Darlinghurst, Sydney on Monday 24th October.

Jamie is a big fan of Australia, which already serves up some of the best Italian fare in the world, thanks to a healthy Italian-Australian population and extremely high standards of restauranteuring. So the competition will be hot. But Jamie has been coming to Oz for over 10 years, so he knows what he’s up against and can hold his own, with his global reputation for fresh, flavoursome, authentic but simple food.

The new restaurant is in the heart of downtown Sydney – squeezed into the gleaming high-rises of Pitt Street. Apart from one in Dubai, it’s the only Jamie’s Italian outside the UK, although he did open a ‘Fifteen’ restaurant in Melbourne for a while. Bookings at Jamie’s Italian are only taken for parties of six or more; otherwise it’s a first-come, first-served basis in keeping with the restaurant’s casual, family-friendly feel.

To get a sneak peek at Jamie’s Italian in Sydney, visit the Jamie’s Italian website.

Australia's biggest economic reform for a generation will target its 500 worst polluters

The Australian parliament votes today on radical plans to impose a Carbon Tax on the worst industrial polluters have gathered momentum.

The political arena has experienced more than a year of heated debates, rising drama and numerous U-turns on the subject, and the bill has been hailed as one of the most important changes to economic policy Australia has ever seen.

Australia is one of the world’s worst offenders for greenhouse gas emissions per capita – thanks to large-scale industrial activity (fossil fuels a speciality) but a relatively small population.

Following a U-turn on her initial manifesto, prime minister Julia Gillard announced in July that carbon emissions would be taxed at A$23 per tonne from 2012, in a bid to make companies, rather than taxpayers, pay for the damage they cause to the planet. Australia’s most-polluting 500 companies will be subject to the tax, and all proceeds are to be ploughed back into developing renewable energy for homes and businesses, as well as given to poor families and state pensioners.

The Prime Minister said today that her party will vote for “a clean energy future, for reducing carbon pollution, for enabling economic growth without increases in carbon pollution, and for putting more money into the hands of pensioners, working Australians who need it the most, and people raising families.”

Support is divided among Australians. In the major cities, demonstrations have been held in recent months in support of the carbon tax and its ‘Robin Hood’ undertones,  while industrial and financial leaders naturally oppose the move, saying it will damage Australia’s economic competitiveness. One MP who vociferously supported the clean energy proposals has even received death threats in her mail.

Consumer prices – including food and fuel – are likely to be affected if producers pass on the cost of the levy to their customers, and could rise by 0.7 per cent.

The countries of the EU and New Zealand all currently impose a (lower) carbon tax rate on industrial polluters.

Life's better than ever Down Under... perhaps too good!

According to a new report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) the past decade has seen many improvements Down Under.

I can attest to the fact that even 10 years ago, when I celebrated the Millennium on Sydney Harbour with my expat friends, Australia was a very easy, fun and pleasant place to live, certainly compared to the UK.

And it seems things are just getting even better. The much-anticipated Measures of Australia’s Progress report reveals that by 2010, the life expectancy of the average Aussie had risen by 2-3 years. More people are graduating from higher education, and average household incomes have risen by A$8,200 a year.

Lower and middle-income families have seen their incomes rise by 38% (wishful thinking for their northern hemisphere counterparts), and unemployment has fallen from 6.3% to 5.2% (compared to a current UK figure of almost 8%).

However, it seems this extra cash could be getting spent on too many good times… Despite rising incomes and more jobs, overall productivity (that is, efficiency of output per hours worked) has fallen by 2.1%.

Greenhouse gases – generated by factors such as air travel, industry and agriculture, indoor climate-control and vehicle use, among others – have unfortunately risen by 13% since 1999, threatening Australia’s clean green environment. This is echoed in the welfare of its wildlife; an extra 100 Australian species are now threatened with extinction compared to 10 years ago.

The population continues to increase, putting pressure on resources as well as fuelling the economy. Since 2007, Australia’s population increases have come mostly from overseas migration, and not via the arrival of new babies. Net migration peaked in 2009 (313,000 new people) and may reach new heights as the mineral exports boom fuels demand. But the population is ageing – from a median age of 35.2 years to 36.9 years, and the proportion of children under 14 has decreased by almost 2%.

Overall, it’s good news for the average Aussie resident, who is now living longer, is better paid and better educated than they were 10 years ago. They’re healthier, wealthier and wiser.

But Australia will need to keep an eye on its carbon footprint and its demographics, because fewer young people and more environmental degradation could cause more economic problems further down the line.

Read the full report here.

Australians feel tolerant and welcoming towards newcomers

An Australian study into social cohesion has revealed what we’ve long suspected: that Australia is a happy and welcoming place, where the overwhelming majority of Australians are proud to be Aussie and have a strong sense of belonging.

The Mapping Social Cohesion Report 2011, published earlier this week, was the result of extensive research by the Scanlon Foundation, which asked 2,000 Australians how they felt about issues such as immigration, asylum seekers, trust in the government and overall social harmony.

Nine out of 10 said they are happy with their lives, two-thirds welcomed genuine asylum seekers, and more than half felt that Australia needed more immigrants in order to promote economic growth.

More than 94 per cent of them said they were proud to be Australian, and value anything that supports a shared sense of community. Their attitudes depict Australia as a harmonious, happy and easygoing culture, which is tolerant and accepting towards new waves of immigrants.

Given that Australia is a nation made up almost entirely of families who have migrated to the country from elsewhere within the past 200 years, it’s not surprising that they continue to welcome foreigners to perhaps a greater extent than many old-world countries.

But government policies have reinforced this: state investment in migrant settlement has really helped to strengthen Australia’s social cohesion. ‘White Australia’ is a thing of the past: this is one of the most successful multicultural nations on the planet. There are carefully laid plans for multicultural harmony that permeate through government policy to promote tolerance, integration and equality for all Australian residents.

Immigration Secretary Senator Kate Lundy responded positively to the report.  ‘Since the end of the Second World War more than seven million migrants have peacefully settled into the Australian community,” she points out, “and today 44 per cent of Australians were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was.”

Fresh, first-generation migrants always face the toughest challenge to become part of a new society – but the authorities work hard to provide settlement services to help them feel at home. Their children, and subsequent Australian-born generations have a much easier time bridging their dual cultures.

The only fly in this sweet ointment is that, while Aussies are happy to welcome folks from all backgrounds, there are still some negative attitudes towards immigrants from the Middle East. Attitudes are also generally a bit friendlier towards newcomers from English-speaking countries than non-native-English speakers.

But overall Australia seems to be reinforcing its well-earned reputation as a friendly, welcoming and tolerant society. What a lovely bunch! With great weather and beautiful scenery to boot… No wonder Australia’s still up there at the top of our Shiny New Life wish-lists.

Lady Gaga will be performing to a small group of competition winners at Sydney Town Hall on July 13^th when the venue will be renamed the Sydney Monster Hall.

“I can’t wait, I feel like it’s been 100 years,” she said.

“Just to be able to kiss and touch and hold the fans again is going to be such a wonderful feeling.”

The superstar is desperate to return for a full length tour next year, inspired by Pink’s mammoth 58-date three-month tour in 2009. The pop superstar has sold more than 23 million albums and 51 million singles world wide since the release of Fame in 2008, making her one of the most important pop stars of the last decade.

“The next tour I believe will be called the Born This Way Ball and that will be a much longer tour of Australia,” she said.

“It will be next year, at the top of next year.”

Her current album has gone straight in at number one in the Australian ARIA chart while both of her singles; Born This Way and Judas are in the top 20.

“I always do (bring a big show). I think it’s really unfair that artists don’t bring their entire shows Down Under because it is quite expensive to cargo. But I don’t do this for the money.”

“I do it for the thrill of music and theatre so I will be bringing my whole show with me.”

All Aussie Gaga fans keep an eye out for more tour details because it will be one hell of a show.

Australian retailers are missing the online revolution

The online presence of Australian retailers is lagging behind other international companies and may be damaging to future business says Pacific Brands chief executive officer Sue Morphet.

Ms Morphet said that in both the UK and US, major retailers had a strong online presence which compliments high street stores.  

“In the US stores like Walmart, Staples, Sears and Best Buy and in the UK Tesco, Marks and Spencer are in the top 10 online stores,” She said. “In Australia we don’t have any bricks and mortar retail stores in the top 10 online stores, none at all – we have eBay, Amazon, Deals Direct,” she said.

She made the point that customers looking for an informed, superior service will be more likely to use specialist retailers while large chains without an online presence are suffering under the weight of online competition.

“The ones that do more than just price will be the ones that succeed,” she said.

“Where the recommendation to buy used to come from traditional advertising or the sales person in the store, now it’s coming from social networks,” she said.

She said that retailers need to consider the current needs of their customers and engage them in ways that are new and innovative. In the age of the internet any customer can quickly and easily look at hundreds of similar products so Australian retailers need to be present.

While the apparent gap in the online retail market in Australia is an opportunity for the big retailers it is also an opportunity for someone to move in and dominate.

Australia has been celebrating a historic day

Today people all over the world have tuned in to watch the marriage of the United Kingdom’s future king Prince William and his future queen Catherine Middleton. An estimated 2 billion people in 180 countries will have watched what is anticipated to be the most watched event in television history. 

Today has been a big day for Australia because it is their future king who has tied the knot. There have been street parties everywhere to celebrate the event and even republicans are finding it impossible to avoid the good spirits only a royal wedding can bring.

Thousands have camped in London for days in order to secure the best spots, either outside Westminster Abbey or Buckingham Palace, in order to catch a glimpse of the happy couple and the making of history. Many Australians have chosen to make the journey for the once in a lifetime event.  

One Australian, Carleen Quirk of New South Wales camped for two nights on The Mall in order to get the best view.

There was a lot of the pomp and circumstance associated tradition and some breaks from it with the now Duchess of Cambridge following in Princess Diana’s footsteps and omitting the pledge to “obey”.

Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom John Dauth and Prime Minister Julia Gillard were among the foreign dignitaries present.

As the Monarchy looks increasingly outdated today’s events have breathed a breath of fresh air into the institution and rekindled national pride.

Best Wishes Will and Kate from everyone at embrace.

fibre optics will deliver internet to 93 percent of Australian homes at the speed of light

The Federal Government has chosen to install a $36 billion straight to the home fibre optic national broadband network instead of the $4.7 billion network which would have seen optical fibres connected to local exchanges that Labor originally proposed.  

The decision, which will see 93 percent of Australian homes connected, was made in order to stop Telstra from claiming $20 billion in compensation and building a network which could in theory bypass the government’s original proposed network thus rendering the whole project pointless.  

“No expert in the field, nowhere in the legal field, commercial field, would give us a suggestion that the sort of bill you’d pay to Telstra was anything less than $15 to $20 billion,” Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said on ABC’s Four Corners.

“Then Telstra could take that money and build a fibre-to-the-home network past you and strand 70 per cent of $15 billion on the side of the road.”

The Senator said that the original proposal would have meant using Telstra’s copper network and would have resulted in legal action. Instead, NBN Co, the company building the network will buy Telstra’s copper wires and cables for an estimated $11 billion.

The project was conceived in order to split Telstra which has a near monopoly on telecommunications in Australia however the NBN has received criticism from the opposition.

“Achieving separation by building an entirely new network owned by the government is surely the most expensive conceivable way of achieving that change,” they said.