Edward Gough Whitlam, 1916–2014: An Assessment of His Political Significance

Gough Whitlam’s political significance lies in the first instance in his leading the Australian Labor Party into office at federal level in December 1972 after 23 years in opposition. As prime minister he instituted wide-ranging domestic reforms expanding the involvement of the Commonwealth government into many areas affecting the lives of ordinary Australians. He faced a declining economic situation and a parliamentary opposition determined to impede his reforms; the blocking of supply in the Senate culminated in Whitlam’s dismissal by the governor-general on 11 November 1975. In foreign policy, Whitlam repositioned Australia as an active middle power. His opening to China coincided with the Sino-American normalisation, leading to a new direction in Australian foreign policy that gained momentum in subsequent years; the fundamentals of the Australian relationship with the United States remained intact. Whitlam was motivated by a vision of ‘positive equality’ in government services as the basis of social democracy. From a contemporary perspective there is less faith in the efficacy of government action than was the case with Whitlam. His government bears comparison with the great reform governments in the Australian Labor tradition, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, and even the United States.     

“Keeping Pandora's (ballot) box half-shut”: a comparative inquiry into the institutional limits of external voting in EU Member States

The article compares the institutional constraints that limit the potential electoral impact of external voting in national legislative elections in the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU). It shows that the discrepancy between policy aims and outcomes can be mainly attributed to a variety of institutional constraints restricting the scope of the policy (through residence and professional qualifications); limiting eligible voters’ access to the ballot (through cumbersome registration procedures and voting methods); and reducing the electoral weight attributed to their votes (through distinct modes of representation). It argues that the discrepancy is at least partly the result of a combination of electoral and normative concerns about the influence that external voters could and should have in elections. Institutional restrictions on the franchise of external citizens may be interpreted as a way to keep the “Pandora's box” of unexpected electoral consequences half-shut, by extending the suffrage to a traditionally excluded electorate while at the same time moderating the implications.     

Australia and Brexit: Déjà Vu All Over Again?

Abstract

Recalling the debate about Britain’s applications to join the European Economic Community in the 1960s, Australians are now reacting to and assessing the implications of the Brexit vote for Australia. However, the contemporary situation is very different from that which prevailed in the 1960s. The article assesses Australian commentary and reactions to Brexit before and after the vote. Taking account of the various possible versions of Brexit, there is an assessment of the range of economic and political-strategic implications for Australia. Whatever the final form of Brexit, Australia will need to foster close relationships with both the UK and the post-Brexit European Union. In relation to immigration policy in a post-Brexit UK, Australia’s immigration system does not necessarily provide the ‘answer’; Australia’s relationship with New Zealand through the agreement on Closer Economic Relations might be relevant to Brexit in at least some respects as another model for how economic integration might develop in a regional context. If Brexit was at least in part a populist right-wing reaction to globalisation and neoliberalism, parallels in Australia can also be seen, such as Pauline Hanson’s One Nation; other parallels in Australia relating to Brexit include issues relating to political prudence and the manner of constitutional change.     

Validation of LAB color mode as a nondestructive method to differentiate black ballpoint pen inks

Nondestructive digital processing methods such as lab color mode (available in Adobe Photoshop) are emerging as alternative methods for forensic document examiners to use when attempting to differentiate writing instrument inks. Although these techniques appear to be viable, little data currently exists regarding the known or potential error rates associated with these techniques. Without adequate data, the validity and reliability of these techniques, including lab color, can not be established. In an attempt to begin to address these issues, 44 black ballpoint ink pens were obtained and used to create 990 pen-pair samples for analysis using established lab color mode techniques. No erroneous findings of "different" were reported following the examination of the known pen-pair combinations in which the same pen was used to create the samples (n = 44). Of the remaining 946 samples, 737 pen-pair samples were differentiated using the lab color mode method, while 209 samples were unable to be differentiated and were recorded as either being "similar" (n = 153) or "unsure" (n = 56). Comparison of the lab color mode results with the results obtained through additional testing using traditional infrared reflectance and infrared luminescence test methods showed that lab color differentiated 102 pen-pair samples (11%; 102/946) that were not differentiated using a VSC-4C.     

Avoiding the internet of insecure industrial things

Security incidents such as targeted distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on power grids and hacking of factory industrial control systems (ICS) are on the increase. This paper unpacks where emerging security risks lie for the industrial internet of things, drawing on both technical and regulatory perspectives. Legal changes are being ushered by the European Union (EU) Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive 2016 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) (both to be enforced from May 2018). We use the case study of the emergent smart energy supply chain to frame, scope out and consolidate the breadth of security concerns at play, and the regulatory responses. We argue the industrial IoT brings four security concerns to the fore, namely: appreciating the shift from offline to online infrastructure; managing temporal dimensions of security; addressing the implementation gap for best practice; and engaging with infrastructural complexity. Our goal is to surface risks and foster dialogue to avoid the emergence of an Internet of Insecure Industrial Things.     

Seeking sanctuary: Housing undocumented immigrants

This paper studies housing market outcomes of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. and explores the mechanisms behind the differential prices that immigrants pay for shelter. I show that undocumented renters pay a premium for housing relative to observably similar, documented, immigrant renters occupying similar housing. Building on theory and suggestive evidence that the premium is the result of search frictions driven by fear of deportation, I employ a triple-differences strategy to evaluate the impacts of sanctuary city policies on housing market outcomes of undocumented immigrants. I find that sanctuary city policies, which limit immigration enforcement, reduce housing costs of undocumented renters, suggesting such policies mitigate search frictions for this group.