1. This week 10 years ago, the new national Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics (BREE) began operations under the guidance of Australia’s first Chief Economist, Professor Quentin Grafton.
Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson said BREE would be responsible for continuing the resources and energy-related publications and analysis of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).
“With the pressures of rapid growth in mining and the transition to a clean energy economy, we need a deep pool of reliable and insightful analysis,” Mr Ferguson said. “BREE will build on the important work of ABARES, including the commodity forecasts that drive decisions across industry and the market.”
2. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau(ATSB) won high praise from the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) for the retrieval of flight data from a badly damaged aircraft, which it described as a “breakthrough”.
Chief Commissioner of the ATSB, Martin Dolan said the RNZAF’s Red Checkers CT-4 Airtrainer crashed at Ohakea Air Force Base on 14 January 2010, while practising for an aerobatics display.
“While the flight data recorder was severely damaged by fire, ATSB investigators succeeded in retrieving important flight data through meticulous, painstaking and imaginative work,” Mr Dolan said. “We then passed this data on to Royal New Zealand Air Force investigators who found it invaluable to their investigation.”
3. In Queensland, a review of the law that cut down on dangerous police chases found it be contributing to community safety.
Deputy Director of Research at the Crime and Misconduct Commission, Dr Rebecca Denning said the “evade police provisions” enabled police to avoid potentially dangerous road pursuits.
“There’s no doubt pursuits are one of the most high-risk aspects of policing, largely because fleeing drivers are typically highly impulsive and prone to risk taking,” Dr Denning said.
The report showed the rate of police pursuits had declined along with the proportion that resulted in injuries or property damage.
4. Also this week 10 years ago, Queensland and Texas signed an agreement to work together on business ties, collaboration, and expertise.
Premier, Anna Bligh said Queensland was positioning itself to become an energy hub for the Asia Pacific and both States would use the agreement to support collaborations that increase knowledge and expertise in the fields of LNG, agribusiness, and creative industries.
“Texas has now surpassed New York as the second-largest economy of the USA and over the next two years Queensland economic growth is expected to surpass 5 per cent per annum and lead Australia,” Ms Bligh said. “The Agreement will commit both States to enhancing their business networks, alliances and collaborative projects between the respective Governments, industry organisations, educational and research institutes.”
5. In what was believed to be an Australian-first, SA Health’s in-house Operational Business Intelligence (OBI) Dashboard, which showed the number of people arriving and leaving hospital Emergency Departments, was made available to the public.
SA Minister for Health, John Hill said making the dashboard public would increase transparency in health.
“This online system has been used internally by hospital and ambulance managers for some time and allows them to see the situation in each Emergency Department at the metropolitan public hospitals,” Mr Hill said.
He said the data was updated every half-hour and showed the number of people arriving, departing, and being treated in hospital EDs.
“It also shows the total time people spend in the ED and waiting for admission at any given time,” Mr Hill said.
6. And in Western Australia this week 10 years ago,the Ningaloo Coast was added to the World Heritage List, the highest level of international recognition for a natural site.
Premier Colin Barnett said the listing was in recognition of the striking natural landscapes of the Cape Range peninsula and the high biological diversity of Ningaloo Reef.
“Today, the Ningaloo Coast presents the best opportunity in the world to encounter whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, together with internationally significant populations of manta rays, dugongs, turtles, humpback and other whales, rays and sharks,” Mr Barnett said.
