Year 10: Let the Games Begin

Outline the main geographical processes relevant to Coastal Management.

There are several processes that affect the coast and so demand action from those who want to effective coastal management. Processes like longshore drift, erosion and corrosion will directly affect the coast and so things like seawalls, revetments and gabions are put in place to slow down that action.

Processes:
Longshore drift: waves coming in at an angle will pick up sand on a beach and deposit it further up the coast and so will eventually alter the shape of the beach.
Erosion: factors like wind and rain will 'eat' away at the rocks on the coast and wear them away.
Corrosion: Saltwater from the sea can react with certain metals in the rocks and this also will waer the rocks down.

Reactions to these processes:
Seawalls: are usually barriers made of concrete that stop erosion by firstly stopping the water even coming into contact with the rocks and parts of the beach and also serves as a wind shield.
Revtments: They are wooden slanted or upright barriers that protect by allowing waves to break and dissipate on these barriers.
Gabions: These are rocks and boulders put into a wire mesh cage. They absorb the energy from waves and because there are gaps in the rocks it spreads this energy around these gaps. 

Y10: Defense Set to Give US More Military Access

What are the US and Australian military forces agreeing to currently? What the specific implications of this agreement? The agreement will give American forces greater access to Australian military bases.

What is the name of the summit where Australia's Defense Minister and the US's Secretary of Defense will meet? The AUSMIN summit.

Which country is the US specifically reacting to? They are dealing with future threats and uncertainties, mainly the growing power of China.

What are the US planners looking to achieve with this agreement regarding troop movement? The US wants to move troops around more effectively and so broke the world down into regions. Australia is helping them with the Asia-Pacific region.

What are other key areas of discussion at the summit? They will also be discussing cyber security, progress in Afghanistan and the state of the Joint Strike Fighter project.

What does this agreement mean for Australia's future in the Regional and Global context? It means that Australia will play a bigger part in global affairs since they will be a bigger player in the Pacific region because of their new support from America in the Pacific.

Immigration Questions

• What percentage of immigrants are refugees?
• Why does such a small number of people make for such a big deal both politically and in the media? (Give your opinion) Because people haven't dealt with this kind of things before so it looks like a very big deal. Since it is a new thing for the Australian people, the media will be talking about it and the politicians will have to deal with it since so many people will now be going paranoid about boat people because of the media's reports.

• Where does Australia rank among countries accepting refugees? We rank 18th

• To what extent do we have an obligation to help other people suffering in the world? (your opinion) Australia doesn't have a huge obligation to help the other people of the world. If we feel it's necessary then aid/help should be sent but there is nothing that makes us do it. The main reason Australia helps people in this situation is because we want to not because we have to.

• How much extra support do refugees receive in comparison to other Australian citizens? None, they both receive the same.
• How many Asian nations have signed the UN Refugee Convention? 11
• Why is it important to note that Malaysia has not signed the UN Refugee Convention? What does this mean for refugees in Malaysia? Because Australia tried to make a refugee exchange deal with Malaysia. It means that the refugees in Malaysia aren't protected by the UN Refugee Convention.

Go Back to Where You Came From Reflection

What is your initial reaction to the show?
At first I was shocked at the callousness of the opinions of some of the people. They were calling the immigrants criminals and when talking about the boats that crashed on shore and killed everyone, and one of the people said that they deserved it.I think the show was very well made in showing people the truth about why these people try and come to Australia illegally by showing what their lives could be like if they had stayed in their home country.

Year 10: Trade: ASEAN members start moves to harmonize policies | BusinessWorld Online Edition

1. What is the goal of this ASEAN meeting? To improve and harmonize trade and investment policies as they pursue an integrated regional economy.
2. What is ERIA? What do they intend to do? ERIA is the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. They intend to review the scorecard for the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community to identify the commitments that will have the best results for integration.
3. What is AEC? What do they intend to do? The AEC is the ASEAN Economic Community. They intend to help integrate with each other in economic matters.
4. What are the three key areas of focus? Trade and transport, services, investment facilitation.
5. How often does this group plan to meet? Once a year.
6. What do they intend to keep in their "knowledge bank"? Knowledge on the tools that members can use to pursue effective reforms and also a data bank that will include all the regulatory reforms ASEAN members have made.
7. Who was the chairman of the meeting? What is his title? What is the population and GDP of his country? How does it compare to Australia? The chairman is Dato Lim Jock Hoi. He is the Brunei Ministry of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary. The population of Brunei is estimated at around 401890 and the GDP is 49241. Compared to Australia's population of  21874900 and the GDP of 38176.
8. What do you think that economic integration means? To integrate a countries economy into another and so combine economies.
9. Do you think that this is good or bad for Australia? It depends on who Australia is integrating with. It won't help if we integrate with a country that has a really bad economy.

Year 10: Military - US/Australia Alliance

1. Who is Steven Smith and what important role does he play for the Australian Government? Steven Smith is the Australian Defence Minister. His role is to regulate the armed forces in a sovereign's land.
2. What is the Brookings Institution where Mr. Smith delivered his speech? The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organisation in Washington DC. It conducts research and education in social sciences, economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global economy and development.
3. What role does the Australia/US Alliance play in Australia's 'strategic and security arrangements'? Australia can depend on America for support should Australia be threatened by a foreign power. With America as an ally, Australia is not a desirable place to even think of attacking because that would mean taking on America.
4. What is important about Australia's global location for this alliance? Australia is in the Asia-Pacific, the world's new centre of gravity as military, political, economic and strategic influence changes.
5. What contributions has Australia made to this alliance for the last 50 years? Australia has supported the US in many things like intelligence gathering, early-missile warnings and submarine and satellite communications.
6. What did the minister say about the Australian companies who do business with the US? There are 9000 Australian companies doing business in America. They include the largest shopping centre owner and 20 of their largest banks. They also pay $70,000 per annum to their employees there.
7. Why does the minister point out this information about this company? What does it highlight about the relationship between Australia and the US? The minister points this out to show that Australia is an ally that helps not just militarily but economically. It shows that the Australia and US relationship is more than just helping each other in fights.
8. What is the country central to Australia's relationships in the region? Australia is trying to make good relationships with China.
9. What is Australia trying to foster with this country? Australia is trying to develop strong military and defence relationships with China. They are also trying to make them come out in a harmonious environment.
10. Why do you think that this is important to Australia? Because China is the superpower in the Pacific and so it is a good idea to ally yourself with the superpowers of the world.
11. What is the US planning on locating in Australia? Where? Why? America is planning on positioning military hardware and personnel in Australia. They are doing this so that they can be positioned to respond faster to humanitarian aid and disaster relief and to other situations in the region.
12. What implications does this have on the coordination between Australian and American forces? It means that Australian and American forces will be working closer together and in tandem to each other.

Year 10: Immigration

1. What is an asylum seeker? A person who has applied for asylum from a country that he or she is not a citizen of because they have something that is a threat to their lives from the country they came from whether it be political, military, religious or because of their nationality. They hope to gain refugee status.
2. What reasons would they leave their country and come to Australia? Their country may have a corrupt government, very poor living conditions, very aggressive and dangerous groups like militias and terrorist organisations threatening them. They want to come to Australia because we have a stable government, good living conditions and they have an oppurtunity at a good and safe life here.
3. What reasons will allow them to be approved for asylum? If their life/freedom is under threat from where they came from and if their human rights are under threat as well.
4. From what countries are most asylum seekers coming? Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Middle East, South -east Asia.

1. What is the deal between Australia and Malaysia? (What are the numbers of people being 'swapped'?) Australia and Malaysia have signed an asylum seeker swap deal. Australia will send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in return for 4000 genuine refugees whose cases have been verified by the UN Refugee Agency.
2. What rights will they have in Malaysia which will allow them to support themselves? They will be treated with respect and dignity and have human right protected. They will have medical assistance provided and community education made available. They  will have the chance to work.
3. How does Malaysia normally treat illegal immigrants? They round them up and throw them into detention centres. Some harsh punishments associate with them is that they cane them them as well.
4. Are children being sent to Malaysia? Yes, but they will have access to education and medical assistance.
5. What is going to happen to the processing of the 500+ people currently in Australia who have arrived from the 7th of May? They will have their claims processed in Australia.
6. What do refugee advocates worry about for the 800 asylum seekers? They worry that the government can't guarantee the human rights safeguards for the asylum seekers and that the asylum seekers may come to harm. For example the asylum seekers may be caned. They also bought up the occasion when an Australian citizen with their passport was taken to a detention centre saying that if the government can;t protect one of their own citizens, how can they protect the asylum seekers?
7. What is the goal of this 'swap' program? To stop the boats that are bringing in the illegal immigrants. To decrease the number of deaths that occur when these smuggling ships crash or ans accident happens.
8. Do you think that it will work? Why/why not? I think it will work because people will still get an oppurtunity at a new life in a more stable country but they won't be coming to Australia anymore because they know they'll just be sent to Malaysia.