Good News Network Australia

Good News in Australia

Positive news articles about the environment, people & health issues in beautiful Oz.

What's happening in July?

NAIDOC Week - 7th to 15th

Schools Tree Day - 27th

National Tree Day - 29th

Slow Food Brisbane projects

Queen Bee - see more bee photography

Why buy Australian owned products?

85% of the products in the average Australian grocery trolley are either imported or made by foreign owned companies. This results in $100 million a day going outside Australia. By comparison, in Japan, 98% of goods in supermarkets are owned by Japanese organisations.

There are two key reasons to support Australian owned companies – profits stay in Australia and jobs are created for Australians. If every Australian redirects $10 per week from foreign owned companies and foreign made items to Australian products, Australia would save $4 billion per year and create 100,000 new jobs. (Source: Ausbuy)

At the blog:

Where is Cradle Mountain?

Adelaide Fringe began in 1960 as an alternative to the Adelaide Festival of the Arts

It is now a four week arts festival which includes Fringe Parade which starts the Adelaide Fringe, Spirit Festival which celebrates Australia’s indigenous culture and Adelaide Fringe Street Theatre Festival – a curated ‘mini-festival within a festival'.

To keep up to date with what is happening at the next Fringe read the Blog

Pride of Australia National Medal awards 2014
Nominate now to honour ordinary Aussies who do extraordinary deeds in their everyday lives
Doctors, paramedics, parents and children whose acts of bravery, generosity and selflessness have inspired others will be recognised during a gala ceremony.

AUSTRALIA RANKED HIGH IN HDI: Australia's Human Development Index rank is number 2 out of 187 countries. Human Development Index gives a definition of well-being from the measure of three basic areas of human development: health, education and income. This means an expected long and healthy life - the average of 81.9 years - access to knowledge through schooling and a decent standard of living.

Get more good news on the Australian environment

Images courtesy of Melbourne Food and Wine Festival

Australian actor and film producer, Geoffrey Roy Rush was the 2012 Australian of the Year.

Rush (born 1951 in Toowoomba Queensland) has been given many awards:

an Academy Award for Best Actor in Shine (1997)
a Tony Award for Actor in a Leading Role for the play, "Exit the King" on Broadway
an Emmy Award for Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
3 British Academy Film Awards Best Performance: Actor in a Supporting Role in Elizabeth (1998);
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Shine (1996);
Best Supporting Actor in The King's Speech (2010).
two Golden Globe Awards for Quills (2000) and Shine (1996)
four Screen Actors Guild Awards

Geoffrey Roy Rush is the 2012 Australian of the Year.

Rush at the 2011 Cannes film festival: PHOTO by Georges Biard

"Occasionally you need to jump off a cliff and do things you know are not immediately within your grasp." Rush

"I always felt thrilled and amazed that I could put actor on my tax form"

Support the protectors

Did you know that park rangers risk their lives to protect wildlife, like the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere? The Thin Green Line Foundation supports the families of Park rangers killed, and prevents further ranger deaths, on the frontline of conservation around the world.

The Rockers Raffle for Rangers has a beautifully painted guitar signed by many musos including Xavier Rudd, Tim Finn, Grace Jones and Elvis Costello.

100% of the profits raised through their unique fundraising and the sponsorships support community conservation projects and rangers including the International Ranger Dependency Fund.

What is permaculture?

Permaculture is designed to "reduce the impact that human settlements have on non-renewable and renewable resources, while creating an abundant living environment, catering to the needs of all living creatures." FAQ PERMACULTURE Tagari Home page

Travel to benefit Australia.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was established in 1965 after the death of Sir Winston Churchill. The principal idea of honouring Sir Winston’s memory is acheived by awarding of ‘Churchill Fellowships’.

These Fellowships give the chosen Australians travel overseas to conduct research in their chosen field. The research findings will be shared with the Australian community. Applications open November 1.

Visit the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for more details.

For myself, I am an optimist — it does not seem to be much use being anything else. Winston Churchill, 1954.

The Wiggles together for over 20 years

The four Wiggles and the characters they have created are now a part of the lives of so many children all around the world.

The Wiggles performing at the MCI Center, 2007. Photo by Anthony Arambula en.wikipedia.

Sam (Yellow), Anthony (Blue), Jeff (Purple) and Murray (Red).

The University of Sydney has been awarded funds, by the Bupa Health Foundation, for a study into Vitamin B3 and skin cancer prevention. "Skin cancer affects 60% of Australians. Nicotinamide protects against many of sunlight's damaging effects and reduces premalignant keratoses - the thick, scaly, or crusty patches of skin which are often the precursor to skin cancer. This study proposes to determine nicotinamide's effects on skin cancer, with the potential for harm minimisation and secondary prevention with a vitamin to protect skin from progressive deterioration once damaged." Bupa Australia Pty Ltd 2011

Indigenous community volunteers. Any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individual, family, business, organisation or community can apply for ICV’s assistance to improve their quality-of-life, wellbeing and social inclusion. Projects are owned and run by communities with volunteers helping to supply necessary skills. Thanks to ICV - Children growing up on the Tiwi Islands no longer have to head to Darwin to finish their schooling; a group of women in Palumpa in the Northern Territory learnt the art of sewing; women in Wadeye NT, are producing screen prints and etchings and running the Wadeye Arts and Culture Festival; traditional culture has been strengthened with the young in Brisbane's Binambi Barambah camps. See more good work of ICV.

Good health Information

HealthInsite is a healthdirect Australia health information service - an initiative of the Australian Government. It aims to improve the health of Australians by providing easy access to quality information about human health.

A-Z Health Topics

Conditions and Diseases Topics such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, depression

Health and Wellbeing Topics such as fitness, nutrition, drugs, preventing suicide,

Life Stages and Events Topics such as menopause, pregnancy, ageing

Health Services Includes links to State/Territory Health Services and other services

News

HealthInsite Newsletter

The Ministry for Peace Australia is calling on the Australian Federal Government to establish an officially recognised and funded Department of Peace. Additionally to support and encourage the development of a global Culture of Peace within Australian international relations. Hamish Blake and Catriona Rowntree are Peace Ambassadors for the MPA.

The first earth hour: At 7.30pm on 31 March 2007, it was just Sydney that turned off its lights for one hour for the first ever Earth Hour - to show that it's possible to take action on global warming. 65,000 homes and 2,000 businesses signed up for the inaugural event.

Earth Hour 2011 before and after the lights were switched off in France (c) Martin Leers

Golden Wattle in full flower on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia by Bidgee via Wikipedia.

Happy Wattle Day - Ist of September

Wattle Day is a day of celebration of the first day of spring. A piece of Australia's national floral emblem, the golden wattle, Acacia pycnantha is traditionally worn on this day. The first wattle day was celebrated in 1910 in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. More about the history of Wattle Day at Wattle Day Association.

The Australian Coat of Arms includes a wreath of wattle.

Cate Blanchett - actress Mary Reiby - convict & businesswoman Cathy Freeman - sportswoman

Tropfest Australia - The World's Largest Short Film Festival

February each year.

Bring a picnic and your friends and family to the movies in a unique, free, outdoor entertainment experience that is second to none.

Started back in 1993 by award-winning actor/ director John Polson, as a short film festival for his friends and family at the Tropicana Café in Sydney.

Today, Tropfest is widely regarded for its support of new filmmaking talent through its festivals, filmmaker initiatives and distribution and can be seen in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart and Surfer's Paradise.

Clean up Australia Day goes global - Clean Up the World was launched in 1993. Ian Kiernan's simple idea to have a Clean Up Sydney Harbour Day in 1989 received an enormous response with more than 40,000 Sydneysiders collecting rubbish and has grown from strength to strength. Over 35 million people from 120 countries take part every year in the campaign. To join up for this year got to Clean Up Australia or call 1800 CUA DAY for more information. Everyone is welcome - friends, family, kids, community groups, work colleagues or anyone else.

perspective smile Happy homes City of the Month Help others

All things good Environment Health Network for Good News

Help Australia day launched by ABC Radio. Make a donation of your money or your time to help Australians in need. The money will assist:

Red Cross

QLD Premier's Flood Appeal

Perth Lord Mayor's Relief Fund

Envirosax® designer reusable bags are spreading the eco-friendly message with style from Queensland. They have many great designs and are compact and carry the message of re-use to a world ready for a brighter ecological future. Read more...

Positive Parenting - small changes can make a big difference to the stress levels, happiness and well-being of each family. Top 10 tips for parents from Professor Matt Sanders of the Parent and Family Support Centre at the University of Queensland, Australia. The Triple P parenting program was put to the test in the UK and is now in Australia. More info... and more tips.

More parenting information here.

Compassion for third world.

Steven Killelea travelled the world as a surfer and business man and saw the poverty in many developing countries. His business success has given him the money needed to help many people. He and his wife give away half of their wealth and believe they get alot back from their giving. They follow a few tenets in their philanthropy - help the poorest of the poor, help as many people as possible and do life changing interventions. An example of this given by Steven Killelea on 702 Sydney ABC radio with Richard Glover -14th June, 2007- was where he saw the 200 bed hospital in Uganda that had no water and decided to pump water from 25klms away. Along the 25 klms there were other villages so they too benefitted as the decision was made to pump the water in to them transforming the lives of hundreds of people.

The Happiness Institute - does good things.

Their motto is 'So CHOOSE to be happy now! Because life’s too short not to be happy' 20 simple tips to be happy now.

Dr. Happy and the Happiness Institute are real and exist in Sydney, Australia. The Institute was established in 2003 by Dr. Timothy J. Sharp, a psychologist, who believes that happiness is something you choose.

The Happiness Institute offers public seminars, small group workshops, one-on-one coaching and organisational consulting to help people to be happy at work.

To find out more about what they do to help people achieve happiness, call 02 9221 3306 or subscribe to a free email newsletter or visit their website where they have free resources and info about training and coaching. Suite 401, 74 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia

'The Wilderness Society is a community-based environmental advocacy organisation whose mission is protecting, promoting and restoring wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth.' Their website has features on forests, outback Australia, wild rivers, climate change and campaigns.

Micro generation revolution. N.S.W. Australia. The town of Tathra in the Bega Valley in southern N.S.W. is making an impact on the environment. Many people and services are generating their own energy to use and to also sell back to the grid. "We've come up with a community target for tackling climate change and that's 5050 by 2020. What that means is a 50% reduction in the consumption of energy and a 50% production of energy by renewable sources by the year 2020." says Mathew Nott of Tathra. An example is the surf club which has a mini wind turbine and solar panels. Transcript

Good Australian Icons

Friends of the Earth Australia environmental good news.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) has played a key role in the following successful campaigns:

an end to whaling in Australian waters
the protection of Antarctica
the introduction of lead free petrol in Australia
protection of Fraser Islands sub-tropical forests
the halting of the Jabiluka uranium mine
stopping the establishment of a high level radioactive waste dump in Australia
stopping the establishment of a low and medium level radioactive waste dump in South Australia
the introduction of independent timber certification systems in Australia
the creation of a new national park system along the Murray River of almost 100,000 hectares and the first jointly managed national park in Victoria.
More Good News at their site.

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No Fences Needed. Virtual fencing of the future has been designed and trialled by CSIRO in NSW Australia. The collar worn by cows gives of a vibration and the cattle learn this means a fence. These virtual fences can be moved saving farmers one of the largest expenses on a farm. More info at Innovations.

NEWS AT THE BLOG

Sea Week - 4th to 10th

Clean Up Australia Day - 4th

Harmony Day - 21st

Close the Gap - 22nd

Earth Hour - 31st

April

Australian Heritage Week - 14th to 22nd

Anzac Day - 25th

May

OZ' Water Week - 8th to 10th

National Volunteer Week - 14th to 20th

Walk Safely to School Day - 18th

National Sorry Day - 26th

National Reconciliation Week - 27th to 3rd June

June

Red Nose Day - 29th

July

NAIDOC Week - 7th to 14th

Schools Tree Day - 27th

National Tree Day - 29th

August

Jeans for Genes Day

Keep Australia Beautiful Week

September

National Biodiversity Month

National Wattle Day - 1st

National Landcare Week - TBA 5th

Sustainable House Day - 9th

National Bilby Day - 9th

Walk To Work Day - 17th

October

National Water Week - 19th to 25th

National Ride to Work Day - 17th

November

National Recycling Week - 12th to 18th

December

Coastcare Week -

READ MORE ABOUT DICK SMITH FOODS

The Coat of Arms of Australia is the official symbol of Australia. The initial coat of arms was granted by King Edward VII on May 7 1908, and the current version, shown here, was granted by King George V on September 19 1912.

EARLY PLAY AUSTRALIA

EARLY CHILDHOOD NEWS BLOGS COMMUNITY

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki explains science so it is both interesting and easy to understand. Visit his website.

Diagram of DNA

The APRA Song of the Year is the most prestigious music award in the country and only APRA members have the power to decide who wins! As the only peer voted music award in Australia, the APRA Song of the Year isn’t a popularity contest or industry competition. This award is all about songwriters recognising the outstanding achievements of their peers and honouring the craft of songwriting. APRA SITE

Gotye Australian winner 2012 APRA awards

WINNER:
Title: Somebody That I Used To Know

Artist: Gotye

Live Below the Line is an incredible new awareness and fundraising campaign that's making a huge difference in the fight against extreme poverty. The estimates are that 1.4 billion people, in the world, live on $2.00 ady as they have no choice.

I first heard about it when I saw on TV, that Simon McKeon, Australian of the Year 2011, was trying to live on $2.00 a day and eating plain oats every morning and also rice, lentils, pumpkin and carrots during the day.

Read how they calculated it was just $2.00 a day to live on here

Australians of the Year announced.

Major advance for Australian type 1 diabetes research. The Australian Government will provide 5 million dollars to support the establishment of an Australian Clinical Trial Network. More info at JDRF...

Sydney Peace Foundation website.

Australia's biggest morning tea

May 23 is morning tea time but you can host an event anytime throughout May or June. It's simple, fun and best of all for a great cause! All you need to do is set a date, brainstorm some great morning tea ideas, invite your guests and raise money to help support the fight against cancer. Want more details...

The amazing return of the Dibbler.
These animals were thought to be extinct by scientists and listed as extinct in 1884 . An Australian man caught a pair of Dibblers when he was trying to catch possums and they have been bred in captivity. For more detail go to WWW News

GNN Australia