Martin on 'What is Happening on Keswick Island? Spotlight on Queensland Island Governance Arrangements'

Associate Professor Rhett Martin of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has published a new article titled 'What is Happening on Keswick Island? Spotlight on Queensland Island Governance Arrangements' in Volume 40 of the Environmental and Planning Law Journal.  Here is the abstract:

"This article focuses on planning and environmental law issues arising from management of Keswick Island (Keswick), located near Mackay off the Queensland coast. At issue is the extent to which head lease obligations have been performed by the head lessee, whether environmental and planning laws and lease conditions have been properly complied with and, where compliance is deficient, whether duly enforced by the Queensland Government, and the impact this has on island residents, including sublessees. Various questions arise about the transfer of the head lease to the current head lessee on Keswick, Oasis Forest Ltd, and their governance of the island, and relationship with sublessees. These questions are relevant to Queensland, and federal environmental and planning laws, administrative decision-making on Queensland lsland governance, including how head lessees on Queensland islands are chosen, and the future of Queensland Island tourism and governance."

Crowe on 'Is an Existentialist Ethics Possible?'

Professor Jonathan Crowe of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has published a paper titled 'Is an Existentialist Ethics Possible?'  The paper appears in The Ultimate Guide to Existentialism (Philosophy Now, 2024).  Here is the publisher's description of the book:

"A collection of the best past articles from Philosophy Now on existentialism, the ever-relevant philosophical movement of Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir. The Ultimate Guide to Existentialism is divided into five chapters: Foundations; Freedom; Culture; Ethics; and Time, Death & The Absurd. A valuable and entertaining introduction to the key concepts and the main thinkers. Full colour, 116 pages."

Mortensen and McKibben on 'Family Provision Across Borders'

Professor Reid Mortensen and Dr Sarah McKibben have published a new article titled 'Family Provision Across Borders'.  The article appears in Volume 46(1) of the Sydney Law Review.  Here is the abstract:

"It takes little for family provision claims to cross borders, whether state or national. The property may be located in different places — other states or countries; the personal representatives, claimants or beneficiaries under the will may be from different places; or the deceased may have had a strong personal connection with another place. Any one of those cross-border considerations raises questions of a court’s jurisdiction to deal with a family provision application, or of the law that will apply to it. In this article, we give an account of the principles of private international law — which in this area also apply in interstate matters — that affect family provision claims in Australia. In doing so, we explore recurrent complications with these cross-border family provision claims, including those arising under the cross-vesting scheme and in the federal jurisdiction. While we consider that the current equitable principles of choice of law remain best placed to address how provision should be made from different forms of property, reforms must be made to the equitable principles of jurisdiction if complications raised by the cross-vesting scheme and the possible exercise of federal jurisdiction in family provision claims are to be overcome."

Crowe on 'Natural Law With and Without God'

Professor Jonathan Crowe of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has published a new article titled 'Natural Law With and Without God'.  The article appears in Volume 4 of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion.  Here is the abstract:

"There is a common perception of natural law theory as characteristically (if not necessarily) theistic. This is sometimes presented as a drawback by secular critics of natural law thinking. Natural law authors themselves differ on the role of theism within their theories. Some have argued that natural law theory presupposes theism, while others have sought to give their views a secular basis. This article explores the relationship between natural law theory and theism. I begin by defining the characteristic features of the natural law outlook. I show that these core aspects of natural law thought can be rendered consistent with both theistic and non-theistic worldviews. However, these worldviews may yield different responses to some fundamental questions about natural law, such as where natural law comes from; how (and to what extent) humans can know about natural law; why humans should follow natural law; and whether natural law changes. I explore the consequences for natural law theories of theistic and non-theistic answers to these questions. I then offer some reasons for thinking that a version of theism incorporating what I term ‘qualified teleological perfectionism’ provides the most coherent foundation for the natural law outlook."

Martin on ‘Applying the Precautionary Principle to Hidden Collapse'

Associate Professor Rhett Martin of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has co-authored (with David Lindenmayer) a new article titled 'Applying the Precautionary Principle to Hidden Collapse'.  The article appears in Volume 16 of Sustainability.  Here is the abstract:

"There is growing evidence around the world of serious decline in biodiversity requiring urgent application of precautionary risk management. A better regulatory regime for precautionary management of long-term risk is now an urgent priority. This article addresses the prioritization of long-term risk management by examining risk management of ecosystems that may be experiencing hidden collapse. Hidden collapse refers to the existence of environmental indicators indicative of future collapse of forests, even though the forest appears intact and not at risk of ecosystem collapse. Professor David Lindenmayer and Dr Chloe Sato (Lindenmayer) first identified hidden collapse in 2018 in Mountain Ash forests of Victoria, Australia. The risk of hidden collapse represents a long-term environmental threat and is a potential trigger for application of the precautionary principle (principle). Implicit in hidden collapse are two preconditions for application of the principle; the risk of a serious or irreversible environmental threat, and the existence of scientific uncertainty about the nature of the risk. Despite hidden collapse satisfying these essential preconditions for applying the principle, decision makers did not apply it in respect hidden collapse of Mountain Ash forests in Victoria. This article considers the current status of the principle in regulation and how it can be adjusted to address long term environmental risk."

Crowe on ‘Harmonising Sexual Consent Law in Australia: Goals, Risks and Challenges'

Professor Jonathan Crowe of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has co-written a new paper titled 'Harmonising Sexual Consent Law in Australia: Goals, Risks and Challenges'.  The paper has been published as an article in Volume 49 of the Monash University Law Review.  Here is the abstract:

"The 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, sought to persuade ‘all governments across Australia to adopt the same definitions of consent, grooming, the age of a child, and sexual intercourse’. However, sexual consent law harmonisation in Australia faces formidable obstacles. We argue that an affirmative consent standard represents the appropriate goal of harmonisation, while potential risks include levelling-down reforms and undermining the role of competitive federalism. We identify four main obstacles to legal harmonisation, including strong advocacy coalitions, jurisdictional differences, historical failures and political disincentives. We conclude these obstacles do not mean harmonisation is undesirable or impossible, but it would require prolonged attention, resources and political will, as well as a nuanced understanding of the difficulties involved."

Radavoi on 'Ante-factum Legislative General Vaccination Mandates, as a Solution to Legal Hypocrisy in Pandemics'

Associate Professor Ciprian Radavoi of the University of Southern Queensland School of Law and Justice has published a new article titled 'Ante-factum Legislative General Vaccination Mandates, as a Solution to Legal Hypocrisy in Pandemics'.  The article appears in Volume 16 of the World Medical and Health Policy.  Here is the abstract:

"With the next pandemic likely not far off, the debate over the suitability of a broad, general vaccination mandate (GVM) goes on. This essay proposes a novel argument in favor of GVM—one based on the reality that left to its own devices, executive power, from governments to the local administration and even corporations, tends anyway to impose on the nonvaccinated restrictions of such harshness that vaccination becomes de facto mandatory. The most coercive measure was banning the nonvaccinated from the workplace, which was done—despite the fundamental importance of the right to work to the human being—without any genuine examination of the elements of balancing (necessity, proportionality) required whenever a right is limited by the authorities. Mandating vaccination de jure, by parliaments, before the next pandemic strikes would have the merits of avoiding legal hypocrisy and would be achieved following national public debate and a thorough process of balancing the rights at stake."