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Compared with similar research mainly focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Australian mainstream media using discourse analysis, this paper explores the reasons for the narrative shift by conducting semi-structured interviews with leading and well-known Australian narrative producers. This paper takes two conditions as a given. Firstly, the BRI narratives in Australian mainstream media shifted in tone from mostly positive to highly critical. Secondly, the Australian mainstream media's increasingly negative attitudes towards the BRI are essentially not just about the BRI but the Chinese government. Based on my analysis and interviews, this paper makes contributions by filling in the gap of finding out reasons to explain this narrative shift. More concretely, this paper finds out that while mainstream media is influential in many areas of national policy making, mainstream media reporting on foreign affairs is less so. By comparison, the Australian government's BRI or China policy has a significant impact on Australian mainstream media reporting. This narrative shift has been driven by international politics and Australia's China policy, influenced by Australian audiences' preference of local news and their local position, and its democratic responsibilities. Meanwhile, the vagueness and constant changing characteristics of the BRI do not help the understanding of the BRI in Australian media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from an investigation of nature-based practices, from the perspectives of 10 academics/educators from six nations. Participants engaged in a focus group exploring the prevalence and inclusion of nature in social work practice and education. While the study focused on individual members' experiences and perspectives, the findings highlight important context-specific factors for including nature within social work to reconnect humans with nature for health, well-being, healing, and justice. An Integrative Environmental Model for social work is proposed to assist future practice and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers in this volume seek to broaden the concept of ‘varieties of unionism’ by comparing the labour movements of six countries in the Asia-Pacific region: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Australia. While there is a great diversity of economic, socio-cultural and ethnic factors which have influenced the nature of industrial relations and unionism in each country, all have experienced the impact of globalisation on their labour markets to varying degrees. The repertoire of revitalisation strategies used by unions in Asia are similar, in many ways, to those adopted in western market economies, but their specific forms differ. The authors of the studies in this volume examine the factors which have helped and/or hindered union revitalisation in each of the countries studied. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article provides information on notices regarding several law reforms in the U.S., Australia and China. The notice regarding the U.S. evidence identification law reform examines the issue of untested sexual assault kits in police evidence rooms in order to develop lasting solutions. Another notice has been submitted in response to the legal privilege and tax advice in Australia. The last notice examines the rules of evidence in criminal cases in China.

Despite clear evidence pointing to the centrality of the Chinese press in the historical formation of the Chinese community, and despite the continued importance of the Chinese-language press in the current political, cultural, social and economic life of the Chinese community, there is little understanding of its history and recent growth in mainstream English-language media scholarship. Worse still, the shift in recent scholarship to the power of cyberspace and other forms of new media in assisting the formations of diasporic subjectivities runs the risk of giving the impression that the print media are no longer relevant. Our article aims to address this blind spot by mapping out the contours of change and continuity within the Chineselanguage press in Australia. In the first part, we provide a brief historical account of the Chinese migrant communities in Australia, and the role of the press in their formation. We argue that this symbiotic relationship is crucial to understanding the development of the early Chinese-language print media in Australia, which was a less than hospitable society for the Chinese migrants. We then trace the development and evolution of the Chinese-language print media in a range of areas, including the Chinese-language media's current modus operandi, business strategies, cultural practices and ideological positioning, within the context of China's rise and the widening impact of China's promotion of soft power. We conclude by identifying some future directions in the research on the Chinese-language media in Australia, thus contributing to our understanding of some of the opportunities and challenges present in the (re)shaping of Australia's multicultural policies and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses trends in Chinese–international marriages and divorces, using Australia, a major migrant-receiving country, as a comparative case study. In exploring the recent rise of 'Chinese–foreign' marriage in the People's Republic of China (PRC), we show that Chinese–international marriage within mainland China is a small, gendered phenomenon that largely involves Chinese women marrying men from other Asian societies. By examining unique data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we reveal that most marriages involving PRC-born people in contemporary Australia are between two people born in China. But the displacement of Chinese intimate relationships to a non-Asian country results in significant behavioural divergences from couples 'at home', especially regarding prior cohabitation. Marriages solely involving PRC-born couples in Australia are also typically less enduring than marriages to non-Chinese. We argue that these differences underscore the roles of country-specific immigration policies and labour mobility patterns in shaping unpredicted family formation behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working holidays have become a fast-growing phenomenon in China, yet research pertaining to this segment is scarce. This study explores the travel motivations, expectations and satisfaction Chinese Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) experienced with respect to their working holiday experiences in Australia. Fifteen interviews were conducted with Chinese WHMs pursuing a variety of work placements. Four key motivations and five important destination attributes were revealed along with a number of satisfaction determinants. Practical solutions for destination marketers as to how to reach and appeal to this viable market segment and improve the working holiday experience for Chinese youth are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall purpose of this study is to examine the moderating roles of gender and generation in the effects of perceived destination image on tourist attitude and visit intention among Chinese potential tourists to Australia. Australia is one of the preferred destinations to Chinese tourists, and the China market emerges to be increasingly important to destination marketing organizations in Australia. Echoing the call for more gender studies in the tourism literature and also based on the generation theory, this study employed a cross-sectional questionnaire survey design and used structural equation modelling in its analysis. Survey data were collected through convenience sampling in the Chinese city Harbin at various public venues where urban residents can be found. The study identified Services and Tourism Provisions, Natural Environment and Quality of Life as three destination image dimensions perceived by Chinese urban residents towards Australia. Services and Tourism Provisions and Natural Environment both positively affected tourist attitude, which in turn levered up visit intention. The study found that the effect of Services and Tourism Provisions on attitude was stronger for men than for women, while the effect of Natural Environment on attitude was stronger for women than for men; for the post-1980s/1990s generation, the effect of Natural Environment on attitude was significantly stronger than that for the post-1960s/1970s generation. Implications for tourism marketers and managers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although increasing research attention has been given to the discourse of legitimacy in assisting mergers and acquisitions in Scandinavian countries, scarce research has been done on this topic in different geopolitical contexts. This study therefore aims to investigate the discursive struggle of delegitimizing a Chinese state-owned company investment in the Australian mining sector. We used a historical critical approach to further develop the theoretical and empirical capacity for analysing legitimacy discourses. Specifically, we have extended the research on the discourse of legitimacy research in three aspects. First, we have identified political-ideological discourse as a prominent discourse in addition to the commonly acknowledged rationalistic and nationalistic discourse. Second, we have found that the use of legitimation strategies is purposive and deliberate. Moralization strategy, in particular, was extensively used in a range of discourses (rationalistic, nationalistic and political-ideological) to delegitimize the proposed merger as not being aligned with the national interest. As a result, the legitimacy discourse failed and the deal collapsed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

General equilibrium modelling has been used to analyse many policy proposals. This article aims to help non-modellers assess general equilibrium analyses, particularly of a potential Australia-China free trade agreement (FTA). General equilibrium modelling is effective in studies of unilateral tariff reductions. However, most general equilibrium modelling assumes given technologies and information. For issues where the essence is technology transfer and new information, general equilibrium models can only produce results after most of the analysis has been done outside the model. In an Australia-China FTA, tariff cuts may be only a small part of the package. The main part may be goodwill, technology transfer and increased mutual awareness. Thus, for analysing FTAs, general equilibrium modelling is of limited value. The only conclusion for Australia that general equilibrium modelling of an Australia-China FTA can deliver with any certainty is that such an agreement will cause significant contraction in the Australian clothing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]