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A MEETING in Canberra last week resolved to set up a national body to promote
sustainable development, and thereby pick up the ball that Australian
governments have dropped. As a result, a small working group is developing a
proposal for a national council, which will bring together business and
community groups to advance the cause of sustainability.

In theory, the Federal government and all states and territories are
committed to the principle of sustainable development through a national
strategy adopted by the Council of Australian Governments in 1992. But every
independent review in recent years has noted how little progress is being made.
And in most of the important areas—transport, urban planning and
energy—the pattern of development is becoming less sustainable, driven by
policy initiatives such as increased road construction and cheaper fuel.

Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are already above the 2010 target set at
Kyoto, and rising rapidly. Though the Democrats forced the national government
to counteract the price impact of the GST on solar devices by funding programmes
that encourage renewable energy, this is not yet a major effort. One cynic
pointed out that the entire budget of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Programme is
about the same as that for the proposed redevelopment of the Melbourne Cricket
Ground.

So Australian National University lecturer Brendan Mackey took the initiative
and convened the meeting in Canberra to discuss the problem. It brought together
some of the business leaders who have shown that a commitment to sustainability
makes for profitable commercial operation. They met with representatives of a
range of community organisations—women’s groups, youth organisations,
social welfare bodies, environmental groups and churches—as well as
academics, local government and the government of the Australian Capital
Territory. After a lively discussion about the problems of the present
trajectory of development, the meeting decided to form the new national
organisation. Essentially the aim will be to give the needs of future
generations a voice in the political debate, now totally dominated by short-term
economic and political interests.

I hope the new body will build on the work being done by SENSE, the
Scientific and Engineering Network on a Sustainable Environment, organised by
Australia’s first environment minister, Moss Cass. An electronic network of
about three dozen scientists and engineers, SENSE is just finalising discussion
papers on salinisation and industrial production. These papers provide a welcome
technical basis for consideration of the sorts of changes that need to be made
if we are to construct a sustainable society. As I am involved in both SENSE and
the new working group, I will keep readers posted on progress.

WOMEN over 40 years of age should pay more attention to their diet—not
to dieting—according to a group of experts whose thoughts were assembled
late last year in a special edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Younger women appear to be protected from a variety of diseases by their
particular mix of hormones. But the winding back of hormone production in middle
age exposes women to similar risks to those affecting men. Although women still
live seven years longer than men on average, the latest figures suggest they
could do even better if they paid more attention to what they eat.

Low-fat diary products should be on the menu to provide calcium. In fact, the
expert view is that women over 40 should have between three and four serves of
dairy foods a day. Women should also eat beans, oysters or meat to increase
their levels of zinc. The average middle-aged woman doesn’t ingest enough
vitamins A, C and E—lots of fruit and vegetables is the best way to get
these. And, like all of us, they need more fibre in their diet, so they should
be eating grain products such as cereals, pasta and bread. There is now also
believed to be a link between alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer,
so the general advice of moderation applies.

What the experts are really saying is that a standard, sensible, healthy diet
is particularly important for women when their hormonal protection
diminishes.

ADVICE on diet and exercise needs to be more widely available and understood,
according to recent data. Between 1980 and 1995, national health surveys by the
Commonwealth Department of Health record that the average Australian man
increased in weight by 3.6 kg and the average woman by 4.8 kg. About two-thirds
of men in the age range from 25 to 64 are now overweight, as are about half of
the women. Our food intake should be balanced by physical exertion. If sedentary
workers are led by advertising to eat junk food which contains enough kilojoules
to support a manual labourer, it is inevitable that they will put on weight.