In what was Prime Minister Julia Gillard's first international key leaders' meeting, Australia became a member of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on 4-5 October, fourteen years since ASEM's inauguration. The Russian Federation and New Zealand also joined the biennial 8th ASEM Summit (ASEM8) at Head of State and Government level, which was conducted under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union (EU). A key theme of the gathering was reform of the international economic institutions towards more effective global economic governance. What is ASEM?ASEM was established by the EU and several Asian countries and held its first summit meeting in Bangkok in 1996. It is an 'inform... Read more...
From this year, the Commonwealth Government has begun a two-stage phase-out of electric hot water systems. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures from March 2008 show that 'electricity was the primary source throughout Australia for household cooking and for hot water systems'. In fact, the http://www.yourhome.gov.au/ website advises that 'water heating accounts for 25 per cent of the energy used in an average home and is responsible for 23 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions from home energy use'. From this year, a national phase-out of electric hot water systems is taking place on a state-by-state basis. Viable alternatives, under the initiative, include both solar and gas hot ... Read more...
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