Contemporary politics,local and international current affairs, science, music and extracts from the Queensland Newspaper "THE WORKER" documenting the proud history of the Labour Movement.
MAHATMA GANDHI ~ Truth never damages a cause that is just.
Mourners were seen at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after a strike on a tent which killed five people. (Reuters: Hatem Khaled)
In short:
At
least 23 people were killed by Israeli gunfire and strikes in Gaza on
Sunday, as Israel warns residents to leave some areas of the enclave's
north.
US President Donald
Trump has taken to social media to call for a deal to be reached to
secure the release of Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
Qatar
and Egypt, backed by the US, are seeking to capitalise on the recent
ceasefire between Israel and Iran to secure a similar agreement in Gaza.
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Israel's
military has issued fresh evacuation notices for parts of Gaza,
heralding a new operation in the Palestinian enclave against Hamas, as
it carried out further strikes on Sunday.
It
came as US President Donald Trump called for Israel and Hamas to "make a
deal" in Gaza to see the return of remaining hostages kidnapped by
Hamas after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks.
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said the ceasefire between
Israel and Iran created "opportunities" for the release of hostages in
Gaza.
Israel has been
conducting a campaign in Gaza since Hamas's attack, which killed more
than 1,200 people in Israel and took a further 251 hostage.
Since
October 7, 2023, Israel's military assault in Gaza has killed more than
56,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced
almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a
humanitarian crisis.
Gaza's
civil defence agency, which is run by militant group Hamas, said Israeli
air strikes and gunfire killed 23 people in the war-ravaged Palestinian
territory on Sunday, including at least three children.
Israel carried out further air strikes on Gaza City on Sunday. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
The
Israeli military told news agency AFP it was not able to comment on the
reported incidents but said it was fighting "to dismantle Hamas
military capabilities".
In a
statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, Israel's
military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south
towards the city of Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a
humanitarian area.
"The
[Israel] Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas,
and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend
westward to the city centre to destroy the capabilities of terrorist
organisations," the military said.
The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts.
'End this occupation'
Medics
and residents said the Israeli army's bombardments escalated in the
early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least
six people.
In Khan Younis in the south, five people were killed in an air strike on a tent encampment near Mawasi, medics said.
At
least 12 other people were killed in separate Israeli military strikes
and gunfire across the enclave, taking Sunday's death toll to at least
23, medics said.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives arrived to pay their respects to white-shrouded bodies before they were buried.
"A
month ago, they [Israel] told us to go to Al-Mawasi [in Khan Younis]
and we stayed there for a month, it is a safe zone," Zeyad Abu Marouf
said.
He said three of his children were killed and a fourth was wounded in the Israeli air strike.
"We ask God and the Arabs to move and end this occupation and the injustice taking place against us," Abu Marouf told Reuters.
Israel's military also said in a statement that a 20-year-old soldier was killed "during combat in the northern Gaza Strip".
Ceasefire push
Amid the ongoing fighting, there has been a renewed diplomatic push to bring an end to violence in Gaza.
Mediating
countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the US have been attempting to
capitalise on the ceasefire between Israel and Iran to find a similar
breakthrough in Gaza.
Demonstrators took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday urging Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal. (Reuters: Florion Goga)
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump joined the ranks of those calling for a diplomatic end to the war.
"Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back," Mr Trump posted on Truth Social.
Later
on Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said his country's "victory" over Iran in their
12-day war had created "opportunities", including for freeing Israeli
hostages held in Gaza.
"Many opportunities have opened up now following this victory. First of all, to rescue the hostages,"
the Israeli prime minister said.
"Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals."
Hamas
has said it was willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom
are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war.
The
Israeli government has maintained it can only end the war if Hamas is
disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
Arab
mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, are pushing a
new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the
release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.
John Ashe's family has been farming in North Carolina across four generations. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
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Farmer John Ashe's dealt with drought. He's dealt with hurricanes.
But what he saw the US president announce on TV left him speechless.
"I just shook my head. My wife was shaking her head, and I was thinking, what's next?" he says.
Almost
90 days ago, Donald Trump shocked the world when he announced his
so-called reciprocal tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories.
Designed
to punish foreign nations who ran trade deficits with the US, the
tariffs have instead put much of Trump's heartland in the crosshairs.
In
Austin, Texas, toy manufacturer Molson Hart, watched as President Trump
brandished a game show-like list of tariffed countries.
"When
I first saw that sign, I wasn't sure if it was real. It was just
unbelievable. People weren't expecting those kinds of numbers," he says.
Texas toy manufacturer Molson Hart is scrambling to move production out of China. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
Since
President Trump's inauguration he has announced more than 50 new or
revised tariffs, including pauses, backdowns, escalations and
de-escalations.
Business owners and workers across the US are reeling from the chaos and confusion unleashed by Trump's trade policy.
And
with only days to go until a temporary pause on the highest
"reciprocal" tariffs is due to be lifted, there are fears about what
comes next.
'You cannot take a chainsaw and do surgery'
John Ashe's family has been farming in North Carolina across four generations.
"Not many families can say this, Black families that is, but we've been here for over a hundred years.
"My great-grandfather, my grandfather on both sides, and my father, were all farmers."
The uncertainty around price means Mr Ashe is planting fewer soybeans than he normally would. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
Mr
Ashe, who exports around 40-45 per cent of his soybean crop to China,
watched on in horror as the president lit the fuse on a trade war that
saw the US impose 145 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports and China
retaliate with 125 per cent tariffs.
"Honestly,
I cannot understand it. I have not heard anybody from that
administration that could tell me anything that makes any sense of what
he's causing," Mr Ashe says.
"You cannot take a chainsaw and do surgery."
When
Four Corners visited Mr Ashe's farm, the trade war was at its peak, and
he was planting his first soybean crop of the season.
"I'm
going to plant about 50 per cent less than I would normally because I
don't know what the price is going to be. I don't want to take the risk
of putting even more out there," he says.
US
soybean exports to China are worth around $US13 billion ($19.9 billion)
a year. After Donald Trump brought in tariffs on China during his first
term, and China retaliated, Brazil overtook the US as the world's
largest soy producer.
Mr Ashe is worried these lucrative markets for US farmers will continue to evaporate.
"I'm concerned that they're going find other places around the world that can fulfil their needs," he says.
"Sometimes, you find another grocery store you like, and you don't go to your old grocery store anymore."
Mr Ashe is worried US farmers will lose lucrative markets in China. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
Mr
Ashe has watched over the last few months as the tariffs have gone up
and down. US tariffs on China are currently at 30 per cent, while
Chinese tariffs on US imports sit at 10 per cent.
The uncertainty makes it difficult to plan what crops to sow.
"I've never seen anything like this before. It just seems like it changes from lunchtime to the six o'clock news," he says.
Toying with trade
When Donald Trump ignited his trade war with China, Molson Hart started scrambling.
He needed to find factories outside of China to make toys before he ran out of stock.
"It's enormously difficult," he says.
"It
takes six months to a year to properly move production depending on
what you're making. In some cases, it's not even possible to do."
The 38-year-old's company, Viahart, makes plush animals and a construction toy called Brain Flakes.
Mr Hart has been in the manufacturing industry for 15 years. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
When
the highest tariffs on China were paused, Mr Hart was able to re-order
more stock for his Texas warehouse, but he is still looking to shift
production to South-East Asia.
Mr Hart says the ongoing uncertainty around Trump's trade policy has eroded business confidence across the country.
"We don't know if it will be high tariffs, low tariffs or something in between," he says.
"All
these importers need to get that extra money to pay the tariffs and
when there's less money to go around for things, confidence in business
in general declines."
The US
Toy Association says nearly 80 per cent of toys sold in the US are made
in China, and the industry is predicting price rises, supply shortages
and bankruptcies.
Mr Hart
described Trump's trade policy as "probably the worst economic policy
I've ever seen" and says he does not think it will meet its stated aim
of bringing back American manufacturing.
Mr Hart is considering moving production from China to South-East Asia. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
"We
need to have a plan. For example, if our goal is to make things in
America, 'This is what the timeline is, and this is how we're going to
achieve it, and we're going to be doing it in these industries'.
"We can't adapt our businesses to this crazy uncertainty."
Mr
Hart understands trade with China better than most. He has worked in
Chinese factories and his products are made there. He speaks Mandarin
and has been in the manufacturing industry for 15 years.
He
says even if the policies managed to bring manufacturing back to the
US, it's unclear if the labour force is there to do the work.
"I
work with some fantastic people in the United States, but it will take
some training and some time and possibly some sort of mental adjustment
period for Americans to start doing some of the jobs that are done in
China. They're really hard," he says.
Made in America
Dan
Turner has voted Republican since the Reagan years and supports Donald
Trump's goal of reviving the US manufacturing industry.
"It's really a staple of civilisation. I think that we need to make things," he says.
Donald Trump's tariffs have done no favours to Dan Turner's hydraulics company. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
In
his workshop in Carlilse, Pennsylvania, Mr Turner employs around 40
staff who design, install and repair hydraulic components.
Turner
Hydraulics began in the backyard of his parents' home in 1978 when
around 20 per cent of American workers were employed in manufacturing.
That figure has now plummeted to around 8 per cent.
"I
like seeing my employees being able to get ahead. I believe in that and
that's why I think small business is the backbone of America," he says.
But so far, Donald Trump's tariffs have done no favours to Turner Hydraulics.
Many US manufacturing businesses rely on importing components from China. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
In January, before the tariffs were introduced Mr Turner ordered a hydraulic component from China worth $US48,000.
By the time the product was on the water heading to the US, Mr Trump's tariffs meant the part would cost him around $US130,000.
"The tariff total was going to be 170 per cent, which was around $US82,000 up from the $US12,000 that we had planned on.
"To suck $US70,000 out of a business, with no good reason is very detrimental."
Like
many other small business owners relying on parts from China, Mr Turner
would have preferred a transition period rather than the chaotic
announcement and escalation, particularly given he works in the industry
President Trump says he's seeking to protect.
"As
a manufacturer, it would've been nice to have been told that here's the
sequence of events and you have this many months before tariffs are
going to increase.
"I know I'm
just a small part of this whole puzzle. There are companies that are
potentially getting hit with millions of dollars of tariffs," he says.
Big problems for small business
Ed
Brzytwa is the vice president of international trade at the Consumer
Technology Association (CTA) which represents over 1,200 technology and
innovation companies in North America.
He says small businesses are disproportionately impacted by tariffs.
"When
you put tariffs on imports, whether it's on the finished goods or on
the raw material or on the input, all you're doing is disrupting supply
chains and making things more expensive," Mr Brzytwa says.
"Printed
circuit boards are one input that you need to make certain finished
goods in the United States, and that component is almost entirely made
in China.
"[CTA members] are
reliant on international trade to survive. If you want to make an
innovative product for the very competitive US marketplace, you need to
have access to affordable inputs.
"A tariff is not a plan to re-shore manufacturing."
US ports are seeing fewer items being imported from China due to the tariffs. (Reuters: Mike Blake)
In mid-May the chaos of Trump's trade policy suddenly improved things for Dan Turner's business.
"We just found out this morning that the tariff will be 55 per cent, which is a lot better than 170 per cent," he says.
It
meant that the tariff he would pay on his $US48,000 component had
fallen to around $US27,000 — far less than the estimated $US82,000 he
had been expecting. Had the part arrived just two days earlier, he would
have been stung with the 170 per cent tariff.
Despite the changes, Mr Turner remains nervous about ordering any more parts from China.
"We
are on hold with ordering anything from China and with investing in
finding alternative routes. We will research it, but we won't be making
any investment into it," he says.
So how long will this uncertainty hover over his business for?
"Maybe another three and a half years?" he laughs.
'It makes me want to cry'
Trump's trade war with China has deeply impacted the industries built around the nation's once thriving ports.
Mark Nieves is truck driver who transports goods from the docks of New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
"I am a third-generation trucker, what we call a pier rat. I love this industry, it runs in my blood," he says.
Truck driver Mark Nieves is working less due to fewer imports arriving from overseas. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
As supply lines from China have dried up, truck drivers like Mark have watched their pay-packets diminish.
"The tariffs have caused me to work one day a week, two days a week, robbing from Peter to pay Paul," Mr Nieves says.
"It makes me want to cry sometimes. I'm angry, I'm troubled. I just think we can do better as a country."
Mr
Nieves has worked in transport for more than 40 years, including in
safety, supply chain, operations management and truck driving.
He
is the president and founder of the United Drayage Drivers Association.
He says deregulation has already made the industry tough and the
tariffs have made it even worse.
As Four Corners rode in his truck near the port of New York in mid-May, he pointed to rows and rows of empty containers.
"These
are empties that have come back to the port without a destination.
Usually you see a full pier, full of containers and now you see a full
yard, full of empties side by side," he says.
Mark Nieves is frustrated watching his industry suffer because of the tariffs. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
There are more than 3.5 million truck drivers in the US and many of them voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Mr
Nieves was unimpressed by the US president's response when he was asked
about the impact his tariffs had on dock workers and truck drivers at a
media conference.
"I saw his
interview with the news media and how they asked him, 'Hey, truckers in
the ports are really struggling, right?' And his response was 'good, at
least China's not stealing from us'.
"It's
not about China, it's about us. [I felt] very sad that an American
president would let the country collapse from within itself, only
because he wants to prove a point."
Mr
Nieves is running as a Republican candidate for the Union County
Commission in New Jersey and hopes to be a voice for truck drivers
struggling to make ends meet.
In the meantime, he wants Trump to start listening to the people who have been hit the hardest by his tariffs.
"The
country has spoken, and he is our president, and I support him a
hundred per cent. However, I think he could have handled it much
better," he says.
"He should have gotten the consultation of real people who, live this industry, who know this industry."
Watch Four Corners' full investigation, Trading in Chaos, tonight from 8:30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
The public wants the ads banned but the government keeps bowing to pressure. Now, with its whopping majority, what’s the excuse?
Two
years ago this week the Murphy report was delivered to the government,
recommending the banning of gambling ads. And for two years the Albanese
government has failed to act in the face of pressure from vested
interests. Over those two years Australians have gambled away another $60bn.
In
June 2023 Labor MP Peta Murphy said: “Australians are the biggest
losers in the world when it comes to gambling. We have a culture where
sport and gambling are intrinsically linked. These behaviours are
causing increasingly widespread and serious harm to individuals,
families and communities.”
Australians
know we’re the biggest losers by a large stretch over any other nation
in the world. Australians know that gambling causes mental and financial
stress. Australians know that gambling losses can trigger family
violence. Australians know that gambling ads are normalising gambling,
for children and adults.
Australians want it to stop.
Australia Institute polling in March
reconfirmed the majority view that three in four Australians support a
total ban on gambling ads phased in over three years. These numbers are
mirrored in surveys by the AFL Fans Association.
But the government is putting power before people.
At
a public forum run by Kooyong independent Dr Monique Ryan, Curtin
independent Kate Chaney and me in Melbourne on Wednesday night, John,
who has experienced gambling harm, said that because of failed policy “a
lot of people have seen suicide as the only option to escape the
predatory behaviour of the gambling companies”.
The
failure runs long and deep and crosses party lines. Murphy represented
the outer Melbourne seat of Dunkley, which has more than its fair share
of struggling Australians. She knew, especially after the social policy
committee inquiry proved it, that online gambling and its blanket
advertising was preying on their vulnerabilities.
She
achieved rare multipartisan support for the report, which recommended a
three-year phased gambling ad ban. That was just one of 31
recommendations, among them implementing a national strategy on harm
reduction and national regulation, an ombudsman, a harm reduction levy, a
public education campaign, more independent research and improved data
collection.
“A phased, comprehensive ban on
online gambling advertising is recommended within three years,” Murphy
said. “This will give major sports and broadcasters time to find
alternative advertisers and sponsors, while preventing another
generation from experiencing escalating gambling harm.”
But
to appease the gambling companies, broadcasters and sporting codes,
both major parties have offered a halfway house, a partial ban to reduce
ads per hour and keep ads out of prime-time sport. Previous similar
policies have increased the number of ads in other programs including
during news and family drama.
When pressed on his reticence to implement a full ban, the prime minister has repeatedly implied that gambling is part of Australian culture.
That’s disingenuous.
Firstly, this is not a debate about banning gambling, it’s about the ads that are encouraging it and causing untold harm.
Secondly,
private sports betting has only been available since SportsBet was
licensed in 1993. The “culture” has been built by profit-driven
industries, and it can be changed by a government with courage.
Before
an election, you can (perhaps) understand why a government may not want
to defy powerful media companies that are embedded with sport in this
country and historically have had the power to turn elections.
After, with a more than 90-seat majority, what’s the excuse?
If
the issue is the profitability of the broadcasters – and I’m all for a
strong media landscape – that should be addressed separately. Our
communities should not be saddled with gambling problems to keep media
and multinational gambling companies profitable. Nor should fans be
preyed on by sporting codes that get a commission from each bet. It is
immoral.
Had the government found its courage
at the time, we would now be just one year off a full ad ban. Instead,
they’ve failed to honour Murphy’s committee’scommonsense
recommendations.
In turn, Australian
communities have experienced another two years of gambling ads,
normalising the link between betting and sport. During the last term of
parliament, I twice tabled a private member’s bill to ban gambling
advertising. South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie also tabled legislation
to address the issue. In all cases the government refused to debate it.
Now is the time.
MPs
Chaney and Ryan have kicked off a new “ban gambling ads now” push this
week. They have support from their communities, gambling advocates and
fans. On the backbenches in both major parties there is also support for
this change.
The opportunity sits with Anika
Wells, the new minister for sport and communications (a vexed coupling
in this context), who must respond to the Murphy report.
Peta Murphy died of breast cancer in December 2023. Her legacy must not be allowed to die with her.
Massive floodwaters flowing into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of waterbirds. (Supplied: Reece Pedler)
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The
most arid corner of Australia is about to burst with life, as Kati
Thanda-Lake Eyre braces to reach capacity for just the fourth time in
the past 160 years.
While the
usually-barren salt flats rapidly fill with floodwater from south
western Queensland, migratory waterbirds like seagulls, swans, ducks and
pelicans will begin descending to the inland oasis in the hundreds of
thousands.
So — with the lake
expected to become entirely full in the coming months — how do birds
know that this once-in-a-generation event is happening?
Ready, set, fly
The
question is one University of New South Wales Professor Richard
Kingsford has been striving to answer for the majority of his career.
Researching the Lake Eyre Basin has been Professor Richard Kingsford's life work. (Supplied)
He's spent the past four decades monitoring water birds through aerial surveys.
"Birds can go incredible distances," Professor Kingsford said.
"Unlike
water birds in other parts of the world, that sort of regularly migrate
between spring and winter — we don't see any of that.
"These birds just know that it's on in the Lake Eyre Basin and they're ready to go."
Worlds away from home
Professor
Kingsford said while the majority of the waterbirds found at Kati
Thunda-Lake Eyre are native to Australia, some species will travel from
as far as China, Russia and Antarctica.
He
said the birds will capitalise on the opportunities to breed at varying
times based on the availability of vegetation, invertebrates and fish.
"There's that huge smorgasbord of food," Professor Kingsford said.
"It sort of triggers that cascade of different types of species coming in at different points.
"You get these wonderful sort of pulses of productivity depending on which waterbird you're talking about."
The floodwaters from south-west Queensland have already transformed the landscape. (ABC News: Tom Hartley)
Professor
Kingsford said — while still complex — tracking waterbirds had become
somewhat easier in recent years with the arrival of satellite tracking
technology.
"These are like little backpacks that you can put on birds and they allow you to track them over a number of years,"
he said.
"And it it is one of the great mysteries for Australia is how do these birds know where the water is and head off?
"We are starting to get some ideas of how they probably do it though."
Pelicans resting on the banks of Kati-Thanda-Lake Eyre after flooding in 2019. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)
An 'enduring' mystery
Ecologist
Reece Pedler became fascinated by the movements of waterbirds while
living in the remote South Australian town of Roxby Downs for a decade.
"I
now live up in the Strzelecki Desert … so I see this stuff first-hand
in my life in the outback that birds are flying around and doing these
amazing things," Mr Pedler said.
"Birds can arrive really rapidly and their ecology is geared to these unpredictable events.
"But we don't know exactly how they know."
Reece Pedler studied the breeding patterns of the banded stilt using solar-powered trackers. (ABC News: Elise Fantin)
Mr
Pedler, who is the coordinator of the Wild Deserts Project in Sturt
National Park, previously studied the breeding behaviour of the banded
stilt using solar-powered trackers as part of his PhD.
The
threatened bird species is most commonly found in Australia's saline
coastal wetlands, such as the Coroong or at St Kilda Beach, north of
Adelaide.
"Those banded stilts might be there for months and months on end or live there year round, " Mr Pedler said.
"Then suddenly they disappear when places like Lake Eyre or other lakes in the Western Australian desert fill.
"They fly hundreds or sometimes thousands of kilometres in one fly and they somehow know that there's water there."
A family of banded stilts at Lake Torrens in South Australia's remote far north. (Supplied: Tom Putt)
Once-in-a-decade opportunity
Mr
Pedler said the abundance of brine shrimp at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre
creates a rare breeding-ground for the threatened species.
"They don't breed anywhere else around the coast … so they have to wait years or decades for those opportunities," he said.
"And when they breed, they breed in real style, they have thousands of pairs.
"But
the question of how they know — we didn't quite manage to crack — it
still remains one of these enduring mysteries of animal behaviour."
Mr Pedler says some banded stilts have to wait decades for breeding opportunities at inland lakes. (Supplied: Reece Pedler)
Mr
Pedler said while it was once thought the birds only flew after
significant wet events, minimal rainfall was enough to trigger the
stilts to leave the coast and head inland.
"There's
some really complex triggers too because this water that's flowing into
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre now fell in western Queensland in the last week
of March," he said.
"So the
stilts and other water birds that would be turning up at Lake Eyre now
are not responding to rainfall or atmospheric queues that have happened
in the days prior.
"There's
potentially lots of different mechanisms occurring and it may be that
some different groups of birds have different ways of sensing these
things."
Thousands of whistling ducks taking off from the Diamantina River in northern South Australia. (Gary Ticehurst: ABC News)
Theories still up in the Eyre
Several
theories of how birds know when Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is filling exist,
including them having the ability to detect infrasound, barometric
pressure or smell the flooded salt flats on the breeze.
"There's
been theories like scouts … if pelicans send up observers to go and
recce inland sites and come back and tell their mates that there's food
on offer," Mr Pedler said.
"I
guess there's some rationale for that because pelicans can fairly easily
fly long distances, they get up to high altitude on thermals and then
they can cruise and go for a look.
"It's still an open case and there's a lot more work to understand this really fascinating behaviour."
Flooding transforms arid landscapes into rivers teeming with birdlife like pelicans. (Supplied: Wrights Air.)
Professor
Kingsford said as more technology emerges and becomes cheaper, the more
scientists like himself will be able to shed light on how birds are
able to do what they do.
"What's
most important about that is working out when are the critical times
that we need to protect particular habitats in their life cycle," he
said.
"I'd love to try and work out what's going on and others are too.
"Although it is rather nice not to know everything or think we know everything because this is a big mystery that's intriguing."
There's a theory that coastal colonies of pelicans send out scouts to inland desert lakes. (ABC News: Michael Slezak)
