The recently announced carbon policy is the Gillard Labor Government's first real attempt at clear policy leadership, where "substance has prevailed over spin", says Charles Sturt University (CSU) political scientist, Dr Dominic O'Sullivan.

Australia must reduce its carbon pollution emissions by 80 per cent if it is to help the globe avoid catastrophic climate change, according to CSU climate policy expert Professor Kevin Parton.

The details of the carbon tax announced on Sunday 10 July by Prime Minister Julia Gillard promises to generate discussion around Australia as its implications are assessed for various sectors of the Australian community, including those in regional areas.

A CSU research team is monitoring the effects on what could be the largest intended release of water ever used to maintain the ecological health of the Murrumbidgee River that flows across southern NSW.

Major Australian cities face decreasing drinkable water, increasing traffic congestion and pollution problems by 2050 if immediate changes are not made to current government policy, says CSU academic and former leading CSIRO scientist, Mr Barney Foran.

Assessing the best way forward for the Federal Government to manage the effects of climate change on Australia will be the focus of a workshop to be held this Wednesday 2 March in Canberra.

A new book on Australian mistletoes should go a long way to changing the public’s perception of these much-maligned parasitic plants, says CSU ecologist and author, Associate Professor David Watson.

A leading CSU researcher has called for caution amid a recent newspaper report claiming efforts to mitigate carbon emissions in the Murray-Darling Basin could be ‘damaged’ by proposed cuts to irrigation in favour of returning water to the rivers.

World experts on operating dams, including a leading CSU aquatic scientist, have called for bold leadership from lending institutions, national governments and dam owners and operators worldwide.