Restricted Theses

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/9050

While this collection is searchable, the digital copies of the theses are restricted because the author has requested an embargo period or permission has not been given to make the work publicly available.

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Haemostatic defects in B-cell malignancies
(2026) Brysland, Simone
Optimal platelet, coagulation and vascular bed functions are crucial for haemostasis, with impairments resulting in bleeding and thrombosis. Waldenstrom Macroglobulinaemia (WM) is a rare lymphoma, characterised by the myeloid differentiation primary response (MYD)88L265P mutation in 92% of patients. Clinical features include bone marrow (BM) infiltration and immunoglobulin (Ig)M paraprotein hypersecretion by malignant lymphoplasmacytoid B cells, and hyperviscosity and bleeding symptoms. WM is treated with Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKis), which can exacerbate bleeding. Haemostatic functions are understudied in WM. This thesis aimed to evaluate platelet and coagulation functions in untreated (n=13) and BTKi-treated (n=5) WM patients, compared to healthy donors (HDs, n=15). Distinct phenotypes were identified using multivariate analyses. The effects of IgM paraprotein on haemostasis and the presence of MYD88L265P in the platelet-producing megakaryocytes (MKs) were also assessed. Untreated WM patients displayed mildly reduced platelet counts (151+/-79x109/L), which correlated with 3.8-fold increased thrombopoietin (TPO) levels. Platelets from untreated but not BTKi-treated WM patients displayed reduced reticulation and desialylation, possibly indicating deranged age and lifespan. These platelets displayed normal levels of adheso-signalling surface receptors and responses to physiological agonists, however contributions to the acceleration of thrombin generation were decreased by 74% relative to HD platelets. Despite untreated WM patients being stable and not displaying bleeding symptoms, multivariate analyses distinguished their platelet phenotypes from HDs with relative accuracy, based on reduced platelet counts, reticulation and fibrinogen binding to unstimulated platelets, and elevated TPO levels. These analyses also accurately distinguished BTKi-treated from untreated WM patient platelets based on reduced glycoprotein (GP)VI-mediated platelet activation response and GPVI, CD9 and soluble GPVI levels. WM patient plasma samples displayed delayed and reduced thrombin generation compared to HDs. Coagulation factor contributions to thrombus amplitude were increased in WM patient whole blood samples, possibly indicating increased fibrinogen contribution. Multivariate analyses accurately distinguished coagulation phenotypes in WM patients with cardiovascular comorbidities from those without, based on accelerated and increased thrombin generation measurements. IgM paraprotein was enriched from WM plasma to a purity of 83%. When included in platelet assays, 50-60 mg/mL IgM (equivalent to levels observed in hyperviscosity patients) reduced HD platelet adhesion, spreading and aggregatory responses to physiological agonists. IgM bound to activated platelets, possibly electrostatically. IgM reduced plasma thrombin generation potential by 6%. Haematopoietic cells were sorted from WM patient BM aspirates. MYD88L265P was identified in isolated B cells in 67% (6/9) patients, and intriguingly, also in 50% (3/6) lymphoid progenitors, 33% (2/6) stem cells and 20% (2/10) MKs. Platelets from a WM patient with MYD88L265P in the BM displayed 38% increased Toll-like receptor-mediated platelet activation, upstream of Myd88, compared to a WM patient without the mutation. This novel finding suggests that constitutively active Myd88L265P may be present in WM platelets and may alter inflammatory signalling responses to relevant pathogens. This is the first study to investigate haemostasis in a WM cohort of this size, using modern, sensitive, research techniques. This work identified platelet and coagulation defects in stable, well-managed WM patients, which were exacerbated by BTKi therapy or inclusion of IgM paraprotein. These defects may underpin bleeding in symptomatic WM patients. Monitoring of platelet and coagulation properties using multivariate analyses may help stratify patients for bleeding risk and personalise treatments accordingly.
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Towards understanding and targeting the Plasmodium falciparum CoA biosynthesis pathway
(2026) Liu, Xiangning
Pantothenate, a precursor of the fundamental enzyme cofactor coenzyme A (CoA), is an essential nutrient for the intraerythrocytic stage of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. P. falciparum has been shown to be capable of de novo synthesis of CoA from pantothenate via a five-step universal pathway. Pantothenate kinase (PanK) catalyses the first step of the CoA biosynthesis, which has been suggested to determine the rate of CoA biosynthesis in many organisms. In contrast, the phosphopantothenoylcysteine synthetase (PPCS)-mediated step has been proposed as the flux control step of the parasite CoA biosynthesis. P. falciparum expresses two PanKs, PfPanK1 and PfPanK2, which assemble into a unique heteromeric complex with a potential regulatory protein, Pf14-3-3I. Similarly, the parasite expresses two putative PfPPCSs, PfPPCS1 and PfPPCS2, neither of which have been characterised. Site-directed mutagenesis of key residues in PfPanK1 and PfPanK2 predicted to be involved in active site stabilisation was performed. Bioinformatic and mutagenesis studies revealed that the heteromeric PfPanK complex only possesses one functional active site. A parasite line that allows inducible knockdown of PfPanK2 was generated and PfPanK2 was found to be essential for normal intraerythrocytic proliferation of P. falciparum. Mass spectrometry analyses of phospho-peptide enriched, immunoprecipitated PfPanK samples revealed phosphorylation sites in PfPanK1 and PfPanK2 that were additional to the previously reported sites. Mutagenesis of four predicted Pf14-3-3I binding sites in PfPanK1 significantly reduced the amount of Pf14-3-3I bound to the PfPanK complex, with S334 being the most likely binding site. Heterologous expression of the PfPanK complex was attempted using the insect cell protein expression system. Although some of the expressed components aggregated, enough remained soluble, naturally formed the complex in situ and, crucially, when purified, the complex was functional. Further, results from both the heterologous expression and P. falciparum mutagenesis studies suggest that Pf14-3-3I may be non-essential for PfPanK activity. To investigate the two putative PfPPCSs, transgenic parasites overexpressing a green fluorescent protein tagged PfPPCS1 or PfPPCS2 were generated. Results from western blots, fluorescence-coupled size exclusion chromatography and mass spectrometry revealed that the two PfPPCSs associate into a single, functional PPCS heteromer that, unlike any other eukaryotic PPCS reported to date, is unable to use ATP for activity. Bioinformatic analyses uncovered a prokaryote-like helical component of PfPPCS as important for the nucleotide specificity and potentially holding the key for its stringency for CTP. Moreover, it was found that the complex is the target of multiple antiplasmodial pantothenate analogues and may interact with other pantothenate analogues that target different steps in CoA biosynthesis/utilisation. Isoxazole or thiazole substitution of the labile amide bond in pantothenamides (PanAms) led to identification of several novel PanAm-mimics with sub-micromolar potency against intraerythrocytic stage P. falciparum and were non-cytotoxic to mammalian cells. Kinetic studies identified the selected compounds as substrates of the human PanK3 enzyme, but with much lower affinity compared to that of pantothenate. Computational modelling showed that minor modifications can significantly influence the optimal side chain-configurations and the biological activity. This study has advanced our knowledge of the heteromeric PfPanK complex, marked the identification of the first heteromeric PPCS complex and contributed to a better understanding of the parasite CoA biosynthesis. This study offers new opportunities for designing inhibitors that exploit the unique features of the PfPPCS complex, and hopefully, may expedite the identification of new drugs targeting P. falciparum pantothenate utilisation.
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"too notorious to be denied": The Murdering Gully Massacre(s)
(2026) Nevalainen, Alycia
On 1 November 1839, Charles Sievwright reported that an Aboriginal named "Tainneague" had told him up to thirty Aboriginal people had been killed in a "massacre" that involved "Hamilton, Taylor and Broomfield". Seven other Aboriginal people would provide similar accounts. Eight weeks later, Sievwright arrived at the massacre site to find Taylor had fled, and local colonists provided depositions that were "more of an exculpatory than inculpatory character". Despite Taylor being involved in numerous other violent incidents against Aboriginal people, he was seemingly lauded by colonial society rather than shunned for his crimes. He was twice appointed a Magistrate and nominated into the Melbourne Club by the former Chief Commissioner of Police and President of the Legislative Council. Arriving in Australia from what appears to have been a relatively poor family, he died a "gentleman" ensconced in the wealth he amassed from pastoral pursuits. While the Australian historical narrative now explicitly acknowledges frontier conflict, as this study only located detailed and contextualised accounts for two per cent of the massacres reputed to have occurred, it remains an under-researched component of our nation's history. Accounts of massacres are also mostly presented as contextless vignettes in which victims (and perpetrators) lack any humanising details and which, consequently, provide minimal insight into the colonial process and the lived experiences of those directly involved in them. While such an approach has been successful in demonstrating the extent of frontier conflict, it has facilitated a narrative where massacres appear as isolated events, anomalies in an otherwise peaceful colonisation. Further, as with most histories of colonising nations, colonist-authors of massacres have mostly spoken over Aboriginal people rather than carefully listening to their words. Indeed, in the instance of the Murdering Gully massacre, disregarding what the victims told about the incident has resulted in the truth of what happened essentially remaining hidden in plain sight for almost two hundred years. As Australia heads into an age of "truth-telling" about our complicated past, what accounts will be used to tell this "truth"? Will it be those that are essentially "a story twice written on the same manuscript"? Rather than "talking over" the victims of the massacre, which has often characterised colonist-created histories of colonising nations, this study sought to privilege the Aboriginal voice. While this was complicated by being unable to locate anyone who identified as belonging to the Jarcoort nation who were recorded as those involved in the massacre, postcolonial methods were employed, such as privileging the Aboriginal accounts of the incident and stripping the colonial ideologies embedded in colonist accounts of the victims. Using such postcolonial methodologies provided access to the Jarcoort voice, which revealed previously unrecognised details about the massacre which enabled the creation of an in-depth and contextualised microhistory of the incident. Further, the resultant narrative expands what is known of the everyday realities of Aboriginal people and the colonists, as well as the colonisation of south-east Australia. For instance, contrasting the belief that massacres were anomalies in an otherwise peaceful colonisation, the Murdering Gully massacre was one of a series of escalating incidents between the Jarcoort and the colonists. Consequently, this thesis argues that taking a postcolonial microhistorical approach enables the development of an in-depth contextualised account of the Murdering Gully massacre, which provides significant insight into the everyday lived experiences of Aboriginal people and colonists during the colonisation of Australia.
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The nutritional ecology of the Zanzibar red colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii) within modified habitats
(2026) Semmler, Sofie
As primate habitats are being continually altered by human activity, animals need to adapt in various ways in order to survive. This is particularly true for folivorous primates as modified landscapes usually results in directly affecting their food resources. With disturbed habitats comes an increased number of introduced plant species. These exotic plants most often contain unfamiliar secondary compounds that can be potentially harmful when ingested. There is currently little work that investigates how living in a modified environment impacts the dietary ecology of folivores, which is vital when implementing conservation strategies to ensure their survival. This study focuses on four groups of endangered Zanzibar red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus kirkii) that live in a variety of anthropogenically modified habitats in the Jozani Chwaka-Bay National Park & Biosphere Reserve, Zanzibar. One group resided in the southern part of the National Park, utilising heavily disturbed regenerated edge forest and the surround shambas (farmlands). Three other groups deeper in the forest were also followed, whose habitat disturbance levels ranged from low to moderate. Within these environments, some groups have adopted the unusual behaviour of consuming charcoal, which is thought to serve as a detoxification agent by adsorbing harmful phenolic compounds found in many of these introduced plant species. By comparing data on different habitats, behaviours, diets and the chemical constituents of food plants, a better understanding of how these folivores have adapted to cope with modified environments, will be gained. Results indicate that habitats, behaviours, diets and feeding strategies have changed since research was conducted in the area by Mturi (1991) and Siex (2003). Overall, the shamba group had a larger home range, a broader dietary diversity containing more exotic plant species and consumed charcoal most frequently, compared to the forest groups. Nutritional analysis of samples from each groups diet, indicated that the ZRC food items differed greatly in levels of important constituents; with the overall nutritional profile of samples from one group being higher in protein, while that of the other groups excelled in energy, minerals or was relatively balanced. Habitat disturbance levels did not coincide with the nutritional fingerprints of the samples analysed. This study elucidates how the ZRC are using their habitats when exposed to modified habitats along with how better conservation strategies can be implemented to benefit this endemic species.
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Feeding your guests: The role of putative amino acid transporters UMAMIT in symbiotic root nodulation in the model legume Medicago truncatula
Winning, Courtney
This thesis investigates the role of UMAMIT Nodulins (UTNs) in the symbiotic relationship between legumes and rhizobia, which are necessary for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. This symbiotic relationship involves the plant providing nutrients to the bacteria, with amino acids being a potential source of nitrogen. However, the specific genes responsible for transporting these amino acids were not known. I identified eight UTN genes specifically expressed during nodulation of Medicago truncatula. Phylogenetic analysis grouped UTNs into two clades within the UMAMIT family, with UTN1 and UTN2 falling in clade I and UTNs3-8 clustering in a legume-sequence rich clade III with additional nodulin like expression, suggesting their function is conserved across different legume species. To investigate the role of these UTNs, I generated triple mutant knockout lines, targeting UTNs 1, 2, and 6. These mutant plants did not show significant differences in nodule number compared to wild-type plants, suggesting that these UTNs are not essential for the initial formation of nodules. However, the mutants displayed a reduced amount of pink leghemoglobin containing nodules at 14 days post inoculation, and showed changes in starch accumulation patterns, indicating impaired nitrogen fixation in the mature nodules. Promoter:GUS fusion analysis revealed distinct and overlapping expression patterns for different UTNs, suggesting a potential role in supporting rhizobia in the infection zones, and, later, the nitrogen fixation zone. Specifically, UTN1 expression was localized to nodulation zone II and the interzone. UTN2 was expressed in multiple tissues, including zone II, the interzone, zone III and the nodule vascular traces. UTN6 was primarily expressed in infected cells in zone III and the nodule endoderm. Antibodies were raised against a 13 amino acid epitope from the C-terminal region of UTN2. Western blotting studies verified that UTN2 was a nodulin. Immunofluorescence studies on nodule tissue sections revealed that the UTN2 protein localised to multiple membranes within the mature nodule, specifically the symbiosome membrane of infected cells, the cell periphery of non-infected cells, and the periphery of multiple cell types in root vascular bundles of nodules, including those immediately adjacent to the xylem vessels. The localization pattern of UTN2 to the symbiosome membrane suggests a direct role for this protein in facilitating nutrient exchange between the plant and rhizobia at the symbiotic interface. The presence of UTN2 in nodule vascular bundles supported a role for this protein in amino acid transport from, and, potentially, to the nodule. This is the first investigation of a symbiosome localised UTN. The stains and materials generated in this thesis represent new tools to investigate host-symbiont dependencies. The results also indicate that the substrates transported by UTNs1 2 and 6 are likely to be necessary for rhizobia to establish a normal metabolism in root nodules.
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Explaining China's Financial Policy Interests: Discursive Contestation, Economic Crisis, and Policy Change (1988-2020)
(2025) He, WENTING
From the late 1980s to 2020, China's financial reform has followed a slow and fragmented path. Plans for financial liberalisation were varyingly constrained, postponed, or reversed, especially during times of economic crises. What explains China's financial policy interests from the late 1980s, and how have economic crises influenced those interests? Conventional analyses typically point to the structural effect of the distribution of state capabilities, domestic coalitional struggles, or prevailing ideas on state interests, where crises are exogenous shocks that disrupt and reconfigure structures. While these analyses offer useful insights into structural constraints, they nevertheless underrate actors' agency to think, speak, and act beyond those constraints, enabled by the intersubjective nature of international politics. They overlook how actors can strategically contest and reconstruct the meanings of ongoing events, including economic crises, through ongoing discursive interaction. Addressing the oversight, this thesis develops a theoretical framework for the discursive construction of state interests across periods of stability and crisis, one that takes both structural constraints and agency seriously. Through this theoretical lens, this thesis examines how China's financial policy interests have been discursively constructed from the late 1980s, with a focus on four major economic crises: the late-1980s inflation crisis, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and the 2015 stock market crash. It argues that China's financial policy interests are shaped by ongoing discursive contestations, particularly during crises, over how the financial market should serve the party-state's goals. First, China's financial policy interests are subject to discursive contestations among domestic stakeholders over how the financial market operates, particularly in relation to the lessons learned from economic crises. Second, these interests have been influenced by China's distinct and enduring conception of state-market relations, which views the market as a tool to advance the state's political objectives. To offer deeper insights into this conception, this thesis further traces China's historical understanding of state-market relations from the Warring States period to the late Qing dynasty over a span of more than 2,000 years, suggesting that this conception was historically developed, deeply rooted in China's economic thought, and has provided a structural context in which contemporary China's financial policy debates occur. Taken as a whole, China's financial policy interests are contingent on the dynamic interplay between structural contexts and actors' strategic efforts to interpret, navigate, and reshape them through discursive interactions.
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Materiality, Re-Enchantment, and the Spiritual Imagination in Shakespearean Romance
(2025) Taylor, Barbara
In the final years of his professional life, William Shakespeare's drama entered the period we now refer to as his "late romances," plays in which the supernatural world hovers at the edges of all action, and the lines between tragedy and comedy blur. These plays, written and first performed between 1608-1613, pushed the limits of what was considered stageable and believable in the early modern playhouse. In doing so, this collection of plays responded to a post-Reformation crisis of the spiritual imagination--what to believe, and how to conceive of it--through creative experiments in "enchantment". This thesis argues that these plays amount to a seventeenth-century project of "re-enchantment," and seeks to amend teleological accounts of "the disenchantment of the world" by suggesting that creative resistance to disenchantment was already in progress in the early seventeenth century. Far from being immaterial fantasy, the plays under consideration in this thesis--Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Henry VIII (All Is True), and The Two Noble Kinsmen--each materialise post-Reformation spiritual dilemmas in performance, bringing to the forefront drama's potential to make visible the otherwise invisible facets of spiritual crisis: contested spaces like Purgatory, the vitality of objects such as relics, and the embodied experience of prophecy. By combining theoretical approaches from areas of ecocriticism, materialism, and affect theory, I explore how the material spaces, objects, and bodies in these texts engage with early modern spiritual dilemmas. Across three case studies, I undertake close readings of theatrical texts in pairs, paying attention to their original performance conditions, and placing them in conversation with each other as well as contemporaneous theological, political, and imaginative writing of the period. In the first case study, I position the oceanic spaces of Pericles and The Tempest as experimental navigations of an alternative Purgatory. In the second, I trace the stage lives of theatrical props in Cymbeline and All Is True as desacralized relics. In the third and final case study, I consider the implications of embodying and producing prophecy in The Winter's Tale and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Together, these case studies test my theory of "the dramaturgy of enchantment," to suggest that re-enchantment is an integral part of these plays' literary construction and reception, with the capacity to induce wonder, awe, terror, and pleasure in the audience. Enchantment is thus positioned as an ambivalent cultural mood; one that can accelerate the decay of damaged sites of spiritual fulfilment, or work to repair them.
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Prototyping Proactive Responsible AI Practices
(2025) Ruster, Lorenn
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly expands across industries, bringing potential and actual harms, the need for responsible AI practices grows increasingly urgent. Yet beyond legal and regulatory compliance, what responsible AI practices are and how to enact them remains elusive. This thesis asks: How can entrepreneurial organisations, committed to responsible AI, enact proactive responsibility? And what might this mean for the future of responsible AI as a field of study and practice? I explored these questions through design intervention research with five entrepreneurial organisations committed to responsible practice. Grounded in pragmatism, the research engaged with three sub-questions of interest: how to get started with responsible AI in practice, how to embed a commitment to human-centred values, and how to sustain responsible AI efforts over time. Three prototypes emerged: a responsible AI pledge-making process, a Dignity Lens for AI development and integrated reflective practices. Using five theoretical lenses - cybernetic awareness, systems thinking, affordances, dignity, and responsibility - the prototypes produced and reflected upon advance the field of responsible AI in several ways. First, the thesis asserts that protective responsibility orientations are necessary but insufficient in responsible AI, and demonstrates a complementary approach: proactive responsible AI practices. Second, the thesis establishes systems-informed pledge-making as an alternative pathway to principles-only frameworks. Third, it extends the set of values operationalised in AI development beyond usual principles - fairness, accuracy, transparency, privacy - to include human-centred values, like dignity. Fourth, it critiques the gap-bridge metaphor that is commonly used to describe the relationship between responsible AI principles and practices through evidence of integrated, non-linear, values-dynamic relations; different metaphors such as a hive or jazz duet are offered as starting point alternatives. Finally, the thesis exemplifies how entrepreneurial organisations can actively engage in responsible AI through small-scale projects and decisions. Together, these contributions expand and challenge prevailing perspectives on responsible AI, offering practical guidance for AI developers, managers and leaders, as well as new insights for scholars studying technological transformation. Overall, this transdisciplinary, engaged scholarship delivers theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions that extend beyond academia. Theoretically, the thesis reconfigures how we understand and practice responsible AI. Methodologically, the work shows how to conduct design intervention research in responsible AI contexts. Practically, the prototypes deliver tangible value for practitioners and the broader field. For example, the Dignity Lens represents a first-in-kind implementable framework that assists practitioners to operationalise dignity throughout the AI development process, and is currently embedded into the operations of a seven-person data science team, demonstrating impact beyond the life of the thesis. How to do responsible AI in practice is far from settled. While current approaches offer partial solutions, this thesis "researches into being" new practices, broadening what is possible in responsible AI.
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Beyond Borders: A Craniometric Exploration of Population Affinities and Individual Ancestries in the Nile Valley during the Early to Mid-Second Millennium BCE.
(2025) Clark, Bonnie
Using craniometric analysis against a contextualised backdrop, this thesis examines interpopulation affinity and intrapopulation diversity of the Nubian and Egyptian Nile Valley during the first half of the second millennium BCE (c.2000-1500 BCE). This time is characterised by intense interactions between Egyptians and Nubians, and provides artistic, textual, and archaeological evidence of heightened relationships with people from outlying regions. Previous quantitative and qualitative cranial and dental studies of Egyptian and Nubian groups have found anomalies or variation during this time, but often lack contextualised explanations or are confined by their biocultural, temporal, or spatial scope. Few consider the individuals within the populations. This thesis not only establishes the origins and relatedness of Nilotic groups within a discrete but dynamic period, but also draws upon regional and global samples to investigate relationships between populations, as well as the individual outliers concealed within. By layering a combination of statistical tests over multiple scenarios, biological relationships which mirror cultural and geographical borders are revealed. However, the populations of the Nile Valley are also closely intertwined. Inconsistencies that arise within the samples used both challenge and support previous findings, yet correlate with historically documented events. Despite general homogeneity of the Nilotic groups, both admixed and foreign (non-Nilotic) individuals are detected and their ancestral origins investigated. Through this approach, this thesis contributes to current understandings of population dynamics within Egypt, Nubia, and neighbouring regions, and reveals implications for broadening discourse on mobility, migration, and estimation of ancestry during the first half of the second millennium BCE.
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Summary jurisprudence in unsettled Places: culture, 'miscognition' and sentencing law.
(2025) Spiers Williams, Mary
Summary courts of jurisdiction in central Australia 'miscognise' culture by not recognising that the everyday practices of settler Australians are cultural practices. This has implications for sentencing law: settler Australian cultural practices are transformed into norms, against which those who have 'distinctive' (different from settler) cultural practices are judged. The racialised logics of this process affect the interpretation of the material presented in the sentencing hearing. A typical approach of sentencing courts is to associate the cause of criminality with a defendant's departure from western social practices that have become normalised in Australia. This becomes problematic for desert peoples, where their everyday practices are distinctive from that of the settler Australian norm. This can result in distinctive cultural practices being mistaken as the underlying cause of criminality, leading to the stigmatisation of desert peoples' cultural and legal practices - which occurred in several of the case studies presented in this dissertation. One consequence of this stigmatisation, which I witnessed in my research, was that defence lawyers tended not to make submissions that suggested that their clients engaged in distinctive cultural practices, and legal actors conducted their cases as if they had little insight into their client's distinctive ways of being. One effect of this was that valued cultural practices, legal philosophies and associated practices had no influence on sentencing court jurisprudence. This undermined a purported value of the common law (including sentencing law) - its responsiveness to its cultural and normative context. This dissertation explores the implications of this misrepresentation - or 'miscognition' - for the jurisprudence that these courts produce. Exploring the everyday practices of the courts, which harden problematic 'common sense' into legal concepts, reveals not only the privileging of western cultural practices in some cases. In their everyday production of jurisprudence, the observed summary courts were affected by the underlying settler perspective of entitlement to dominate this place. Legal representatives typically avoided critiquing the contribution colonialism may have made to criminality. Case studies include; one instance of a magistrate (and appeal court justice) in effect decriminalising coloniser-settler practices that the Northern Territory Parliament had impugned; other instances of magistrates asserting a settler monopoly over the legal field and denouncing Aboriginal law and the desert people who asserted its legitimacy, effectiveness and ongoing relevance; other instances in which the court appeared uninterested in identifying and addressing the more complex underlying causes of crime; and in a series of interrelated cases, magistrates exhorted desistance of Aboriginal legal and cultural practices that are socially constructive for desert people. In its pursuit of this colonialist objective, the court risked abrogating its responsibility for its own traditions - that is, to uphold the rule of law - and risked transgressing the civil rights that justify the existence of the criminal court in the Anglophone system of governance.
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Abortion against State and Church: Refusing Reproduction in a Legally Restricted Context
(2025) Koralewska, Inga
In the last decade, Poland has witnessed the rapid rise of an abortion liberation movement formed in response to the Catholic nationalist far right and its efforts to restrict reproductive rights. The movement began with mass street protests against Catholic nationalism and evolved into an ecology of organisations centred around Abortion Support Groups (ASGs) that help Polish women to obtain abortions through extra-legal means. Advancing critical feminist scholarship and inspired by Gramscian theories of power, this thesis investigates the possibilities of social change in a context where formal political channels of reform are blocked. It argues that the emergent abortion liberation movement has brought about profound change in the area of informal politics, even though it has so far failed to affect restrictive abortion laws or prevent their further tightening. The movement's counterhegemonic project challenges the longstanding alliance between the Polish state and the Catholic Church and has successfully shifted the stigmatising views of abortion that had permeated the Polish public sphere since the 1990s. This, it is argued, has led to the effective social decriminalisation of abortion even while anti-abortion laws remain in place. In advancing this argument, the thesis engages in critical discussion with Marxist and Left Accelerationist thinkers who claim that contemporary social movements against capitalism have largely failed in their attempts to effect lasting change. The thesis questions why these theorists routinely omit discussion of abortion liberation movements and argues that the omission reflects a serious oversight in their understanding of both capitalism and the possibilities of anti-capitalist resistance. By insisting on the inclusion of the sphere of reproduction in the understanding of what constitutes capitalism, this thesis approaches struggles over reproductive rights as profoundly connected to anti-capitalist resistance. This thesis employs qualitative research methods, drawing upon three sources, i) in-depth interviews with ASG activists and women who have used their services, ii) ASG websites and social media profiles, and iii) media and non-governmental reports on anti-Church protests. By investigating the possibilities of informal political power, the thesis contributes to recent debates about resistance on the left and to critical feminist work on abortion, social movements and reproductive justice.
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Bimetallic complexes of an unsymmetrical, dinucleating pyrazole-derived pincer ligand
(2025) Ngwenya, Vuyelwa
In this work, we describe the systematic synthesis and characterisation of homo- and heterobimetallic complexes of an unsymmetrical, dinucleating ligand. The pyrazole moiety of the ligand has a proton responsive NH that can be deprotonated by base therefore allowing for the stepwise synthesis of bimetallic complexes. The unsymmetrical nature of the ligand also allowed for a novel study into the pocket switching of metals in the different pockets. These complexes were all investigated as potential catalysts in transfer hydrogenation. Chapter 2: Synthesis and characterisation of homometallic nickel complexes of PNNNNH ligand are reported and their reactivity explored. The redox properties of the mononickel complex in acetonitrile indicated two quasi-reversible reduction events, while the electrochemical profile of the dinickel complex in DMF indicated multiple redox events in its CV. The insolubility of these complexes particularly the dinickel complex prompted a co-ligand study in which the chloride ligands were substituted for nitrates and sulphates, but these led to the formation of trinickel bis-chelated complexes. These complexes were also investigated for their potential as electrocatalysts for proton reduction. Chapter 3: The first examples of Ni-based heterobimetallic complexes are reported using the PNNNNH ligand. The proton-responsive nature of the pyrazole ligand core allows for the stepwise synthesis of heterobimetallic complexes via the monometallic nickel and ruthenium complexes. Although selectivity for the PNN pincer pocket is observed with Ni, the complexation to the bidentate NN-pocket is favoured with more sterically encumbered Ru complexes. The identification of the first dinuclear NiFe complex of the PNNNN systems was characterised by X-ray crystallography, but unfortunately a bulk product was never isolated. When the Ru analogues were used, soluble diamagnetic complexes were obtained. Although the two Ru precursors used in this study are closely related, they both gave different NiRu structures with the former leading to a NiRu complex with a bridging Cl ligand while the later gave a NiRu complex with no bridging ligand. Chapter 4: A novel study of pocket switching is explored in this chapter. In Chapter 3, it was illustrated that Ru preferentially binds to the NN pocket rather than the PNN pocket, a process that could be led by steric and kinetic control. Coordination of Ru to the PNN site could be achieved thermally using high temperatures. Two mono RuPNN complexes were synthesised and served as precursors to pocket-switched heterobimetallic RuPNN,NiNN complexes. The pocket switched RuNi complexes were found to be more air- and moisture-stable compared to the NiRu complexes. Chapter 5: In this chapter, we explored the reactivity of the homometallic and heterobimetallic complexes in transfer hydrogenation. The homometallic nickel complexes were ineffective in catalysis even in the presence of a diboron activator. The mono RuNN complex only showed 44% conversion of benzophenone after 24 hrs. However, the mono RuPNN complexes showed over 95% conversion within 2 hrs. Notably, when Ni was added, more than 2-fold reduction in conversion was observed for the heterobimetallic complexes. This suggests Ru is the catalytically active site and is most effective when it is coordinated in the pincer pocket.
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A Multicentre Study of Staging and Prognosis in Head & Neck Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Lymph Node Metastases
(2025) Ebrahimi, Ardalan
An accurate staging system is essential for all cancers with risk stratification guiding treatment decisions and allowing clinicians to counsel patients. The standard staging system used worldwide is the Tumour, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging system developed by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC). The TNM stage for HNcSCC with nodal metastases is based on the pathological lymph node (pN) classification used for mucosal head and neck cancers. In the 8th edition Staging Manual published in 2017, the AJCC introduced extranodal extension (ENE) to the pN classification, upstaging patients with ENE to either pN2a or pN3b categories and therefore TNM Stage IV. Despite the intuitive appeal of introducing ENE into the staging system given it is a well-accepted prognostic factor in head and neck cancer, several Australian studies comparing the prognostic performance of the 7th and 8th edition TNM systems in patients with HNcSCC with lymph node metastases found the 8th edition system had very low predictive power. These findings highlighted the need to develop a nodal staging system specific to HNcSCC and prompted the current PhD thesis. We aimed to: 1) critically assess the prognostic performance of the 8th edition AJCC staging system using objective statistical measures of model performance; 2) to compare the performance of the 8th edition TNM staging system with several previously published alternative staging systems (N1S3 and ITEM) designed specifically to predict disease-specific survival in patients with HNcSCC with nodal metastases; 3) to define important prognostic factors in HNcSCC with nodal metastases, with a focus on analysing issues relevant to staging and prognosis to inform future revisions of the HNcSCC staging. The thesis was based on a retrospective cohort of 1309 patients with HNcSCC with metastases to parotid and/or cervical nodes, treated between 1980-2017 with curative intent surgery +/- adjuvant radiotherapy, with a median follow-up of 3.2 years. We showed based on objective statistical measures that the TNM staging performs poorly and violates all the characteristics of an ideal staging system with poor balance between groups, low predictive power and lack of monotonicity, hazard discrimination and hazard consistency. Perhaps the most important findings relate to ENE which was present far more frequently in HNcSCC than mucosal cancers. We demonstrated that the AJCC system ascribes excessive weight to ENE and results in the vast majority of patients being inappropriately classified as TNM Stage IV despite many having an excellent prognosis. Importantly, we demonstrated that additional information on the number of nodal metastases as a categorical variable with 1-2, 3-4 and >=5 nodes should be included in the staging system. Another key finding was that immunosuppression is an independent strong adverse prognostic factor irrespective of the cause and merits incorporation into the prognostic stage groups of the TNM. Finally, perineural invasion was consistently associated with reduced survival and we recommend consideration of adding clinical perineural invasion into the staging system. Our analysis of the influence of the primary tumour (T stage) in the presence of nodal metastases cast doubt on its prognostic value in this context and suggests a re-evaluation is required. Finally, we were the first group to examine determinants of distant metastatic failure in HNcSCC and developed a simple intuitive distant metastasis risk score that stratified risk of distant metastatic failure well and may prove useful in clinical decision making. This thesis has established the need for major changes to the nodal staging system for HNcSCC and provides insights on important prognostic factors to help guide this process. We hope that a system specific to HNcSCC can be developed and validated that reflects its distinct tumour biology and provides clinicians with a more accurate tool to risk stratify patients.
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Synthesis, reactivity and catalysis of heterobimetallic PNNN complexes
(2025) Wu, Jingyun
This thesis explores the chemistry of a dinucleating, unsymmetrical phosphino pyridyl 1,8-naphthyridine PNNN ligand, 2-((di-tert-butylphosphino)methyl)-7-(2-pyridinyl)-1,8-naphthyridine, with the aim of preparing heterobimetallic complexes and investigating their reactivity and catalytic activity in hydrogenation reactions. Chapter 2 details the development of monometallic PNNN precursors using ruthenium. Complexation with commonly used ruthenium triphenylphosphine precursors was unsuccessful due to formation of mixtures and unstable products. Alternatively, ruthenium arene precursors allowed the isolation of N,N- and P,N-bound monoruthenium complexes, with N,N vs P,N selectivity dictated primarily by sterics. This selective synthesis of P,N and N,N monoruthenium complexes provides a promising platform for stepwise synthesis of heterobimetallic complexes. Chapter 3 covers ruthenium-copper heterobimetallic complexes. Synthesis of the heterobimetallic complexes could be achieved through the reaction of monoruthenium PNNN complexes with copper precursors. A dearomatised ruthenium-copper complex was isolated, which induced ruthenium-copper proximity. A dicopper-dichloride complex was synthesised to allow a comparative catalytic study between homo- and heterobimetallic PNNN systems. A preliminary investigation of metal-ligand cooperative dihydrogen activation was carried out using the dearomatised ruthenium-copper complex, which indicated that this stable ruthenium-copper combination may be incompatible with direct hydrogenation. In Chapter 4, the coordination of nickel precursors is assessed. The formation of heterobimetallic complexes with P,N-Ni;N,N-Ru and P,N-Ru;N,N-Ni were achieved through complexation of nickel source with two monoruthenium precursors. The synthesis of P,N-Ni;N,N-Ru and P,N-Ru;N,N-Ni complexes, respectively, is the first example of metal exchange between the two binding pockets within a 2,7-disubstituted-1,8-naphthyridine ligand system. The similar structural features of these ruthenium-nickel heterobimetallic complexes enabled the investigation of impacts of cooperativity between the ligand and different metals and provide a comparative system for evaluating their catalytic performance relative to their monometallic analogues. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the catalytic potential of PNNN complexes in hydrogenation reactions. Ruthenium and ruthenium-copper complexes were assessed in transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone, where the monoruthenium complex was found to be the most efficient catalyst. The copper centre remained catalytically inactive and sterically hinders substrate access in ruthenium-copper heterobimetallic systems, thereby decreasing reactivity. Possible metal-metal cooperativity was also examined in semi-hydrogenation of diphenylacetylene. Inclusion of a more active nickel centre led to a significant increase in catalytic activity using ruthenium-nickel complexes compared to both monoruthenium and the ruthenium-copper analogue. The enhanced catalytic activity may be due to nickel being the active site, or it may be induced by metal-metal cooperativity between ruthenium and nickel centres. The P,N-Ni;N,N-Ru complex delivers faster and more selective conversion than the P,N-Ru;N,N-Ni complex. Although preliminary studies were unable to determine to origin of these differences, these are promising system for further study to probe the role of metal-metal or even metal-metal-ligand cooperativity in heterobimetallic complexes.
Open Access
First Nations' pop-cultural heroes: Indigenous communication practices in the age of mass media
(2025) Samsonova, Irina
This doctoral thesis examines innovative forms of media making in Australia with a focus on a new generation of writers and artists working in popular media formats that are not getting sufficient attention in scholarly literature. This thesis situates two in-depth case studies of Australian Aboriginal media franchises, Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard's Wylah the Koorie Warrior (2022-) and Jonathon Saunders' Zero Point (2016-), within the dual histories of First Nations media production and mainstream appropriations of First Nations identities within popular culture. As I study the criticism of two Disney films, Pocahontas (1995) and Moana (2016), I find that tackling problems of representation with seemingly effective strategies of cultural research and consultations with cultural experts is not, in fact, a straightforward and infallible solution. By investigating how Gould, Pritchard, and Saunders engage with pop-cultural production and what messages they intend to communicate to their cross-sectional audience, I unpack some of the complexity of Indigenous engagement with contemporary mass media in general, and Indigenous identity representation specifically. These franchises reveal insights into the complex, multilayered, and politicised space of Australian Indigenous mass media. By analysing forms, storylines, readerships, business models, political contexts, positionality of authors, and historical trajectories, I find that this field represents a novel development in Australia and that Indigenous media creators negotiate utilisation of media technologies to articulate their own relatively autonomous concerns. The Indigenous identity of the media creators I worked with does have a profound impact, that is both enabling and limiting, on their production process, funding, career and marketing opportunities, and relationship with their audience. I find that the meaning and place of Indigenous cultural identity in the current socio-political state of Australia is the subject of intense negotiations linked to political, cultural, and social divides within society. In the end, I explain that viewing Indigenous communication practices as relatively autonomous components of Indigenous cultural systems helps in viewing Indigenous mass media use without leaning into the essentialist rhetoric of Indigenous cultural authenticity or social amalgamation into the wider Western society.
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Zoom and Gloom: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding the Implications of Digital Disruptions on Experiential Processing in Remote Communication
(2025) Brown, Nericia
In recent years we have seen an increase in the use of remote communication platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Unfortunately, digital disruptions such as drop out, lag, and echo are common in these exchanges. While often beyond the user's control, evidence suggests that these instances of digital disruption may systematically negatively influence impressions of the speaker and the messages they share (Newman & Schwarz, 2018). Research on cognitive fluency provides one account for this and posits that when individuals encounter new information, they are sensitive to the content but also the relative ease or difficulty required to process that content (Alter & Oppenheimer, 2009; Schwarz, 2015). A substantial body of literature has demonstrated that people draw on these processing experiences when forming judgements, such that fluent experiences are evaluated more positively than disfluent experiences (e.g. Reber et al., 2004; Reber & Schwarz, 1999). This thesis draws on quantitative and qualitative methodologies to examine the impact of technology-based fluency effects in remote communication contexts. Previous research has suggested that when individuals are aware of the source of processing difficulty on their judgements, they can spontaneously discount fluency as a cue in their decision making (Oppenheimer, 2004; Oppenheimer & Frank, 2008). Across three lines of research, this thesis examines how awareness of technology-based fluency biases impacts the extent to which people draw on experiential processing in their judgements. In Study 1, we conducted two experiments to examine the extent to which audio fluency effects replicated when participants made judgements for themselves and others. We replicated previous studies, finding robust technology-based fluency effects for judgements made for themselves and others. Further, we found that when explicitly prompted to consider audio as a potential source of bias they demonstrated awareness for the influence, and considered others more vulnerable than themselves. In Study 2, we performed qualitative content analysis to explore the extent to which participants were aware of technology-based fluency effects in mock telehealth consultations. When asked to reflect on their experiences, participants most frequently volunteered thoughts on the audio quality of the consultations and how this either aided or impeded their ability to engage with the information being shared. These findings highlight individual's sensitivity to processing experience and captures people's ability to articulate how technology-based fluency effects may impact their impressions and judgements. Finally, in Study 1, we conducted two experiments to explore the efficacy of instructions in attenuating technology-based fluency effects. We examined both instructions that focused on drawing attention to variations in audio quality and the source responsible for these variations. Our results demonstrated the robust influence of auditory processing experiences on judgements as the two types of instructions had negligible effects on reducing technology-based fluency biases. Ultimately, across three lines of research our findings speak to the intractable nature of auditory processing experiences on judgement and decision making. Despite qualitative and quantitative accounts suggesting that individuals were aware of the influence of audio disruption on their experience and decision making, we found no evidence that participants were able to correct for this experience. Further, manipulations that draw attention to the source of cognitive difficulty do not appear to mitigate the negative effects of digital disruptions. As governments work to bridge the digital divide in broadband access, disparities in device access persists (Napoli & Obar, 2014). These findings raise critical concerns about equity in critical remote exchanges - e.g., telehealth, virtual courts - that are reliant on technology.
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New Directions in Dendralene Methodology
(2025) Lee, Jong Jin
In our current age, synthesizing useful chemicals and materials efficiently has become paramount. Through reduction of step count and utilizing materials that reduce the amount of waste we generate in synthesis, we make chemistry greener and more sustainable in a world with finite resources. Developing new methodology which both reduces step count and the amount of waste improves synthesis as a whole and furthers society's development, and within this thesis are our contributions to achieving this lofty goal. Chapter Two describes the reactions of dendralenes in cobalt catalyzed formal Diels-Alder reactions. This work demonstrates the combination of [3], [4], [5] and [6] dendralenes and cobalt catalysis in highly regioselective formal [4+2] cycloaddition sequences with electronically neutral/rich alkynes. These adducts may be elaborated into substituted naphthalenes, phenanthrenes, binapthalenes and other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons alongside various miscellaneous reactions. The new methodology developed from this work expands the scope of dendralenes further into the realm of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with fascinating potential applications of these compounds now in the realm of possibility. Chapter Three showcases a new, unique synthesis for highly substituted butadienyl allenes through couplings between propargylic bromides and allenylic carbonates through a allylic and propargylic transposition and coupling strategy. Our general, modular method accesses substituted butadienyl allenes with up to 7 substituents, allowing a systematic overview of the effects of substituents on their stability and Diels-Alder reactivity. We further conducted preliminary investigations into their potential as intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction precursors for the synthesis of fused, bridged polycyclic systems in efforts to further their scope as natural product precursors. Chapter Four outlines a modular, robust method for synthesizing parent and substituted 2,3'-cyclo-[3]dendralenes using a 3 step sequence of aldol condensations, dienol triflate formations and cross-couplings starting from commercially available ketone precursors. We thoroughly investigate their Diels-Alder reactivity, and the impact of substitution upon mono and bis-adduct selectivity.
Open Access
Encumbered Workers: A Socio-Legal Study of Motherhood, Discrimination and Job Loss
(2025) Graham, Emma
In Australia, approximately one in five working mothers are reported to lose their job as a result of discrimination during pregnancy, parental leave or on return to work. This is despite employment based discrimination against pregnant women and those with family or parental responsibilities being prohibited by anti-discrimination legislation in all Australian jurisdictions as well as by the Fair Work Act 2009. The policy challenges that arise from the intersection of motherhood and paid labour are well documented, but discriminatory job loss is an under-explored aspect of this gender inequality landscape. Little is known about the nature of discriminatory job loss, who is most vulnerable to experiencing it, why it is so prevalent and the effectiveness of the labour law framework in addressing it. The aim of this thesis is to advance knowledge about the nature, extent, causes and consequences of discriminatory job loss experienced by pregnant women and mothers in Australia. Drawing on feminist legal theory, nationally representative survey data, in-depth semi-structured interviews with 38 mothers who have experienced discriminatory job loss and analysis of legal frameworks, this thesis argues that discriminatory job loss occurs, and occurs frequently, because of a socio-legal system of work and care that disadvantages mothers. This argument is divided into three parts that broadly correspond with three research questions. In the first part, I argue that conventional approaches to measuring the prevalence of discriminatory job loss reinforce a liberal understanding of discrimination as something that is both relational and individual, rather than systemic. These approaches overlook job loss that occurs because of gendered inequalities in the labour market and the home as well as obscuring the relationship between job loss, economic precarity, legal regulation and access to services (such as childcare). The second part of the thesis argues that labour laws are an integral part of a socio-legal system that creates and sustains inequality for mothers and carers. This is so for a number of reasons. First, labour laws offer pregnant women and carers legal entitlements that allow care work to be accommodated, but do not disrupt the underlying ideal unencumbered worker norm. Although many of these entitlements are gender neutral, it is overwhelmingly mothers who use them. The institution of motherhood (and particularly dominant ideologies of 'good' mothering) shape and constrain the 'choices' made by parents in relation to how they share and manage paid work and unpaid care, resulting in more mothers seeking workplace accommodations and more fathers conforming to ideal worker practices. Second, mothers are discriminated against by a legal system that privileges employer discretion to determine the terms and conditions of employment and to justify job loss by reference to managerial prerogative. Third, labour laws place considerable burdens on individuals to advocate for and seek enforcement of workplace rights. This both heightens their vulnerability to job loss as well as creating multiple barriers to accessing justice for job loss that has occurred. The third part of the thesis examines the consequences of discriminatory job loss for the personal and professional lives of Australian mothers. I argue, not only that discriminatory job loss has a significant impact on the self-esteem, confidence, mental health and finances of mothers, but also that it detrimentally effects their re-entry into, and equal participation in, the labour market. This thesis concludes by exploring how labour law could be recentred around a carer norm and whether this might hold promise for disrupting discriminatory practices and advancing gender equality.
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The innate immune system in multiple sclerosis - role in neuroinflammation and implications for therapy
(2025) Roberts, Nadia
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating and neurodegenerative condition of the central nervous system (CNS). MS pathology is driven by antigen-specific immune activity, where peripheral immune cells infiltrate the CNS and mount an immune response targeting myelin. Adaptive contributions to this process have been well-studied and are the main target of existing MS therapies. In contrast, the myriad roles of innate immunity in MS neuroinflammation remain relatively poorly understood, in part due to the multi-faceted nature of these cells and their phenotypic complexity. This thesis investigates the use of liposomes-a drug vehicle characteristically taken up by phagocytic innate cells-as a delivery platform for MS therapeutics. This was achieved using mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) models, which are commonly used to mimic MS neuroinflammation. Using a liposomal formulation of existing MS therapeutic mitoxantrone (MTX) as proof-of-concept, MTX-loaded liposomes possessed enhanced efficacy in comparison to freely delivered drug. Moreover, the liposome formulation examined displayed CNS-penetrance during neuroinflammation, and displayed strong preferential interaction with a specific myeloid population which could be depleted during treatment. Further, this thesis examines myeloid cell, particularly dendritic cell (DC), heterogeneity in MS. These cells, critical in the activation and modulation of antigen-specific immunity as seen in MS, comprise multiple ontogenetically distinct subsets and a spectrum of activation states. How this complexity reflects in MS is still unclear. Here, high-parameter flow cytometry was used to characterise DC subsets and functional phenotypes in blood of people with MS (PwMS) relative to non-MS controls. These data delineate innate complexity in neuroinflammation through characterisation of DC populations and phenotypes which have previously not been analysed in PwMS, further adding to our knowledge of how these complex cells behave in this context. Further, these data demonstrate the utility of liposomes as a treatment platform in neuroinflammation, and how these vehicles may be leveraged to target innate immunity.
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Young people in Focus: War, Peace and Resistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
(2025) Swan, Georgia
While young people are increasingly exposed to and involved in armed conflict, they are systematically excluded from efforts to create peace. This disparity is exacerbated by a dearth of empirical research exploring young peoples' lived experiences of conflict and their capacities for peace. As a result, their agency is misrepresented and their impact on international relations obscured. This thesis challenges the epistemic injustice that plagues academia and devalues young people as knowers, arguing that young people are political actors who influence conflict and have distinctive capacities for peace. It critically engages with the relationship between young people and sustainable peace through an ethnographic case study in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), elevating young peoples' experiential knowledge through an innovative methodology including Photovoice, using photography and storytelling. Cast as 'terrorists' and 'unchildren', young Palestinians are polarised in dominant global narratives and their agency problematised. However, this case study demonstrates that, in the OPT, young people are highly political and assume intersecting roles as symbols, victims and influential actors of conflict. The experience of growing up under military occupation and the perceived failure of the international peacebuilding architecture to deliver rights and justice influences the way that peace is understood and practiced. Many young Palestinians reject the framework of liberal peacebuilding in favour of a maximalist everyday peace agenda that deconstructs the dominant narratives underpinning the conflict. Young people's conviction that resistance is necessary to challenge power dynamics and create the conditions of positive peace pervaded my research and led me to an unanticipated, yet central, turn to resistance as a lens to analyse young people's agency. That resistance - everyday and overt - could be borne from a love of peace, enacted by those who fundamentally see themselves as peace actors, disrupts binary conceptions of conflict actors. These findings develop critical International Relations discourse by showing the practical and moral value in engaging with young people, and urge scholars and peacebuilders to engage with all young people as essential actors in building intergenerational, sustainable peace.

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