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The most expensive bananas in Thailand  
Harry Nicolaides 09-Jun-2009
Harry Nicolaides was a prisoner at Bangkok Remand Prison from September 2008 to February 2009, held on charges of lèse majesté. There he met Benny Moafi, who is serving a 22-year sentence for a crime he did not commit.

The 'bad eggs' of Ireland's abuse scandal  
Frank O'Shea 05-Jun-2009

After a lifetime in schools run by religious orders, I am appalled to think abuse against children in institutions in Ireland was 'endemic'. I try to persuade myself that 'Brendan', the saintliest man I ever knew, cancels out the bad eggs.

The decline of Christianity in Australia and America  
Peter Kirkwood 12-Jun-2009
In the Rudd/Obama era there are new parallels and convergences with regard to religion in Australia and the US. The figures may be on the slide, but rumours of the death of Christianity are greatly exaggerated.

Life of a 'geologian'  
Paul Collins 11-Jun-2009

Thomas Berry (1914-2009), Catholicism's most significant thinker in ecological theology, argued that religion had failed to provide a way of making sense of the cosmos. Christians oppose homicide, but have no morality to deal with the killing of the planet.

The rich list of Australian politics  
John Warhurst 16-Jun-2009
What can Malcolm Turnbull's place among Australia's richest 200 people tell us about wealth and politics? First and most obviously, that the extremely wealthy almost always get involved on the conservative side.

Historical tensions visit women and the Church  
Andrew Hamilton 18-Jun-2009

Many women religious fear the Vatican visitation of female religious congregations will take a negative attitude to feminist aspirations and to the changes brought about by Vatican II. They can find historical grounds for this fear.

Ryan Report: crimes of the 'human' Church  
Julian Butler 15-Jun-2009
Eventually the Vatican will have to stand in solidarity with the victims of abuse. The Church is capable of acting well and badly. To separate individuals from the Church diminishes the responsibility of the whole body.

Cousins, Chaser and the court of public morality  
Andrew Hamilton 15-Jun-2009
What do footballers who give photographers the bird, comedians who make jokes about sick children, boat owners who bring asylum seekers to Australian shores, cooks who swear, and cricketers who drink have in common?

Michael Jackson's tragic gift  
Tim Kroenert 29-Jun-2009
When celebrities die, public grief is disproportionate, because death reasserts the humanity of one who has seemed beyond it. Jackson had become so far removed from his humanity that the shock of his mortality is even more profound.

Utegate: Wayne Swan's 'marginal crime'  
John Warhurst 24-Jun-2009
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed and corrupt.

Most Commented

Curry muncher  
Roanna Gonsalves 23-Jun-2009
Vincent and I were both international students from Bombay. He had lived here for a year while I had only arrived three months ago. We worked in the same Indian restaurant. The night of his attack, Vincent sounded upbeat on the train. 28 Comments.

The 'bad eggs' of Ireland's abuse scandal  
Frank O'Shea 05-Jun-2009

After a lifetime in schools run by religious orders, I am appalled to think abuse against children in institutions in Ireland was 'endemic'. I try to persuade myself that 'Brendan', the saintliest man I ever knew, cancels out the bad eggs.

23 Comments.

Ryan Report: crimes of the 'human' Church  
Julian Butler 15-Jun-2009
Eventually the Vatican will have to stand in solidarity with the victims of abuse. The Church is capable of acting well and badly. To separate individuals from the Church diminishes the responsibility of the whole body. 16 Comments.

Irish and Indigenous gathering places  
Shane Howard with Regina Lane 02-Jul-2009
Five generations ago, rural Irish migrants built and paid for St Brigid's church at Crossley in south-west Victoria. Today, the people of Crossley and Killarney are fighting to save the gathering place from private ownership. 13 Comments.

Historical tensions visit women and the Church  
Andrew Hamilton 18-Jun-2009

Many women religious fear the Vatican visitation of female religious congregations will take a negative attitude to feminist aspirations and to the changes brought about by Vatican II. They can find historical grounds for this fear.

13 Comments.

Why we're losing the war on racism  
Saeed Saeed 10-Jun-2009

When discussing racism, the response is as important as the accusation. The slow response from police and political leaders to the recent spate of Indian-bashings demonstrates what can occur when racism is tackled passively.

13 Comments.

Plight of the 'skilled unemployed'  
Beth Doherty 22-Jun-2009
After returning home from six months of volunteer work overseas, my plan was that I would spend a couple of weeks looking, and that after a few resumés were sent out, the phone calls would start pouring in. They didn't. 11 Comments.

Life of a 'geologian'  
Paul Collins 11-Jun-2009

Thomas Berry (1914-2009), Catholicism's most significant thinker in ecological theology, argued that religion had failed to provide a way of making sense of the cosmos. Christians oppose homicide, but have no morality to deal with the killing of the planet.

11 Comments.

Utegate: Wayne Swan's 'marginal crime'  
John Warhurst 24-Jun-2009
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed and corrupt. 10 Comments.

South Africa's lesson for post-apartheid Australia  
Tim Kroenert 18-Jun-2009
Despite the best wishes of many, we are yet to resolve the injustices that have resulted from White Australia's brand of apartheid. As Disgrace reveals, reconciliation is more than words. There is much fear and anger to overcome. 10 Comments.

Retrospective

Bud Tingwell and I  
Andrew Hamilton 20-May-2009
I only met Bud Tingwell once. Like so many others, I went away the better for the brief encounter. But the meeting also led me to ask questions about what matters, and how we should nurture it in Australian society.

East Timor's digger friend  
Paul Cleary 09-Mar-2009

When East Timor was struggling to get a fair deal in negotiations over Timor Sea oil, Kenneally rallied his mates to fight. Appearing on national television, he told Prime Minister Howard: 'I'd rather you did not come to my ANZAC Day parade.'

Obama's challenge to the Church  
Andrew Hamilton 26-Feb-2009
The standard by which the most vocal Catholic Bishops judged Obama was his position on abortion, same sex marriages, and on the use of embryos for research. Obama has done the churches a favour by stealing their clothing.

Who cares about students  
Fatima Measham 10-Feb-2009

Many of the things that impact upon a teacher's efficacy are beyond their control - the quality of a child's homelife, the politicisation of the curriculum. One thing they can control is much they care, though this may bring new teachers little comfort in the months ahead.

Humanity endures in bushfire tragedy  
Andrew Hamilton 09-Feb-2009
During the financial turmoil this summer, images of fire have abounded. The economy is 'going into meltdown'. Shareholdings 'turn to ashes'. This weekend's bushfires make us ask instinctively what really matters.

My friend Justice Kirby  
Frank Brennan 03-Feb-2009

Prior to convening his own farewell ceremony yesterday, Kirby published his last dissenting judgment, stating Aborigines should have their day in court over the Intervention. Though respecting tradition, Kirby has long thrived on conflict and change.

Glamour returns to post-war Australia  
Madeleine Hamilton 09-Jan-2009
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first showing of Christian Dior's New Look fashion designs in Sydney. After years of wartime material restraints the New Look offered Australian women a fresh way of expressing their individuality and sensuality through fashion. (March 2008)

Life as a game show  
Tim Kroenert 18-Dec-2008
Having grown up an orphan in a Mumbai slum, Jamal is an unlikely candidate for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. A sense of the divine pervades the film, but while Jamal seems destined for good fortune, his brother Salim diverges towards corruption.

Zimbabwe's disappeared  
Oskar Wermter 17-Dec-2008
Jestina Mukoko was a television presenter, but left to become director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, which has documented many atrocities and crimes of Mugabe's regime. Last week she was abducted by a group of armed agents.

The nun and the burqa  
Bronwyn Lay 02-Dec-2008
When Germaine Greer savaged Michelle Obama's dress, I sighed. The 'beauty' market is a challenge to feminism. In France, two extremes of fashion ideology — burqas and plastic-surgery 'mannequins' — line up to buy bread.