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POLITICS

Palestine takes a stab at statehood  
September 22, 2011
Binoy Kampmark

It has been said that giving certain countries independence was like giving a razor to a child. As Palestine makes its bid for full membership of the UN, it may do well to remember that any successful strategy should focus not on statehood but on rights.

VIDEO

Muslim artists' vision of multifaith Australia  
September 22, 2011
Peter Kirkwood

Muslim artists' vision of multifaith Australia  
September 22, 2011
Peter Kirkwood

Since its inception 60 years ago the Blake Prize for religious art has courted controversy. Several recent entries have been denounced in the media as blasphemous or sacrilegious. This year's exhibition presents a striking portrayal of contemporary multifaith Australia.

APPLICATION

Simple answers to economic blues  
September 21, 2011
Andrew Hamilton

The weak August retail sales have disturbed market watchers. The more ideologically inclined have blamed lefties who look down on shopping and consuming. Throughout history simplicity, thrift and voluntary poverty have been valued highly by many philosophies and religions.

FILMS

The mystical art of rudeness  
September 21, 2011
Tim Kroenert

The interviewer snaps at one archaeologist, who is attempting, with little success, a demonstration of Palaeolithic spear-throwing. At other times he is astute and discerning, drawing experts out on both the academic and mystical significance of one of the world's most significant archaeological sites.

NON-FICTION

My father's good death  
September 20, 2011
Gillian Bouras

The day my father died I was at the beach. Strangely, that morning one friend and I had been discussing death. My phone had been switched off, but as I walked away at the end of an almost perfect day, I turned the little time-bomb on again. It exploded almost immediately.

MEDIA

Media Inquiry won't go far enough  
September 20, 2011
Tim Dwyer

In arriving at its negotiated position with the Greens, the Government has shied away from any explicit examination of media concentration, arguably the main reason behind the widespread calls to examine the structure of the Australian media in the first place.

CARTOON

Gillard's dire straits  
September 20, 2011
Fiona Katauskas

POETRY

Chance meeting with an inventor  
September 19, 2011
James Waller

Hans shows me an invention which magnifies letters for his failing eyes, so that still he may read, so that still the winds may turn the bronze art coins of his perception. Cobweb-like sculptures dream upon some shelves, poetry is the wing of his bird-like speech.

POLITICS

Former terrorist pres a hard sell for Irish voters  
September 19, 2011
Frank O'Shea

When it comes to leopards changing spots or terrorists turning into statesmen, former IRA chief-of-staff Martin McGuinnes is up there with Mandela and Mugabe. His entry into Ireland's presidential race on the weekend is significant, as the rest of the field is desolately dull.

Rudd resurrection no miracle cure for Labor  
September 18, 2011
John Warhurst

If Rudd was re-installed as leader, Howard's Lazarus impersonation and Menzies' return to office in 1949 would have been outdone by the most remarkable twist ever in Australian politics. Only insiders know whether it might happen. Only voters know whether it might work.

THE AGENDA

Managing our mining windfall  
September 18, 2011
Michael Mullins

While we have have East Timorese students coming here to learn about how to look after their oil sector, Australia should be sending people to East Timor to look at their outstanding example of how to safely and wisely preserve oil revenue for future generations.

RELIGION

Vigilante Xenophon's name shame  
September 15, 2011
Andrew McGowan

Sexual offenders among clergy and church workers have often used their privileged status to act as though they were above the law. By using parliamentary privilege to name an alleged perpetrator, Senator Nick Xenophon has acted in a way that is, ironically, all too similar.

MEDIA

Sex discrimination by the book  
September 15, 2011
Ellena Savage

Women are prevalent among book buyers, editors and writers, yet largely absent from major literary pages and prizes. The Stella Prize, Australia's proposed new women's-only literary prize, is best viewed not as 'affirmative action' but as social mobility with a feminist face.

POLITICS

Why Gillard is the PM we deserve  
September 14, 2011
Moira Rayner

I'm not worried about Gillard's abysmal rating in polls. I'm not convinced anyone but journalists and backbiters have any real desire to roll her. There is no obvious alternative to Gillard as Labor leader, but there is an obvious need for a party which stands for something.

FILMS

Exposing UN sex and violence  
September 13, 2011
Tim Kroenert

UN peacekeeper Kathryn Bolkovac uncovers evidence that some of her colleagues have been involved with sex slavery and human trafficking. Her interactions with one victim reinforce her determination to achieve justice, while highlighting the limits of her ability to do so.

MARGARET DOOLEY AWARD

Inhaling God  
September 13, 2011
Jessica Voelker

One American physicist claims each breath we take contains molecules of air that were also breathed by Archimedes, Aristotle, and even Jesus Christ. Through physics, religion, the human body, and mythology, there is a thread that weaves us into a continuous rich tapestry.

POLITICS

Carbon tax saves Gillard (for now)  
September 13, 2011
Tony Kevin

Though Gillard's leadership has started to come under pressure, no one in Labor will want to overthrow her until the carbon pricing laws package is securely in place. This means no challenge before the first half of 2012. Only then, if opinion polls keep trending down, may Gillard be vulnerable.

CARTOON

Labor's sinking feeling  
September 13, 2011
Fiona Katauskas

POLITICS

In a spin over Malaysia solution reboot  
September 12, 2011
Kerry Murphy

Yesterday the Government announced it will change the Migration Act to enable the Malaysia solution to go ahead. This latest action reinforces rhetoric about queues and people smugglers that obscures the real effects and motivations of current asylum seeker policy.

POETRY

Favourite body parts  
September 12, 2011
Jordie Albiston

Thank you feet, for putting one after another along shorelines and long paths ... Sorry for all the concrete, landmines and shoes. To hands, many thanks, for touching many things ... I hope you enjoyed the feel of another's occasional flesh.

POLITICS

Liberated Libya's fatal flaws  
September 11, 2011
Anthony Ham

The disparate strands of Libya's revolution have been held together by a single unifying thread: a visceral desire to oust Gaddafi. Extremely effective as a rallying cry for rebellion, this anti-Gaddafi sentiment is deeply flawed as the unifying narrative for a new nation.

THE AGENDA

Australia's refugee bastardry is biblical  
September 11, 2011
Andrew Hamilton

The stories of Jesus' trial highlight the triumph of expediency over legality and morality. The Malaysia solution and the scramble to restore it contains detailed similarities. The people of the time are now remembered principally for their participation in an act of bastardry.