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POLITICS

Long road to the Indigenous referendum  
January 26, 2012
John Warhurst

The proposed referendum follows the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations and provides an opportunity for this Labor era to be remembered whenever the Indigenous story is told. Passing a referendum is exceptionally difficult and there is no fool-proof recipe for success.

VIDEO

Detention centre project spruiks art and humanity  
January 26, 2012
Peter Kirkwood

Detention centre project spruiks art and humanity  
January 26, 2012
Peter Kirkwood

In his Australia Day address, neurosurgeon Charlie Teo denounced racism and called for more compassionate treatment of refugees. In that spirit, Sydney artist Safdar Ahmed runs free classes in detention centres. He is inspired by the emphasis on social justice in Islam.

POLITICS

Beyond Australia's adolescent identity crisis  
January 25, 2012
Fatima Measham

While Australia's early history is marked by violence, the Fraser Government's decision to accept nearly 60,000 Vietnamese refugees, the Mabo decision, and Paul Keating's Redfern speech provide positive narrative touchstones that can help lead Australia to maturity.

COMMUNITY

Social networking drives inclusion revolution  
January 24, 2012
David Cappo

Due to the prevalence of online opinion and information sharing, access and participation — the pillars of social inclusion — are becoming central to citizens' values. Governments need to be alert, as citizens will increasingly desire a more active role in their system of government.

THE MEDDLING PRIEST

Morris affair contains lessons for Church hierarchy  
January 24, 2012
Frank Brennan

Just because there is no legal remedy to the denial of natural justice to former bishop Bill Morris, that is no reason for the senior hierarchy not to reflect acutely on their treatment of him. Respectful dialogue with Toowoomba's church leaders would be a good start. 

CARTOON

Unchecked pokies pay out  
January 24, 2012
Fiona Katauskas

POETRY

Receiving a past  
January 23, 2012
Anne Elvey

From the glistening trees the chorus of what was said became me, before I registered the sacrifice. Now from the yes, a small face looks up mute. My eyes are still selfish and my ears hunt a magpie's repertoire. She spills it on the blue page.

POLITICS

Praise for Wilkie's rage against the machines  
January 23, 2012
Tony Kevin

Catholics in Australia have tended to be more tolerant of alcohol and gambling than 'wowser' Protestants. But too many Catholics turn a blind eye to how today's poker machine technology and operating environment is designed to nurture dangerous (but profitable) addiction.

THE AGENDA

Time to change our racist constitution  
January 22, 2012
Michael Mullins

Those who have been aware of racism in the Constitution and prepared to tolerate it, have effectively blessed the attitude that it's acceptable to regard Indigenous Australians as second class citizens in theory as long as we treat them as equals in practice. 

MULTICULTURALISM

Myths and truths of Australian bigotry  
January 22, 2012
Larry Schwartz

Too often I've opened my front door and found myself tempted by some sales pitch. So today I'd answered warily, spoke through the screen door and tried to keep the encounter brief. 'I'm sorry, but we're not interested.' The salesman knew better: 'It's because of the colour of my skin,' he replied.

RELIGION

Bill Morris and natural justice  
January 22, 2012
Andrew Hamilon

The reports by a retired judge and a canon lawyer into the dismissal of Bishop Morris make disturbing reading. Given that the obligation of natural justice carries moral as well as legal weight, Morris was entitled to expect his right to it would be respected by the Vatican.

MULTICULTURALISM

Once upon a time in multicultural Australia  
January 19, 2012
Zac Alstin

Embracing an individualistic Australia that transcends ethnic heritage would leave us with a culture that is young, thin and commercialised. If we wish to promote unity and equality, the best thing we can do is learn our own forgotten stories of ethnic heritage.

NON-FICTION

The hell of hoarding  
January 19, 2012
Ellena Savage

Inside an old case of art supplies I'd lugged in and out of three houses but rarely opened, I found a plastic bag with something like a dead rat in it. It was not an animal however but a full head of my own hair from the time I shaved my head. There is internal logic to hoarding, but it has its perils.

RELIGION

Beyond Catholic corporate spin  
January 18, 2012
Andrew Hamilton

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Great Britain last year prompted an interesting experiment. The Church asked for lay volunteers to deal with media enquiries. At first glance this could be construed as an exercise in corporate spin with a focus on persuasion and not on truth.

ARTS

Religious icons tweaked by Renaissance masters  
January 18, 2012
Alex McPhee-Browne

The Renaissance embodied a revolution not only in form, but in content. Bellini's Madonna and Child is enlivened by a zesty piece of human theatre: the baby Jesus, anxious to be on his way, raises one leg in a gesture of defiance, a perfect half-scowl etched onto his tiny features.

NON-FICTION

Parenting habits of Mormons and Catholics  
January 17, 2012
Brian Doyle

In Mormon families, the first kid has to be a bishop or scout leader, and the second through fifth are trained fpr football. In the Catholic system, a family produces a priest or nun, a cop, a teacher, and a solider, after which the rest of the kids can be whatever they want, even Lutherans in some cases.

INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

Adelaide land crime shows why we need a treaty  
January 17, 2012
John Bartlett

In the mid-19th century my great-grandfather made a fortune as a quarryman and selling timber in South Australia. Of course with possession comes dispossession. Recent consideration of the state's founding documents suggest land acquired in establishing South Australia was acquired illegally.

CARTOON

Changing her tune  
January 17, 2012
Fiona Katauskas

POETRY

Before the fall  
January 16, 2012
Kevin Gillam

The chant of the unseens — ripple in a magpie's throat — as the sigh of a city's prayer cushions — forgiveness has the weight of faith and cloud. And then rain, symphonic on tin, washing walls of doubt.

POLITICS

Squeamish over Scottish independence  
January 16, 2012
Justin Glyn

The prospect of a referendum on Scottish independence from the UK evokes one of the more interesting tensions in modern international law, between the right to self-determination on the one hand and the territorial integrity of states on the other.

THE AGENDA

Thatcher's blame game  
January 15, 2012
Michael Mullins

It is arguable that, because she was one of the architects of the free market financial system that lacked protection for ordinary citizens, Margaret Thatcher shares responsibility for the widespread public harm caused by the GFC and the eurozone crisis.

MEDIA

Weighing Wikipedia  
January 15, 2012
Philip Harvey

Somedays it looks like the most extravagant love letter to the humanist project, other days like the biggest ragbag of unsorted intellectual capital. The sheer scale of information is truly amazing. But as a reference, the time has come for Wikipedia to up its game.