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28 March 2011
Paul Keating said: 'Governments that wander along uncertain about where they are, looking over their shoulder, invariably get run over themselves.' If Labor doesn't stop looking over its shoulder on asylum seekers, it will miss another opportunity to stand up for what it says it believes in.
In 2001 Collins resigned from priestly ministry because of a dispute with the Vatican over his book Papal Power. In the interview he discusses his views on the Church and its governance, as well as eco-theology.
Before being elected Premier, Barry O'Farrell described Sydney's new 200km bike network as 'crazy' and an 'inconvenience' to motorists. Given cycling's overwhelming benefits to society, what's really crazy is O'Farrell's populist pledge to keep Sydney car-dependent into the future.
Steven is a flamboyant gay Texan who becomes a compulsive conman in order to fund his extravagant lifestyle. When his crimes land him in prison, he finds in fresh-faced fellow inmate Philip a new object for his obsessions.
Queensland's deputy police commissioner has said there is no need for disciplinary action against any Queensland police officer over the Palm Island death in custody case. Justice is beyond the reach of Queensland Aborigines, while the police remain a law unto themselves.
My favourite things to grow are rhubarb and broad beans because you can see those over the weeds. I go out to the garden and spit on my hands. You never see people on television gardening programs spit on their hands, which is a dead giveaway that they are picked solely for their good looks.
I recently spent time with a group of students from a remote community who had been at school down south. After a fight involving other Aboriginal students, they wanted to go home. Senator Jenny Macklin has suggested punishing Aboriginal parents who do not support their children attending school.
When is touch .. invasion of privacy? ... To touch another .. is to send .. some intimation .. subliminal blatant .. casual or deeply meant ... When is restraint .. the protocol?
High profile furniture and electronics retailer Gerry Harvey has announced that Harvey Norman would reluctantly open an online store. Most businesses are not yet confident about how to replicate online the interpersonal relationship that lies behind every economic transaction.
In a recent interview on ABC radio, Abbott argued that work isn't just about the economy, it's also about individual welfare and the social fabric. He's right to point out that the Disability Support Pension focuses too much on what recipients can't do and not enough on what they can.
As some recent Australian elections have shown, leaders do not always let go in time to avoid embarrassment. Retiring Australian cricket captian Ricky Ponting usually behaved with dignity. But there are moments he'd no doubt prefer to expunge from the record.
Some perceive the racial vilification case against Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt as a challenge to free speech. But this case is about more than silencing critiques of the construction of race, and indeed Bolt himself.
Obama knows the mood could sour quickly in the Middle East and Arab world if the US goes into Libya with ground forces. Yet if the war drags on, Obama will face increasing domestic criticism. Americans are anxious to see stability restored to their oil supplies.
Christian defeats a bully using violence more severe than that which he suffered. He learns a frightening lesson about the capacity of violence to still conflicts. Casey Heynes, whose videoed retaliation against a school bully became a hit on YouTube, can probably relate.
In a recent speech titled 'The Fall of the Christian West', American Cardinal Raymond Burke was concerned with Catholic identity. Questions about identity fix our attention on the group to which we belong, when Christian groups should instead begin by looking outwards.
It is raining. The ball has doubled its weight and is like kicking a basket of wet washing. And it's slippery, like grappling a live fish. The boys have kept this bayside game going many years, but I've only rocked up in the past couple. A ball hurtling towards me from on-high raises a new set of fears.
Two political leaders in Pakistan were murdered for speaking out against blasphemy laws that had been used to oppress religious minorities. Disturbingly, many Muslim intellectuals stayed silent regarding this injustice. Why were they so defensive?
Below the waterline, a rufous mud dishevels the purpose. Above the waterline, struts and rooves stamp rectangle chequers onto the place where community can no longer gather. Two dogs look out from a corrugated raft.
More Labor and Coalition MPs than Green MPs are pro gay marriage and pro euthanasia. It is these major party social progressives who should be most feared by opponents of gay marriage and euthanasia. The Greens will only ever play a ginger-group role.
Currently the churches and the Greens have a mostly dysfunctional relationship. More than a few Greens owe their passion for social justice to a strong Christian upbringing. But while they both want values to triumph over pragmatism in government, they regard each other as the enemy.
Many people have been concerned about the effect of Coles' $1 milk on 'little' producers. They should look closer. Those producers are actually large companies, quite capable of fending for themselves, who have been putting the squeeze on farmers for decades.