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Vol 29 No 12

16 June 2019


 

  • ENVIRONMENT

    The view from Svalbard of PM's climate neglect

    • Catherine Marshall
    • 27 June 2019
    4 Comments

    This might be the Mediterranean were it not for the snow-lacquered mountains abutting the fjord we're sailing through. But no, it's the Arctic in summer — or, more precisely, the Arctic in the summer of 2019, when the climate emergency is at its zenith and the region is expected to record the lowest sea ice on record.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Why it's futile to beg for refugees' human rights

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 26 June 2019
    13 Comments

    In Boochani's experience, Australians were homogenous and unreflective parts of a machine designed to dehumanise, cow and corrupt the people who sought protection. This report and the departmental response suggest that in on-shore detention the human destruction is not directly intended. It is seen simply as irrelevant.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Lessons from the US-Iran 'lucky escape'

    • Justin Glyn
    • 25 June 2019
    8 Comments

    The first lesson would seem to be that Iran would be foolish to return to talks with the US. There seems precious little to talk about, and absolutely no assurance that the US would keep its side of the deal even if talks did result in the new and better deal the US has claimed it always wanted.

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  • CARTOON

    Cuts both ways

    • Fiona Katauskas
    • 25 June 2019

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Dictators, democrats, and Egypt after Morsi

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 24 June 2019
    2 Comments

    Egypt's first and thus far only democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi died in court while being tried for espionage following a lengthy period in prison. He is described as an 'Islamist' but never as a democrat. It's as if the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. Must they be? Was he any less democratic than his predecessors?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Sri Lanka limps on from bloody Easter Sunday

    • Devana Senanayake
    • 24 June 2019
    1 Comment

    During Poson, a celebration of the entrance of Buddhism into Sri Lanka, I passed three tents presenting free sago, tea and jaggery. Though the fanfare of past years did not exist, it appears the country, though still damaged, is limping through to recovery. But can this recovery be sustained if the emotional pain is still to be unpacked?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Gaetano decided to leave

    • Aaron Lembo
    • 24 June 2019
    4 Comments

    A student of Ethics and Philosophy, aspiring librettist, Gaetano Leigh read dusty books on the 16th century Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci in the basement of the Central Library ... Daily Gaetano imagined sailing the South China Sea re-reading catholic theology written to entice the scholarly Confucians ...

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Devils in the details of 'optimistic' jobs report

    • Kate Galloway
    • 21 June 2019
    4 Comments

    Inevitably, employers will use the report to counter calls by casual employees for more secure work. It is a shame therefore that the report does not pay greater attention to identifying the gaps in work security and the risk that this poses not only to individuals, but to society more broadly.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    A guide to the men you'll meet in the wild

    • Vivienne Cowburn
    • 21 June 2019
    13 Comments

    With the global population consisting of 3.5 billion men, it can take time to sort the good guys from the self-appointed 'good guys'. When so many men (but not all) are quick to separate themselves from the Sexist Monsters That Only Constitute One Per Cent Of The Male Species, how can you quickly tell if someone's alright or alt-right?

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    'Climate emergency' endangers democracy

    • Jeff Sparrow
    • 21 June 2019
    7 Comments

    Historically, a declaration of emergency, whether in response to war, civil unrest or natural disaster, allows the state to suppress debate to enable a militarised response to an urgent problem. You can see why that might appeal as a solution to the environmental crisis. But addressing climate change requires more democracy, not less.

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  • RELIGION

    Vatican still talking at, not to, LGBTQI+ people

    • Neve Mahoney
    • 20 June 2019
    22 Comments

    'Male and Female He Created Them' could have addressed how Church teachings could better coexist with LGBTQI+ experiences to benefit LGBTQI+ students. But that can't work if the document's authors don't listen to LGBTQI+ voices and when the foundational argument is to problematise LGBTQI+ people's existence.

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Big solutions to climate despair

    • Greg Foyster
    • 19 June 2019
    8 Comments

    People are lacking inspiration and courage. So right now, what we need is a solution as big as the problem we're trying to solve, and the best idea on the table is a 'Green New Deal' that combines action on climate change with tackling inequality.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Aboriginal Ministers maintain the status quo

    • Celeste Liddle
    • 19 June 2019
    8 Comments

    It's long fascinated me that it tends to be the conservative side of politics that has delivered many of our Indigenous political firsts. Perhaps it's simply because Indigenous conservatives are, by virtue of their politics, no real threat to the status quo. Our Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt is a case in point.

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  • CARTOON

    Coal barren

    • Fiona Katauskas
    • 18 June 2019
    2 Comments

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Ismene in transit

    • Lisa Brockwell
    • 18 June 2019
    6 Comments

    The women are not veiled, the men don't stop to look at the golden boys kicking footballs on giant screens ... Each one I pass is a person, held here by decree, by a boulder placed across the mouth. If I walk through a temple built by slaves, sending a pittance home to countries too poor for anyone to bother waging war over ... then, who am I?

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  • RELIGION

    Flaws, fancy in Vatican homosexuality book

    • Michael Furtado
    • 14 June 2019
    34 Comments

    Martel's work cannot be ignored because it is published at a time when the Church is engulfed by several sexual scandals of global magnitude. Reviewing Martel's book provides an opportunity to critically examine the narratives of accusation and defence that surround such accounts, so that onlookers can make sense of them.

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  • EDUCATION

    Better conditions, not better pay, for teachers

    • Tim Hutton
    • 14 June 2019
    9 Comments

    It's a common cry among progressives that teachers should get paid more. In some instances, this is true. What is, however, more pressing are the poor working conditions that force teachers to choose between students and their own wellbeing and lead them to leave the profession in droves.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Voters are awake to politics' game of yawns

    • Alana Schetzer
    • 14 June 2019
    6 Comments

    It's obvious — so clearly obvious — when politicians are avoiding being genuine and simply don't want to answer a question. It's tiresome. It's boring. And people are tired of politicians assuming they can't tell the difference between an honest answer and a slogan or 'blame game'.

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  • MEDIA

    AFP raids coverage missed key points

    • Jules O'Donnell
    • 13 June 2019
    10 Comments

    Demands for the protection of fundamental rights are, of course, a good thing. But the media coverage of the AFP raids took a scattergun approach and, in some cases, contained oversight and inaccuracy. Here are some important details that were lost in the furore.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Local solutions to global refugee malaise

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 13 June 2019
    5 Comments

    This year many people will celebrate Refugee Week as a wake. During the recent election the hopes of many people seeking protection and supporting them in different ways were raised by the prospect of a change of government. For those of us who share their pain it is time to reflect more broadly on the situation we now face.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Grey matters

    • Isabella Fels
    • 13 June 2019
    6 Comments

    Trying to pursue unattainable things in life can be felt in ones bones — and I'm not just talking about my early onset osteoporosis. Along the way there are many bumps and humps, and much wear and tear. I despair at my prominent varicose veins, which no longer allow me to feel vain.

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  • RELIGION

    Reflections of a church tourist

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 05 June 2019
    16 Comments

    Architecture is not my strong suit, but I admire the beauty of walls and ceilings, the decorations, and the idiosyncrasies such as little sculptures invisible to congregations and visitors, but made in faith that God could see them. The history, the thought of generations of worshippers, the numerous associations: these are other things that fascinate.

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