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Keywords: Draconian

  • ENVIRONMENT

    The morality of population control

    • Paul Collins
    • 17 December 2009
    22 Comments

    It's hard not to sound misanthropic when discussing population. Conservatives accuse you of favouring abortion, contraception and sterilisation in developing countries. Progressives say you're a cultural imperialist diverting attention from social justice.

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  • INFORMATION

    In defence of people smugglers

    • Chris Bisset
    • 15 October 2009
    4 Comments

    Kevin Rudd calls them the 'vilest form of people on the planet'. How dare these impoverished, yet slightly entrepreneurial fishermen let their social consciousness blind them from considering the interests of white Australians?

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  • RELIGION

    Patient autonomy and the doctor's conscience

    • Frank Brennan
    • 18 September 2009
    4 Comments

    In Life and Death: How do we honour the Patient's Autonomy and the Doctor's Conscience? Frank Brennan's Sandra David Oration at St Vincent's Clinic, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 17 September 2009.

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  • RELIGION

    On reclaiming Christianity from the West

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 14 September 2009
    24 Comments

    Tony Abbott has described the New Testament as 'the core document of our civilisation'. As a South Asian Muslim, I'd like to think many Christians would be as incensed by attempts to treat Christianity as uniquely Western as I am when Islam is treated as uniquely Arab.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Refugees and other aliens

    • Catherine Marshall
    • 18 August 2009
    5 Comments

    One night 11 years ago I joined members of a local police commando to report on a mission to intercept Mozambique refugees travelling into South Africa. It is easier to 'tolerate the intolerance' in under-resourced, refugee-deluged South Africa than in Australia.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Getting smart, not tough, on bikies

    • Moira Rayner
    • 07 May 2009
    4 Comments

    No 'group' can be assumed to be full of criminals. Men form friendships out of common, innocuous interests. Laws introduced in NSW interfere with civil liberties and are likely to be ineffective at addressing organised crime.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Towards a carbon dictatorship

    • Michael Mullins
    • 16 March 2009
    17 Comments

    A business-friendly carbon emissions reduction scheme is an oxymoron. The draconian action which the Government must take will lead to further unemployment and short-term damage to the fabric of society. But there is no choice.

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  • RELIGION

    Euthanasia: doctors' conscience vs patient rights

    • Frank Brennan
    • 02 March 2009
    2 Comments

    The medical pledge to do no harm no matter what the cost effective benefits, and the conscience of the doctor are still key elements in any law which promotes good medicine. –Frank Brennan, addressing the Medico Legal Society of Victoria

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  • RELIGION

    Human rights without God

    • Frank Brennan
    • 27 February 2009
    3 Comments

    Professor Martha Nussbaum's recent book Liberty of Conscience provides a rich textured treatment of the place of religion in the public square. If God is taken out of the picture, it may be difficult to maintain a human rights commitment to the weakest and most despised in society.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Questioning the limits to freedom

    • Michael Mullins
    • 30 October 2006
    5 Comments

    No advocate of democratic freedoms has defended Sheik al-Hilali's right to compare immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat. The message is that promoting freedom is often—but not always—a valid means of recognising values that enhance individual and collective humanity.

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  • RELIGION

    A fair go in an age of terror

    • Frank Brennan
    • 31 May 2006

    The following is an edited text of an address given by Frank Brennan SJ as part of the Jesuit Lenten Seminar Series 2004.

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  • RELIGION

    Da Vinci's conspiracy of cryptography

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 18 May 2006
    3 Comments

    The Da Vinci Code would be a far more liberating experience for the reader if it was about asking questions, rather than unlocking answers.

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