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Author: Tony Smith

  • AUSTRALIA

    Labor honeymoon could last

    • Tony Smith
    • 12 December 2007

    A new government enjoys public goodwill as it tackles a residue of issues, resentments and injustices. How quickly this dissipates is a measure of the sincerity with which the new government operates. Hopes are high for Rudd Labor.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Good politician

    • Tony Smith
    • 14 November 2007
    1 Comment

    Occasionally individuals manage to defy the negative stereotypes and demonstrate that being a Member of Parliament need not destroy one’s personal integrity. The late Peter Andren, federal member for Calare from 1996 to 2007, was just such an exceptional representative.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Voting with instinct

    • Tony Smith
    • 31 October 2007
    1 Comment

    Some political professionals would like to see the state behave just like the market, operating as a heartless machine for maximising outcomes. However, truly rational electors realise that if the system is to be imbued with compassion and humanity, the heart must play a role no less important than the head.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Further challenge to historical record on Aboriginal massacres

    • Tony Smith
    • 11 July 2007
    2 Comments

    A 19th century dispute over rights to whale on Victoria’s western coast saw a massacre of local Aboriginal people. The image of uniformed, white officers appearing in Aboriginal communities, supposedly to restore order and protect children, gives eerie timeliness to an uncompromising new account by Bruce Pascoe.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Knowing where the bodies are buried

    • Tony Smith
    • 27 June 2007

    But for its indubitable basis in reality, Shane Maloney's political thriller Sucked In would be fine therapy for those jaded Australians hoping to see an election year eruption of idealism in the affairs of state.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Keneally's mature insights into character

    • Tony Smith
    • 15 May 2007

    To the extent that novels exist to provide insights into character, minds and decisions, Tom Keneally's new novel is arguably his best.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    2007 the year for final decisions

    • Tony Smith
    • 02 April 2007

    In 2001, science broadcaster Robyn Williams wrote a novel inspired by Orwell's 1984, but set in 2007. It suggests that change is occurring with exponential speed, and that our opportunities for altering course are dwindling numerically, shrinking in size and diluting in quality.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Novels' modern characters draw empathy

    • Tony Smith
    • 27 February 2007

    World literature is much richer for the input of Italian Andrea Camilleri, Australian Peter Corris and Scot Ian Rankin.  They have mastered the art of presenting modern characters in contemporary situations.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Unpolished gem shines brightly

    • Tony Smith
    • 30 October 2006

    The situation of children who experience not just a generation gap, but also a distance from parents whose migrant inheritance includes a "million scruples that made no sense".

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Cricket King's saintly gestures

    • Tony Smith
    • 18 September 2006

    The reactions of many Australians to the deaths of a crocodile showman and a racing car driver suggest that media images canonise our secular saints. Meanwhile the fictional Chris Anderson's love for his family and friends, and his integrity and humility, are very appealing characteristics.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Deep truths revealed with deceptive simplicity

    • Tony Smith
    • 21 August 2006
    1 Comment

    Powerful prose from a young indigenous woman that makes you remember the feelings of your home, your family, your losses and regrets, and yet makes you determined to continue.  

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Discourse without dialogue in Australian politics

    • Tony Smith
    • 07 August 2006
    1 Comment

    Former Labor minister John Button anticipated the current low point in political discourse, with defenders and critics of government policy having lost the capacity to engage in dialogue, particularly in the field of public morality.

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