Keywords: Parliamentary Debate
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 13 March 2009
9 Comments
Governors-General are appointed under a system that
freezes out the Parliament, the Opposition and the people. The controversy over Quentin Bryce's trip to Africa has again revealed the office's vulnerability to partisan politics.
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AUSTRALIA
- Sarah Kanowski
- 13 January 2009
1 Comment
Working mums were 'offended' and 'disgusted' by Mem Fox's childcare slam. Other critics berated 'selfish mothers' and a society sick with affluenza. There was one word missing word from all the brouhaha: 'fathers'. (September 2008)
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AUSTRALIA
- Tim Battin
- 01 December 2008
6 Comments
The Rudd Government is attempting to sell its Fair Work Bill on the basis of 'balance', as compared with the Howard Government's WorkChoices Bill. This is like trying to strike a balance between Margaret Thatcher and Genghis Khan.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Clyne
- 18 November 2008
6 Comments
Bilingualism trains the mind and encourages more flexible problem solving. Such qualities go unnoticed in a society with a strong monolingual mindset. Social inclusion policy must also move beyond the socioeconomic dimension to prevent the exclusion of significant sections of Australian society.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 06 October 2008
'Lee and
Christine Rush are your average Ozzie couple, except that their teenage son Scott is on death row in Bali having been
convicted of being a hapless drug mule. It will not go down well on the streets of Jakarta
if Australians are baying for the blood of the Bali bombers one month
and then pleading to save our sons and daughters the next month.'
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 29 September 2008
3 Comments
Online publications know that the flame throwers among those who post comments invariably draw a crowd. Such an environment is potentially fertile ground for character assassination, rather than reasoned argument.
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AUSTRALIA
- Sarah Kanowski
- 10 September 2008
15 Comments
Working mums were 'offended' and 'disgusted' by Mem Fox's childcare slam. Other critics berated 'selfish mothers' and a society sick with affluenza. There was one word missing word from all the brouhaha: 'fathers'.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 27 August 2008
9 Comments
The Government's Social Inclusion Board has commenced work. Provided 'social inclusion' doesn't become a buzzword to cloud discussion about service delivery, it could be a useful means for enhancing human flourishing.
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AUSTRALIA
At their best, the Democrats refused legislative trade-offs, viewing compromise as a step towards cynicism. Should deadlocks beset parliament in the months ahead, people may regret the departure of the party that tried to keep the bastards honest.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 26 May 2008
1 Comment
The text is from Professor Frank Brennan's 2008 Institute of Justice Studies Oration from 22 May 2008.
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AUSTRALIA
There are worrying signs that the Labor Government will interpret the grass-roots campaign against
WorkChoices in the
most conservative light possible. Catholic social thought defies any policy that results in a shift of power to the already powerful.
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AUSTRALIA
- Philip Mendes
- 10 March 2008
13 Comments
Over the years, many simplistic arguments have been advanced in an attempt to justify the West Bank settlement project. None of these arguments had any substance in the 1980s, and they have even less validity now.
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