Keywords: Parliamentary Inquiry
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AUSTRALIA
- Moira Byrne Garton
- 12 August 2011
11 Comments
Julia Gillard this week described access to disability services as a 'cruel lottery', and declared support for proposed reforms. Her response demonstrates compassion and goodwill during a time when many citizens have expressed disgust at Labor's treatment of asylum seekers.
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MEDIA
- Catherine Marshall
- 22 July 2011
14 Comments
The public was quick to claim ignorance and condemn the theft of private information by News of the World. But ignorance is no longer an excuse, especially in these post-Princess Diana years where the role of the paparazzi, traitorous friends and dodgy journalists is well-known.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 July 2011
Speech given by Fr Frank Brennan SJ at the 'Law and Religion: Legal Regulation of Religious Groups, Organisations and Communities' Conference Dinner in Melbourne on 15 July 2011.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 July 2011
5 Comments
When I appeared on Q&A with Christopher Hitchens, a young man asked whether we can 'ever hope to live in a truly secular society' while the religious continue to 'affect political discourse and decision making' on euthanasia, same-sex unions and abortion. Hitchens was simpaticao. I was dumbstruck.
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AUSTRALIA
- Matthew Holloway
- 01 July 2011
12 Comments
The current narrative about the ALP says the party losing its soul and ultimately turning its back on those Australians it is meant to represent. The Tasmanian experience suggests the same might be said for the Greens in the Federal Parliament, who assume the balance of power in the Senate today.
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AUSTRALIA
Last November, a refugee boat was lost at sea en route to Christmas Island. It's presumed the 97 on board perished. Evidence suggests Australia's Border Protection Command selectively chooses to make little or no effort to find and help SIEV boats in possible distress.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 04 November 2010
15 Comments
Cardinal Pell, with whom I have voiced disagreement, preached superbly at the mass of thanksgiving after the canonisation of Mary MacKillop. 'She does not deter us from struggling to follow her.' As we wrestle with the common good, let's make a place for all our fellow citizens.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 07 July 2010
Fr Frank Brennan's address to the Melbourne College of Divinity
Centenary Conference, Trinity College, University of Melbourne, 6 July
2010.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 07 June 2010
13 Comments
When the Government announced that its response to the National Human Rights Consultation would not include a legislative Charter of Rights, many activists despaired. I am more sanguine. We knew from the beginning that a Human Rights Act would be a big ask.
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AUSTRALIA
- Alex McDermott
- 15 March 2010
7 Comments
Two of the most significant changes in Australian history, the post-war migration scheme and the 1980s economic reform, would not have occurred without political spin. It is no accident that the first teaching to devote
itself to the art of spin was born
simultaneously with democracy in ancient Athens.
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AUSTRALIA
- Ruby J. Murray
- 11 March 2010
11 Comments
The strident debate over Islamic dress is
again barreling through western democracies. If attempting to combat discrimination and violence against women
really is at the bottom of the debate, then why not
focus on domestic violence with the same hysteria?
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 09 February 2010
'Tonight I want to reflect in light of the National Human Rights
Consultation how we as Church can do better in promoting justice for
all in our land. Full text from Frank Brennan's 2010 McCosker Oration, 'The Church as Advocate in the Public Square: Lessons from the National Human Rights Consultation'.
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