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Australia's refugee processing regime saw two major reforms take effect on Saturday. They bring Australia into line with the EU, Canada and New Zealand. The changes are welcome but do not go far enough.
Burma has embarked on a series of reforms that have altered its pariah status. But Burma's icon of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, does not fully represent all Burmese, and there are vast problems that must be addressed before sanctions are fully lifted.
Catholics in Australia have tended to be more tolerant of alcohol and gambling than 'wowser' Protestants. But too many Catholics turn a blind eye to how today's poker machine technology and operating environment is designed to nurture dangerous (but profitable) addiction.
Care for problem gamblers needs to be balanced against care for workers whose jobs are threatened by proposed reforms. Otherwise, the Gillard Government is open to the accusation that it is putting its own political survival ahead of the wellbeing of these workers.
Former federal treasurer Peter Costello has revealed his fears that Tony Abbott's education in the collectivist principles of Catholic Social Teaching will frustrate the Coalition's ambitions for free market reform of workplace laws.
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.
In 1994 gay-rights activist Nicholas Toonen succesfully challenged Tasmanian laws criminalising homosexual acts. As Australia considers reforming its privacy laws, the case remains a good illustration of the deeper questions about the balance between state power and competing moral claims.
The Government has crafted a historic package of reforms: driving long-run reductions in carbon pollution, simplifying personal tax and making it fairer, and reducing poverty traps and barriers to work. It's exactly the kind of smart and gutsy approach we want to see from this Government.
The Rudd Government promised positive reforms after a decade of 'boat people'-bashing from the previous government. Three years later, we are back where we were. To understand how this happened it is helpful to overview the changes under Labor and the gradual decline in 'key immigration values'.
Much has been made of Turkey as a model for reform and democratisation in the Muslim world. If the Turkish experience is indicative, then the process of establishing robust and viable democracies in the Middle East will be long and slow.
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