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Section: Australia

  • AUSTRALIA

    Light pollution with a slight chance of stars

    • Sarah McKenzie
    • 26 March 2010
    13 Comments

    According to the International Astronomical Union, nearly 30 per cent of the world's population cannot see the Milky Way. Vincent Van Gogh said 'the sight of the stars make me dream'.  When we over-light our cities, it's not just sleep we're losing, it's the chance to dream.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    'Bumbars' evict homeless from shared spaces

    • Joshua Anderson
    • 25 March 2010
    9 Comments

    The construction of space reveals society's attitudes to different groups of people. A Brisbane council's plan to replace conventional bus shelter seating with horizontal 'bumbars' sends a distinct message of exclusion to the homeless people who sleep there.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Discerning Obamacare's rough beast

    • Jim McDermott
    • 24 March 2010
    6 Comments

    Unlike the night of Obama's election, there was no cheering to be heard in the streets after the bill passed, no roars of joy, no celebrations. If there were any exclamations, they were probably sighs of relief.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Tasmanian Greens and the terror of coalitions

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 23 March 2010
    6 Comments

    The Greens are arguably the true winners of Saturday's inconclusive Tasmanian state election. The Rudd Government should be worried. An arrangement with the Greens may be unavoidable should Labor wish to retain power.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Forcing people to do the right thing

    • Michael Mullins
    • 22 March 2010
    9 Comments

    The cost to human dignity makes compulsory income management counter-productive. It assumes that some welfare recipients are unable to make rational decisions that take into account the long-term consequences of their actions. The same might be said for some governments.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    It takes more than money to raise a child

    • Sarah Kanowski
    • 16 March 2010
    21 Comments

    The Professor of Work and Organisational Studies at Sydney University says Abbott's plan would 'catapult Australia from having no scheme at all to probably being the best scheme in the world'. So why am I, a passionate believer in paid parental leave, not rejoicing?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Spin and the art of democracy

    • 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

    Clarke, Bingle and the prurience of celebrity media coverage

    • Michael Mullins
    • 15 March 2010
    15 Comments

    For the past week we've been transfixed by the disintegrating relationship between a promising cricket vice captain and a famous model. The good that celebrities do receives scant media attention compared with exhaustive reporting of the details of their relationships and wealth. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Women unheard in the din about burqas

    • 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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  • AUSTRALIA

    Rosemary Goldie and the Santamaria Split

    • Bruce Duncan
    • 10 March 2010
    12 Comments

    In July 1953, the Vatican's agent Rosemary Goldie — who died on 27 February — met Santamaria but was unable to convince him of the need to keep Catholic Action out of direct political involvements. She was dismayed by the Movement's defiance of clear directives from the Holy See.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    To catch a bully

    • Luke Williams
    • 08 March 2010
    13 Comments

    The growing awareness and legislation around bullying has had an unintended consequence: many workplace bullies have simply become sneaky. As the debate about this issue starts to swing, perhaps it's time bullies started to lie awake and worry.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Action-man Abbott undervalues bureaucracy

    • Michael Mullins
    • 08 March 2010
    7 Comments

    Tony Abbott says health reform should cure patients and not feed bureaucracy. Yet properly structured bureaucracy is needed to protect patients' interests from those health industry lobbyists with profit motivations.

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