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Section: Australia

  • AUSTRALIA

    Fatal firestorm's distant witness

    • Bronwyn Lay
    • 16 February 2009
    8 Comments

    A year ago, on the day of the National Apology, the emotion was palpable over the seas. But it was hard not being there, standing on the same dirt as your fellow countrymen. It is similarly difficult to be away from home during a time of natural disaster.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    No winners in St Mary's standoff

    • Michael Mullins
    • 16 February 2009
    41 Comments

    At a time of falling and ageing church congregations, St Mary's is one of Australia's most vibrant and deeply engaged Catholic parishes. It is a haven for many who do not feel welcome in other Catholic congregations. Sadly it is positioning itself outside of communion with the Catholic Church.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Politics stymie bushfire response

    • Paul Collins
    • 13 February 2009
    12 Comments

    Though the fires are still burning, the blaming has already begun, with environmentalists and academics pitted against rural people and firefighters. We have entered a new era of fires and will need to take a long, ecologically sensitive look at what has happend.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    No ark in a firestorm

    • Moira Rayner
    • 11 February 2009
    3 Comments

    What can I do, I think, that first Sunday, other than being a nuisance at an emergency centre, or a gawker? I fall into something practical, fostering survivors' dogs and cats, and caring for bewildered companion animals who survived but whose owners didn't.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Pell's common interest with unions

    • Michael Mullins
    • 09 February 2009
    3 Comments

    Cardinal George Pell told the Australian Workers' Union National Conference last week why quick action to avoid mass unemployment in the looming recession is crucial to protect the wellbeing of many Australians.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Humanity endures in bushfire tragedy

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 09 February 2009
    9 Comments

    During the financial turmoil this summer, images of fire have abounded. The economy is 'going into meltdown'. Shareholdings 'turn to ashes'. This weekend's bushfires make us ask instinctively what really matters.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Between the Department of Immigration and a hard place

    • Caz Coleman
    • 06 February 2009
    1 Comment

    Justice for Sanara's family has become a point of debate. For some it demands removing them to their homeland. For others, that they be allowed to make a home in Australia. Sanara, three, just wants food in her belly and a house that is safe.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    After the Gaza slaughter

    • James Dorsey
    • 04 February 2009
    2 Comments

    Memories of the Gaza war are likely to focus on the human rights aspects of Israel's military conduct. Demographics could constitute a greater threat to Israel than rockets or terrorism, and may be the wrench that breaks the cycle of death and destruction. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Dissident bishops and the case for church unity

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 02 February 2009
    19 Comments

    Pope Benedict's decision to lift the excommunication of four dissident Bishops has caused controversy. The decision raises wider questions about the unity of the Catholic Church, which bear on a current conflict within the Church in Brisbane.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Why Aussie politicians should learn to party

    • John Warhurst
    • 30 January 2009
    7 Comments

    Obama's inauguration included official ceremonies, public speeches, street parties and ten presidential balls. Such pomp and ceremony is underrated. If he had been sworn in, Australian-style, it would have been a much duller affair.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Dodson honour deflects neoliberal orthodoxy

    • Myrna Tonkinson
    • 29 January 2009
    9 Comments

    Dodson can be expected to show courageous leadership, and not shrink from challenging government. The responses of Tony Abbott and some Aboriginal leaders exemplify the fact that many see the focus on Indigenous rights as passé.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    How lax commentary is failing cricket

    • Tony Smith
    • 27 January 2009
    20 Comments

    Today's commentators seem determined to speak about anything but the cricket — their lunches, last night's frivolities, films, politics and, most of all, themselves. Much more than the Australian players, Test cricket commentators are in crisis.

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