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Section: Australia

  • AUSTRALIA

    Greedy Australia in a league of its own

    • Michael Mullins
    • 04 August 2008
    2 Comments

    Accusations of greed followed Canterbury Bulldogs star Sonny Bill Williams' decision to break his contract and accept a lucrative deal with a French union club. Greed is surprisingly pervasive in Australia. The reintroduction of death duties might keep it in check.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Singapore's cane can't restore justice

    • Michael Mullins
    • 28 July 2008
    4 Comments

    If Singapore's courts convict ABC journalist Peter Lloyd of drug charges, his sentence may include 15 lashes. In a better world, 'restorative justice' would allow him to do something positive to counter the social ills that led to his actions.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Abuse comments fuel sectarian prejudice

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 25 July 2008
    21 Comments

    Sheik Hilaly compared rape victims to 'uncovered meat'. Bishop Anthony Fisher stated parents of abuse victims were 'dwelling crankily on old wounds'. Unequal criticism of the remarks suggests sexual assault has been appropriated as a cultural or sectarian wedge.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    'Bumbling' Karadzic faces political justice

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 24 July 2008

    One of the vices of nationalism is the symptom of long memory. Punishing accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic will do little to convince those who are set in their positions — Bosnia's Muslims will feel vindicated, but Bosnian Serbs are simply weary.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Abuse victims reconciliation a work in progress

    • Michael Mullins
    • 21 July 2008
    20 Comments

    It's hard to think of anybody who would not have welcomed Pope Benedict's apology for sexual abuse. By contrast, nobody could have been pleased to hear an exasperated Bishop Anthony Fisher refer last week to those 'dwelling crankily ... on old wounds'.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Muslim and Catholic pilgrims share the wisdom of travel

    • Irfan Yusuf
    • 16 July 2008
    8 Comments

    WYD pilgrims, like Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, know that in the act of travelling, they will learn things about themselves that they could never learn from books and sermons. Pilgrims are warriors whose battles are internal and spiritual.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Minister's moment of grace at WYD

    • Michael Mullins
    • 14 July 2008
    2 Comments

    NSW Government World Youth Day spokesperson Kristina Keneally MP has described World Youth Day as a 'happy event'. She herself has personal experience of spiritual joy at WYD.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The ethics of 'kidsploitation'

    • Moira Rayner
    • 10 July 2008
    18 Comments

    Ethics is a process, not a position taken in the 'freedom of expression' debate. The issue surrounding Bill Henson's photographs and the Art Monthly magazine cover of a nude six-year-old girl is not porn or paedophilia, but the lack of ethical integrity in exploiting children for adult purposes.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Genesis of a tyrant

    • Oskar Wermter
    • 08 July 2008
    5 Comments

    Robert Mugabe was a bright and ambitious boy, but angry, lonely and insecure. Nothing has changed. His greatest weakness is that he cannot accept criticism, responding with anger and aggression. The whole of Africa knows that now, to its cost.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Anti-annoyance law will return to bite Church

    • Michael Mullins
    • 07 July 2008
    12 Comments

    The Church needs to go beyond the benign 'we didn't ask for it' excuse for tolerating the controversial World Youth Day laws, which it can only regard as convenient. Its own right to strident expression of its views is at stake.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Workaholic Australians can't buy time

    • Michele Freeman
    • 04 July 2008
    5 Comments

    Average personal debt is at record levels, yet many Australians say work interferes with their capacity to maintain community connections and friendships. Despite a culture that rewards overwork, part-time work can help create time for ourselves and our communities.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Paid leave fans the maternal flame

    • Jen Vuk
    • 02 July 2008
    6 Comments

    Parenting deserves more than a bonus, it deserves to be exulted and supported in its many and varied forms. With so many women in the workforce a paid maternity leave scheme is the linchpin upon which other 'family-friendly' policies depend.

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