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Section: Australia

  • AUSTRALIA

    Arab disunity on road from Damascus

    • Shahram Akbarzadeh
    • 02 May 2008
    1 Comment

    Saudi Arabia and Egypt snubbed the Damascus Summit. They left it in no position to deal with either the political stalemate in Lebanon, or ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq. Aside from political demarcations, the Arab world is suffering from a growing rift between the ruling regimes and the people.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Maintaining the rage against WorkChoices

    • Tim Battin
    • 01 May 2008
    11 Comments

    There are worrying signs that the Labor Government will interpret the grass-roots campaign against WorkChoices in the most conservative light possible. Catholic social thought defies any policy that results in a shift of power to the already powerful.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Anzac a 'politically pliable' legend

    • Tom Cranitch
    • 28 April 2008
    16 Comments

    With Anzac Day over, and the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign just under a decade away, it's time to re-examine, re-frame, and hopefully tame the Anzac legend. You don't need to be an expert to understand that 'Anzac' has a stranglehold over Australian public life.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Big Brother cameras inhibit teacher performance

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 28 April 2008
    6 Comments

    The proposed performance-related pay structure for teachers, whereby short videos will be made of teachers in the classroom, seems geared towards extroverts. Individuals with a more flamboyant style will likely be deemed the better performers.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    'Meaningless' maths gives way to compulsory multilingualism

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 24 April 2008
    31 Comments

    What Mozart and Michelangelo did with music and art, Maxwell and Euler did with numbers. But students would be better off learning a compulsory second language, rather than maths with little real-world application.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Bricks and mortar don't care for children

    • Daniel Donahoo
    • 23 April 2008
    3 Comments

    The Prime Minister's proposal for 'one-stop shop' child and parent centres is a big idea, but not a new one. All those early childhood advocates busily patting themselves on the back for getting their issues back on the front page should demand more for the youngest Australians.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Summiteers treated to mix of showbiz and serious performance

    • John Warhurst
    • 21 April 2008
    4 Comments

    Many of those present at the weekend's 2020 Summit struggled with understanding the difference between ideas, policies, visions, aspirations and general directions. The more hard-headed were probably disappointed, just as the others were obviously delighted by the vision statements.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    APEC echoes in World Youth Day idealism

    • Tony Smith
    • 18 April 2008
    2 Comments

    In both the Olympic Games and the Catholic Church's World Youth Day, young people advance ideals that could benefit the world. It should not surprise if people committed to international understanding are also committed to universal human rights.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Anwar may not be Malaysia's political messiah

    • Helen Ting
    • 15 April 2008
    8 Comments

    With the expiry of a five-year ban, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today regains his freedom to contest a Malaysian general election or internal party election. He is undoubtedly the darling of the foreign press, but many Malaysians doubt his commitment to multiculturalism.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Olympic Torch a symbol of oppression

    • Michael Mullins
    • 14 April 2008
    4 Comments

    The modern Olympic torch relay was initiated by the Nazi leadership in 1936 to uphold the image of the Third Reich as a dynamic and expanding influence. Those who extinguished the Beijing torch in protest against human rights violations in Tibet recognise its origins and potency as a political symbol.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Rudd Social Inclusion also makes economic sense

    • Paul Smyth
    • 14 April 2008
    1 Comment

    Social inclusion policy represents a chance for the Federal Government to remake the foundations that shape the life of its citizens. Unlike the EU, Australia has recognised the link between social and economic policy from the beginning.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Rudd trip repairing Australia's damaged reputation

    • Tony Kevin
    • 11 April 2008
    7 Comments

    Kevin Rudd's China visit is proceeding brilliantly. But by announcing Australia's interest in a Security Council candidacy to the UN Secretary-General, he may have shown his hand before Australia is able to undo the damage the previous government did to our reputation in the UN.

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