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Section: Australia

  • AUSTRALIA

    Election a test for East Timor's fragile democracy

    • Paul Cleary
    • 16 April 2007
    1 Comment

    Claims of irregularities in last week's presidential election speak volumes about the state of East Timor’s democracy. The elections are also a crucial test for building democracy in post-conflict countries.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Troops return debate ignores our Iraq havoc complicity

    • David Corlett
    • 16 April 2007
    3 Comments

    Rather than the fate of the millions of Iraqis now living in desperate insecurity, and the destablising repercussions for the whole Middle East, the debate in Australia continues to revolve around when Australian troops should return.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Our deathly cars and trucks

    • Clare Coburn
    • 02 April 2007

    Images from the Burnley tunnel accident showed thick plumes of smoke billowing from the outlet chimney. If a shark kills a lone swimmer off a beach, we call for netting or shooting. We have a much more lenient attitude towards roads.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    In praise of moral robustness

    • Michael Mullins
    • 02 April 2007

    Many people regarded as morally robust would not pass the politicians' purity test. Countless great Australians who have received civil honours have fallen foul of the law, and the criteria for judging moral purity, at some stage in their life.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The quality of asylum seeker processing

    • David Corlett
    • 02 April 2007
    4 Comments

    What matters is not where the 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers will be processed – Christmas Island or Nauru – but the nature of their reception and processing.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Military Commission rules lessen Hicks chances of fair trial

    • James Montgomery
    • 02 April 2007

    Serious discussion of the David Hicks case should take place in the context of due process. Any commentator who has not read the prosecution brief is indulging in speculation and uninformed comment.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    What to do about Mugabe

    • Peter Roebuck
    • 02 April 2007
    28 Comments

    Everyone must pray for Mugabe's death (though his mother reached three figures). At present the best response is to help those seeking justice and to assist those promoting education, thereby sustaining hope for a better tomorrow.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Catholic-inspired Bayrou seeks to break French left-right mould

    • Stefan Gigacz
    • 02 April 2007
    1 Comment

    French Presidential candidate Francois Bayrou could emerge as favourite for the run off as socialists and conservatives seek to block their rivals from the Presidency. The 55 year old practising Catholic has managed to carve out political positions that respect Church teaching without necessarily alienating other groups.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The myth of belonging masks our insecurity

    • Colin Long
    • 02 April 2007
    2 Comments

    The Prime Minister has used myths surrounding Gallipoli and racial politics to tap into our felt, but barely understood, craving for belonging. The tenuous nature of our sense of community make us susceptible to the fear campaigns that have dominated Australian politics over the past decade.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Don't make the poor pay more to fight climate change

    • Michael Mullins
    • 02 April 2007
    3 Comments

    While the climate change debate has largely focused on how a levy might hurt the economy, the St Vincent de Paul Society has raised concerns about the financial impact on households on low incomes or living in disadvantaged communities.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Pacific Solution sends wrong moral message

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 02 April 2007
    4 Comments

    Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews justified his decision send the 83 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Nauru, on the grounds that it was necessary to send a message to other would-be illegal immigrants. It is like a teacher beginning class by beating a couple of boys at random in order to discourage others from playing up.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Debate confuses national curriculum with national standards

    • Greg O'Kelly
    • 02 April 2007
    3 Comments

    Australia is ranked 29th internationally in the teaching of maths and science. To suggest that a national curriculum would raise such a ranking is a non sequitur. Curriculum is about content. It's standards that refer to performance measurement.

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