Keywords: The Government We Deserve
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 24 May 2012
44 Comments
Bishop Morris wrote at considerable length to Archbishop Chaput, in a highly respectful and fraternal tone. To be fair to Chaput, I will quote his breathtaking response in full. It illustrates what still passes for due process and pastoral care in the Roman Church. We have to insist on something better. And with greater transparency, we will get something better.
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AUSTRALIA
- Patrick McCabe
- 21 May 2012
20 Comments
Imagine Attorney-General Nicola Roxon appoints Palmer as the newest High Court judge. Justice Palmer sets about rewriting the law in radical ways, freeing mining companies from regulation and approving disbanding the Australian Greens. Surely such an appointment could be challenged? Actually, no.
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AUSTRALIA
- Ruby Hamad
- 14 November 2011
16 Comments
Israel is using its positive treatment of gays as a means of 'selling' its campaign against Palestinians. Before automatically siding with Israel, the international gay community would do well to consider the ways in which all forms of discrimination are linked.
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AUSTRALIA
- Lin Hatfield Dodds
- 04 October 2011
11 Comments
A third of taxpayer-funded superannuation concessions — around $10 billion a year — are directed to the top 5 per cent of income earners. People living on or below the poverty line get no such support. This week's Tax Forum must ask: Are we proud of how we redistribute our national wealth?
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AUSTRALIA
- Moira Rayner
- 15 September 2011
21 Comments
I'm not worried about Gillard's abysmal rating in polls. I'm not convinced anyone but journalists and backbiters have any real desire to roll her. There is no obvious alternative to Gillard as Labor leader, but there is an obvious need for a party which stands for something.
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ENVIRONMENT
- Lin Hatfield Dodds
- 11 July 2011
22 Comments
The Government has crafted a historic package of reforms: driving long-run reductions in carbon pollution, simplifying personal tax and making it fairer, and reducing poverty traps and barriers to work. It's exactly the kind of smart and gutsy approach we want to see from this Government.
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AUSTRALIA
- Paul W. Newbury
- 03 June 2011
12 Comments
The anniversary of the Mabo decision is significant enough to be made a public holiday. If it replaced the Queen's Birthday, this would reflect our maturation as a nation, as we grow away from Britain, and grow up by owning the past and our mistreatment of Indigenous Australians.
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MEDIA
Defence has the same problem as society in relation to young people's attitudes to sex, alcohol and social media. I wonder if we handle it better than most. The firestorm of ignorant criticism of the ADF and its 'culture' and leadership was mostly undeserved and could be counterproductive.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 21 February 2011
24 Comments
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen's speech on multiculturalism could be seen as laying the ground for a formal apology for the White Australia Policy. The parallels with the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations and the 2009 Apology to the Forgotten Australians are striking.
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AUSTRALIA
- Farid Farid
- 29 October 2010
9 Comments
If smelly shoes are the last objects of resistance then the occupation of Iraq will never end. The culturally co-optive nature of benevolent groups to take on causes and speak on behalf of those who allegedly cannot speak for themselves is disturbing.
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CARTOON
- Fiona Katauskas
- 25 August 2010
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AUSTRALIA
- Tony Kevin
- 24 August 2010
22 Comments
There was a massive loss of confidence in Labor's policies. The Australian electorate saw through the triviality of what both major parties were offering. Gillard would deserve her party's full support in leading a Labor Government in a hung parliament. This may be the making of her as a great prime minister.
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