Keywords: The Government We Deserve
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Kevin Rudd has raised circumlocution to an
art since coming to office. But recently his polysyllabic heart rate seems to have slowed.
What's changed? Could it be the patter of Tony feet? Time to restart that
'working families' mantra: plain prose beats purple.
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MEDIA
- Peter Hodge
- 27 January 2010
14 Comments
When western campaigners used the Beijing Olympics to promote
the Tibet issue, the Chinese felt the attention was sensationalist and unfair. So it's no surprise the Chinese media took notice when violence against foreign students in Australia came to prominence.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 25 January 2010
17 Comments
Tony Abbott has declared John Howard's statement, 'We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come', to be 'self-evidently and robustly true'. The Australian people deserve a better basis for policy than an appeal to self-interest.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 25 January 2010
10 Comments
For a while we were leading the world on climate change. But once Copenhagen collapsed Rudd assured us 'Australia will do no more and no less than the rest of
the world'. The lowest common denominator is not usually the solution to the great moral challenges.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 18 September 2009
4 Comments
In Life and Death: How do we honour the Patient's Autonomy and the Doctor's Conscience?
Frank Brennan's Sandra David Oration at St Vincent's Clinic, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 17 September 2009.
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AUSTRALIA
- Myrna Tonkinson
- 08 July 2009
2 Comments
The focus on the sensational when discussing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health tends to obscure
some positives. Many families are dealing with problems of abuse and neglect
with remarkable success.
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MEDIA
Quality television for children is widely regarded as a good idea. But not all children's TV has their best interests at heart. The ABC3 kids channel, which could receive funding in next week's Federal Budget, is an important step, but may not address all concerns.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 27 February 2009
3 Comments
Professor Martha Nussbaum's recent book Liberty of Conscience provides a rich textured treatment of the place of religion in the public square. If God is taken out of the picture,
it may be difficult to maintain a human rights commitment to the
weakest and most despised in society.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 17 October 2008
31 Comments
We should feel deep regret when the bullets pierce the hearts of the Bali Bombers. Neither just nor useful, the death penalty is immoral. Prime Minister Rudd is well positioned to contribute to its abolition.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 17 October 2008
9 Comments
'For me, talk of the death penalty evoked the young, frightened faces of
Scott and Emmanuel, as well as the laughing, haughty faces of Amrozi,
Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.' Full text from Frank Brennan's session on 'Killing People for Killing People', Ubud Writers Festival, 17 October 2008.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 29 November 2007
The power of the State can be exercised capriciously and unaccountably when the “Don’t ask; don’t tell” approach to government is immune from parliamentary, judicial or public scrutiny. It is the task of lawyers to make it more difficult for politicians to take this approach.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 25 October 2007
We think it is wrong for foreign states to impose the death penalty on Aussie drug traffickers and drug mules. But we apply different reasoning to non-Australians facing death at the hands of the state. The practical, hands on, Aussie approach often plays fast and loose with moral reasoning about what is right and wrong.
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