Month: December 2000

The following is a quote about one of our political leaders:

“”The worst legacy of this man and of this government . . . . will be the extent to which it has divided the Australian community; the extent to which it has put one Australian against another; the extent to which it has presided over the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor; and the extent to which it has sought to play pressure group politics to the detriment of the interests of the mainstream Australian community. This man will wear the mark of dividing Australian society; of being a leader who has wounded and wrecked rather than healed and united; and of being a leader who has seen partisan political advantage in setting one group against another.”

The following is another quotes about the same leader: “”The other reason . . . that I believe the Prime Minister deserves to be censured by this House is his failure to uphold appropriate ministerial standards – his absolute failure to sack . . . . ”.
Continue reading “2000_12_december_forum howard spending”

IN A few days digital television will begin in Australia. Hitherto, Australians have shown a remarkable propensity to take up new technology. Not so with digital television. Consumers are taking precious little interest in it. Manufacturers are also wary.

The reason is that the Government has nobbled nearly all the benefits of digital television, just for the benefit of the existing three commercial broadcasters.

Quite rightly, consumers will not buy digital television sets or digital television converters until they get value for money and that cannot happen until the Government admits it got it wrong and changes the legislation.
Continue reading “2000_12_december_digital fiasco”

A federation can only be stable if there is a way of releasing the tension that inevitably arises among the constituent parts and between them and the central authority.

In Australia the tensions have been frequent and fierce. Indeed, Western Australia voted to secede in the 1930s. The tensions have been made worse by the friction between the left and right of politics. As one or other side held power in the centre it flexed central power to implement its philosophy across Australian life irrespective of notional constitutional deliniation of power.

The Australian Constitution provides two way of releasing the tension: a referendum process to change the balance struck in the Constitution between the Commonwealth and the states, and the High Court which arbitrates when disputes arise between the Commonwealth and the state.
Continue reading “2000_12_december_constituional power”

One of the tests of television’s capacity to educate is to ask someone who chants that David Attenborough-narrated nature documentaries are very educational – well what exactly did you learn. It does not get much beyond that the world is a wonderful green place full of amazing creatures that do very odd things.

Now we have the Blue Planet series. I have been transfixed by it. But all that had changed educationally is that the world is a wonderful BLUE place full of amazing creatures that do very odd things.

Well, The Blue Planet now has an educational supplement, the book of the series. It is packed with facts, explanations and analyses that cannot possibly be absorbed through the narration on the television series.
Continue reading “2000_12_december_blueplanet”