Category: Uncategorized

WE HAVE such short memories. One wet, cool summer and an Opposition scare campaign takes 20 per cent off support for action on climate change. Two years after the Montara oil spill and 17 months after the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Government continues to hand out exploration and drilling licences for oil off-shore. Continue reading “Foolish tax breaks for dangerous oil drilling”

IT LOOKS as if the Government is about to give the tobacco companies a leg to stand on in their objections to plain packaging.

If the Government cops another hiding in the High Court it will be entirely of its own making. The successful refugee challenge, remember, related to Howard-era legislation. If the tobacco companies have a win, or a partial win, it will be in relation to Gillard Government legislation. Continue reading “Plain packaging could go up in constitutional smoke”

THERE comes a time when a garden can be a greater expense and burden than a joy, and there is no need to have a large lounge room as well as a family room. And what about the fourth/bedroom study? Continue reading “Stamp duty blocks move to down-size”

LABOR MP Kelvin Thomson made an unintentional blunder in mid 2007 that almost certainly cost him a place in the new Rudd ministry. His subsequent backbench position, however, has given him the freedom to chime into the debate over what is perhaps the most important federal policy area – population. Continue reading “Witches hats make governing too hard”

LET me think for just a few seconds. What has been “the most disgraceful thing to happen to our democracy”? Continue reading “Truckwits’ attack on democracy”

SAME-sex marriage hovered in the political background again this week as Caucus approved legislation to make Commonwealth vetoes of ACT and Northern Territory legislation more difficult. The only times the veto has been threatened or carried out has been over gay marriage and euthanasia. Continue reading “Constitutional strife with same-sex marriage”

THE scene is Bethlehem 1AD. A Roman soldier, Perspicuus, is muttering: “Almost there. MMMDCCLVII, MMMDCCLVIII.” Then loudly to assembled motely mass of Palestinians: “Alright, you lot, you can clear off home now.” He turns to another soldier, Errorpronius, and says, “Ok, add this to the MMDCLVI you got at Nazereth and take away one for the bloke you crucified for mutinously suggesting there was an easier way of counting. Continue reading “2000 years and still counting”

USUALLY the Murdoch press and the shock jocks will seize upon any opportunity to beat up on the Gillard Government. The slightest thing that goes wrong or the slightest failure to live up to a pre-election announcement and they pounce like a cat upon a mouse. Continue reading “Population question gets scant coverage”

IF ONLY. If only President George W. Bush had responded to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 in the same way that the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his Foreign Minister Gahr Stre has responded to the terrorist attack a week ago in their country. Continue reading “Norway beats US in war on terror”

YES, we inherited the rule of law and parliamentary democracy from Britain. But we did not inherit its newspaper culture. So when politicians call for new rights to privacy and inquiries into the media based upon what has happened in Britain, we should be wary. Continue reading “No privacy lessons to be learned fromUK”