Journalism and other writing
About 12 million Australians, from this week, will begin doing tax returns.
It is a massive amount of paperwork even with the Australian Tax Office’s splendid e-tax system. And most of it is utterly unnecessary. Continue reading “Relieving tax-return burden”
THE news about news came right from the very top.
The chief executive of News Ltd, Australia’s largest newspaper company, John Hartigan, told us that newspapers in Australia are not dying in the face of the internet. Continue reading “Logic of newspapers’ survival”
JUST like the rest of us, Members of Parliament have to question how they come to conclusions about the world and people around them.
It requires judgment to assess the degree of proof needed before coming to a conclusion and it requires character and courage to admit when you are wrong. Continue reading “Questioning Opposition judgment”
MAYBE something came of the trip to the United States to investigate climate change by family first Senator Steve Fielding. He might even have become convinced that the Earth is round. Continue reading “Work on minds not climate science”
A SHORT way out of the town of Beechworth you can find the powder magazine. It was built in 1859 out of local granite to store gunpowder used in underground mining which began shortly after easy alluvial gold had been extracted. Continue reading “Gold building saved but who will save church?”
THIS week I was given some pertinent advice during a course for directors of non-for-profit companies.
It was one of several questions directors should ask themselves about making decisions. The question to ask was: “Would the board be embarrassed if its decision and the process employed in arriving at it appeared on the front page of a newspaper?” Continue reading “Openness pays for public and pollies”
A WONDERFUL Yes Minister skit has Minister Jim Hacker putting on his best Churchillian voice to Sir Humphrey and likening the economy to a runaway bus.
“It is time for someone to get into the driver’s seat, Humphrey, and put his foot on the er, er, er.” Continue reading “State abolition efficient but not democratic”
THE Feds are at it again – another unprincipled, ill-thought-out interference with the affairs of the people of the ACT. Continue reading “ACT’s democratic deficit”
Article written for The Canberra Times’s special edition on the 20th anniversary of self-government for the Australian Capital Territory.
IF THE ACT were split in 17 single-member electorates, the ALP would have won all 17 of them at the last election – on just 37.5 per cent of the vote. Continue reading “Evolution of electoral system”
Article written for The Canberra Times’s special edition on the 20th anniversary of self-government for the Australian Capital Territory.
THE House of Farce. The words stared out from the newsagents’ posters. Continue reading “House of farce no more”