Crispin Hull

The contributors to the letters column and talk-back radio this week were utterly perplexed.

How is it, they asked, that the ACT Government could propose a Budget that cuts 39 schools yet leaves intact funding for a dragway and a visiting football team?

It was the classic stuff of politics.

The first rule is survival.

The ideal political world is like the economist’s perfect market – healthy competition of ideas or goods put to the choice before fully informed voters or consumers. In the ideal world the political leader aims at doing the best for the community as a whole and the fully informed voters see the obvious merit of the actions and votes the leader back into office.
Continue reading “Forum for Saturday10 june 2006 budget”

The law defining a refugee has not changed over the years, but the practice of it sure has. But then again, circumstances have changed quite markedly.

This week saw Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock step up the campaign against people smuggling and illegal boat arrivals. Some would say his measures verge on the hysterical. Videos of crocodiles, snakes, sharks and desert are to be sent to countries where the illegals are mainly coming from these days: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan. There is not much point in sending them to Afghanistan where the Taliban extremist government has in effect banned television. Ruddock has upped the hysteria at home, citing the case of a war criminal coming in with the boat people and cases of possible disease. The criminal was not named, nor the country he came from, nor were the diseases mentioned, nor was any concern raised about the possibility of these diseases running rampant through the detention centres where the illegals are housed. Ruddock said that one in 10 of the illegals would fit the profile of interest for anti-terrorist bodies. Not that they were in fact terrorists, mind you, just that they would fit the profile of concern.
Continue reading “2000_06_june_immig for forum”

On one of the very few occasions one the Government’s “anti-terror” laws got some thorough scrutiny it was found to be over the top.

This week the Australian Law Reform poured a very reasoned bucket over the sedition sections in last year’s Anti-Terrorism Act. At the time the Government pushed ahead with the laws despite widespread condemnation.

The laws read like something out of a tinpot dictatorship or Tudor England.

They make utterances of seditious intent punishable by seven years’ jail and define “seditious intention” as meaning “an intention to use force or violence to effect any of the following purposes:
Continue reading “Forum for Saturday 3 june 2006 sedition”

Another humiliating taunt came this week. The only person the United States has managed to catch and convict over the events of September 11, 2001, had nothing to do with it, according the man who organised the evil acts: Osama bin Laden.

How could the US, with all of its power and wealth, have so comprehensively bungled its response to September 11? How could it have gone from having the sympathy of nearly the whole world to being reviled by much of it? By invading Iraq.

The US now has an impossible condundrum in Iraq: it says it will not leave until the country is secure and peaceful. But the country will never be secure and peaceful until it does leave.
Continue reading “Forum for Saturday 27 May 2006 iraq”

A courageous Government could put an end to boxing in Australia.

This week’s match between Anthony Mundine and Danny Green at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium was televised for all to see. As was the bout before it between John Hopoate and his hapless victim Frank Faasolo which lasted a mere 47 seconds.

Each boxer intended to injure his opponent. Indeed, they boasted of their intentions before the bouts. In any bout, the only way for a boxer to compete is to assault his (or, heaven help us, her) opponent.

It is unlike any other sport. Other sports have injuries, but the aim of those sports is not not to injure. Quite the contrary. In boxing the aim is to inflict punches to the head, preferably knocking the opponent out – outright assault.
Continue reading “Forum for saturday 20 May 2006 boxing”

The reputed $6 million offer by the Nine Network to Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb tells us as much about media audiences as the grubby media iteself.

The bulk of media audiences lap up the emotional, the pruient, the salacious and inconsequential, especially about people of their own kind and leave aside the more important, difficult, analytical and consequential, especially if it is about people not of their kind.

Sure, it was terrific the miners were rescued and why shouldn’t they try to milk their story for all it is worth if the audience wants it?
Continue reading “forum for 13 may 2006 miners and media”

Some time ago I was puzzled by the behaviour of ice cubes.

I could not fathom why sometimes I could turn the ice tray upside down and the cubes would fall out cleanly, yet on other occasions the ice cubes would break up and I could not get them out of the tray without whacking the tray vigorously on the side of the sink, or running hot water all over the tray until the half-melted shrunken cubes had no choice but to dribble out.

But now I have solved the problem. I can now get the ice cubes to fall out cleanly every time.
Continue reading “forum for 6 may”

Some time ago I was puzzled by the behaviour of ice cubes.

I could not fathom why sometimes I could turn the ice tray upside down and the cubes would fall out cleanly, yet on other occasions the ice cubes would break up and I could not get them out of the tray without whacking the tray vigorously on the side of the sink, or running hot water all over the tray until the half-melted shrunken cubes had no choice but to dribble out.

But now I have solved the problem. I can now get the ice cubes to fall out cleanly every time.
Continue reading “forum for 6 may meme”