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. [click to continue…]
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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? [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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LET me think for just a few seconds. What has been “the most disgraceful thing to happen to our democracy”? [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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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. [click to continue…]
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A LESS-OBVIOUS evil and danger lies behind the News of the World’s hacking of the phones of the missing 13-year-old Milly Dowler and the victims of terrorism. And the closing of the paper and the inquiries that ensue will not address it. [click to continue…]
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