TONY Abbott has been at it for a couple of weeks now – referring to “Team Australia”. It tells us a lot about how he and his government think. Continue reading “Team Australia a refuge for scoundrels”
Private education no help at uni or for jobs
THE evidence is mounting that sending your children to a private school is a waste of money.
New work by University of Canberra research fellow Jennifer Chesters shows that the employment success after university of private-school students was no better than that of students from government schools with equivalent tertiary-entry scores. Continue reading “Private education no help at uni or for jobs”
Brandis: one down two to go
ONE down; two to go. The pet projects of Attorney-General Senator George Brandis that is. His project to get rid of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act fell foul of an usually discriminating Prime Minister who said it was a distraction from the main game. The sub-text was that it was impossible because of Brandis’s hopelessly indefensible comment that people had a right to be bigoted. Continue reading “Brandis: one down two to go”
The coral can take only so much
DR LYLE Vail says coral is very resilient, but it can only take so much. Vail is director of the Lizard Island Research Station 220km north of Cairns where he has been for 24 years.
“Coral has ways of flicking off sediment,” he said this week. “But if there is too much sediment, the coral gets tired, cannot keep up and gets buried.” Continue reading “The coral can take only so much”
Failure of “successful” referendums
AS WE inch closer to another referendum — this time it is to recognise the place of indigenous Australians – there is the usual talk about the dismal record of 44 failed referendums and only 8 successful ones. However, few look at how spectacularly unsuccessful the “successful” ones were. Continue reading “Failure of “successful” referendums”
Climate policy foundering on a reef
WE ARE about 10km north-west of Endeavour Reef. These days with electronic navigation, GPS, EPIRB and the like, it is no big deal. I am even writing this aboard SV Biringari and will send it back to The Canberra Times by internet from an aerial 15m up the mast. Continue reading “Climate policy foundering on a reef”
Housing bubble about to burst?
SOME economists and analysts have been saying for a decade or more that we are going to have a major slump in housing prices, and they have, according to real-estate commentators and others, been proved wrong. Continue reading “Housing bubble about to burst?”
The Senate — reviewer or wrecker?
WHAT are we to do with this “unrepresentative swill”, as Paul Keating called the Senate in 1989. The question arose again a week ago when WA Labor Senator Mark Bishop said that Labor should pass the whole of the Abbott-Hockey Budget in the Senate so the public would see how mean it was and flock back to Labor. Continue reading “The Senate — reviewer or wrecker?”
Rich worse off for being richer
I HAVE finally waded through Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
When I say “waded through”, I do not mean “read”, rather the book was read to me from the iphone as I went on my morning cycle ride, because I downloaded the audio version. Continue reading “Rich worse off for being richer”
Why Abbott’s conservative climate pact collapsed
THE TWO dumb Prime Ministers, Canada’s Stephen Harper and Australia’s Tony Abbott are on their own. The so-called conservative alliance against action on climate change died from its own contradictions in under a fortnight. Continue reading “Why Abbott’s conservative climate pact collapsed”