Search Results
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Election aftermath – where to now on asylum seekers and refugees? John Menadue
Yesterday Sir William Deane launched a book ‘Refugees and asylum seekers – a better way’. A link to the book can be found at http://gallery.mailchimp.com/d2331cf87fedd353f6dada8de/files/Refugee_and_asylum_seeker_policy_Finding_a_better_way.pdf The book includes a chapter I wrote ‘Election aftermath – where to now on asylum seekers and refugees’. This chapter follows Election aftermath- where to now on asylum seekers and Continue reading »
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Remarks by Sir William Deane AC on “Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Finding a Better Way”.
On 17 December, Sir William Deane, former Governor-General launched Australia21 – essays on refugees and asylum seekers. Sir William Deane’s remarks follow. Paul Barratt’s acknowledgement of the traditional custodians in which I respectfully join, serves to remind us that apart from indigenous Australians we are all migrants or descended from migrants and that many of Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan. My tribute to Gough
Gough Whitlam once asked me why there were so many social reformers to emerge from Queensland in the early 1970s. I told him it was simple. We had someone to whom we could react: Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen; and we had someone to inspire us: him. I have written elsewhere about his contribution to Aboriginal Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Reflecting on Troubled Waters. South China Sea
The dispute in the South China Sea should not, legitimately, involve Australia. We are only involved because we have such close military ties with the United States. War between the US and China is not inevitable, but dangerous, military escalation is taking place. If hostilities break out, the war will be on our doorstep. Continue reading »
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NIALL McLAREN. The Dangerous Folly of the “War with China” Scenario.
Nick Deane “reflected on the troubled waters of the South China Sea,” concluding that we need to pay close attention to what our military alliance with the US may drag us into. War between the US and China would necessarily involve us, but not necessarily to our advantage. While for ordinary citizens, such Continue reading »
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CAROLYN WHITZMAN. States drag feet on affordable housing, with Victoria the worst.
Moral panic over recent increases in visibly homeless people in central Melbourne has brought to the fore the critical shortage of affordable housing across the metropolitan areas of Australia’s wealthiest cities. But living on the street is only the tip of the iceberg. Many more households are living in insecure and/or overpriced accommodation. Their plight Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. We need a Catholic Yom Kippur, and a serious sacrifice.
The major intersection between the child abuse royal commission and the Catholic Church went into act four over the past week. The drama, plot and moral of the miracle play would be much enhanced if scene one, rather than scene four, of act five began with the resignations of each of Australia’s archbishops, along with Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Keep Australia out of US wars
In the event of war between the USA and any other nation in our region, Australia could not avoid involvement, because of its alliance with the USA. That is the reality we need to address. To avoid the possibility of war, an independent foreign policy for Australia is urgently required. Mr Trump’s presidency only adds Continue reading »
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CAROL SUMMERHAYES. Another Trans-Siberian experience.
John Tulloh’s post brought back memories of my Trans-Siberian train journey, some twenty-three years after his. He was there in 1967, and not a lot had changed when I was there in 1990, travelling in the reverse direction. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Parliamentary eligibility – did the High Court get it wrong?
The response to the High Court’s decision in the Parliamentarians eligibility case has been largely uncritical and disappointing. While Section 44 (i) of the Constitution allows for a simplistic literal interpretation the Court’s failure to transpose that provision into the social and political context of the present day, and have better regard for its historical Continue reading »
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Catholic Church 2020 Plenary Council: bishops must tap into the grassroots without delay
The Catholic Church in Australia is in the midst of a massive and existential crisis, the greatest in its history. The Catholic bishops have responded by proposing a Plenary Council in 2020. They say it will no longer be “business as usual” and have promised to consult the whole Church. But no changes to business Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. Brendan Nelson and the War Memorial – what about the Frontier Wars?
On Friday the Director of the Australian War Memorial Brendan Nelson announced plans for a massive redevelopment of the institution which would cost up to $500 million.He hoped to receive the required funding in next year’s budget and he is likely to be given what- ever he asks for having already received strong support from Continue reading »
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Public servant to the First Australians.
Funeral Homily for Barrie Dexter CBE. Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, 26 April 2018. Listen on SoundCloud [commencing at 2:00] In Australia, there have been many children of the manse who have gone on to be great contributors to Australian society, regardless of their own religious faith or practice. Barrie Dexter was one of Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE Invictus and the arms manufacturers connection.
The Invictus Games will be familiar to all who watch the ABC, their promoter and sponsor. The Games will be taking place in Sydney in October, the participants being injured service personnel from 18 countries.But why are major arms manufactures ‘official supporters’? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Pomp and circumstance. The Royal tour.
There is some debate whether it was H.L. Mencken or P.T. Barnum who said that nobody ever went broke under-estimating the intelligence of the public. Either way, the executives of Australia’s self-proclaimed Royal Network followed the advice faithfully when preparing for the current Royal tour. They assumed that the entire population of our continent is Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Armistice Day
On ‘Remembrance Day’ we should not forget that the majority of war’s casualties are actually non-combatant civilians. We should also remember that the original day was a day of great joy, as warring came to an end. Peace is the ‘default position’; war an aberration. However, current commemorations still focus on the ‘warrior hero’. Continue reading »
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TONY STEPHENS. 1918
I’ll go to the Armistice Day service at the Balmain war memorial this November 11 because it will mark the centenary of the end of the Great War and because it will be the end of nearly five years of almost continuous remembrance. While the youthful nation of only 18 years rejoiced with good reason Continue reading »
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All we want for Christmas is bishops who listen and act
This is a modified version of the Christmas editorial of Catholics for Renewal, an Australian group seeking to make the Catholic church more Christ-like. It is hoped that the Australian Church’s Plenary Council, to be held over two sessions in 2020 and 2021 and the first since 1937, will be energised by the condemnations of the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Unravelling the fabric of the Australia/US alliance.
John Menadue has articulated the problems with the Australia/US alliance very clearly. Those who are concerned to change its nature need a weak point at which to challenge it. To unravel the fabric of the alliance, start by opposing the presence of US marines in Darwin! Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Thoughts on the Schools Strike for the climate.
NICK DEANE. Thoughts on the Schools Strike for the climate. Concerns about climate change and the environment cannot be separated from concerns about militarism and war. All military activity is polluting. Climate change increases the likelihood of war. Environmentally damaging activities are, ultimately, protected by armed force. Preparation for war runs in parallel with climate Continue reading »
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BEVAN RAMSDEN. Do the US Marines in Darwin pose a risk to our peace and security?
A recent US war exercise involving US Marines landing, capturing and securing an island off the coast of Okinawa is touted as a new US military strategy to use in its challenge to China in the South China Sea. Is the imbedding of US marines in war exercises on HMAS Adelaide, which has been fitted Continue reading »
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DAVID TIMBS. Archbishop Comensoli needs to cut the ecclesiastical umbilical cord.
Peter A Comensoli has been the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne for just on a year. So far he has demonstrated very little understanding of the disastrous situation he inherited. Nor has he shown any clear indication of the kind of vision and leadership needed to navigate a way though. Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. The climate crisis and war
Groups like Extinction Rebellion (XR) focus on the physical impacts of the climate crisis. Message to XR – The pre-requisites for a comfortable, sustainable future include an end to militarism and, ultimately, the cessation of war. Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. Taking the Fight to China?
The call for Australia to ‘take the fight to China in the South China Sea’ by a retired, senior bureaucrat is surprising. It fails to take account of China’s expressed defence strategy. Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. The climate crisis and the need for peace.
The climate crisis increases the likelihood of war and refugee flows. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. The origins of Anzackery
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Anzac Day was in decline – a malaise exemplified by Alan Seymour’s play “The One Day of the Year”, the origins of Anzackery. Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. My fear – a US led war with China?
My fear is that Australia’s warring mind-set and its entanglement in its alliance with the USA will eventually lead the country into a US-led war with China. The possibility of stimulating defence industries to assist with the post pandemic recovery only adds to my trepidation. Continue reading »
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Drop the xenophobia and Cold War tactics – respect Shaoquett Moselmane’s rights
A healthy civil and democratic society depends on citizens’ ability to weigh up diverse views, to re-frame issues and to consider the dangers when powerful people make claims without any obvious evidence. Continue reading »
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Australian multiculturalism is a success story: it is time to enshrine it as our shared value
What makes Australia unique and special is the ability to celebrate one’s ethnicity and cultural heritage in an Australian setting. I am able to call myself a Chinese-Australian and Asian-Australian without having my loyalty questioned and allegiance to Australia judged. Continue reading »
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If crime is falling, why is imprisonment rising?
The Australian prison population has doubled since 2000 and recidivism is at 55%. Yet almost all categories of crime have fallen in the past decade. Why do we spend $3.6 billion a year (and rising) on a system across Australia that is clearly not serving us well or making us safer? There are alternatives available, Continue reading »