All Articles
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HAMISH MCDONALD. Australia still on smoko over Asia.
When Malcolm Turnbull hosts the ten leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for an unusual summit in Sydney in March, the Australian public will know virtually nothing about most of them or the current state of affairs in their countries. Continue reading »
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DUNCAN MACLAREN. Brexit beats pantomime for farce in the festive season.
The pantomime season is upon us in the fabled Kingdom. For farce, Cinderella has moved over to give room on the political, rather than theatrical, stage to the xenophobic pantomime par excellence of “Brexit – Taking Back Control”, featuring your favourite panto characters. But to our tale… Continue reading »
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JASON HOROWITZ. Cardinal’s death highlights sex abuse divide.
Early on Wednesday morning, hours after Cardinal Bernard F. Law died in a Rome hospital, a priest unlocked a small chapel at the Basilica of St. Mary Major and pointed to the spot under the marble altar and life-size crucifix where the once-mighty American prelate had arranged to be buried. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. 2018: La Commedia Continua?
Two new basic policy statements by Canberra and Washington offer no hope for a constructive engagement of either in finding multilateral solutions to major political and humanitarian problems. Continue reading »
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Pope Francis, on Christmas Eve, says faith demands respect of immigrants.
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis strongly defended immigrants at his Christmas Eve Mass on Sunday, comparing them to Mary and Joseph finding no place to stay in Bethlehem and saying faith demands that foreigners be welcomed. Continue reading »
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JOHN HANNON. Failed leadership and systemic failure
I believe it is time to address the elephant in the room, now that the Royal Commission has presented its findings. Last weekend’s Saturday Age had a dark front-page image of a large cross with claw like hands descending from the horizontal crossbar, an almost sacrilegious image, reflecting the darkness and wrongs perpetrated by some Continue reading »
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MARILYN HATTON and MOIRA COOMBS. Catholic women speak out.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse’s report and its recommendations are essential for the care and protection of children and care of victims and their families. They are also important steps in preventing the perpetuation of the destructive clerical culture that produced the horrifying sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Continue reading »
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ROSS GITTINS. A bigger, better public sector will secure our future
There are important lessons to be learnt from the latest news about where our strong growth in employment is coming from. But if we listen to the nostrums of the Smaller Government brigade, we’ll get them exactly wrong. Continue reading »
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JENNY HOCKING. Harold Holt: The legacy is evident, 50 years after his disappearance.
It was a quintessential Australian death. On 17 December 1967, Australia’s 17th prime minister, Harold Edward Holt, waded into the churning surf at Victoria’s Cheviot Beach, defying a swift current and a strong under-tow that left others in his party refusing to enter. Within minutes Holt was swept up and out, “like a leaf … Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND …
Writing in the Fairfax Press, Andrew Norton of the Grattan Institute explains the government’s planned $ 2.2 billion cuts to university funding – cuts they can make without going through Parliament. He explains how they will have their greatest impact on resource-intensive courses such as engineering and education, while leaving courses such as law and Continue reading »
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Govt. Failure to Ensure Private School Systems Distribute Funding According to Need Will Continue Under Gonski 2.0
A recent report by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has slammed the Commonwealth Government for failing to ensure its funding of private school systems is distributed according to need and for not knowing how private school systems distribute their funding. The report is a scathing indictment of a massive failure of ministerial responsibility and Continue reading »
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Hunger and disease haunt Rohingya refugees
‘Sometimes we borrow from neighbors or we starve’ Continue reading »
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CLIVE KESSLER. Old enemies reconcile as Malaysian elections near.
Malaysia’s fourteenth general elections are looming. This time, almost unprecedentedly, they will see the two great Malay political parties — the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) — working implicitly as allies, not rivals. Continue reading »
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JOHN AUSTEN: What will it take to kick off a serious enquiry into the Sydney transport mess?
While readers relax over the Christmas break, Commonwealth advisers and politicians should be asking about the Sydney infrastructure mess. Continue reading »
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ALLAN PATIENCE. What is the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue?
Founded in 1992 by former Cocoa-Cola Amatil executive and later Australian consul-general in New York, Phil Scanlon, the Australia America Leadership Dialogue (AALD), in its own words, “brings together Australian and American leaders from government, enterprise, media, education and the community to help review and refine the parameters of the Australian-American bilateral relationship.” The motivations Continue reading »
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MARK METHERELL and JOHN WARHURST. Royal Commission provides almanac for what Catholic bishops should do now.
Our group, Concerned Catholics of Canberra Goulburn, was formed back in April 2017 in response to the tide of evidence of child sex abuse that has swept the church. Our motivating concern was to press for reforms in our church, not only to remove the settings that enabled that abuse but also to shake out Continue reading »
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JONATHAN PILBROW. IPAN on the link between war and refugees
Human Rights Day, recently observed, is a very significant day, commemorating the UN General Assembly endorsement on 10 December 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the right to seek asylum. Human Rights Day is an important time to highlight that that wars create and exacerbate humanitarian crises and the conditions that lead Continue reading »
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PATTY FAWKNER SGS. Of Mary and Maya.
When we see the images of Mary and her child this Christmas, may we pause and think of Maya and the countless victims of sexual exploitation, writes Sister Patty Fawkner. Continue reading »
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KIERAN TAPSELL. Secrets and the Royal Commission’s final report.
Media attention has been drawn to the recommendation in the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that religious confession should not be exempted from civil law requirements to report child sexual abuse. However, of much greater practical significance is the recommendation that the Catholic Church’s pontifical secret should Continue reading »
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ERIC HODGENS. Christmas Prompts Reflection on Power.
The powerless Jesus of the Christmas Gospel stories offers a tutorial on power in the Church today. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. The 2017-18 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook
This Mid-Year review of the economic and fiscal outlook contains no new surprises. However, the balance of risks is that the outcomes will be worse than predicted. Clearly on the Government’s own projections, the nation cannot afford income tax cuts in the foreseeable future. Instead what this review reminds us, is just how threadbare this Continue reading »
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KIM OATES. The Royal Commission, a beginning, not an end.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is testament to both the evil in our society and to the courage and determination of many of the victims. But we need to be aware that most child sexual abuse occurs in places other than churches and institutions. Continue reading »
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HUGH MACKAY. Another kind of deficit
Here’s a quick Christmas quiz. (Warning: it’s not a very merry quiz.) Continue reading »
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TONY DOHERTY. A Christmas reflection.
Christmas is the celebration of a story. A story told in the gospels by two storytellers – Matthew and Luke. It’s a tale told and retold, and often so badly that, should the original storytellers be alive today, I could imagine them squirming. Continue reading »
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DES CAHILL and PETER WILKINSON. Clericalism, celibacy and child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Australia
The Final Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was published on 15 December 2017. Among its 409 recommendations was one which is proving controversial, namely, the introduction of voluntary celibacy for diocesan priests. There are compelling reasons why the Commission chose to urge a change to a long-held tradition. Continue reading »
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PAUL COLLINS – Will the Vatican play ball?
We now have the recommendations of the Royal Commission (RC) to the Catholic Church. Many of them request the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) to take specific issues to the Vatican requesting that they be implemented. The question immediately arises: how will the Vatican react? What will Rome do? What I’ve tried to do here Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Turnbull overhauls his hyperbole
You may have missed it in all the excitement and jubilation of the passage of same sex marriage, but last week Malcolm Turnbull announced the most significant overhaul of Australia’s espionage laws in decades. Continue reading »
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Instead of congratulating ICAN on its Nobel Peace Prize, Australia is resisting efforts to ban the bomb
Last week in Oslo, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize was officially given to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a global campaign that was launched in Melbourne in 2007. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Alexander wins return to obscurity
So after all that, the bomb did not drop, the world has not ended. John Alexander has been re-elected and Australia’s champion, Bennelong’s champion, will relapse into the obscurity of the backbench whence he came. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Will today’s Labor Government in Western Australia repeat the mistakes of 1983?
Dominating the front page of Wednesday’s West Australian newspaper (6 December) was a picture of the State’s Premier, Mark McGowan, striking a tough-guy pose. Ghosted over the photo of the Premier was a big headline saying “Fat Cat Cull.” The fat cats are public service chiefs and the story revived memories of Premier Brian Burke Continue reading »