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Author Archives: Bob Debus
We have to fix environmental policy while we can
Two months ago, the budget of the New Zealand Government set aside an amount of $1.5 billion to create 11,000 regional jobs in the protection and restoration of the environment. If Australia were to match this COVID stimulus initiative per … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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BOB DEBUS supports Pearls and Irritations.
Pearls & Irritations is unique. Its contributors and readers are a growing community of people with an exceptionally wide-ranging and open-minded commitment to effective, progressive and rational public policy.
Posted in Commendations
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BOB DEBUS. It’s no excuse to trash the planet.
As nearly everybody now understands, the changes that have occurred in public policy in the last few weeks are without precedent, at least since the Second World War. They tell us in the most straightforward possible way that only government … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
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BOB DEBUS: OUR LAND AND OUR WAY OF LIFE
Between late 2001 and early 2003, during the so-called Millennium Drought, eastern Australia experienced unprecedented periods of bushfire.
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
3 Comments
BOB DEBUS. Must Prisoner Numbers Grow Forever? (an edited version of a lecture given to the Law Society of New South Wales, 22 August)
We can all accept imprisonment as the appropriate response for serious and violent crimes. Nevertheless there is a plethora of studies confirming the common sense conclusion that prison is damaging for individuals at a psychological level, especially in the absence … Continue reading
Posted in Indigenous affairs, Infrastructure
2 Comments
BOB DEBUS. How close to Armageddon do we have to get?
The 2019 OECD Environmental Performance Review for Australia, launched recently and reported in The Guardian if hardly anywhere else, makes horrible reading. “Australia is home to a 10th of global species and is seen by many as synonymous with pristine … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
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BOB DEBUS. Restoring integrity in nature conservation. Part 2 of 2
‘There is a limit to what laws can achieve, but they are an essential part of any robust system of environmental governance. Environmental laws should effectively enable the protection, conservation, management and, where needed, restoration of our national heritage. The … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
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BOB DEBUS. Restoring integrity in nature conservation Part 1 of 2
The Australian Government’s short and pointless document, published just before Xmas and entitled Strategy For Nature 2018-2030, has been accurately described as a ‘global embarrassment’. It is useful only insofar as it reminds us that Australian government policies for nature … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
4 Comments
Bob Debus. The things that must be done…
Some Genuine Decision-Making Power: Dealing with the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the prison system This is an extract from the 2016 Frank Walker Memorial Lecture delivered by the Hon. Bob Debus AM on 16 February 2016. The Hon. Frank … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Indigenous affairs, Politics
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Bob Debus to deliver Frank Walker Memorial Lecture.
Invitation to attend Frank Walker Memorial Lecture. Join us as we celebrate the life times of former NSW Attorney-General the Hon. Frank Walker QC, with guest speaker the Hon. Bob Debus AM. This event is free to attend. Post-lecture drinks will be … Continue reading
Posted in Indigenous affairs, Media, Politics
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Bob Debus. A breach of faith on renewable energy.
Well, this is just getting stupid. We are entitled, after events last week, to ask if the Federal Government has the capacity any longer to act in good faith when the interest of the coal industry is at stake. Tony … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
1 Comment