Monday, November 4, 2013
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Free will is a functional advantage developed by nature. It is autonomy, the autonomy of the individual. Its acquisition and development is progressive. Law & Liberties - Rodney Crisp - 9 comments
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What we should all be concerned about is the impact of ideologically based policy decisions in areas like education. Education - Kellie Tranter - 12 comments
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Openness may be the right road for Labor, but it is not the easy one. After losing government to 'the Noalition', it will be painful for Labor in opposition to adopt a more positive approach. Domestic Politics - Andrew Leigh - 6 comments
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Has an 'out of control' intelligence community compromised 'Australia in the Asian Century'? International - Murray Hunter - 6 comments
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All that it does here is push the homosexual agenda and pretend it has offered us some scholarly fact checking. Society - Bill Muehlenberg - 17 comments
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Friday, November 1, 2013
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Once an issue takes hold of the popular imagination, like an Australian republic has with roughly half of the community, it doesn't go away. But it does await political leadership. Law & Liberties - David Morris - 17 comments
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To put 'national consistency' and 'true equality' ahead of the inclusion, protection and dignity that comes with allowing same-sex couples to marry verges on callous. Law & Liberties - Rodney Croome - 12 comments
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While the legislators are not entering the 'field' of the Commonwealth, they still claim that, 'Marriage means a marriage under the [Cth] Marriage Act 1961'. Law & Liberties - Binoy Kampmark - 12 comments
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Treasurer Hockey’s ill-advised decision will cost you, the taxpayer, around $1 million a day just in interest payments alone. Economics - Andrew Leigh - 28 comments
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The series of backward steps by both Labor and the Coalition sends a very negative message to the global community. International - Tim Costello - 23 comments
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Thursday, October 31, 2013
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Changing the definition of marriage, which has lasted from time immemorial, is not an exercise in human rights and equality; it is an exercise in de-authorising the Judaeo-Christian influence in our society. Law & Liberties - David van Gend - 56 comments
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It is a measure of the lack of sophistication and parochial outlook of Abbott and the government he leads that there is an apparent failure to understand the way the world works. International - Bruce Haigh - 22 comments
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Research proves that Catholic and independent schools compared to government schools get the best academic results and get more students into university. Education - Kevin Donnelly - 13 comments
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Regardless then, of the chaotic nature of English spelling conventions, no academic argument can stand against the clear primacy of this alphabetic principle. Education - Chris Nugent - 8 comments
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
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But I was nevertheless interested to see whether in fact this winter had been mild at Bathurst and if in fact there has been an increase in 'overnight temperatures'. Environment - Jennifer Marohasy - 64 comments
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Tony Abbott is poised to break core promises on stopping the boats. Law & Liberties - Clarrie Burke - 9 comments
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At the core of the reform is the idea that senate seats should reflect voters' intentions in the most accurate way possible and reduce voter confusion. Law & Liberties - Neveshevida Balasubramanian - 8 comments
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As the election furore and political coverage recedes from the media cycle, many wait in anticipation of what our self-proclaimed 'infrastructure prime minister' will do to revitalise our slowing economy. Nation Building - Nicholas Taylor - 5 comments
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And let's be clear, the Dawkins revolution was not reform by consensus, it was not watered down to an extent that made it essentially meaningless, but broadly acceptable to all stakeholders. Education - Trevor Cook - 5 comments
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There are three possible one-state solutions that would ensure a Jewish and democratic state - which involve merging the West Bank and Gaza. International - David Singer - 20 comments
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Tuesday, October 29, 2013
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The assumption that the Liberal Party is the party of pragmatic self interest, and Labor the party of conviction, has been reversed. Domestic Politics - Marko Beljac - 9 comments
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Taken at face value the increase in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait population far exceeds the fertility rate. How can this be? Indigenous Affairs - Brendan O'Reilly - 4 comments
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The flipside of such protective romanticism is that of arbitrariness. This was reflected in the views of Queensland Premier Campbell Newman who said, 'Frankly I don't care how these people go to jail.' Law & Liberties - Binoy Kampmark - 20 comments
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The most viable alternative to the violent restoration of Sunni Arab hegemony in Syria is partition - either 'hard' or 'soft'. International - Gary Gambill - 3 comments
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NSW's ministers must not be cowed by a few activists if the state is to avoid a gas supply shock. Economics - Matthew Warren - 4 comments
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Increasing longevity and low fertility, not to mention totally unacceptable obesity and diabetes rates, will pose countless challenges for policymakers in the future. Health - Peter Curson - 22 comments
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Monday, October 28, 2013
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Climate change has been absent from the Blue Mountains area for more than 100 years, so how is it responsible for the fires? Environment - Jennifer Marohasy - 22 comments
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The global BDS movement for boycotting Israel is overwhelmingly wedded to a one-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This means racially stereotyping all Israeli Jews as an inherently evil oppressor nation. International - Philip Mendes - 18 comments
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One option as an incentive for North Korea to reform could be a USD 600 million per year North Korean Development Fund, with USD 50 million paid out each month. International - Hubertus Hoffmann and Tillmann Dietrich - 3 comments
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How is she going to clear her head of the idea that it is all about morality and that the church is a spoilsport at the table of life? Religion & Spirituality - Peter Sellick - 27 comments
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That very noble objective we call justice tends to be somewhat elusive. In fact, it is so elusive it could even be said to constitute the 'Achilles' heel' of democracy. Law & Liberties - Rodney Crisp - 8 comments
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Similar research in Australia, where a 21 year time lag has been placed on data relating to a cohort of children exposed to lead at a young age, shows a strong correlation between lead exposure and criminal activities later in life. Health - Paul Harvey - 2 comments
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Friday, October 25, 2013
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It is a scandal that Australian education is being held to ransom by a few hundred academics and mid-ranking bureaucrats who prioritise their own careers over the literacy of our children. Education - Alannah Mactiernan - 22 comments
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For more than thirty years scientists have been warning that one of the prominent features of climate change, apart from warming, will be increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events. Environment - John Coulter - 57 comments
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The persistent prevalence of poverty is truly the greatest moral challenge of our time. International - Edward Harridge - 6 comments
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If Ukraine can do a deal with Turkey it takes away Russia's ability to dominate it. International - James Stafford - 3 comments
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Each human being is genetically programmed with a drive to seek and find meaning in life and it will endeavour to do this throughout its life. Political Philosophy - Robert Burrowes - 12 comments
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Thursday, October 24, 2013
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And that's what makes volunteer fire fighters like Tony Abbott heroes. They risk their lives in the worst of conditions to protect us. Domestic Politics - Mishka Góra - 41 comments
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For 30 years Australian English education has followed a path which destroys rather than builds literacy. Education - Chris Nugent - 13 comments
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The UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell. International - Elizabeth Shaw - 27 comments
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Like Cassandra the prophetess, standing outside Agamemnon's palace while his wife sharpens the knives inside, I fear for Adelaide's future. Economics - Malcolm King - 10 comments
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If the World Bank wants to be successful in fostering 'inclusive growth' it will need to rethink current policies on energy investments. International - Haweya Ismail - 1 comment
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013
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Ferrari uses evidence from two research papers to mistakenly claim that Catholic schools, and non-government schools more generally, fail to perform as well as they should. Education - Kevin Donnelly - 5 comments
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Since the election of the current government on September 7, the public has become privy to a wide array of abuses exhibited by parliamentarians for which there has been no retribution. Domestic Politics - Revelly Robinson - 15 comments
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Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes true. This appears to be the approach taken by the Real Estate Institute of Australia. Economics - Leith van Onselen - 13 comments
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The more important issue we ought to be discussing is how to address the drastic overreach by local governments. Domestic Politics - Brent Fleeton - 16 comments
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
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Dr Mark Hobart, a Melbourne GP, is being investigated by the Medical Board of Victoria for allegedly refusing to refer a couple for an abortion of their healthy 19-week unborn baby, simply because she was a girl. Law & Liberties - Terri Kelleher - 38 comments
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Failure to act swiftly is likely to see the new funding model abandoned in terms of any support from the schooling sectors with a resultant further period of funding uncertainty. Education - David Robertson - 4 comments
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We are bracing ourselves for a shocking summer. It has been too hot in NSW to even continue property-saving hazard reduction. Climate change is a clear and present danger to the nation. Environment - Andrew Leigh - 16 comments
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EU investigators who visited sites in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank noted 'significant shortcomings' in the management of funds sent to Gaza and the West Bank. International - David Singer - 7 comments
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Monday, October 21, 2013
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The more we obsess with taking a photo of every moment in life (moments that more often than not have no need of being captured) the less we have the chance to live that life. Society - Bernard Toutounji - 7 comments
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It seems that no time is the right time to discuss global warming, even as people are suffering from our failure to address climate change. Environment - Lyn Bender - 59 comments
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If the climate of our planet is technically 'chaotic', meaning that elements of it are unpredictable, then modelling it is bound to have have some inaccurate results, to say the least. Environment - Don Aitkin - 58 comments
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If the federal government had adopted the recommendations of the Belcher Report, then politicians' expenses may not even be an issue. Political Philosophy - Rosie Williams
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Friday, October 18, 2013
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The first thing to note is that Abbott may have won a landslide election, but he's not personally rating that well. Domestic Politics - Graham Young - 14 comments
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There is a cinema I go to that refunds your money if you're out the door within 20 minutes of the opening titles. The people there have knowing looks. My personal best is less than five minutes of the awful Moulin Rouge. The Arts - John Pilger - 26 comments
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Apologies for distorting Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but recent talk of a housing ‘bubble’ in Australia is increasingly reminiscent of soothsayers with bubbling cauldrons of economic brew. Economics - Ross Elliott - 3 comments
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Of course, religion is not the only cause to have been promoted through the use, or threatened use, of force. There is politics. Religion & Spirituality - Stephen Liggins - 19 comments
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Health care workers and researchers are discovering that innovative therapies based on compassionate care and love are 'reaching' dementia sufferers in ways unheard of previously. Health - Kay Stroud - 4 comments
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
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With a 'mixed mandate' from the ALP's first experiment with a rank and file component in electing the parliamentary leader, Bill Shorten needs to move straight away to implement the reforms he promised Domestic Politics - Tristan Ewins - 14 comments
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There is no longer a bloc Catholic vote, as there was before the 1955 split when more than 80 per cent of Catholics routinely voted Labor. Domestic Politics - Ray Cassin - 6 comments
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The extent to which psychopaths are prevalent in the community is difficult to estimate – typical figures are 1% of the general population, 25% of the prison population and 3.5% of the business world. Health - Chris Golis - 12 comments
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This self-inflicted financial virus concerns the squandering of America’s reputation as the main haven for prime investments, including many Australian investments. Economics - Peter Coates - 10 comments
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
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When will western liberal democracies publicly concede the links between war, political and social unrest, economic deprivation and climate change, and asylum seekers. Law & Liberties - Kellie Tranter - 28 comments
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Barack Obama's absence from East Asia's two seminal economic and political meetings last week has triggered another bout of declinist commentary. International - Alan Dupont - 4 comments
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Anti-population lobbyists embrace 1960s doomsayer and target Africans and babies as the new enemy. Nation Building - Malcolm King - 74 comments
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Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying you can't have your guns in the USA. Go ahead. Go crazy. Society - Paul Mitchell - 13 comments
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
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Since 2001–02, the average annual national expenditure growth rate has far exceeded the general rate of inflation, and the cost of public hospital care has grown almost three times as fast as national income over the period. Health - Jeremy Sammut - 7 comments
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Accepting expert opinion at face value is a failure of due diligence and dereliction of duty, constituting negligence in a public official. Environment - Graham Young - 65 comments
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Put these observable trends together and a compelling case can be made that our society is approaching an existential crisis that is systemic in nature and is in denial about the existence of that crisis. Environment - Simon Michaux - 13 comments
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The World Bank Report has highlighted the following disastrous economic outcomes suffered by the West Bank Arab population, because the PLO failed to grab those two political lifelines. International - David Singer - 11 comments
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Monday, October 14, 2013
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Commentators have largely bought into the myth of the Beijing bogeyman, with the expectation of malign intent underscoring far too many articles assessing Beijing's ascension or foreign policy goals. International - Tim Pascoe - 4 comments
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Africa is China's success story. Where the Americans bring drones, the Chinese build roads, bridges and dams. International - John Pilger - 12 comments
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There can be a conflict between good science and what policy makers and engineers want to know. Environment - Fred Pearce - 10 comments
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Governments too can behave as though money did really grow on trees, and demonstrate a blindness to the effect of such behaviour on the body politic. Domestic Politics - Don Aitkin - 10 comments
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Talk of reforming the senate voting system neglects the very many voting inequities that occur at other levels of government. Political Philosophy - Philip Lillingston - 11 comments
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Friday, October 11, 2013
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While the markets have been responding lately with unfounded optimism over Libya the reality is quite different. International - James Stafford - 2 comments
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I found myself disliking the film, for its sins of omission, and manipulative way of discrediting anti nuclear people. Environment - Noel Wauchope - 26 comments
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If I had advice for the Prime Minister, it might be that he point out to his team the dreadful cost to the Labor Party of the Peter Slipper business, the Craig Thomson business, and even the Julia Gillard business. Domestic Politics - Don Aitkin - 96 comments
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The real problem - and one of the main reasons so many teachers leave after three to four years in the profession - is noisy and disruptive classrooms. Education - Kevin Donnelly - 14 comments
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The recent ambiguous BDS proposals suggest that the Palestinians have retreated back to their pre-1993 extremism. International - Philip Mendes - 6 comments
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Family is one of the cornerstones in our social system but modern families face unprecedented change with very little support. Health - Joan Garvan - 6 comments
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Thursday, October 10, 2013
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If caucus votes for Shorten, then it will show that it is still not listening to its grass roots supporters and average voters. Domestic Politics - Graham Young - 25 comments
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Tony Abbott can truly say he got the Prime Ministership over the political death of two Prime Ministers, one Opposition Leader and now two senior public servants. Domestic Politics - Randal Stewart - 12 comments
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As an independent oil company I'm afraid the potential for now finding acreage with a very low technical and political risk is nigh on impossible. Economics - James Stafford - 1 comment
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Paul Keating laments the fate of Sydney's Botanic Gardens, but far worse the fate of Centennial Park. Nation Building - Peter West - 2 comments
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Why does fear prevent an 'intelligent' individual acting on sound evidence? There are many reasons. Political Philosophy - Robert Burrowes - 44 comments
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Wednesday, October 9, 2013
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Why should environmental NGOs be above the laws that limit the rest of us? Environment - Mark Poynter - 11 comments
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In the name of compassion and common sense and as a fellow Christian, I appeal to you, Tony. Revisit what the Jesuits taught you. Domestic Politics - Noel Preston - 20 comments
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As boat after boat arrived on their shores, perhaps their elders saw the disruption, diseases and destruction to their ancient civilisation. Perhaps they dreamt that they could stop these boats. Law & Liberties - Joseph Wakim - 25 comments
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The Dead Donor Rule impedes the ability to harvest organs by defining death too narrowly, robbing some patients of their wishes to donate viable organs. Health - Jonathan J. Ariel - 12 comments
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Tuesday, October 8, 2013
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All the indications are that this is just the start, and that a hefty chunk of Northern Australia is set to change hands from Australian to Indonesian ownership at bargain basement prices. Economics - Brendan O'Reilly - 36 comments
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In the wake of digitisation, expanding economies are hurtling at binary speed toward a fully cashless society. Science & Technology - Mal Fletcher - 9 comments
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As Assad's prime backer Russia has obviously relished further embarrassing the London Eleven as they slowly sink in the political quicksand of their own making. International - David Singer - 16 comments
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Creating a union of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. International - Everald Compton - 14 comments
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Monday, October 7, 2013
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The test of good policies is that they need to provide credible solutions, be effective in tackling the problem and have substance. Domestic Politics - Scott Prasser - 5 comments
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The critical point is to what extent should our public servants be excluded from the political discourse in our representative democracy. Law & Liberties - Crispin Hull - 4 comments
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Yet, as Professor Paul Ehrlich will note at a conference in Canberra next week, the more people there are, the more you need to expand food production. Environment - Jenny Goldie - 43 comments
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As the dust starts to settle and Australia reflects on the outcomes of the recent federal election, many Aboriginal people have growing concerns over Tony Abbott’s new Indigenous Advisory Council. Indigenous Affairs - Kado Muir, Mitch . and Peter Watts - 11 comments
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Under the 'One China' principle, China believes that their representation on behalf of Taiwan inevitably serves Taiwan's best interests. International - Sinclaire Prowse - 3 comments
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