It's a truism that, regardless of your position on the issue, writing about racial profiling and law enforcement is controversial. One colleague recently went so far as to describe it to me as career suicide. But it's the very fact that racial profiling is an emotional topic which drives the need for more informed public debate and dialogue on its application in border security.
It shows a staggering level of disregard for the indigenous population. We committed genocide. Probably best not to rub it in. Even the deep South of the US have finally admitted that the confederate flag is f*cked up. South Africa celebrates and documents the end of Apartheid, not the day it was invented. It's gross, just so damn gross.
If nothing else, Malcolm Turnbull's visit to the United States last week -- his first as Prime Minister -- served to highlight a simple fact: Australia matters.
Yesterday was our last public holiday until Easter. "Just settling back into it" is no longer an acceptable approach to work. The joy of summer has all but come to an end. To put it colloquially: sh*t gets real. It's around now that the excuses creep in and resolutions creep out.
If one sports story rings loudest through the 12 months since the last Australia Day, it's not a grand final or golf tournament or world title that anybody won. It's the Adam Goodes booing saga.
A well-timed yes can expand our world in beautiful and unexpected ways. But I am writing now to espouse the power of another simple word: no.
What I think makes Australia a truly awesome place to live, and the reason why we have never considered moving back to the UK, despite the spiders, sharks, snakes, sun, scorpions, mullets, rats-tails and truly awful beer, is the people.
I love this country. It is one where beers are always quiet, towns are named with the same word twice and everyone has been to Woop Woop at least once. I can't deny it; it's a bloody bewdy, this place. And any other day of the year, I would put another snag on the barbie and celebrate it.
There's nothing more Australian than having a cold beer and a sausage sandwich to celebrate our national day, but there's nothing fun about the hangover that comes with it the next morning.
Young people need to see people who have success in their chosen field but are also real. People who are flawed, who eat burgers occasionally, who argue with their partners and shop at Zara.
We should acknowledge that Bowie slept with an underage woman to acknowledge that he is human. Yes, his talent was exceptional. No, he was not a monster. But we should never glorify celebrities to the point that we refuse to acknowledge that they're capable of ugly acts.
Bali is an Indonesian island located only a couple of hours from Australia known for it's beautiful beaches, rice paddies, and beautiful landscape. As well as being visually pleasing and having lot of sunshine, there's so many different places and things to see and do.
To you, it may sound crazy that something has to go down in value to make a profit. But yes, this really happens.
It doesn't matter how hard we try, there is no point at which we can say we have reached perfection. There is only the exhaustive strain for a goal that will always be out of reach.
It's that time again...holidays are over and our little ones are heading back into the classroom (phew). Although we may get some reprieve from wrestles and the perennial question "what can I do now??!!", an old problem rears it's ugly head.
On Saturday, at an A-League match on the NSW Central Coast, there will be a supporter's bay dedicated to people who are supporters of neither of the sides actually playing.
Beards, as you may have noticed, are back. The chin-strap, the goatee, the neck beard and the Van Dyke, they all have their fans. But with beards sprouting everywhere , like new grass in the spring sunshine, there has inevitably been a backlash.
My neighbour has stolen my cat. I'm sure they didn't mean to. They probably just found him pussyfooting around near their front door and decided to give him a cuddle and a treat. But now he stays out all night, he's getting fat and he hardly hugs me anymore. And he isn't even a teenager yet.