"A HALF-CENTURY can make a difference. And, with each royal visit down under by the Queen, contrasts are made of the crowds that flocked to her first visit and the much tinier crowds that greet her today. In 1954, the eight-week tour of the Queen and Prince Philip to Australia attracted three-quarters of the nation [...]
"The unique contribution from Australia to relief of those hit by the tsunami disaster says a lot about our consciousness as a nation and of our ties and responsibilities in our region. It says more than any words about our place in the Asia Pacific. Forget the debates about whether Australia is part of the [...]
"BELIEVE it or not, God is back in fashion. As Australians get ready for Christmas Day, there is a stoush going on in Sydney about whether Lord Mayor Clover Moore has killed Christmas by saving on decorations and reducing the traditional symbols of Christmas and Christianity. Meanwhile, there is another mini debate raging about the [...]
"IT'S FINALLY happened. The Federal Government will now allow some 9500 temporary protection visa holders to apply for permanent residence in Australia. This marks a major softening on asylum-seekers for the Howard Government. A complete reversal of the hard line of 2001 and the Tampa incident. And it hasn't been the largely counterproductive public protests [...]
"VICTIMISATION fatigue has become widespread. Not least with the affluent voices of the feminist movement. Naomi Wolf's belated revelation that her former Yale tutor Harold Bloom groped her is a case in point. New Statesman editor Christine Odone says Wolf has "trivialised what should have been a serious investigation into Ivy League misogyny", giving victimisation [...]
"The latest figures for attendance at non- government (private) schools are just one important illustration of the success of the Howard Government's user-pay policies among Australian families. More than 40 per cent of students now attend non- government high schools in 16 of Sydney's 23 federal electorates. Federally, 84 electorates have more students than average [...]
"AS SIMON CREAN begins his policy blitz, it's middle-class voters in outer metropolitan electorates Labor is once more being told to heed. A huge sea change has overtaken Australia's so-called middle class in the past decade. From acceptance of the new tax system to the rapid growth of private religious schools to the popularity of [...]
"TWO DECADES ago on this day, Bob Hawke, Labor's most successful prime minister, won office. In Victoria and South Australia, voters were mopping up after the devastating Ash Wednesday bushfires that took 75 lives, recession and drought were the order of the day and a defeated Malcolm Fraser accepted the election outcome with tears in [...]
"Be alert but not alarmed, the Federal Government's $15 million anti-terror advertising campaign tells us. Some $1.4 billion is being spent on strengthening Australia's counter-terrorist capabilities. A recent Taverner Poll shows about 80 per cent of Australians believe the country is a genuine terrorist target; more than a quarter now suffer fear of attack or [...]
"IN AUSTRALIA, it's not easy to visit a detention centre. You need someone to visit, make a trip to the outback or to Sydney's fringes. You have to be motivated join a group like Chilout (Children Out of Detention). And yet, more Australians should visit their country's detention centres. A friend encouraged me to visit [...]