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We need no reminding of the depth of the division that exists in our Australian community. It's there every time we go online, turn on the TV, open the newspaper.
Our politics is focused on point-scoring, personalities, and name-calling across party lines. The media, for the most part, don't help, driven by the 24-hour news cycle and the pursuit of advertising dollars into a frenzy of click-bait and shallow sensationalism.
What does it mean to be an Australian in times like these? What are the values that unite us?
Eureka Street offers an alternative. It's less a magazine than a wide ranging conversation about the issues that matter in our country and our world; a conversation marked by respect for the dignity of all human beings.
To do this, we rely on your support as our community and we thank you for giving it so generously.
Hello! It was Paul's 'willingness to engage in the ...life of the Asia-Pacific' that led his government into accepting the invasion of East Timor in 1975, after its independence from Portugal, that helped bring about 24 years of murder and repression by the Indonesian government.
Mr Rigney takes exception to the Australian Government's engagement with Indonesia, notwithstanding its murderous regime. I'm not qualified to comment about that beyond noting that Indonesia invaded East Timor during an era of realpolitik evil called the Cold War, only some months after the re-unification of Vietnam, only a decade after the overthrow of Sukarno. Finally, after too many deaths, it was Indonesian president Habibie who initiated East Timor's liberation. In 1979, I recall sitting on a bus on Parramatta Rd, Sydney, when I overheard a gaggle of school boys up the back talking in broad Strine about their heroes, NSW's Sheffield team; how good the Waugh twins were, especially Steve. I turned to look, and not one of those children had an appearance of Anglo-Celtic ancestry; Lebanese, perhaps, Vietnamese, Chinese, those kids are indeed Aussies, one and all. I am proud of our culture that is strong enough to be tolerant enough to welcome diversity. I am proud of our public education system, through which that tolerance and diversity is engendered, and the culture thus nourished.
I couldn't agree with you more, Scott. Howard so skillfully positioned himself as the leader for the 'battlers', while systematically undermining the structures that protect the vulnerable - whether through IR legislation, the destruction of welfare, mandatory detention or even the attack on media ownership laws. What alarms me more at present, however, are the signs that Kevin Rudd may not be so different. But I cling to my hopes of a genuinely courageous moral leadership!
Australia Day remindes us of stories of separation within our country, such as the stories of the Stolen Generations. Separation from a parent is something Prince William understands. 'Did your mummy die?' a six-year old asked him during his visit last week.
So Australia has lost its bid to host the World Cup. In a single night the Holy Grail of the World Cup was transmuted to tin, the Light on the Hill of 2022 was snuffed out, the Crystal Sea that would convey worshipful hordes to Australia turned to seaweed.