Vol 31 No 2

31 January 2021

DOWNLOAD PDF

RELIGION

Commending faith
- Andrew Hamilton
- 11 February 2021
41 Comments
The exchanges within churches echo trends in national life that heighten disagreements, lessen respect, and tend to confine conversation circles to people of similar views. People become annoyed if those opposing their views gatecrash their forums. This trend creates problems for Church sponsored publications.
READ MORE
FAITH DOING JUSTICE

Without JobSeeker, inequality will rise
- Julian Butler
- 11 February 2021
4 Comments
The size and spread of government payments in past 12 months has held steady, and to some extent, improved the circumstances of many on low incomes or government support. The withdrawal of that support risks returning many to payments that do not provide for basic human needs.
READ MORE
ENVIRONMENT

Not just climate adaptation, but genuine transformation
- Cristy Clark
- 10 February 2021
4 Comments
On a superficial level, it makes no sense to commit so strongly to managing the impacts of climate change (adaptation) on the one hand while refusing to significantly reduce emissions (mitigation) on the other. On the other hand, when you start to unpack the logic of so much adaptation policy, this contradiction fades away.
READ MORE
ECONOMICS

GameStopping the system
- David James
- 09 February 2021
5 Comments
The controversy over the shares of US video game company GameStop has again exposed what has long been obvious: there is something seriously rotten in the state of the world’s financial markets. It was a battle between a hedge fund, Melvin Capital, which manages $US13 billion, and a small group of ‘amateur’ investors who communicated with each other on a Reddit forum called WallStreetBets.
READ MORE
AUSTRALIA

Pragmatism: obscuring ideology in Australian politics
- Benedict Coleridge
- 09 February 2021
30 Comments
The celebration of pragmatism in Australian politics obscures the role that ideology has always already played. In fact, one of the more stealthily ideological moves in Australian politics, generally made within that swirl of commitments people call ‘centrism’, is the de-politicisation of policy — the attempt to present policy as responsive to natural imperatives rather than to specific values and ideals.
READ MORE
INTERNATIONAL

The politics of vaccines
- Daniel Sleiman
- 04 February 2021
8 Comments
Despite talk against ‘vaccine nationalism’ the pharmaceutical companies are ultimately beholden to investors and shareholders. Their effectiveness percentages are pitches. They will sell to those who can afford to buy. And naturally that’s wealthy countries.
READ MORE
ARTS AND CULTURE

True friendship
- Barry Gittins
- 04 February 2021
2 Comments
All three of us are parents, we’ve all been adversely impacted by COVID-19, and prior to that we’ve shared the usual rough and tumble dynamics of male friendships and bridal party affiliations. We have been in and out of each other’s good books, hard conversations, interpersonal dynamics and orbits. We’ve been through a lot as mates. COVID-wise, though, that affinity has been at a remove.
READ MORE
RELIGION

Making space for conversation
- Andrew Hamilton
- 04 February 2021
68 Comments
The exchanges within churches echo trends in national life that heighten disagreements, lessen respect, and tend to confine conversation circles to people of similar views. People become annoyed if those opposing their views gatecrash their forums. This trend creates problems for Church sponsored publications.
READ MORE
ARTS AND CULTURE

When the city spoke back to me
- Laila Nawsheen
- 02 February 2021
Come the next set of lights, you won't remember what I look like. You'll all go back to your lives thinking about your wives, girlfriends, kids, parents, brothers, sisters, lovers, friends, husbands, boyfriends, whoever, not me. But I needed a night out in the city and the city spoke back to me when I had no one else to spend the night with.
READ MORE
INTERNATIONAL

On the beach, in the storm
- Gillian Bouras
- 02 February 2021
15 Comments
It was all very quiet, and the waterfront was practically deserted. But I suddenly noticed a sole woman right at the water’s edge. She had her back to me, but I saw her lift what was clearly an icon, which she then venerated. I couldn’t hear her precise words, but it seemed obvious she was repeating the forms of the liturgy to herself.
READ MORE
CARTOON

Predictable
- Fiona Katauskas
- 02 February 2021
READ MORE

Subscriber login

Vol 31 No 2