Eureka Street

Author: Tony Smith

ENVIRONMENT

The forest wars
- Tony Smith
- 04 October 2024
The Forest Wars reveals how vested interests make life difficult for the scientists and activists who attempt to defend the environment, a war waged through deforestation on one hand and deception and obfuscation on the other. Linenmayer asks: if we continue to allow vested interests to drive deforestation, how long before the forests — and the future they promise — are lost beyond repair?
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INTERNATIONAL

The perils of being a civilian
- Tony Smith
- 22 February 2024
1 Comment
The illusion of warfare as a contest between professionals should have disappeared forever as the twentieth century brought numerous examples of barbarous armies butchering civilians. And unfortunately, the pattern now is that some 90 per cent war casualties are civilians.
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AUSTRALIA

When missiles threaten our ethics
- Tony Smith
- 30 January 2024
1 Comment
This rush to the missile age is part of a broader escalation of the arms race in previously peaceful regions, distancing countries like Australia and New Zealand from their roles as honest brokers in a nuclear-free Pacific.
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INTERNATIONAL

Remember Hiroshima as US nixes treaties
- Tony Smith
- 06 August 2019
7 Comments
The timing of the USA's announcement that it is withdrawing from treaties limiting the nuclear arms race came just a few days before the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. The anniversary remains important because it serves as a reminder that nuclear weapons have been used and that they could be used again.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

A life in song for the working class
- Tony Smith
- 22 March 2017
4 Comments
Danny sang of farm labourers, poachers, mariners, union martyrs and miners. He did not simply perform the songs - that would be too much like exploiting them. His aim was to help preserve them. When he introduced a song it was clear that he had great respect for the tradition in which he fitted and that he had done extensive research into the song's provenance. The songs were important because of how they recorded aspects of working class life which mainstream histories might neglect.
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AUSTRALIA

Market thinking is not the way to improve prison education
- Tony Smith
- 13 January 2017
4 Comments
If the argument about sacking specialist education officers for NSW prisons holds, then perhaps it should be applied to schools. Sacking all permanent teachers and throwing all lessons across the state open to tender should improve educational outcomes. The absurdity of such a suggestion should be obvious. If the government is serious about improving prison education, it should work with the experienced teachers to make those improvements.
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AUSTRALIA

Rise of the corporate cowboys
- Tony Smith
- 29 September 2014
7 Comments
Unfortunately, when people pin their hopes for a just and fair society to a corporation, they can be sadly disappointed. A spate of deaths around the country suggests that many corporations have plenty of power to influence governments to produce policies and legislation convenient for their operations, but fail to take responsibility for their bad outcomes, which include deaths in workplaces.
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AUSTRALIA

Australia's ten wasted years of war
- Tony Smith
- 19 March 2013
14 Comments
Gone are the days when Australians believed everyone deserved a fair go: the principle that 'might is right' has replaced the ideals of equity and justice in the national psyche. It is not surprising that after engaging in costly military actions over a decade Australians are more fearful now than when we invaded Iraq in 2003.
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AUSTRALIA

Trust is shot for cynical NSW Premier
- Tony Smith
- 28 February 2013
8 Comments
Political trust is fragile and can be destroyed in many ways. The O'Farrell Government's environmental credibility has been forever undermined by its decision to let hunters loose in national parks. More than that, this arrogant and disrespectful act can only lead to the further destruction of public trust.
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AUSTRALIA

NSW Labor's diseased ethics
- Tony Smith
- 06 February 2013
11 Comments
The Labor Party's ethical problems are deep seated. Once it adopted pragmatism as its first principle, policy debates lost meaning. The ideological vacuum was filled by enslavement to poll driven politics and media images. The Left struggled to retain its influence and Labor's heart vanished. We should expect much more from our politicians.
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AUSTRALIA

Ricky Ponting's dignity
- Tony Smith
- 01 April 2011
As some recent Australian elections have shown, leaders do not always let go in time to avoid embarrassment. Retiring Australian cricket captian Ricky Ponting usually behaved with dignity. But there are moments he'd no doubt prefer to expunge from the record.
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AUSTRALIA

The NSW democracy deficit
- Tony Smith
- 10 March 2011
8 Comments
If voters are disappointed with Labor now, they could be positively angry after the election. Because the Coalition is a shoo-in to win, the public is showing little interest in policy debates and the media have brought little pressure to bear over policy details and likely costs.
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Author: Tony Smith