Keywords: Alexander Downer
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AUSTRALIA
- Paul Cleary
- 24 August 2010
3 Comments
Kevin Rudd's failure to embrace the Timor legend with more imagination and
substance was a missed opportunity to connect with Labor's Second World
War legacy. Wartime Prime Minister John Curtin saw the guerilla war in
Timor as a unique and significant part of turning back the Japanese
tide.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 21 July 2010
11 Comments
The idea of a regional processing centre for asylum seekers requires a lot of detailed diplomatic work.
If Gillard is elected Prime Minister, it could be Kevin Rudd's first test as Foreign Minister. Whoever is elected, and wherever such a
centre is located, it will not be East Timor.
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AUSTRALIA
- Tony Kevin
- 14 October 2009
16 Comments
The Republican Right's claim that Obama has yet to achieve anything is
a smokescreen for their rage, for Obama got this
award precisely because he is 'not Bush'. To speak a credible language of moral inspiration and hope to the world is an achievement in itself.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 08 September 2009
1 Comment
With Nelson's departure the Liberals have lost yet another experienced but relatively youthful member of its leadership team. Even if the Party loses the next election they should urge Turnbull to stay on in a lesser
role, possibly
to serve with distinction in a future Liberal Government.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 26 August 2009
2 Comments
The process of making public policy shouldn't be like a
school reunion. Former politicians have a right to do what they like
after leaving Parliament, but those who opt to serve the community sector, rather than
hanging around politics, are to be admired.
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INTERNATIONAL
- Irfan Yusuf
- 14 August 2009
11 Comments
According to P. J. O'Rourke, today's asylum seekers are tomorrow's 'really good Australians'. Australia has established Uighur and Turkish communities and could easily accommodate the few remaining ex-Gitmo Uighurs.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 20 August 2008
2 Comments
The lure of leadership seems to have Peter Costello reconsidering his decision to walk away from the Liberals. Whether motivated by serving the community or by personal advancement, once politics is in your blood it is hard to shake off.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 07 March 2008
8 Comments
Last month, members of the Pine Gap Four 'citizens inspection team' were acquitted in a Darwin court. Parliamentary committees, juries and the citizen's right to
civil disobedience are necessary safeguards for liberty when government
is tempted to use the legal sledgehammer to crack the nut of political
dissent.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 12 December 2007
Eighteen months on from the 2006 unrest, Australian and New Zealand troops are still patrolling the streets of Dili. There has been no imperative for them to exchange berets and operate under UN auspices as occurred with the original INTERFET engagement.
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AUSTRALIA
- Jack Waterford
- 25 October 2007
2 Comments
Jack Waterford writes that Australia is likely to have a new government by December 2007.
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RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 25 October 2007
We think it is wrong for foreign states to impose the death penalty on Aussie drug traffickers and drug mules. But we apply different reasoning to non-Australians facing death at the hands of the state. The practical, hands on, Aussie approach often plays fast and loose with moral reasoning about what is right and wrong.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 12 September 2007
1 Comment
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