Keywords: Australian Politics
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 02 May 2011
3 Comments
Political alliances can be strategically useful, but leaders must be careful not to appear too close to extreme groups. Tony Abbott and the NSW Greens have experienced 'guilt by association' in recent times, but the concept has a long history in Australian politics.
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RELIGION
- Irfan Yusuf
- 27 February 2011
26 Comments
In the past, Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile saw conservative Muslims as allies. Now he, like the Australian Christian Lobby, prefers to play sectarian wedge politics. Most homophobic Muslims would rather stay silent on gay marriage than support sectarian bigots.
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AUSTRALIA
- Edwina Byrne
- 20 January 2011
16 Comments
The speeches of the Tea Party movement, for all their faults, are notable for their vivid symbolism and appeal to values. When was the last time you heard an Australian politician invent their own intelligible metaphor?
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AUSTRALIA
- John Honner
- 07 January 2011
3 Comments
The fortunes of the English and Australian cricket teams follow the fortunes of their nations' conservative governments.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 30 August 2010
4 Comments
The Australian public is being delivered a profoundly misleading
subliminal message that, because the Taliban are active in the region, they
are tied up in providing relief for flood victims. We need to forget politics for a while and
think about the part we can play in helping Pakistanis through their
crisis.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 27 August 2010
33 Comments
The churches, with their tradition of recognising the deeper values
in human beings and society, can play an important part in generating a richer vision of Australian society. They'll need to cooperate with other groups who decry
the self-interested focus in Australian politics.
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AUSTRALIA
- Adrian Phoon
- 26 July 2010
2 Comments
Malcolm Turnbull recently compared Kevin Rudd to the Shakespearean character Coriolanus, a reviled control freak. Politicians sometimes invoke Shakespeare to flatter their own cause. But
this is fraught with dangers:
they can come off sounding pompous, or their analogies
may backfire.
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ENVIRONMENT
Rudd is technically correct that the opposition parties stymied his CPRS bills, but the buck stops with his disappointing climate policy leadership. Upon the failure of Australian parliamentary politics, we need now to find the courage to support mass non-violent
public action modelled on Vietnam War protest.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 27 April 2010
12 Comments
The Greens represent not just 20 per
cent of the Tasmanian electorate but 10 per cent of the national electorate. Australian politics will benefit when the Greens are
better integrated into the system rather than frozen out.
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AUSTRALIA
- Aurelien Mondon
- 23 April 2010
5 Comments
As Anzac Day approaches, Australian flags adorn our streets. To many, this display of nationalism is inoffensive and appears even as a sign of
cohesion. But it may also be a worrying facet of the growing appeal
found in exclusionary identity politics.
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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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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 24 June 2009
10 Comments
The Utegate affair has revealed once again that Australian politics at the
federal level is not squeaky clean. Some interests and individuals do
better out of the system than others. But neither is it deeply flawed
and corrupt.
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