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Keywords: Commons

  • RELIGION

    Mabo 20 years on

    • Frank Brennan
    • 29 October 2012

    'Though land rights and self-determination provide no utopia for the contemporary indigenous Australian community, they have belatedly put right an ancient wrong. The cost and inconvenience are unavoidable. Terra nullius is no longer an option.' Full text is from Fr Frank Brennan's keynote speech at the Central Queensland Law Association Conference, Mercure Capricorn Resort, Yeppoon, 27 October 2012.

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  • RELIGION

    Brennan and Katter's Aboriginal pilgrimage

    • Frank Brennan
    • 01 October 2012
    1 Comment

    'I had the pleasure of the company of Bob Katter at a series of meetings with Aboriginal Councillors before addressing a public meeting on Palm Island. Some say there has been little growth or change on these remote Aboriginal communities. In fact some of what we saw was unimaginable 30 years ago. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Hail to the climate geeks

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 22 August 2012
    27 Comments

    The word geek has changed from a term of derision to one of smiling respect and even a badge of honour. The members of the Climate Commission would no doubt be happy to be called geeks. Unfortunately there is far too little 'geek' representation in the halls of power.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Getting personal with Anzac Day

    • Philip Harvey
    • 25 April 2012
    16 Comments

    Should I even be saying all this to people I have never met? What do I say? How far do I go? My paternal grandfather, Edgar, was not only an Anzac but among those who landed nearly 100 years ago at the Turkish cove. Even among my family his experiences are still largely passed over in silence.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Gillard's Speaker dirty trick could backfire

    • Michael Mullins
    • 28 November 2011
    30 Comments

    New House Speaker Peter Slipper will have no authority if parliamentarians do not grant it to him. Opposition MPs do not respect him because of his history of disloyalty and questionable behaviour. If Slipper fails to command authority, it is arguable that Tony Abbott should be granted his wish of an early poll.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Unemployment angels and demons

    • John Falzon
    • 19 October 2011
    8 Comments

    Recently I received an email from a young man in Queensland. He was writing to thank the St Vincent de Paul Society for the stance it takes on the side of people who are demonised for being unemployed. He told me his story. Here are some bits of it.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A Shakespearean view of Australian politics

    • 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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  • INTERNATIONAL

    True memories of Bloody Sunday

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 17 June 2010
    5 Comments

    Lord Saville's report this week into a seminal moment of 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland included the admission that the killing of 14 demonstrators by the British Army was 'unjustified and unjustifiable'. True reconciliation can only ever take place with a true recounting of memory.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    UK kingmaker Clegg wise to wait

    • Peter Scally
    • 11 May 2010
    5 Comments

    Gordon Brown's dignified resignation underlines the fact that Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's options in choosing a coalition partner remain open. He is wise not to rush a decision to finalise a deal. After the election that everybody lost, a coalition that works could make winners of the British people.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    'Bigot' gaffe jars with British presidential politics

    • Peter Scally
    • 30 April 2010
    8 Comments

    Gordon Brown's campaign has hit rock-bottom thanks to an inadvertent remark being whipped into a huge story by mischief-making reporters. He is to Tony Blair what Pope Benedict is to John Paul II — shy, serious, and a little too 'heavy' for our sound-bite culture.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    John Della Bosca and the 'aphrodisiac of power'

    • Tony Smith
    • 02 September 2009
    7 Comments

    Many middle aged males are susceptible to having their egos flattered when women appear to find them attractive. But in the case of politicians, it is possible that the dangers involved make such affairs irresistible.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Rehabilitating Stalin

    • Ben Coleridge
    • 31 March 2009
    4 Comments

    The Russian language has two words for whisperer: one who whispers behind others' backs, and one who whispers for fear of being heard. Government forces wish emphasise Stalin's achievements as the builder of the country's glorious Soviet past.

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