Welcome to Eureka Street
Looking for thought provoking articles?Subscribe to Eureka Street and join the conversation.
Passwords must be at least 8 characters, contain upper and lower case letters, and a numeric value.
Eureka Street uses the Stripe payment gateway to process payments. The terms and conditions upon which Stripe processes payments and their privacy policy are available here.
Please note: The 40-day free-trial subscription is a limited time offer and expires 31/3/24. Subscribers will have 40 days of free access to Eureka Street content from the date they subscribe. You can cancel your subscription within that 40-day period without charge. After the 40-day free trial subscription period is over, you will be debited the $90 annual subscription amount. Our terms and conditions of membership still apply.
This life story of Tanya Plibersek, as told with great sensitivity and empathy by Margaret Simons, is a valuable reflection upon the engagement of a progressive modern woman with two of the great institutions in Australian history: the Labor Party and the Catholic Church.
Is it any wonder that when I came to work in the press gallery I was cynical about arts policy? In those lockup hours scouring budget papers it was clear yet again the arts would not see any wins. It wasn't always this way. Prime ministers and arts ministers of yesteryear produced arts policy informed by their personal and political interest.
When Tony Abbott reintroduced knights and dames back in March, critics said it was a sign he was 'stuck in the 1950s'. Another characteristic of 1950s Australian society was the sectarianism that bitterly divided the nation along religious lines. There are echoes of this in last Tuesday's Federal Budget announcement that schools will lose the option of appointing non-religious welfare workers under the national school chaplaincy program.
The National Apology began a process of relationship-building with Aboriginal Australians. This process has come to an end, with ministerial calls for racially targeted docking of welfare payments for parents whose children are not attending school on remote communities.
Text from the 4th Annual Gerald Ward Lecture 'How do we design a dignified welfare safety net without becoming a Nanny State? — Lessons from Catholic Social Teaching', presented by Fr Frank Brennan SJ at the National Library of Australia, 18 November 2011.
Labor has used its rock star politician to push paper around. Peter Garrett was a hero to a lot of us. Get him out of that godawful suit and let him speak — sing, if he has to! — his mind on every issue that made him the most outspoken rock singer this country has seen.
Harry Wetnose the Bigeye Tuna will probably never adorn any T-shirts. Nevertheless, the endangered Bigeye Tuna is in big trouble and could do with some help. The way we relate to fish raises some important questions about what it is to be a responsible person in the world.
Few people give a toss about Bilbies, the Arts or Heritage, but the moment someone rediscovers them and deems them indispensable, only to find that Bilbies are disappearing and Arts and Heritage are in palliative care, Garrett's a goner — again.
We are often quick to blame government ministers. In the case of Bill Shorten, Stephen Conroy and Peter Garrett, they may emerge with tarnished reputations. But in rushing to criticise our ministers we often let ourselves off the hook too easily.
Australia's decision to reduce its intake of the endangered southern bluefin tuna has outraged the industry. The global fishing industry is unsustainable, and fishing is second only to climate change as the greatest environmental threat to marine ecosystems.
Elite sportspeople are often lauded by the Prime Minister. But we need to go back to the Whitlam era to find a government that has actively and significantly supported writers and other artists.
With two and a bit weeks to go until the election, there is still plenty of time for a knock-out blow to be landed by either side. Two local issues emerging above all others in the nation's capital. Both will have implications for the rest of the country.