Whilst politics has always been an adversarial arena, the last decade has seen parliamentary debate sink to such a low level that they have become an impediment to rational thinking and progress. As they battle each other for the funniest zinger or most cutting accusation, the country lumbers on with no direction. The reality show…
It is evident that section 44 of the Australian Constitution causes considerable angst to elected representatives in the Commonwealth Parliament. Section 44 sets out who is capable of being “chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives”. It describes this eligibility in the form of who is not…
Denis Bright invites discussion on the ascendency of President Emanuel Macron as the final round in the 2017 election cycle approaches with half-senate election on 24 September 2017. Do the political events in France have implications for other responsible middle powers like Canada and Australia? Is the youthful President Macron now carrying a baton for…
Thursday 17 August 2017 When The Australian publishes headlines like those listed below (all behind a paywall, sadly), you know you are in deep trouble. We are being governed by clowns but it’s no laughing matter. The Government has found itself in an agonizing muddle over Joyce’s actual citizenship status and sought to ensnare Australia’s trusted…
Media Release from the National Justice Project Manus death ‘cover up’ unacceptable – Bring the body here. The family of an Iranian asylum seeker found dead on Manus Island is demanding the Australian Government launch a vigorous and transparent investigation into his death. Hamed Shamshiripour’s body was found in bushland near the island’s Australian-run transit…
The only surprise was that it did not come sooner. Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has gotten on with the gruesome task of making 85 recommended changes to the law that will provide some measure of future protection for victims of child abuse. The notable words that should be highlighted…
By Melissa A. Frost I see myself as a bit of a social observer. I listen and watch: reading through reams of threads on Social Media, establishing the pulse of the populace. In the last couple of years I have noticed an alarmingly increasing trend of alienated baby boomer single mothers. It’s subtle. Lying between…
By Dr George Venturini Heinz Alfred ‘Henry’ Kissinger obtained a Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1954. His interest was on Castelreagh and Metternich – two empire builders. He devoted his life to sublimate them. In an incendiary, studiedly defamatory book the late Christopher Hitchens described him as “a mediocre and opportunist academic [intent on] becoming…
The Barnaby Joyce Constitutional Crisis Or Is any-one up for a class action against Barnaby? By Michael Griffin Contrary to what the MSM is leading many to believe, there is no need for a by election if Barnaby Joyce is found to be a disqualified person pursuant to s 44 the Constitution. Sections 360 (v)…
Wednesday 16 August 2017 When the headlines are screaming words of condemnation over citizenship and marriage equality one is apt to put aside other issues. One such topic is the treatment of asylum seekers and the secrecy that has surrounded their treatment. At this time last year I wrote the following (below). It concerns the…