WITH the latest Newspoll continuing to show a dire result for the Labor Party, it is no surprise that the idea of replacing Julia Gillard as prime minister is causing political ripples once again. And the idea certainly needs to be considered by her parliamentary colleagues and party officials. Continue reading
Coal is the great contradiction in government policy on climate change. There are good reasons for slowing and halting coal mining.
IT IS more than half a century since Russian scientists noticed the melting of Arctic ice and wondered whether the world was getting warmer. By the 1970s, more and more scientists were confirming that the world was indeed experiencing a warming trend and suggested that human activity was partly causing it by increasing the proportion of carbon dioxide and other gases, such as methane, in the atmosphere. Continue reading
Prime ministers are fond of playing the ‘national interest’ card when they are struggling to provide an acceptable explanation for their action. John Howard was forever doing it to justify all manner of dubious policies. Continue reading
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard looked suitably pleased when President Barack Obama recently assured her Australia ”punched above its weight”. Not only that, said Obama, but America had no greater friend than Australia. It was high praise indeed, and our hard-pressed Prime Minister might well look pleased. The sound bite provided a rare and powerful endorsement of her leadership. Continue reading
FOR the past two centuries we have been consumed by recurring fears of invasion, although none have come close to eventuating. New fears are now coming to the fore, driven by the relative decline of the United States and the concomitant rise of China. Continue reading
LOTS of questions remain about Gallipoli. And the debate about the details of the campaign will only intensify as its centenary comes closer. Australians will be bombarded by a government-financed commemoration that will produce an explosion of publications, documentaries and public events. All of them will be designed to cement the Gallipoli story firmly in the popular consciousness. Continue reading
The Gillard government should be wary of supporting any American-led containment of China. The low-key arrival last week of about 200 US Marines in Australia went largely unremarked upon. The troops were met at Darwin airport by Defence Minister Stephen … Continue reading
AS TONY Abbott and Julia Gillard toss sound bites back and forth on the evening news, the issue of jobs often features in their imagery. Both leaders are fond of visiting factories in hard hats and fluorescent vests to emphasise their affinity with working people and their commitment to create jobs. Continue reading
There is a degree of political schizophrenia within the Labor government. On Monday, Treasurer Wayne Swan assailed coal magnate Clive Palmer for using his wealth to influence government policy. On Tuesday, Swan attacked environmental organisation Greenpeace for threatening Palmer’s wealth. Greenpeace’s crime was to announce plans to organise communities to slow down the frenetic expansion of Australia’s coal mines and coal seam gas industry. Continue reading
Antarctica is a mirror on which centuries of human hopes, fears and desires have been projected. Early European maps imagined the continent as a marvellous place occupying much of the southern hemisphere; but when Captain Cook went searching in the Resolution in 1773, he returned disappointed. Instead of an Arcadia, he found only a perilous wasteland of pack ice. He surmised there was a continent even further south, but dismissed it as being of no use to man. Continue reading