Opinion on politics and social policy
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With her back against a wall, faced with a decision she should have made two weeks ago, and after having tried to shovel that decision off onto the party secretary, Annastacia Palaszczuk has belatedly sacked “Billy” Gordon from her party and bizarrely claimed the decision is driven by “integrity”.
Even […] Continue Reading…
Tony Abbott has been portrayed as too tough and unfeeling by his enemies for as long as he’s been in parliament. This is wrong. Despite his obvious exercise discipline what we’re seeing at the moment is a Pavlova – brittle on the outside and soft in.
If Abbott were tough […] Continue Reading…
Last night I went to the presentation by the Melbourne based Alternative Technology Association.
They did a report last year comparing domestic gas for heating, hot
water and cooking with efficient electric. It is a fairly complex report,
and considers many variables, including type of housing, location in
Australia, local gas prices and […] Continue Reading…
It’s amazing how many people have leapt in to criticise Hockey’s suggestion that young Australians should be able to tap into their super contributions to buy their first home, including this bad tempered contribution from former PM Paul Keating.
Far from being a class envy attack on retirement savings, it […] Continue Reading…
I’ve been shocked and disgusted by the racism incorporate in the reaction to the Hepatatitis A contaminated frozen berries sold by Nanna’s and used as a weapon by those seeking to advance restrictive trade practices.
While plenty were keen to accuse John Howard of allegedly “dog whistling” to racists through […] Continue Reading…
The Ancient Mariner ain’t seen nothin yet. Just a few items from the news. Of course mainstream media doesn’t cover these mere details that affect tens of millions. Not to mention what is happening in Queensland right now.
1. Brazil’s drought
This week’s most popular story was Fabiola Ortiz’s account of […] Continue Reading…
If the LNP challenges the ECQ’s decision in Ferny Grove and wins, it’s possible that the Palaszczuk government will be one of the shortest in Queensland’s history. But everyone seems to think there is no chance of the LNP mounting a challenge, or succeeding.
Having been through the 1995 Mundingburra appeal I […] Continue Reading…
Late summer, almost nightly showers keeping all green. An ocean warm and welcoming, if often wilder than my timid swimming skills would like.
Amid all the bluster about the reality of climate change (internationally and locally in these blogs) I have quietly finished Naomi Klein’s book This Changes […] Continue Reading…
Was Jeff Seeney wrong to order Moreton Bay Regional Council to remove any reference to climate change-derived sea level rises from its regional plan?
“Experts”, the local council and environment groups say he is, but the actual figures say “maybe not”.
There is no global warming occurring at the moment, but there […] Continue Reading…
I’m posting this lecture invite not because I think anyone who reads this blog is going to make the trip to London to hear it, but because it is a good and amusing summary of the quandary in which IPCC climate “science”, finds itself. A bit more attention to […] Continue Reading…