The miracle of the ordinary
I had an epiphany the other day. I was driving to my home, in the inner north of Brisbane, from Archerfield on the southside of the town. The route is …
Read MoreTag: australia
Derangement continues
It’s hard not to despair at the state of politics at the moment. Perhaps it has always been this cringeworthy and terrible, but now we have the 24-hour news cycle, …
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Sinking funds, not sinking islands
Humouring the neighbourhood with taxpayers’ money: Australia will be expected to contribute to a new $US1.5 billion Pacific Resilience Facility to help island nations adapt to the impacts of rising …
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The new 60:20 rule
It’s difficult to have a properly working democracy and decent government finances when the government is a sugar daddy for most citizens: The top fifth of households by income are …
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No more ABCDE for your ABC?
Judging by the test results, the learning outcomes in Australian schools are at best stagnating in absolute terms and declining relatively to other OECD countries. This is a problem for …
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Obama doesn’t heart Abbott
George W Bush was lucky – during his two terms in the White House he got to deal with one – and good one – Australian Prime Minister, John Howard. …
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Victoria doesn’t have a gang problem; it has a policing problem
Another mass riot in Melbourne, another official “meh”; Victoria Police top brass are reeling from deepening criticism that their no-arrest policy is failing to tame teen gangs following a violent …
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Flog but don’t change a dead horse midstream
There is no use crying over spilled spill. What’s done is done and Australia has got its sixth Prime Minister in ten years. All done to the sounds of outrage …
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Stalin and Assad fanboy now hearts North Korea
Jay Tharappel is a Sydney Uni academic (a tutor in human rights apparently) whom TDC readers might remember from last year when I wrote about some of his sterling political …
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7 reasons why Australia is a better friend to the US than Canada
Earlier today Donald Trump sent a congratulatory tweet to Australia’s new Prime Minister Scott Morrison: Congratulations to new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. There are no greater friends than the …
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No nice sentiment shall go unmocked
Australia has got a new Prime Minister as of Friday, sixth in ten years (yes, we have become a bit like Italy used to be, but with better standard of …
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Chrenk the prognosticator – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Predictions are the bread and butter of punditry. Which is good for punditry because just like all the bread and butter we’ve ever eaten, we tend not to remember all …
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Canberra: Things will get worse before they get much worse
And so the Canberra circus rolls on. Perhaps it’s unfair to call it that, as with real circuses people actually willingly pay money to enjoy the spectacle of skill, agility, poise …
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Fighting racist stereotypes with gangsta rap
I don’t know how well thought out this strategy is: The video for KUDZAI’s 4 Deep In The Suburbs starts off menacingly — a police siren wails, and four figures …
Read More Crisis of the 21st Century
In a long and often bloody and tumultuous history of the Roman Empire, there are few periods like what has become known among scholars as the Crisis of the Third …
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It’s a Muslim “no go” zone – but for trees
Another instance when you should probably pay a qualified lawyer to engage in statutory interpretation: Hawkesbury City Council has launched civil action against Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and Diaa Kara-Ali in the …
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Satan skips Victoria, goes to Arkansas
A little coastal town in Victoria manages to escape with all its residents and guests unharmed: A festival in a small coastal town in Victoria sparked rumours that a bizarre …
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We have an euphemism problem on our streets
Modern law enforcement seems to be increasingly as much about policing language as policing crime. Some cynics might say more of the former than the latter, or at least with …
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No Jews Allowed
Some tight policing of the borders by an alert member of parliament: The first Muslim MP in the NSW parliament has sparked a row overnight, refusing entry to a respected …
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The Great Outback Mystery
It’s rarely that Australia features in American media, but this time a tiny speck in the middle of nowhere – population 11 – makes for a great story that reads …
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