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Our environment is what makes and shapes us.
I have just returned from a five month around the world trip with my husband and two sons. My husband worked and the kids and I explored. We were in the USA for three months and Europe for two, and one of the first realisations I had was that just because you share a common language doesn't mean you understand your neighbour any better than if they spoke a language foreign to you.
Our environment makes and shapes us and this is why I found the many differences between me and the Philadelphians, the New Yorkers and the Miamians I met so fascinating. We all spoke English and we all lived a relatively privileged life, but because of our physical environments, what we thought was important differed as much as if we lived on different planets.
Even more interesting was how similar and easy to understand I found the Italians I met in Rome, despite the obvious language barrier.
Although we must remain vigilant, and put pressure on China to improve its human rights' record, we can also allow them their time in the sun. And, as most people recognise, the sun is just rising over China.
There's an undeniable economic and cultural shift towards East Asia, and particularly China. Australians have to tear themselves away from the Anglo-European centric cultural position we've held since this young country's birth. Do we really need French in school? Don't quote me on this, but I've a hunch that learning Mandarin might get you further in your professional career.
But to change tack slightly... or quite significantly.
These days, every time I check out the BBC or SBS news there's another unhappy report being filed from China. With only weeks to go before the start of the Beijing Olympics they're still jamming the TV screens and airwaves. Images of earthquakes or Tibetan protestors or conflict in the predominantly Muslim Northwest are affecting my breathing like the smog-filled streets of Beijing, and tainting my otherwise boundless enthusiasm for the mighty Olympic Games.
Keeping children's interests at the heart of family policy debates
If we want to give children the best possible start in life we know the early months and years are absolutely vital for social, cognitive and physical development. It's about what's in the best interests of children.
Women who continue to work after having a baby mostly do so because they need the income. We need to give new mothers some breathing space to bond with their baby, to give them a nurturing environment, to establish breast-feeding if they can and to learn how to care for their babies. All so that little babies will get a better start to life.
That's not to say that full-time mums don't need support too. They do. And this Government is committed to supporting all mothers, whether they are in a paid job or at home. We value the hard work of all mothers regardless of whether they are in paid work. That's why we provide support through a range of measures including the Baby Bonus, Family Tax Benefits A and B, the Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate.
The long-term involvement of high calibre professionals and administrators would immensely strengthen the social fabric of remote indigenous townships and make more local autonomy politically feasible.
Open Forum has just published two pieces that deserve a response.
The first, by former senior public servant Kevin Fong ("Indigenous renaissance", published on 2 July), points to the successes that are taking place in remote indigenous townships and pleads for these to be acknowledged amidst the continuing focus on indigenous disadvantage.
The second, by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert ("Closing the Gap Between Rudd's rhetoric on Indigenous Australians and budget commitments", published on 1 July), bemoans the inadequacy of federal government funding if the outcomes gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is ever to be seriously tackled.
I don't play sport, I just don't enjoy it. I don't know the rules to footy, and wouldn't know what to do with a cricket bat, and don't want to spend hours running in circles around a field. But that's not what people assume when they meet me.
I come from a really successful family. We've had sporting stars, school captains, school duxes, readers, thinkers, leaders in all kinds of fields. But that's not what people assume when they pass me on the street.
I come from a proud people, an ancient nation, and a strong community that's survived genocide, and forced removal, and grand theft, but that's not what people think about when they shake my hand.
That's not what they think about, because they are ignorant.
If the current government really wants to make a difference, it should be going into the community and building on existing success.
It's hard to explain in words how the policies of removal and dispersion are still being felt amongst by Aboriginal people. It's hard to explain to people who weren't part of the stolen generation the intergenerational effects it's had and is still having amongst Aboriginal people today.
It's frustrating when you see decisions about native title built on a continued connection to the land, when then connection was forcibly broken in most cases. It's crazy to see the way non-Aboriginal people, who are ignorant of Aboriginal history, language and culture, make policy decisions that just don't make any sense in the real world.
But there's also another story I want to tell. Aboriginal culture isn't just about dancing and art. It isn't about the stereotypes that non-Aboriginal people so often refer to, it's about what's happening now within our communities.
