All welcome to country

A mantra paying respect exclusively to past, present and emerging Indigenous Elders is an incomplete and exclusive gesture when we should be respecting and caring for all our older citizens.

Vale, Ted Hopkins

Open Forum regular Max Thomas bids farewell to a former Australian Rules team-mate who graced the field for Carlton before pursuing a varied career in business, publishing and writing. He also founded Champion Data, a pioneering AFL statistics platform which continues to thrive today.

Misconstruing misinformation

The defeat of the Voice referendum has been blamed on latent racism and misinformation, but the Prime Minister was repeatedly warned the referendum would fail if recognition was linked to the Voice.

The scandal of Vales Point

The sorry saga of Vales Point Power Station in recent years highlights the muddled political thinking – and opportunistic private profit taking – which bedevil the energy sector to the detriment of the public it ostensibly serves.

One voice, shared values

Despite the defeat of the divisive Voice proposal, there remains ample scope to be optimistic about bi-partisan support for the work of assisting First Nations communities to find solutions to the issues they face.

Progress is still possible

The defeat of the Voice proposal will put the spotlight on existing institutions and frameworks dedicated to improving indigenous outcomes, including The National Indigenous Australians Agency funded with $2.6 billion of public money.

Rights and wrongs

The ‘yes’ campaign now appears to be about avoiding the consequences of failure for the PM and the nation. Should the referendum fail, it will severely embarrass the government. Far worse, it will bring shame, division and national disgrace onto Australia.

AFL must waltz like the Matildas

The unprecedented popularity of the Women’s soccer world cup in Australia is a sign that Australia’s own football code needs to up its game to retain the interest of the next generation.

Victoria’s hot air about gas

The justification of the Victorian government’s forthcoming ban on gas supplies to new homes on health grounds seems less than convincing, given the much greater problem posed by particulates from diesel and wood burning stoves.

Battery blues

Electric vehicles are slowly becoming more common on the nation’s roads, but ideologically appealing developments can easily produce more intractable problems than the technologies they replace.

Another way of hearing “The Voice”

The proposed referendum on an indigenous ‘Voice to Parliament’ has generated a great deal of debate, with passions rising on both sides.

Melbourne’s wildlife battlefield

The 30,000 strong flying fox colony on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne offers an interesting case study on the difficulties of managing wildlife in urban settings.