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Show me the Money!
Peter Fritz | November 17, 2008Government needs to worry less about a lack of innovation and think more about its own role in supporting business which are innovating.
Last month I attended a gathering to mark the release of "Inside the Innovation Matrix", the latest publication from the Australian Business Foundation. The Hon. Craig Emerson MP had been invited to say a few words to launch the book.
He was armed with the full vocabulary of innovation speak to throw at us: vision, daring, connectivity, clustering, inter-disciplinary communities, innovation…the list goes on.
Over the last 30yrs I’ve participated in various initiatives concerned with promoting innovation, and what I heard felt strikingly similar to what I’ve heard before. It was a little like hearing an echo of Ministers past.
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What is the extent of the difference between Confucianism-based and Western-style pedagogy?
Xiaoli Pei | November 13, 2008The international education industry has become the third largest export earner for Australia. The number of full-fee paying international students increased by 19% in 2007; Chinese students accounted for 22%, which places them first in the list of Major Source Countries of overseas students in Australia.
Culture shock is already a familiar concept for immigrants. They have always had to deal with it. However, the majority of Chinese students coming to Australia to study struggle with a further aspect of this problem: learning shock.
"I feel it is really difficult to get used to the learning style here," said Qun Gao, who is studying at the University of Sydney, looking depressed.
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The First “Black” President
sally.rose | November 12, 2008Generations of discrimination can take generations to be repaired: Australia needs to move on if we want to follow the USA on this one.
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The unsustainable complexity dilemma
Andrew Gaines | November 12, 2008NSW stands at a crossroads, the magnitude of which has seen greater civilizations destroy themselves.
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What’s the Fuss with e-Health?
Peter Dutton | November 11, 2008We are happy to let technology invade our everyday lives, yet we're uncomfortable to use it for better healthcare. Why?
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The rise of the working poor
Phil Coller | November 9, 2008The economic crisis has pushed a new demographic to seek charitable assistance for the first time, and it’s natural for donations to decline just when they are most needed.
In the past few months we have seen many new clients for the first time. Some of whom have made donations to our organisation in the past. Many have resisted seeking out assistance from a charity for as long as possible; because whilst never rich, they have always considered themselves to be "working class". This means that by the time we see them they are usually in financial crisis and under a huge psychological strain as a result.
Typically, these are people who despite challenges, such as a difficult upbringing or a limited education have, until now, managed to cope. They’re used to having to struggle to make ends meet, but in the past they’ve somehow always managed.
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Measures to start addressing affordable rental housing
Andrew Meehan | November 6, 2008It is now widely accepted that Australia has a huge housing affordability problem. Indeed, rarely a day goes by in the media without discussion of house prices, interest rates, first home buyers, and the lack of affordability.
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OBAMA WINS!
Matthew Tukaki | November 6, 2008The election of Obama will see the rise of a new world order.
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WA Housing Roundtable
Scott Ludlam | November 5, 2008This is a sector that has been in crisis for so long that the word barely holds meaning; people simply should not have to work under this kind of stress and official neglect.
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How do we Measure Creativity?
Grant Crossley | November 5, 2008Many creative ventures are not a great success; but success is difficult to quantify, because a creative approach can lead to unexpected places.
One of the most creative things I have done was take my first step into a design business of my own. I was creating unique T-shirts, for myself and friends – no two could be the same.
First I used to place paint on a stretched out T-Shirt and spin at high speed on a machine I had developed. But I found after a while of washing the paint started to peel off.
So I created a new design that first spread the paint out onto a Perspex board that was then transferred onto t-shirts and shirts like a screen print. Initially I just did it for myself, though then others started to ask me for them. I sold quite a few and just covered my costs. Though, I was more interested in the fun of making them and making designs for friends, so I never really made any profit.
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The democracy of hypocrisy
Reuben Brand | November 4, 2008Two rigged elections, 9/11, the hunt for Osama, Saddam’s WMDs, a pre-emptive strike and the war on terror. A b-grade Hollywood movie? Or the past eight years of Bush in the White House?
The new millennium was ushered in with the Y2K bug and the inauguration of the fourty-third President of the United States of America.
One of these was a malicious virus that would spread throughout the world wreaking havoc wherever it went; the other was a computer related problem.
A lengthy election campaign saw Vice President Al Gore officially beat George W. Bush in the National Popular vote by over half a million. But Gore’s polar ice caps were soon to be melted as Bush fired up his election warming campaign and coerced the state of Florida to victory.
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What’s the Most Creative Thing You’ve Done?
ralphkerle | November 3, 2008Creativity should be understood in a much wider context than just the arts: businesses should be encouraging their creative thinkers.
In the Developing Your Creative Leadership Capabilities programme which the Creative Leadership Forum offers, we always commence the day with a group dialogue based around the question "What is the most creative thing you have done in your life and how did it affect you?"
The conversations that evolve out of this question never cease to amaze me, no matter how many times I have conducted this session. Relationships are re-defined by these conversations. People who have worked side by side for decades suddenly discover new things about the person next door they would have never imagined. People begin to see that creativity manifests itself in many guises instead of just the stereotypical view of the creative person as the "arty" type.