Latest Story
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Facing Up to the Reality of China
Warren Reed | July 20, 2009When the Stern Hu case in Shanghai broke in the Australian media a fortnight ago, outrage was understandably widespread. For most Asia hands, though, who had been involved with the region for any length of time, the biggest surprise was not so much what China had done. Rather, it was the shock that Australians felt that anything like this could happen.
Regardless of the rights and wrongs of this case and the way it is being handled, two vastly different systems are at work here. Australia’s is based on democratic principles of justice and fairness, while China’s places less emphasis on the rights of the individual and more on protecting the national interest – however that is interpreted and by whatever means are deemed necessary. Neither side understands the other fully. But China is huge and important, and clearly isn’t going to be led by the nose to our way of thinking.
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Uncategorised10 Tips for Business Bloggers
editor | July 20, 2009A blog can show your business employs talented people who know a lot about their speciality. How can one create an effective business blog that will attract interest?
In an interview to BTalk Australia, Open Forum’s blogger-in-chief Sally Rose talks through the importance of providing content that is brief, fresh and opinionated, without the spin.To listen to the podcast, click here. -
Senior Indigenous Men Forgotten
Bruce R | July 20, 2009There have been real achievements in relation to articulating the needs of indigenous woman and children over the last decade. The needs of senior indigenous men are not taken so seriously; and this group is regularly marginalised and poorly represented in non-indigenous forums.
This is probably because a perceived degree of similarity with women and children between the two cultures when approached from a modern viewpoint (as found in the mainstream media).
The perceived needs of indigenous women and children make ‘commonsense’ and appear to require little serious thought.
However, understanding the needs and role of senior indigenous men in Australian life poses a much more difficult challenge.
In place of informed opinions based on real indigenous men, we regularly encounter the worst kind of negative stereotypes. And so we are manipulated by those with other agendas.
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The rights of asylum seekers on Christmas Island
mrty | July 19, 2009Who is the Government trying to kid? They have excised the external territories from the country’s migration zone and located asylum seekers arriving by boat on Christmas Island. Why do that? To prevent the real asylum seekers from gaining access to legal assistance and rights of review. Those rights are reserved for the fake asylum seekers who arrive in their thousands legally by air.
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Mr Batt calling…
Neil Batt | July 16, 2009Pomp and ceremony may be on the decline but are manners headed south with them?
When I was Deputy Premier of Tasmania and ALP National President I thought I was important, indeed so important that I could not phone anyone directly or answer the phone myself. I had a secretary who initiated all my calls saying as she did so " Mr Batt (or the Deputy Premier wishes) wishes to speak to xxx "
The ritual went that the person called would then answer the phone, my secretary would then say ‘Mr Batt on the phone" and I would begin the conversation. It was not that I was particularly pompous, it was simply that this was the way things were done, and so I adapted to the standard practice.
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Migration Agents need to do better
mrty | July 12, 2009What trust can asylum seekers put in migration agents? These people charge high fees for doing nothing but filling out and filing some forms. The claims in the forms are often not explained to the asylum seekers who are just told to sign their name and put their trust in the agent. These agents receive minimal training before they receive their licence to print money and the regulation of their industry is a joke. They have the morals and integrity of alley cats and many don’t even bother to show up for their client’s hearings on their claims. Little wonder that the asylum seekers so often lose their cases. What do the agents care? They have the money and are content to feed the process. And guess what? The agents make sure that they are protected by making political donations in sensitive western sydney electorates. Nobody gets disciplined–well none of the big time operators who make the donations anyway.
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Greening of our economy: the rise of the green collar workforce
Matthew Tukaki | July 10, 2009I was recently invited to be a member of an expert panel, bought together by the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, to discuss the rise of the Green Collar Workforce.
As the General Manager of Government and Public Sector at one of the worlds oldest and largest employment companies, the move towards a change in workforce diversity as a result of the rise of a green economy is not only important to me, it is a key solution to the issue of climate change.
When we reach Copenhagen this December the world should already have an indication of whether or not a deal can be struck on lowering carbon emissions and, therefore, stabilising climatic changes. We should know because Governments and policy makers are already beginning to outline their individual policy programs. In the United States that response has recently been outlined by President Barrack Obama ahead of the G8 Conference in Italy:
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Learning to ‘see’ Australia and speak fair-dinkum Australian
Bruce R | July 10, 2009The present episode in the long running debate about whether or not tourists should be allowed to climb Uluru, against the wishes of the traditional owners shows us that we are making some progress in learning to ‘see’ Australia.
There are many people who respect the Traditional Owners requests, even if they do not fully understand the reasons why. That is a promising sign. A respectful stance is the main pre-requisite for real life indigenous studies 101.
You can click here for a media release and views of Anangu Traditional owners on this issue.
I think it was Harry Butler who said, years ago in an interview in Playboy of all places, (Interview: Harry Butler. Issue: 1980.07?) that we have to learn to appreciate the culture of the people at Uluru in order to really appreciate the place of the "Rock" in Australian life.
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Advocating Third Generation Rights
Cecilia Riebl | July 9, 2009The Australian Network of Environmental Defender’s Offices (ANEDO) are a collection of nine community environmental law centres which, while independent, share a common objective: to work to protect the environment in the public interest.
The link between environmental rights and human rights doesn’t take a huge leap of the imagination. Most people now accept that human health and survival is threatened by ecological problems like air pollution, deforestation, water shortage and of course climate change. In this sense a clean and healthy environment is essential for the effective protection of human rights.
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The education scandal
mrty | July 7, 2009It is truly a national scandal that our tertiary institutions have taken so little trouble to protect the welfare of the foreign students who provide the fees that these institutions depend upon.
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The Charity Parasites
mrty | July 6, 2009How many cents in the charity dollar actually go to charity?
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See You Next Swing
foggy | July 6, 2009Mental Health matters: They will walk out on you now! Be back next Swing!! (As in mood swings).
