The Carbon Tax debate is heating up in Australia with high profile actress Cate Blanchett joining Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s campaign. Blanchett joined the debate in a pro-carbon tax advertisement shown on Australian television and she along with 140 prominent Australians, including former Liberal leaders, Malcolm Frazer and John Hewson are backing the Labor-Green carbon tax proposal. Read more
Sydney, Christians will have their core beliefs challenged by provocative advertisements which will appear on billboards and busses in June. The ads, paid for by an Islamic group called MyPeace, will carry slogans such as ”Jesus: a prophet of Islam”, ”Holy Quran: the final testament” and ”Muhammad: mercy to mankind”. The organiser of MyPeace, Diaa Read more
Politicians, and we individuals, surely love to scapegoat people. We put them into boxes and blame them for their misfortune. We wash our hands of any responsibility. It is happening in Australia at the moment. Asylum seekers, people on welfare, are ready targets for scapegoating. How often in Israel are all Palestinian people scapegoated, dismissed Read more
Any offer to host an asylum-seeker processing centre in the Solomons must be refused by Canberra, which should stop trying to off-load its problems onto fragile Pacific states recently retired Solomon Islands MP and former deputy PM Fred Fono. He said his government’s offer was ill-conceived, would likely trigger land disputes and lacked any community Read more
“Make love tonight and create another baby for Australia”. Australian trucking magnate Lindsay Fox’s shared his perspective on population at a media appearance for charity on Wednesday, saying everyone should have six kids. Fox was asked about a report published by Leadership Management Australasia that says baby boomers are more of a headache for managers rather than Generation Read more
A non-believing Australian Prime Minister has made God the winner in the Australian budget. School chaplains at 1,000 extra schools will receive A$222 million more. The significant increase in funding comes despite a High Court challenge to the programme on constitutional grounds and speculation prior to the budget that the future of the school chaplaincy programme was Read more
The Australian foreign policy establishment has been plunged into an agonising debate with the gradual realisation that Canberra’s hardline approach to Fiji has failed. “The bipartisan consensus between Labor and the Coalition that the diplomatic cold shoulder and targeted sanctions would eventually bring the Bainimarama regime to heel has been shattered.” says Graham Davis. “Australia grossly Read more
Two protest vigils have been held for sacked Queensland bishop, William Morris and some Catholics are threatening to leave the Church as a result of the way the Pope has handled the situation. About 200 people gathered for a quiet prayer session opposite Bishop Morris’s Toowoomba home at Queen’s Park on Tuesday evening, while another Read more
The Sydney-based think tank, the Lowy Institute has declared Australia’s Fiji policy a failure. In a policy paper to be launched on 2 May, it suggests Australia build an international coalition, including non-traditional partners such as India and Indonesia, to help Fiji draw up a new constitution and hold elections, as promised in 2014. The new approach Read more
Bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris announced his early retirement over the weekend, citing pressure from a disaffected group and a decision by Pope Benedict that he should be replaced. In making the announcement, Morris says he has been targeted over comments he made five years ago, comments that have been deliberately misrepresented. In a 2006 Read more