The survival of any democracy
is completely dependent on the survival of a ‘free media’ that are not
constrained to publish only what the government wants. Over the past decade, media
freedom has deteriorated all around the world as populist demagogues have
attempted to throttle independent media. While this is concerning everywhere,
it is most concerning where it impacts on democracy. As soon as the content of
Prime Minister Scott
Morrison has been asked numerous times whether he tried to get his ‘mentor’,
Hillsong church ‘pastor’ Brian Houston an invitation to the Rose Garden soiree
at the White House, but each time he has refused to answer. The story was
initially reported in the US media (Wall Street Journal), but it took a while
for the Australian media to pick the story up. Initially Morrison stated that
The Coalition state
Minister for Western New South Wales, Adam Marshall, has vowed to support any local
government councils that want to use recycled waste water to supplement their
drinking supply. Even though he considered that the subject was ‘taboo’ in some
quarters, he wanted his support for the process to be on the record1.
This reminded me of the case of Toowoomba, a city of some 95,000 residents,
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I get sick of people using
the epithet ‘lucky country’ in referring to Australia in a laudatory way, without
realising the phrase’s original intent. Donald Horne used it as the title for
his 1964 book in which he opined that Australia’s climb to prosperity was based
entirely on luck and the nation was run mainly by second rate people who shared
its luck. Horne also regarded our political and economic system as second rate,
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The extremely limited Treasurer,
Josh Frydenberg has tweeted the following:
“I’m deeply concerned about the
reports of children as young as 5 being attacked in schools because of their
Jewishness. It’s completely unacceptable in our civilised society & State
& Federal Govts must work together to educate our community about the
atrocities of the Holocaust.”1
The extremely limited Treasurer,
Josh Frydenberg has tweeted the following:
“I’m deeply concerned about the
reports of children as young as 5 being attacked in schools because of their
Jewishness. It’s completely unacceptable in our civilised society & State
& Federal Govts must work together to educate our community about the
atrocities of the Holocaust.”1
The Australian Capital
Territory (ACT) has recently become the first jurisdiction in Australia to
legalise cannabis for personal use. This allows a person over 18 years of age to
possess up to 50 grams of marijuana and two plants. Of course, the Liberal opposition opposed the bill believing it would
lead to more people using cannabis which they said would lead to an increased rate