By this author
LOST AT SEA
politicoz
Two stories in the media today should give pause to anyone believing the asylum seeker issue has any obvious or easy – and politically viable – solutions. First: A boat carrying around 150 people capsized in heavy seas off the coast of Java …
THAT FLOATING FEELING
politicoz
The government has announced that it aims to move from a fixed to a floating price on carbon – from a carbon tax to an emissions trading scheme – in 2014, a year earlier than planned. It's not a major policy shift, but like so many recent …
A PICTURE SENDS A THOUSAND MESSAGES
politicoz
Today's Newspoll indicates that Rudd's new 'PNG solution' has had the desired polling effect: on the question of which party would best handle the asylum seeker issue, Labor jumped 6 points, while the Coalition fell 14. Newspoll has Labor's …
PRISM: A Humble Request Before Privacy is Abolished Permanently
blog
Half a million Americans can read your every email, every Facebook post, every Google search. Should you be worried? “I wouldn’t think so,” said Foreign Minister Bob Carr, a point of view clearly shared by almost every single one of …
Baz Luhrmann is the Great Gatsby
Film
“What’s it all for?” asks narrator Nick Carraway mid-way through the new film version of The Great Gatsby. The question crossed my mind as well. Baz Luhrmann has been putting on a show since he was a country boy named …
BELLING THE CAT
politicoz
At the Institute of Public Affairs yesterday, Joe Hockey gave a speech about ending the era of entitlement and followed it with a passionate defence of the Coalition's generous paid parental leave scheme. "Addressing the ongoing fiscal crises …
MAKING DO
politicoz
The 2013 Defence white paper is out today. It announces that despite a small increase in funding, overall levels will remain at historically low levels until national fiscal conditions improve, following large cuts in recent years. The government …
HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT
politicoz
Tony Abbott announced this morning that the Coalition would be prepared to back a modest increase in the Medicare levy to fund the NDIS. It was only yesterday morning that the Coalition was publicly opposing it, but a series of dramatic political manoeuvres …
The environmentalists have lost
Climate change
If the civil rights movement had been as ineffective as the environmental movement, Rosa Parks’ granddaughter would still be sitting in the back of a segregated bus. She might be secure in the knowledge that a global consensus …
Let them pull their weight
Asylum seekers
I’ve always found Tony Abbott’s stance on asylum seekers loathsome. He refers to refugees as ‘illegal’ despite knowing it’s entirely legal to seek asylum. He recently announced the Coalition would reduce Australia’s refugee …
Waiting on Nate’s Numbers
American Politics
If there's one person, besides Obama and Romney, who will always be associated with the 2012 US presidential elections, one person whose professional reputation is just as dependent on the result, one person whose numbers will be equally scrutinised, …
This is Not-Australia
Asylum seekers
The government is seeking to excise mainland Australia from the migration zone – but only for unauthorised arrivals. For the rest of us, Australia will still be here. So, refugees won’t be able to seek asylum if they arrive by boat. Because no matter …
