BlueScope Steel, jobs and the mining boom
After campaigning against the Carbon Tax, BlueScope Steel is being cruelled by the lack of a proper Resources Rent Tax.
Deficits, debt, etc: Bad for business, bad for the economy?
We learned last week that Joe Hockey plans to cut $70 billion from government spending (as he has to do to fund Tony Abbott’s Direct Action and parental leave policies, and to make up for all sorts of foregone revenue [...]
Hairspray the Musical: Cultural politics of the 60s, now, and race
What interests me in this post is the cultural politics of Hairspray. One of its marketing themes is 60s nostalgia. That nostalgia is by necessity a collective re-imagining of what the 60s ‘meant’, whether or not we were around to form our own judgements.
Both atheist ‘rationalism’ and Catholic triumphalism betray Mary MacKillop’s legacy
I had mixed feelings last night about whether to watch the canonisation ceremony for Blessed Mary MacKillop on ABC News 24. In part, but not exclusively, those feelings related to the way the ceremonies would be covered, and I’m afraid [...]
Open 2010 Election Thread #3
Please keep the general election campaign talk (breaking news etc) on these Election Open Threads, and keep discussions on the other posts focussed on the topic presented by the author.
National Security Committee Meetings and past and present PMs
Seriously, just how many senior members of Cabinet really need to be present for every single NSCC meeting?
John Birmingham's Australia Day
John Birmingham writes in The Brisbane Times: I don’t know whether it’s the increasing numbers of gaudy little plastic flags sticking out of car windows, or the braying jingoism of furniture superstore and gym equipment megabarn advertising that all but [...]
Prince William comes to town
A number of the commenters on the earliest political memories thread recalled having been taken as schoolkids to see Her Maj, and a number of us also recalled weird little pledges and scratchy recordings of ‘God Save the Queen’ being [...]
Guest post by Tim Watts: “I’m not Racist, but… I’m Complacent"
My mate Tim Watts, who’s been doing some great work online on violent racist incidents in Melbourne, has provided this guest post. Previous discussion of the spate of attacks on Indian students at LP can be found here. -MB “I’m [...]
Denniss: The CPRS is pointless. It's Copenhagen that counts.
Dr Richard Denniss from The Australia Institute writing in today’s Crikey [reproduced with permission]: The Senate debate about the CPRS is getting close, and with views as diverse as those of Steve Fielding and Bob Brown it’s likely to be [...]
At the cutting edge of media experience
Well, I think it’s safe to say that a full scale war has broken out between News Ltd and Australian independent media operators. Posts today at Crikey, Larvatus Prodeo and The Oz’s Mark Day. Day amused me with this in [...]
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