...this editorial from the Sydney Morning Herald is noted without comment.
There is certainly nothing approaching a consensus on the issue of the First Peoples of Australia.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Freedom of speech takes a weird turn in Oz
In Australia, freedom of speech and of the press are not rights guaranteed by law. In the US, of course, those rights are protected by what commentator George Will calls "the five sweetest words ever written," which are, "Congress shall make no law." But not in Oz.
In this vacuum, the Australian Labor Party saw an opportunity: use an ongoing series of media gaffes as an excuse to impose controls on the media. This has been a slow-burning debate, and not having read any proposed legislation, I'm not really sure how severe the restrictions might be. I can only say that, in America, if anyone proposed a "public interest test" for media ownership, there would be a general reaction of "What the hell is going on here?"
Possibly related, we see this week the entry of the Pirate Party into Australian politics . If you're an American and have never heard of the Pirate Party, you can be excused--the issues leading to its creation are largely absent in the US. But it's kind of a big deal in Europe. There are two Pirate Party senators in the European Parliament.
The founder of the Pirate Party, Rick Falkvinge, is an eloquent spokesman for the party's ideals, which mainly have to do with freedom--of information, but also of individuals. It will be fun to watch as this innovative, protest-centric group steps into the class-conscious, mud-slinging, maelstrom of mediocrity that is Aussie politics.
In this vacuum, the Australian Labor Party saw an opportunity: use an ongoing series of media gaffes as an excuse to impose controls on the media. This has been a slow-burning debate, and not having read any proposed legislation, I'm not really sure how severe the restrictions might be. I can only say that, in America, if anyone proposed a "public interest test" for media ownership, there would be a general reaction of "What the hell is going on here?"
Possibly related, we see this week the entry of the Pirate Party into Australian politics . If you're an American and have never heard of the Pirate Party, you can be excused--the issues leading to its creation are largely absent in the US. But it's kind of a big deal in Europe. There are two Pirate Party senators in the European Parliament.
The founder of the Pirate Party, Rick Falkvinge, is an eloquent spokesman for the party's ideals, which mainly have to do with freedom--of information, but also of individuals. It will be fun to watch as this innovative, protest-centric group steps into the class-conscious, mud-slinging, maelstrom of mediocrity that is Aussie politics.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Dangerous heat and fire across Australia
The continent has been heating up, and now the conditions in the inland seem unearthly. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology's temperature forecast predicts a region of 54 C temperatures tomorrow--that's 129 F.
Fires are breaking out in several states. The country is on red alert. Over 100 homes have been lost in Tasmania. Several thousand hectares of forest have burned in South Australia.
Here in Sydney, temperatures reached "only" 41 C today (hot enough for me to stay home) and will be pleasantly cool for the next few days. But fires are burning even in Sydney's west.
The last two summers in New South Wales were non-events. People tell me they really didn't have any unpleasant heat at all. This summer is turning out to be different.
This is a country with an average annual rainfall of only 550 millimeters. It's amazing that agriculture can be so successful. Australian farmers are the most water-efficient in the world. But the rain isn't coming right now. Graziers are among the first to feel the effects.
The US drought was a boon for Australian grain prices. Let's hope that Australia doesn't suffer a similar reduction in output. Between the two countries, billions are fed around the world.
Fires are breaking out in several states. The country is on red alert. Over 100 homes have been lost in Tasmania. Several thousand hectares of forest have burned in South Australia.
Here in Sydney, temperatures reached "only" 41 C today (hot enough for me to stay home) and will be pleasantly cool for the next few days. But fires are burning even in Sydney's west.
The last two summers in New South Wales were non-events. People tell me they really didn't have any unpleasant heat at all. This summer is turning out to be different.
This is a country with an average annual rainfall of only 550 millimeters. It's amazing that agriculture can be so successful. Australian farmers are the most water-efficient in the world. But the rain isn't coming right now. Graziers are among the first to feel the effects.
The US drought was a boon for Australian grain prices. Let's hope that Australia doesn't suffer a similar reduction in output. Between the two countries, billions are fed around the world.
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