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Archived news for 2007 | Recent news
Xmas buying is full of spirit
Before the three wise men went to visit Jesus at his birth, they first had to visit the gold, frankincense and myrrh traders. Retailers have been...
Culture wars are good for society
Since it lost the federal election, the Liberal Party has had lots of advice -- much of it useless or self-interested. One of the more useless...
Stars in the Net sky
Is the internet making us stupid? That, at least, is the conclusion of Doris Lessing, this year's winner of the Nobel prize for literature. In her...
Fame game filling our need for celebrities
Australian soccer is salivating over the more than 80,000 people who turned up to Sydney's Telstra Stadium on Wednesday night and watched David...
Same-sex equality a basic Liberal ideal
Conservative does not mean the same thing as regressive. You wouldn't know it from the decision by Prime Minister John Howard late last week to...
Society rhetoric just a pulp fiction
In politics, words are designed to obscure. For instance, Kevin Rudd has been telling business groups all week that it is Labor's job to govern for...
This is no test of good citizens
The problem with the Howard Government's new citizenship test is not the requirement that applicants must learn English -- a greater focus on the...
Butt out of individual's private pleasure
Most people have been surprised at the speed with which the smoking ban has been comprehensively adopted. And, as most of us don't smoke, we are...
The left has deserted Hawke's famous promise
This week is the 20th anniversary of the most famous promise in national politics. At the Sydney Opera House during his campaign launch for the...
Playing the cards casino has dealt
For 10 years Crown Casino has been a part of Melbourne, and for most of that time it has never been far from controversy. It's difficult to think...