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Till death do us part … but we’re keeping God out of it
Fiona Marsden | November 11, 2009Tying the knot may be back in fashion — Bureau of Statistics figures say 2008 was Australia’s biggest year for marriage since 1989 — but fewer people are choosing to recite their vows within the context of an organised religion. October 2009 figures from the NSW Attorney-General show around 17,000 civil weddings compared with 9,000 religious weddings for the year to date; a continuation of a trend that’s been growing since civil nuptials first outnumbered religious ceremonies in 2002.
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ACCAN Seminar on Responsive Regulation and Policy
Allen Asher | November 6, 2009Consumers believe that regulators are often indifferent to their concerns or at least slow to respond. Regulators think that consumers fail to justify their calls for action or base them on anecdotes.
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Mitigation and Adaption in Agriculture: World Bank Summary Note
Andrew Jones | November 5, 2009The World Bank have recently published an agriculture and rural development note on ‘Reduced Emissions and enhanced adaptation in Agricultural landscapes’ which reports key messages from a Bank conference in January.
It includes some succint messages about the potentiality and issues related to integrating adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, including in the context of the post-2012 framework. With the meetings in Barcelona and Copenhagen, the timing of the release of the note is clearly opportune.
On the mitigation potential represented:
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The Importance of Conversations Across Sectors for Social Innovation
Raul Caceres | November 5, 2009Last Friday, 31 October 2009, an article appeared in the Sydney Morning Hearld (SMH) titled "Getting to know all about you". It was about the Sydney Leadership Program, a great initiative delivered by the Benevolent Society which I completed this year.
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Jackson Jive Response Part 1: But we never even had Blackface in Australia!
Ceredwyn | November 3, 2009
All over most forms of media recently was the Hey Hey it’s Saturday Revival show with its infamous Red Faces segment, and by now even more infamous 2009 Jackson Jive skit.
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Imagination in Public Administration
David Stephens | November 3, 2009Considering the full spectrum of regulatory instruments and applying them to risks appropriately is at the core of making better regulation choices.In the Griffith Review, Edition 24: Participation Society released on 1 May 2009 there appeared an article from Dr Peter Shergold titled "Been there, done that, still hoping for more".His subject was government service delivery.In the article Shergold writes that, ‘the problem is a lack of imagination, insufficient courage and too great an abundance of caution’.He describes the tendency of public servants to microman
Some Thoughts on Gov 2.0 in Australia
Andy Williamson | October 30, 2009The Director of the UK Hansard Society’s eDemocracy Programme on the progress of Gov 2.0 in Australia.
It was great to attend the recent CeBit Gov2.0 conference in Canberra. Beforehand, I’d got the feeling that Australia was finally starting to limber up and get moving.
Back in the early days of eDemocracy, it’s safe to say that Australia was a leader. The Queensland government was innovative and original and the Federal Government through the National Office of the Information Economy (NOIE) starting doing some good things too.
Then things stalled.
When Less is More
Malcolm Crompton | October 28, 2009Last week the Sydney Morning Herald published, “When the small print leaves us all at sea”, a very good article by Annette Sampson. It really got me going.
UncategorisedInternational Students
sally.rose | October 28, 2009Gang Shen, a Chinese Journalist undertaking postgraduate studies in Australia cautions that nobody likes to feel like Frogs in the Melting Pot. Sue Ellson from the Newcomers Network challenges us to consider how we view International Students, Cash Cows or Lonely Hearts?
UncategorisedSmall Business Start-Up Stars
editor | October 27, 2009From New York, Karen Wilson talks about what The Kauffman Foundation see as the Challenges Facing Entrepreneurship Education. Closer to home, Peter Fritz tells how indulging a sweet tooth turned into a business opportunity in How I Became a Chocolate Merchant and Olga Sawtell shares her start-up story The Eels Star, the Family Tragedy and the Innovation.
International Students: Cash Cows or Lonely Hearts?
Sue Ellson | October 26, 2009Australia is fortunate to have an excellent education system that can prepare Aussie students for an international career anywhere in the world without having to go to boarding school during secondary school or a non-English speaking university or tertiary college.
I have been working with newcomers from all backgrounds since 1999.
Sydney Peace Foundation to Honour John Pilger
Uli Kammerer | October 26, 2009Sydney Peace Prize laureate 2009 John Pilger is internationally known for his uncompromising reporting on human rights abuses and his criticism of dubious governments’ policies. As a journalist he made speaking up against the peddling of Western influence and the oppression of minorities his business. It is most fitting that he be honoured by receiving this distinction.
Amongst other things, Pilger’s work has dealt with Western engagement in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, East Timor, Cambodia and the humiliation of Aboriginal people in Australia.
"No other filmmaker has consistently exposed the reality of Western governments’ policies”, comments Historian Mark Curtis.
Pilger acts as a mouthpiece for the powerless to be heard and has helped raise the political consciousness of many.
