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Frank Brennan’s explosive recommendations
Edward Santow | October 23, 2009This article was originally published by Inside Story on 15 October 2009
You might have heard some small explosions coming from Melbourne last week. Mostly, it was the sound of champagne corks popping, as supporters of an Australian Human Rights Act greeted the release of the much-awaited report of the National Human Rights Consultation.
But not all the noise was in celebration; some of it might well have been the sound of blood vessels bursting among a group of disappointed Human Rights Act opponents.
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UncategorisedeHealth News
editor | October 22, 2009Should every Australian have their own, portable eHealth record?. That’s the latest question the Department of Health and Ageing are asking on their blog. Visit www.yourhealth.gov.au to be part of their consultation.
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An Asia Pacific Community: an idea whose time is coming
Richard Woolcott | October 21, 2009What is Rudd’s actual proposal, given that although the broad objective is clear, he is still developing his ideas on the detail of the arrangements he would want to pursue?
What was my role as his Special Envoy, and what were the outcomes of my consultations?
What are the next steps to advance the idea of an Asia Pacific community?
This essay addresses these four questions.
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Australian Libertarians Revealed
John.Humphreys | October 20, 2009It seems left-wing economic journalist Ross Gittins has just discovered the word ‘libertarian,’ and the revelation seems to have him spooked.
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Australia losing perspective on Asia
Warren Reed | October 19, 2009Statements like the following from a former Treasury official hardly inspire confidence in Australia’s capacity to stay on top of the Asia game:
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A Quiet Love Affair with City Rail
alison gordon | October 17, 2009A few weeks ago, after exiting through the turnstiles at Central station, I was stopped by a friendly man handing out new train timetables to customers, foreshadowing another overhaul on October 11.
Clipboard in hand, he asked me whether I had a few minutes to talk to him about my experience with City Rail. What was my main frustration? What would I like improved or changed? What do I think about ticket prices?
I stood there for a moment a little lost for words.
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Australia Finally Heading in the Right Direction on e-Health
Robin McKenzie | October 16, 2009I read with great interest the words of National e-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) chief executive Peter Flemming quoted in Australian IT on 13 October which indicated that the original vision of a single e-health record system had been abandoned in favour of "person-controlled" records that could be adopted more quickly.
The article quotes Flemming, "Five years ago, there was a strong view that there would be an e-health record for all Australians held on a massive database somewhere," he told the Medical Software Industry Association conference in Sydney last week. "That’s no longer the view".
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Beyond laptops: the real education revolution
Sheryle Moon | October 15, 2009It is a time of great upheaval in the economy and consequently, the role our education system plays in preparing young Australians for the changing world of work is under renewed scrutiny.
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Tea Laced with Poison
Susan Merrell | October 15, 2009Barack Obama’s recent Nobel Peace Prize is testament to his popularity and respect internationally. Yet at home he’s facing strong opposition. Elected to office on a platform of ‘change’, Obama has encountered a considerable backlash implementing those changes.
The USA is a profoundly Christian and traditionally conservative country. Puritan Christians founded it and it retains many of their values. It was also a pioneering nation where carrying a gun was a necessary part of survival. Add to this that the prosperity of the nation was built on the back of black slavery and we start to better understand the legacy of the past to the value system of the United States of America, with all its paradoxes.
Taking this into consideration, it’s hardly surprising that there should be a substantial backlash to Obama and his government’s domestic initiatives.
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Uncategorised
Uyghur and Han Perspectives
editor | October 14, 2009In September Open Forum published a blog from a Chinese national currently studying in Australia, Xiaonan Liu, titled The Seven Lies of Kadeer. Since then we’ve published responses from two Uyghur human rights activists. First came Xinjiang: Where the Truth Goes to Die from a contributor writing under the psuedonym Erland, followed by this response from the Uyghur Human Rights Project. For completely contrasting perspectives, read them all.
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As Consultation Closes Debate on Australian Human Rights Act Heats Up
sally.rose | October 14, 2009At 12:30pm today (Wednesday 14 October 2009) The Committee Chair Fr Frank Brennan will address the National Press Club on the findings of the National Human Rights Consultation.
Fr Brennan says in his introduction to the final report, “Never before has a public consultation generated so much interest: the Committee received more than 35 000 submissions”.
Even so, as with most public consultations it has attracted criticism for not being genuinely representative, but in this case the Committee deserves a nod for their impressive effort to genuinely gauge community sentiment.
