Opinion Archive

My driver’s licence was suspended last November 2011 and my property seized in September 2012, all because I refused to pay into the Victims Compensation Levy for the Australian crime of riding a bicycle without a helmet. Two weeks ago, after a …

Alan Jones has done it again. In his very own Mitt Romney moment, the vitriolic shock jock was caught on tape telling a private function that Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father “died of shame”. Twitter is abuzz with outrage at a story …

When Ken Henry’s Asian Century White Paper appears, it can be expected to urge more ‘Asia-literacy’ for Australians, more people-to-people exchanges with Asian countries, less impediments to trade and investment, more collaborative research and development, more transparency in government, and less tape …

Nearly two million people a year die of AIDS due to lack of funds, writes KELLY NICHOLLS.  As world leaders gather in Washington DC this week for the International AIDS Conference they will face the stark reality that we are only reaching half the …

As the London Olympics 2012 regaled the world with a spectacular opening ceremony this morning that as usual celebrated the power of sport to bring nations together, India and Pakistan prepare to re-build their fragile relationship through cricket. But as Joseph Rana …

There is a passage in Leviticus that states: “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks upon you: I am the Lord.” While this passage varies from text to text, the message is clear: …

There will be ‘no truce with the criminals’ pledges Mexico’s newly-elected President Enrique Peña Nieto. He has slick shiny black hair which he combs into a small mountain at the front of his head, a nugget of gold for political cartoonists. But …

As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrives in Australia for talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard,  there is speculation that the increased US presence in Australia’s north, announced during President Barack Obama’s visit in November, may be another item up for discussion during the two-day leaders’ …

Africa is a continent, not a country. The 54 African countries are unfailingly either ignored in our media or the stories that we see are negative. Africa has positive stories to tell but editors in Australia choose not to let us hear …

Angry protesters rallied outside Parliament House in Sydney on Thursday June 14 carrying signs saying “Don’t Shoot”. The Australian Workers Union joined them, dressed as kangaroos and owls. Opposition leader John Robertson spoke to the 150-strong crowd saying: “Barry O’Farrell has broken his …