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Gone but not forgotten
Gough Whitlam has died at the age of 98.
I had an early encounter with him electioneering in western Sydney when he was newly in opposition, soon after he had usurped Cocky (Arthur) Calwell as leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and was still hated by elements of his own party.
I liked Cocky too. He'd addressed us at University once, revealing that he hid his considerable intellectual light under a barrel. He was an able man but in the Labor Party of the day to seem too smart or well spoken (like that bastard Menzies) was believed to be a handicap, hence his 'rough diamond' persona.
Gough was a new breed: smooth, well presented and intellectually arrogant. He had quite a fight on his hands to gain and retain leadership. And he used his eventual victory over the Party's 'faceless men' to persuade the Country that he was altogether a new broom.
It was time for a change not just for the Labor Party but for Australia.
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Back in April 2007 I was in Washington DC and wandered into a bookshop for a coffee. On display was Stephen Kinzer's National Best Seller: Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. So I bought it to read, before bed and on the plane.
It is a heavily researched and work; very well described by the New York Times as: "A detailed passionate and convincing book... with the pace and grip of a good thriller." And like a good thriller it was hard to put down. I can recommend it.
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2 July 2012
I’ve been following the debate on the Carbon Tax on this site since it began (try putting 'carbon' into the search box).
Now the tax is in place and soon its impact on our economy will become apparent.
There are two technical aims:
- to reduce the energy intensiveness of Australian businesses and households;
- to encourage the introduction of technology that is less carbon intensive.
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Sometimes things that seem quite different are, when looked at more closely, related.
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The State election on 26th March saw a crushing political defeat for the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales. Both sides of politics are still coming to terms with the magnitude of this change. On the Labor side internal recriminations seem to have spread beyond NSW. The Coalition now seem to have an assured eight and probably twelve years, or more, to carry out their agenda.
On April 3, following the advice of the Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, gave effect to an Order to restructure the NSW Public Service. Read more...
It remains to be seen how the restructured agencies will go about the business of rebuilding the State.