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In Determined Pursuit of Unhappiness
Before the 2010 federal election Julia Gillard was reported to have questioned the merit of increasing the old-age pension by saying that “old people don’t vote Labor”. A dastardly cabinet leak to be sure. She denied saying it. Noteworthily, whether she said it or not, no one was the least surprised that such a thing could be said by a modern-day politician. It is where we are: partisan politics favouring one group over another; the principle of governing for all becoming lost in vote harvesting.
Let me give a more recent example. Earlier this year Australia’s shadow treasurer excused a policy of increasing taxes on a section of retirees by pointing out that 92 per cent of the population would be unaffected. Turn this around. It means that Chris Bowen was quite happy about imposing a burden on 8 per cent of the population, mainly retirees. He later changed this to only 4 per cent; presumably by counting children or by some other sleight of hand, I don’t know. Why was…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins