Musings about life in retirement from academe
As the election nears the fear of our local LNP is becoming palpable. Rather than promoting their own thin package of policies they are attacking the independents. That’s an admission that they don’t have the answers they claim the independents cannot provide.
It’s election time. In 2022 there was reason to hope that a change of government might bring vision and conviction. Unfortunately that went to water. In 2025 we need a different change.
Australia has a long history of mistreatment of our indigenous peoples. Occasional hopeful signs of progress are followed by periods of regression. We have to find a way forward.
The news today says that Australian kids are not learning civics well enough. Should we be worried? How well can you do on the sample quiz?
Misinformation may seem harmless but the cumulative effect is not. Our best defence may be for each of us to be alert and call it out when we see it.
Having reached government as a small target the ALP does not have the courage to implement its own policies. Perhaps it’s time to display the ALP logo inverted in the sign of distress.
For many Australians January is becoming a time for reflecting on what and when might be appropriate for national celebration. January 26 has become awkward and contentious as a focus for celebration but it does invite reflection about our history, much of it long hidden from many of us, and current circumstances.
I’ll be voting Yes but I wonder what the referendum debate might be telling us about Australia. That so many people seem to be believing misinformation being sown by the No campaign is worrying for our future.
Our governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars on computer systems to support online access to services. Sometimes they work. Other times they simply send us round in circles. That’s what happened when I tried linking myGov to Centrelink.
The Toowoomba Chronicle this morning (20 May 2023) featured an 8-page liftout, Defending Australia, promoting those nuclear submarines (SSNs) that are central to the Morrison-Albanese AUKUS pact. Like previous rants in the Murdoch press it identified China as a growing threat demanding an urgent response. It included a piece from Defence Minister, Richard Marles, that referred to the regional military...