October 10, 2012 | Graham

Culture, class now gender wars – Labor’s losing trifecta

Whoever thought that it was a good idea for the government to label Tony Abbott a misogynist ought to think again. It’s a losing strategy. It will antagonise blue-collar conservative voters, the voters who actually decide elections in Australia

In 1996 Paul Keating lost as heavily as he did partly […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 3:09 am | Comments (12)
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September 30, 2012 | Graham

The Left does outrage so well

I’m wondering if Bob Carr intends to follow Alan Jones in apologising to Julia Gillard for capitalising for political purposes on her loss of her father, because you’d have to put him and Alan Jones in a similar boat.

Certainly the last person who ought to be apologising for anything […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 3:12 pm | Comments (42)
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September 23, 2012 | Graham

Fish rot from the head part 3: Why Lewandowsky’s “free market” questions are nonsense

Lewandowsky’s paper is cross-disciplinary. It combines psychology with economics and political science, but none of the authors has any academic qualifications in that area. As a result the questions that seek to measure adherence to “laissez-faire free-market economics” are nonsense.

To start “laissez-faire” (Fr, “to leave things be”) and “free […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 11:36 am | Comments (2)
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September 11, 2012 | Graham

When GetUp runs the government, the government should get out

The federal government’s decision to ban the “super trawler”, while popular with the GetUp mob, is another example of how this government trashes the rule of law.

The rule of law is the concept that the law applies equally to everyone. It is the basis of civilised and modern society. […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 8:14 pm | Comments (12)
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September 07, 2012 | Graham

Fish rot from the head Part 2: what is a conspiracy?

Part 1 showed that the Lewandowsky study was not of >1200 people. The questionnaire posted on the web was actually to recruit people so that those who showed “conspiracist ideation” could be selected and studied further. The total number of people who accepted one or more of Lewandowsky’s conspiracy […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 9:51 pm | Comments (7)
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September 06, 2012 | Graham

Fine cuts: some feedback on the public service

I haven’t been overwhelmed with responses on public service overmanning, but I’ve had a couple I want to pass on. If you want to add to this, please either leave a comment below, or go to my survey by clicking here.

Jane, who has experience of how short term contracts […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 11:31 am | Comments (4)
Filed under: Australian Politics

September 06, 2012 | Graham

Fish rot from the head Part 1

They say that fish rot from the head, so could the drop in Australia’s performance in education be due to the quality of some of the academics holding tenured positions at universities rather than what happens in primary and secondary school?

If credentialled, well-funded and tenured tertiary institution staff are […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 12:34 am | Comments (21)
Filed under: Environment

September 05, 2012 | Graham

Rudd’s double pike on the homeless

If you thought that a Labor politician would be happy to know that the government was selling some commercial assets so that they would have more money for the homeless you’d be wrong if the name of that politician was Kevin Rudd.

This extraordinary fact came to light inadvertently, but […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 10:32 pm | Comments (1)
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September 01, 2012 | Ronda Jambe

China – the sum of all fears, and hopes

How wonderful to arrive in Hong Kong and find an excellent Australian television channel available. It is that feeling of getting closer to home that will sustains me during one month in China. Having taught many Chinese students, it is appropriate to see how they live in their own […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Ronda Jambe at 11:13 am | Comments (3)
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August 27, 2012 | Graham

Why not a trust fund?

The Prime Minister says it is defamatory to say she advised on setting-up a trust fund for former partner and client Bruce Wilson to hold funds for his re-election campaign. It was her reason for calling her snap media conference last week, but it is hard to see how […] Continue Reading…

Posted by Graham at 10:05 am | Comments (10)
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