The Prime Minister’s recent warning on water shortages in the Murray-Darling Basin has led to some actions that should have been taken six months ago, reports Patrick J. Byrne. With only 360 gigalitres of water left in the main storages, Mr Howard warned that irrigation farmers might have zero water allocations next season. In reality,…
What can be done for Iraq? THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ:Winning the War, Losing the Peaceby Ali A. Allawi(Yale University Press)Hardcover: 544 pagesRec. price: AUD$57.95 Reading this engaging book is like watching a trapeze act. The writer Ali A. Allawi is an American-educated Iraqi politician who served as defence and finance minister in post-liberation governments in Baghdad. Excluded from the new Cabinet of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Allawi took time to write about the tumultuous experiences of the past four years. Despite the subtitle of the book, Allawi does not argue a case for the claim that the US-led coalition and…
The federal Labor Opposition leader could yet snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Kevin Rudd may have made a major miscalculation on his workplace relations policy, giving John Howard the beachhead on which to claw back ground before the election. The initial reaction to the Rudd IR policy was quite savage, with business groups…
Anzac Day has become the nation’s choice as its pre-eminent national day, writes Mark Lopez. Children at Anzac Day dawn service,Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne,April 25, 2007. (Photo by Mark Lopez). When the last post sounded in the pre-dawn darkness, I discreetly looked around me. I saw solemn faces, and heads respectfully bowed. Family groups huddled…
