2013

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LIFE ISSUES: Tasmanian euthanasia bill defeated… for now

Life Marriage & FamilyNovember 9, 2013

After 10 hours of gruelling and emotionally-charged debate, the latest euthanasia and assisted suicide bill in Tasmania was defeated 13 votes to 11 in the state parliament’s lower house on the evening of Thursday, October 17. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2013 had been foreshadowed for more than two years. It had been the subject of a consultation (of sorts) in March this year, and then suddenly introduced on the last day of the winter sitting, providing only a fortnight’s effective notice of the debate. This was strategically astute on the part of the proposers, Tasmania’s Labor Premier Lara Giddings…

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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: China pivots towards Central Asia

Foreign Affairs, UncategorizedNovember 9, 2013

China is rapidly expanding its economic and strategic interests in Central Asia, with global strategic implications. As the United States refocuses its attention from Afghanistan to the Asia-Pacific, and NATO halts its eastward expansion, China is stepping up its “Marching Westwards” policy. Chinese President Xi Jinping recently toured through Central Asia, signing contracts worth tens of billions of dollars, and treating the former Soviet republics as if they were now in China’s sphere of influence. He opened an important energy pipeline that will feed Caspian gas from Kazakhstan across Asia into China’s coastal cities. It will traverse Turkmenistan, feeding into…

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LETTERS

Poetry Letters & HumourNovember 9, 2013

Farmers need a reconstruction bank Sir, The proposed sale of two Northern Territory beef export properties to Indonesian interests, with the approval of new Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, is another sad day for Australia agriculture. It illustrates the conundrum faced by farmers after decades of destructive agricultural policies that are forcing farmers to do what they don’t want to do — either sell to foreign interests or walk off the farm. The two NT properties sought by Indonesian buyers will supply only 5,000 head to Jakarta. Indonesia has increased the quota from 50,000 to 70,000 head, while it used to…

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CULTURE: Whoever pays the piper calls the tune

UncategorizedOctober 26, 2013

Actor: “What’s my motivation?” Director: “Getting paid.” — an old gag. There are a great many strange ideas about what it means to be an artist. They would be really funny — okay, so they are quite funny — except that when they’re taken seriously they do real damage to anyone of an artistic bent,…

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