2016

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Jun182016

BOOK REVIEW The curate’s egg

MUSIC CINEMA & BOOKS, UncategorizedJune 18, 2016

THE LIBERTARIAN ALTERNATIVE by Chris Berg Melbourne University Press, Carlton Paperback: 277 pagesPrice: AUD$32.99 Reviewed by Jeffry Babb Like the curate’s egg, most readers will find that this book is good, in parts. This phrase derives from a cartoon published in the late 19th century in the humorous magazine, Punch. A young curate is dining with the Bishop. The bishop says: “I’m afraid you’ve got a bad egg, Mr Jones.” Not wishing to offend his eminent host, the young curate replies: “Oh no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent.” Berg’s proposition is…

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Jun182016

FEDERAL ELECTION How to ensure your Senate vote goes all the way

POLITICSJune 18, 2016

If you did not vote for the Greens (for example) in the last election, and do not wish to vote for the Greens this time, you need to understand how under new voting system for the Senate your vote for, say, the Liberals or the DLP could still end up a vote for the Greens. The new voting system for the Senate is allegedly to make it easier to tick the sheet. For the last 30 years the Senate ballot paper allowed you two options: to number every box below the line with consecutive numbers; or to put a “1”…

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Jun182016

CANBERRA OBSERVED Double-dissolution election likely to deliver disillusionment

POLITICSJune 18, 2016

Part of Malcolm Turnbull’s rationale for calling a double-dissolution election – the first in 29 years – was to clean out the cumbersome Senate of renegade and recalcitrant independents. Boy, am I redfaced .. or, is that, greenfaced? Hard to tell in shades of grey. Mr Turnbull, like Tony Abbott before him, was frustrated at having to negotiate with the disparate group of self-important independents who had found themselves able to wield enormous political power. Some were there seemingly by accident, some on the back of a handful of primary votes, or, in the case of the ex-Palmer United Party…

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Jun182016

CINEMA Madcap adventures in the Kiwi bush: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

MUSIC CINEMA & BOOKSJune 18, 2016

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a madcap and heartfelt comic adventure full of colourful characters and beautiful landscapes that manages to entertain while still touching on some heavy issues. From its opening, as the camera soars over the mountains and forests, with a rhythmic a cappella piece, the scene is set for a story both realistic and in some sense mythic. Julian Dennison as Ricky Baker Ricky Baker (a brilliant Julian Dennison) is a “real bad egg”, according to his child welfare social worker, Paula Hall (Rachel House). He’s got a history of “spitting, breaking stuff, stealing stuff, burning stuff,…

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