Until recently, laws in every country throughout the world recognised marriage as a legally enforceable agreement between a man and a woman to become husband and wife. Marriage changes the status of those who enter into it: it is an exclusive and enduring contract which requires the husband and wife to pledge fidelity to each…
The Presidential election being held on March 20 in Taiwan will have important implications for relations with China, and may set a model for a future multi-party democracy in China. It is very clear that the election is being closely watched in Beijing, and by the Chinese people. Taiwan, a nation of 23 million people, has been effectively independent of China since the former Nationalist Government came to power there, after the Chinese Communist Party, with Soviet Russian support, seized the mainland after a decades-long civil war in 1949. Economic growth Taiwan has become an economic powerhouse in Asia, and…
As a middle-sized trading nation which is dependent on its export industries to maintain Australians’ standard of living, blind opposition to international trade agreements is clearly against Australia’s national interests. Equally, however, a policy which endorses the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement – or any other international agreement – without a careful cost-benefit analysis is foolish.…
FRAUDING OF ELECTIONS?by Amy McGrath Towerhouse PublishingRec. price: $22.50 (incl P&P) Most of us believe that Australia’s electoral system is not only fair, but is incapable of being corrupted. Yet there has been a succession of cases involving ballot irregularities in trade unions, political parties and local government over the years. In this informative and disturbing book, Dr McGrath has challenged the popular belief that the electoral system is foolproof, or immune from the possibility of fraud. While staff of the Australian Electoral Office have a well-deserved reputation for propriety, there is an abundance of evidence showing that, in some…