Small but of global significance, Singapore is one of the most developed nations in the world. According to official statistics, its population of 5.5 million people now has a GDP per capita of $US55,000 ($70,000), its life expectancy is 82 and it has a vibrant manufacturing sector – in contrast to the declining industry in…
The Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, established by the Federal Government in 2014 following widespread allegations of corruption in the building industry over many years, has released a discussion paper outlining options for legal reform to deal with criminal conduct unearthed by the commission. From left: Attorney-General George Brandis, Employment Minister Eric…
The outcome of the referendum in Ireland to amend the constitution to permit “same-sex marriage” was disappointing, but not a surprise. The huge media coverage of the outcome in the press, on radio and television in Australia reflected the strength of the media campaign to change the law in this country. The campaign in Ireland…
A speculative article published by five researchers in the online journal, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, predicting the breakdown of a minor ice shelf in Antarctica, has been widely reported by NASA and the media as evidence that the Antarctic ice sheet will disappear by 2020. The authors of the study looked at the Larsen B ice shelf, one of many which circle the Antarctic continent. It is located high on the Antarctic peninsula, a mass of mountains and ice which stretch upwards from the Antarctic continent towards South America, to a latitude of 67 degrees south. (Cape Horn, the…
