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EDUCATION: Gonski report: doubts emerge over educational benefits

In 2010, Julia Gillard, then federal education minister, commissioned a study into school funding – the first since the 1970s – to develop a funding system which was transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting excellent educational outcomes for all Australian students. The expert panel which conducted the study was headed by businessman David Gonski, together with Ken Boston, Kathryn Greiner, Carmen Lawrence, Bill Scales and Peter Tannock. Its final report, handed down in December 2011, is called the Gonski report. The panel reported that over the last decade the performance of Australian students has declined at all levels…

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS: NCC national conference looks to federal election

National Civic Council, POLITICS

The recent 2013 national conference of the National Civic Council focused on policies for the federal election, which has been announced for September 14. Conference speakers covered a range of the major issues facing Australia. Mary Louise Fowler, national vice-president of the Australian Family Association, outlined how the World Congress of Families can play a major role in profiling marriage and family when it is held in Sydney this coming May 15-18, at Technology Park, Redfern (see report in this issue of News Weekly). Christopher Brohier is an Adelaide barrister who appeared last year with Neville Rochow SC before same-sex…

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SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Winds of change sweep South-East Asia

Uncategorized

The Chinese dragon never sleeps. When the dragon begins to flex its muscles, its smaller neighbours take notice. So it is in South-East Asia. But the South-East Asian nations aren’t sleeping either and beneath the surface, the winds of change are blowing, putting old regimes to the test. China claims the whole of the…

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DEFENCE: Australia and UK slash defence spending

Uncategorized

The United Kingdom and Australia share a common culture, traditions and experiences. Unfortunately, they also share a historical propensity to make the same mistakes. In this instance I refer to the decisions both nations have made in recent times to substantially cut defence expenditure in the years ahead. In each case the reductions have been…

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ECONOMIC AFFAIRS: Dow chief’s plan for rebuilding Australian manufacturing

ECONOMICS

Now that the inevitable end of Australia’s latest mining boom is upon us, debate has belatedly turned on to how to rejuvenate our other key industry sectors, especially manufacturing. Given the complete absence of any serious policy consideration or formulation about manufacturing at the national level — and, in the case of the federal Treasury, an ongoing sullen hostility towards manufacturing — there is a now a pressing need for the issue of industry policy to be addressed. Andrew Liveris A catalyst for the establishment of a coherent industry policy has recently been provided by Andrew Liveris, an Australian who…

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SCHOOLS: Asia white paper used as pretext to push radical agenda

HEALTH & EDUCATION

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Asian Century white paper represents an unjustified, high-handed attempt to take control of the nation’s classrooms in order to enforce a utilitarian, Asian-centric agenda on schools. Under the guise of platitudes about confronting the Asian century, the need to be more economically productive and to lift living standards, the Prime Minister will pressure every child to study at least one Asian language. Every subject within the proposed national curriculum, be it music, art, literature or science, will also have to be taught through an Asian perspective. Worse still, as stated in late October, and notwithstanding the…

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