The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe









On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0
March 10, 2010
When a female applies for a job one thought going through an employer's mind is whether she could leave to have a family.
Society - Kris Sayce - 4 comments
 
The financial value of goods and services humans derive from the natural environment is many tens of trillions of dollars every year.
Feature - Ralf Buckley - 8 comments
 
For those of us who lived through the dishonesty and frustration of the war in Vietnam, Afghanistan is shaping up as a passable re-creation.
International - Kellie Tranter and Bruce Haigh - 2 comments
 
International Women’s Day: women inspiring, enabling and empowering other women out of poverty.
Society - Judy Cannon - 1 comment
 
The need to find the correct balance between economic and environmental imperatives is urgent.
Feature - Bernie Masters
 
Australians are isolated and politically inactive, and perhaps as a result, we lack a unifying, national vision.
Society - Georgia Lowe - 5 comments
 
Cartoon
Nicholson of "The Australian"
www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au

Featured Topic - March
The luxury of wilderness?

March Feature - The luxury of wilderness?Our population is increasing and with it comes some decision making about our land. Can we afford to have land locked up in national and state parks? Can we afford the luxury of wilderness? Or should we be looking at ways to use t ...

Read More

Call for Contributions - April Feature
Australia, a clever country?

Send your submission to the editorAre our educational standards failing Australia?

Please send submissions to the editor.


Eureka Street - compassion justice courage reflection analysis discernment ...
Associates
Henry Thornton

Our Members



Ambit Gambit - Our blog
Hospitals policy ensures administrative competence the issue next election

Ambit Gambit Many of the commentators have been speculating that health will be the issue of the next election. I don’t think so. The health policy doesn’t blow the pink batts affair off the agenda, it reinstates it at the centre. From what I can tell from the morning’s newspapers the proposal is an administrative rearrangement where the [...]

Read More

Find us on:



Advertisement

Advertisement


Advertisement


Today's Most Popular Articles
»  Why pay equalisation is bad news for women
»  Something's in the water at the ABC
»  War without thought
»  The sustainability of wilderness
»  What a difference a GFC and recession can make
This Week's Most Popular
»  Something's in the water at the ABC
»  The Biggest Bully: TV show a loser for weight loss
»  Why I’m having an abortion
»  The consequences of filtering
»  The downward spiral of hasty population growth
This Week's Most Discussed
»  Ending drug prohibition
»  Land of opportunity, but not for monoculturalists
»  Something's in the water at the ABC
»  The IPCC needs to change, but the science remains sound
»  The downward spiral of hasty population growth


Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Energy and oil: we are deluding ourselves into believing that business as usual can continue indefinitely.
Nation Building - Cameron Leckie - 13 comments
 
Labor or Liberal? Sometimes it seems that changes in government are limited to changes in the official stationery.
Domestic Politics - John Töns - 13 comments
 
China was the world’s factory, India was its call centre and services provider: the financial crisis changed all that.
International - Leon Gettler - 1 comment
 
Should we care about the earnings gap between city professionals and the men and women who clean their offices?
Society - Andrew Leigh - 24 comments
 
Databases of traditional medicines can help protect against biopiracy while opening doors for new drug discoveries.
Science & Technology - Priya Shetty
 
Despite being a nation built by immigrants, Australia faces fresh challenges in dealing with new arrivals, particularly from India.
Society - Robin Jeffrey - 7 comments
 

Monday, March 8, 2010

Population growth is a virtually insurmountable challenge, becoming ever more costly as resources are spread thinner.
Economics - Jane O'Sullivan - 45 comments
 
Healthcare: it's not who pays that's important, it's about getting more value and better service.
Health - Katie Lahey - 8 comments
 
Chief Justice Diana Bryant has showed leadership in stepping up to the plate to protect children where the government has so far failed to do so.
Law & Liberties - Barbara Biggs - 26 comments
 
Maybe Kerry Stokes' business interests of mining and media have something in common after all.
Economics - Richard Stanton
 
One of the distinguishing traits of human beings is our devotion to continually increasing consumption and increasing profits.
Feature - Christine Goonrey - 11 comments
 
Can trading partners also be strategic adversaries?
International - Dilip Hiro - 2 comments
 

Friday, March 5, 2010

Is the ABC’s 'Australian Story' in the business of public interest storytelling or political advocacy?
Environment - Mark Poynter - 51 comments
 
There’s no doubt some politicians are insincere some of the time. But it’s a worry if, led by our media, we believe them to be hypocritical all the time.
Domestic Politics - Jennifer Wilson - 14 comments
 
Why do we insist on giving fat people a bad time and why do fat people continue to put up with such treatment?
Health - Lydia Turner - 16 comments
 
Wilderness is a political and an urban concept; more about ideas and ideology than about what happens on the ground.
Feature - Roger Underwood - 16 comments
 
From the founding of the nation through to the latest Hollywood film, Americans have been excellent myth makers.
International - Brendon O'Connor - 6 comments
 
It'd be nice if TV news spent as much time discussing significant issues as it does delivering semi-accurate weather reports.
Media - Walt Brasch - 1 comment
 

Thursday, March 4, 2010

The technological issues associated with the government's proposed Internet filtering are minor compared to the political and civil liberties issues.
Science & Technology - Arved von Brasch - 20 comments
 
One thing terrorists have achieved hands down is they have made it harder to be freely Muslim in today’s world.
Law & Liberties - Melati Lum - 34 comments
 
Haiti has had the short end of the stick, time and time again, in its relationships with richer, powerful countries.
International - Adele Webb
 
If the government is serious about crime and substance overuse it must abandon the policy of arbitrary drug prohibition.
Law & Liberties - Evert Rauwendaal - 58 comments
 
The incredible success of Stephanie Meyer’s 'Twilight' series has had a snowball effect on the publishing and movie industries.
The Arts - Kirsten Oakley - 7 comments
 
Each succeeding generation has become more disconnected from Mother Earth than the one before it.
Society - Brian Holden - 24 comments
 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Local governments deserve full constitutional recognition coupled with fair treatment and fair funding mechanisms.
Society - Jieh-Yung Lo - 6 comments
 
A few errors by the IPCC doesn't mean climate change is an illusion or that CO2 emissions don't need to be cut.
Environment - Robert Watson - 64 comments
 
Well before recent controversies, the work of the IPCC was marred by an unwillingness to listen to dissenting points of view.
Environment - Roger Pielke - 18 comments
 
It's a struggle to find a complete set of clothes NOT made in China for the 'Free Tibet' march on March 10.
International - Tenpa Dugdak - 1 comment
 
The river red gum wetland forests along the Murray River provide a perfect illustration of why protected areas are so important.
Feature - Lindsay Hesketh - 9 comments
 
That a psychiatrist can receive the Australian of the Year award is proof the stigma associated with mental health has improved.
Health - Tanveer Ahmed - 2 comments
 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Chinese Communist Party appears to see the world revolving around China and its needs, rather than China being part of a global community.
International - Arthur Thomas - 8 comments
 
Abortion doesn’t have to be justified and it doesn’t have to fit your neighbour’s or co-worker’s opinions of a 'good enough reason'.
Society - Angie Jackson - 83 comments
 
There is a lack of sophistication with our current classification scheme: the debate over videogaming is off-target!
Media - Taimor Hazou - 1 comment
 
The Reserve Bank should continue its program of restoring a more normal monetary policy today.
Economics - Henry Thornton
 
Fear of the return of political Islam has always been well rooted in the psyche of the Western-oriented part of Turkey's population.
International - Alice Aslan - 7 comments
 
Political parties of both Right and Left have ignored society for a century in their obsession with the market and the state.
Political Philosophy - Vern Hughes - 9 comments
 

Monday, March 1, 2010

The tenets of Christianity do not neatly conform to any party-political agenda.
Domestic Politics - Roy Williams - 26 comments
 
Wilderness, the ultimate self sustaining system, can provide the inspiration for an ecologically sustainable society.
Feature - Keith Muir - 29 comments
 
There is a tendency for states to have large s*xy transport projects to capture the public's imagination.
Nation Building - Richard Allsop - 4 comments
 
Humans can not argue with the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere.
Science & Technology - Andrew Glikson - 55 comments
 
In the rush to get new products with new features to market, security vulnerabilities get overlooked.
Science & Technology - Rob Knake and Adam Segal
 
Lessons for economic policy-makers from the recent financial crisis and global recession.
Economics - Saul Eslake - 1 comment
 

Friday, February 26, 2010

Kevin Rudd has mastered the art of talking and saying nothing, using the media to gain maximum impact and the art of spin.
Domestic Politics - Bruce Haigh - 31 comments
 
It's not about freedom of speech: the kind of freedom the advertising industry cares about is the freedom to consume.
Law & Liberties - Sarah Burnside - 31 comments
 
Marriage: the state should not be telling me or you that my or your relationship is less legitimate than another.
Law & Liberties - Shane Ogden - 50 comments
 
The border disputes between India and China are about recognition not land.
International - Bertil Lintner - 2 comments
 
Violence has failed to achieve Israel’s ends and has produced worldwide revulsion.
International - John Pilger - 25 comments
 
The NSW government's plan to develop Newcastle Port as a defence industry hub is an attempt to shore up Labor votes.
Domestic Politics - Lee Rhiannon
 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The risk of airline terrorism will never be zero. But let's try not to panic.
Law & Liberties - Chris Berg - 8 comments
 
According to Joe Hockey, Barnaby Joyce is 'real' while Kevin Rudd and Lindsay Tanner are 'not real' ...
Domestic Politics - Brian Matthews - 37 comments
 
Stephen Conroy's $250 million gift does not require free-to-air broadcasters to do anything extra to support the creation and delivery of Australian TV content.
Media - Simon Whipp - 3 comments
 
GM crops were supposed to rescue the world's one billion undernourished people. But will they ever curb hunger?
Science & Technology - Carol Campbell - 7 comments
 
Northeast India - seven Indian states with three international borders - has always been a boiling pot of emotions and grievances.
International - Bertil Lintner - 6 comments
 
Is television’s Golden Age out of touch with as many people as our PM thinks, or is his Labor Party?
Society - Ben-Peter Terpstra - 13 comments
 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

You would think Peter Garrett would be trying to stem the tide of scandals unfolding from his portfolio.
Domestic Politics - Aaron Nielsen - 10 comments
 
After the ACTU campaign to bring down Howard one would have thought unions would have more influence under Rudd Labor.
Domestic Politics - Tristan Ewins - 26 comments
 
Governments in the west are running mind-boggling budget deficits and printing money like there is no tomorrow.
Economics - Puru Saxena - 11 comments
 
On February 18 US President Barack Obama finally met the Dalai Lama, in spite of the protests of the Chinese Government.
International - Chin Jin - 2 comments
 
Taxpayers should be concerned that egregiously high salaries are paid to aid-funded advisers in the Pacific region.
International - Helen Hughes - 8 comments
 
Historical facts become important when looking for solutions to sovereignty in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
International - David Singer - 30 comments
 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Time spent inspecting China's property market reveals the sheer extent of vacant buildings and gleaming, empty, floor space.
International - Arthur Thomas - 10 comments
 
Asylum seekers: by employing language such as 'force' and 'deter' Tony Abbott is echoing Howard’s rhetoric.
Domestic Politics - Evan Wallace - 21 comments
 
Why can’t television ads and advertising agencies be ruled out of electoral expenses?
Domestic Politics - Valerie Yule - 3 comments
 
Blaming Haiti for its problem with trafficking of children and child s*xual slavery ignores the root causes.
Law & Liberties - Melati Lum - 16 comments
 
To foster community democracy we need to create physical and social environments that encourage people to interact with one another.
Society - Kellie Tranter - 11 comments
 
Will tough economic times make developed nations shy away from globalisation?
International - David Dapice - 6 comments
 

Monday, February 22, 2010

Population growth is no guarantee of economic prosperity: conversely a stable population does not doom a country to economic failure.
Domestic Politics - Charles Berger - 54 comments
 
One of Pauline Hanson’s parting shots, that Australia is not the land of opportunity, is simply not true.
Society - Dilan Thampapillai - 7 comments
 
It doesn’t take genius to see Abbott’s modus operandi. He makes far-out statements in the hope that some mud will stick.
Domestic Politics - Jennifer Wilson - 34 comments
 
For a variety of reasons our inner city CBDs are increasingly perceived as late night danger zones.
Society - Anna Daniel - 16 comments
 
Labor would be served long term by encouraging hard line unionists to leave their ranks.
Domestic Politics - Corin McCarthy - 23 comments
 
The lack of equitable burden-sharing in today's NATO and the US-Japan alliance could undermine free trade.
International - Bernard Gordon - 2 comments
 

Friday, February 19, 2010

Championing new initiatives to combat the s*xualisation of children in consumer culture.
Society - Elizabeth Willmott Harrop - 31 comments
 
The entire structure of our society, in addition to technology and language, is all a consequence of human inventions.
Religion & Spirituality - David Fisher - 80 comments
 
Facts, balance and perspective have been trampled with the campaign to cut and reshape the tax concessions for superannuation.
Domestic Politics - Robert Carling - 1 comment
 
The way church schools spend their money shows where they stand in relation to the poor and the Gospel.
Education - Alan Matheson - 24 comments
 
The government's planned rebate of TV licence fees is a great way to line the pockets of foreign equity investors and Australian media moguls.
Media - Vincent O'Donnell - 10 comments
 
Promoting gastric banding to 14-year-olds means malnutrition and maintenance on the menu.
Health - Sarah McMahon - 10 comments
 

Thursday, February 18, 2010

We have become too reliant on China’s appetite for raw materials to fuel its economic expansion.
February Feature - Graham Cooke - 11 comments
 
If every teacher is a teacher of English, then all teachers across all disciplines must be able to teach English language skills.
Education - Elizabeth Grant and Fiona Mueller - 5 comments
 
'The Clergy Letter Project': continuing to allow the promotion of an artificial battle between religion and science is bad for both.
Religion & Spirituality - Michael Zimmerman - 84 comments
 
Capitalism is in decline and this is putting the middle classes into crisis.
Society - Chris James - 11 comments
 
As the US aims to save the day again in Iraq, the reality is that further underlying issues are being swept under the political rug.
International - Bashdar Ismaeel
 
In the 1920s and 30s there were almost no women voluntarily performing physical feats which demanded maximum mental stamina.
Society - Brian Holden - 58 comments
 

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

It is a fact that Australian students are extremely weak at maths compared to those in many other countries.
Education - John Ridd - 7 comments
 
Why do we, and Kevin Rudd, assume it is the obligation of all women to reproduce?
Political Philosophy - Nina Funnell - 27 comments
 
While young Muslim Australians can positively appreciate Australia as a land of opportunity, Ms Pauline Hanson cannot.
Society - Rachel Woodlock - 158 comments
 
Developed countries have benefited from China's cheap solar panels and insulation but at what cost to the environment?
Environment - Arthur Thomas - 14 comments
 
In 'Smile or Die' author Barbara Ehrenreich charts a cultural history of the positive thinking phenomenon in the US.
Society - Timothy Watson - 2 comments
 
The tens of thousands of pages of taxation rules and regulations demanding compliance are an abomination.
December Feature - John McRobert - 6 comments
 

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Global warming won't again be the winner for the government that it was in 2007.
Domestic Politics - Graham Young - 44 comments
 
This year’s Oscar nominations are a parade of propaganda, stereotypes and downright dishonesty.
The Arts - John Pilger - 11 comments
 
The Australian Senate is a mystery to many citizens. Not many have a clear idea of its role, activities or membership.
Domestic Politics - Sylvia Marchant - 10 comments
 
Time for government to set standards for broadcasters, publishers, advertisers, retailers and manufacturers to prevent child sexualisation.
Society - Emma Rush - 13 comments
 
An R18+ classification will allow computer games with more extreme content to be sold and hired out.
Law & Liberties - Barbara Biggins - 32 comments
 
The ice cap atop Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s most famous glacier. But Africa has other glaciers which are fast disappearing.
Environment - Tom Knudson - 5 comments
 

Monday, February 15, 2010

Female chauvinist pigs or sexual self expression: Playboy offers women an entry to the core feminist ideal of sexual self determination.
Society - Katie Ellis - 28 comments
 
The definition of a green job is highly subjective and can depend on fads and fashions and political correctness.
Environment - Ben Lieberman - 9 comments
 
Baby boomers' meagre superannuation savings mean more work and less play - time to hit the gym!
Society - Helen Lobato - 3 comments
 
China's faults are the same as those of the neo-liberal world.
February Feature - Barry Sautman and Yan Hairong - 8 comments
 
Indigenous Australians need the government to fulfill its international human rights obligations.
Indigenous Affairs - Robyn Seth-Purdie - 8 comments
 
Jordan’s King Abdullah must show leadership and negotiate with Israel on the sovereignty of the West Bank.
International - David Singer - 26 comments
 

Friday, February 12, 2010

Is St Valentine's Day simply a cop-out; a day reserved for Disney, Hallmark and Cadbury?
Society - Joel Bevin - 9 comments
 
Dog-whistling is different from labelling and stereotyping; it is covert and designed to activate concealed prejudices.
Domestic Politics - Ken Macnab - 19 comments
 
How does a candidate elected on a wave of popularity achieve anything in office, when their political mandate is built around a few slogans?
Political Philosophy - Hugh Jorgensen - 13 comments
 
The publication of false claims by the IPCC has been compounded by its imperious attitude.
Science & Technology - Mike Hulme - 34 comments
 
By what authority does any government permit adults to deny a child a mother AND a father?
Law & Liberties - David van Gend - 16 comments
 
Why can't we galvanise the same level of empathy to aid not only the victims of natural disasters but of genocide?
International - Carla Garapedian - 4 comments
 

Thursday, February 11, 2010

The burqa is a political garment: radical Islamists everywhere make male morality the responsibility of women.
Religion & Spirituality - Sadanand Dhume - 13 comments
 
Barack Obama appears to lack the will to overcome what domestic opposition remains to move towards normalising relations with Cuba.
International - Graham Cooke
 
We should be asking the Rudd Government whether the war in Afghanistan is legal under international law.
International - Kellie Tranter - 78 comments
 
The West must respond to Chinese mercantilism: to do nothing it is to accept the demise of Western influence and the rise of authoritarian China.
February Feature - Chris Lewis - 17 comments
 
Time and again, when it comes to race, white people dominate the conversation: the view from the other side of the colour barrier.
Society - Nazeem Hussain - 85 comments
 
The carbon dioxide paradox; or how the greatest hero of life’s history unjustifiably came to be known as public enemy No1.
Science & Technology - Pierre Jutras - 27 comments
 

Advertisement
About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy