Shaoquett Moselmane, a Labor MP in the NSW Legislative Council, is the first Moslem in the NSW Parliament. The former mayor of Rockdale, Moselmane is one of six candidates in the pre-selection for the seat of Barton which Robert McClelland is vacating at the next federal election. To raise his profile among Moslem pre-selectors in…
John Lawler, chief executive of the Australian Crime Commission, is a seasoned cop who is well acquainted with the political system and how it works. He read the pre-Christmas 2012 reports that Treasurer Wayne Swan proposed to inflict sweeping cuts across government departments and all agencies. He did what you would expect him to do….
When Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she was moving to Rooty Hill in Sydney’s western suburbs for a five-day pre-election campaign I checked the mainstream internet sites to discover how many “hits” the story had received from readers. The answer: very few. It didn’t rate in the Top Ten list of any of the sites…
Every time a federal Labor MP announces he or she will not stand at the next election, the lazy and predictable Canberra Press Gallery rushes into print with the same old names of possible candidates. How often have we been forced to read speculation that former Premier Steve Bracks, former Premier Morris Iemma, former Premier…
Half a lifetime ago I set out for Colombia in search of the historical background to One Hundred Years of Solitude, the novel by the great Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What I found was an unforgettable lesson about truth and fiction. Prompted by the sad news that Garcia Marquez will write no more – he has…
An official inquiry in London has vowed to leave no stone unturned in investigating all the circumstances of the suicide of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, the 46-year-old mother of two. What unbearable pressure was placed on Mrs Saldanha after she unwittingly transferred a prank call from a Sydney radio station to the ward where Mrs Kate…
Sam Dastyari has two jobs: general secretary of the NSW Labor Party and head honcho of the state branch of the right-wing faction known as Centre Unity. How do I know? I’ve received an email invitation from Dastyari to the 2012 Centre Unity Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 18, starting at 6pm. The card ends…
Eurozone finance ministers did a deal earlier this week to make a partial reduction in Greece’s debt and permit an 11th-hour, 34bn euro bailout. But the deal, presented as a win-win for Greece and its creditors, depends on Athens borrowing a further 14bn euros to finance a bond buyback scheme that the Greek finance sector…
Palestinians always knew that their culture, history and land constituted an independent, sovereign state. Nevertheless, they will celebrate the UN General Assembly vote that officially recognises their statehood and are entitled to do so. Recognition has taken decades and the struggle has taken thousands of lives. The Israeli regime declared through its propaganda foghorn that…
The Australian Government’s planned royal commission into church abuse of children already has a blueprint for action provided by the Republic of Ireland on the other side on the world. The Irish Government’s report handed down in November 2009 conveniently offers an insight into the church’s concealment and denial of decades of sexual abuse and…
