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…
Han Suyin, who died in Lausanne last week at the age of 96, was a writer who bridged cultures. Born in imperial China of a Flemish Belgian mother and a Chinese father, she was best known in her lifetime as the author of the 1952 satirical novel of Hong Kong expat life, A Many-Splendoured Thing,…
A former NSW politician telephoned me back in June saying: “Did you see that James Packer is planning to build a casino at the Barangaroo site at Walsh Bay?” “Yes,” I replied, “ but there is no way will he get approval. There is already a casino in Darling Harbour – Star City – and…
What is the meaning of Australia winning a seat on UN Security Council for the next two years? It means that the United States and Israel now have an extra vote on the Security Council. The declaration by the Gillard Government and Foreign Minister Bob Carr that their first objective will be world peace is…
FOUR thousand people demonstrated in Murwillumbah yesterday (October 13) against coal seam gas extraction – the biggest protest we’ve seen here yet. So many of our friends were there: a real show of strength from the local community. Lock the Gate president Drew Hutton was joined on a panel fronting the media by local canegrowers’…
By Alex Mitchell Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech in the House of Representatives on October 9 was one of the finest pieces of parliamentary oratory you are ever likely to hear. It was bold, stirring, direct and compelling. I urge you to find it on the web and listen to it in full. The last…
