The federal government’s refugee swap deal with Malaysia is in tatters after the High Court ruled the scheme unlawful. Chief Justice Robert French ruled Immigration Minister Chris Bowen and the Immigration Department be restrained from sending asylum seekers to Malaysia. The court decision is below … HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA 31 August 2011 PLAINTIFF M70/2011 [...]
READ MOREAugust, 2011
Arizona in bid to wind back the clock on voting rights
Arizona, fresh from passing a fiendishly harsh migration law, wants to wind back the VRA, despite the fact that in 2006 the Senate voted 98-0 to approve the law for another 25 years.
READ MOREGlenn Stevens: the man from another planet
The Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens clearly comes from a different planet than Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey. The Opposition Leader and his jovial Treasury spokesman have been talking for months as if the Labor Government is leading us towards economic rack and ruin. Yet this morning the independent and impartial Governor described the national [...]
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Thursday’s question time
I’m like a boy with a new toy. Have discovered how people make those word picture things. Here’s Thursday’s House of Representatives question time with words like “Prime Minister” “Speaker” and “Leader of the Opposition” not counted:
READ MORENot all bad news for Labor
Received a comment from one old friend this morning on the federal government and its problems: It’s not all bad news for the Australian Labor Party. At least one of their members can organise a root in a brothel. To which we could add, I suppose: And get it paid for with someone else’s money.
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A uni lecturer in football studies?
Surely this is some kind of elaborate joke: From Saturday’s Melbourne Age Football studies? At a university? Now that’s a real education revolution.
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Betting on thin ice
Canada’s Northwest Passage and Russia’s Northern Sea Route are both open this year as the summer melt of Arctic ice approaches record levels. The BBC reports that the two lanes have been used by a number of small craft several times in recent years. But the Northern Sea Route has been free enough of ice this [...]
READ MOREThe fate of the Euro more influential than the Labor gov
The fate of Europe’s common currency, the Euro, will have a far greater influence on Australians than how long this minority Labor Government staggers on for. The signs of another financial crisis are certainly looking ominous. Remember the assurances given by the EU and the IMF that they had resolved the problems of Greece being [...]
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And a new record for Greece
The slow motion crisis I wrote about in Crikey yesterday continued overnight with interest rates on Greek Government debt reaching new heights. For two year bonds the rate ended Thursday trading with a yield of 45.88% – an increase of nearly three percentage points for the day.
READ MOREA best ever excuse
The world game has brought forth perhaps the most original excuse ever offered for steroid use by players. FIFA has just announced that North Korea will not be allowed to take part in the next Women’s soccer world cup after five of its players in Germany this year tested positive to steroid use. And the [...]
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