Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

Australia joined most of the world during the last quarter of the last century by becoming ethnically diverse in its population base. Is this a good thing for those who had to experience such a vast change?

There's been some recent discussion of workplace psychopaths, turning around the release of Dr John Clarke's second book on the issue, The Pocket Psycho, a sequel to his Working with Monsters.

Our trial is set down to commence on 29 May 2007. I'll be acknowledging all relevant facts, and availing myself of the defence of necessity under Section 10.3 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

I will now go and ‘download’ a glass of wine and be a ‘key stakeholder’ in watching a fabulous Mekong sunset.

"Because of my angle of vision, I see the flag as symbolising the war on Iraq, the war on refugees and Howard's war on the rule of law, once fundamental to our British Heritage, and on human rights for all Australians. But that's just me. I don't have a problem with other people wearing the flag. I do have a problem with the attitude that because it's not my thing, there's something unAustralian about me. Like the message some wore on the Big Day Out, 'Support or fuck off'. And I do have a problem with groups being told to fly the flag or else." Margo Kingston

"It seems to me that the role played by Australian MP's and Senators, in government particularly, is almost the opposite of what is needed." Ross Chippendale

" I’d say that since the Hanson image and John Howard's appropriation of the flag for political purposes louts and racists have colonised the display of the flag in some respects, as evidenced by its use during the Cronulla riots. So I’d support a ban, as the use of the flag in this way is itself a desecration of our flag. We’re talking a huge, sweaty, alcohol laden event here. Why give aggressive people with a yen for violence and hate a prop like the Australian flag to stir things up with?" Margo Kingston

Malcolm's rewrite of CS Lewis moves on to a new adventure for Johnnie, Peter, Alexander, and Amanda ...

Since everyone else seems to be compiling lists, here's a space to write your own personal top ten list for 2006.

A pre-Christmas finale to this long-running saga ...

"Compassion is not a dirty word. Compassion is not a sign of weakness. In my view, compassion in politics and in public policy is in fact a hallmark of great strength. It is a hallmark of a society which has about it a decency which speaks for itself.": Kevin Rudd

" I decided an 'allegorical' approach might be a better one to take with regard to some of the 'hot-button' issues that come up repeatedly on Webdiary. I would like to try an experiment, with the consent and cooperation of the editors and other Webdiarists.": Will Howard

"This audit directly addresses the controversial role money plays in Australian politics by asking the question: How democratic is the way political parties are funded in Australia? It identifies two central problems with the funding of Australian political parties: a lack of transparency, with secrecy a hallmark of private funding, political spending and the use of parliamentary entitlements and government resources; and the political inequality that is maintained and perpetuated by Australian political finance. ": Joo-Cheong Tham and Sally Young, Democratic Audit of Australia

"The Government’s current policy direction on Aborigines, which has gained momentum in recent months, has all of the hallmarks of the assimilationism that led to the stolen generation. The methods and the rhetoric are far subtler – and obviously less cruel - than those of the Government’s predecessors, but the aim is identical and arguably just as pernicious: the assimilation of Aborigines into the mainstream.": David Curry

"This is not rocket science. Clear the landscape, remove the surface roughage, change the albedo and dry out the countryside upwind and you get less rainfall – a perfect example of climate change. The solution is quite simple and could be achieved in one to two generations: revegetate the landscape.": Ian Read

"I wore a poppy at work for the last couple of days (I now work in a book shop). My boss, in a friendly way, asked me why. For me it's not because war is bad or because they protected freedoms or because of grief or the loss of youth. It is just because millions of people in the past have fought, killed and died, and whatever we think about it, that shouldn't be forgotten. Forgetting that would be a very big mistake. It's why I'm much more sold on 'Remembrance Day' than 'Anzac Day'. It's just a day to remember, that's all.": Hamish Alcorn

"Most of us remember the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks with photographic clarity. We remember our horror at the footage of the plane slamming into the World Trade Tower, and banal details such as where we were and who was with us when we first heard the news. Muslim Australians remember all this, but they also remember something else: they were suddenly treated very differently.": David Curry

"s.116 of the Australian Constitution Act enshrines the principle of freedom of religion in to Australian society. To effect any regulation of religious symbols or dress in Australian schools would require a referendum. Referendums are costly and time-consuming and should not be attempted unless there is a reasonable prospect of success and if it is for an issue with substantial contemporary relevance. I will proceed to argue that this is such an issue.": Solomon Wakeling

"The Southern Cross was the emblem raised in the boldest and most effective democratic initiative ever taken in Australian history. That to my mind is a good enough reason to fly it perpetually in Ballarat, and to raise it on November 29th every year all over the land.": Ian MacDougal

"Our reputation as a successful multicultural society is now threatened. ... The new security laws diminish the rights of all Australians. I do not know of any other democracy that has legislated for the secret detention of people the authorities know to be innocent.": Malcolm Fraser
Text updated to transcript of speech as delivered

"In a world where water can only become rarer and more precious, it seems foolish in the extreme to allow it to become a commodity; something to be bought and sold where the only motive is profit. In this instance it is not so much a case of ‘selling our souls’ but of ‘selling our lives’ and watching our future drain away through those ‘golden’ corporate ‘fingers’.": Roslyn Ross

"There’s a kerfuffle going on about the grant of citizenship and Australian values. What is it all about?": Raja Ratnam

Solomon locks coffee-cups for a soft-hitting interview with Noel Hadjimichael

"Mr Board’s crucial role, however, was to ensure that no-one was ever told about the scheme or knew anything about it. He was vastly experienced in these things having already been sent on trade missions about which he knew nothing to places as far afield as Mesopotamia and Persia. Little Johnnie thought it was a pity that we didn’t have Imperial Honours anymore because Mr Board definitely deserved a knighthood for this one. The Treasury Secretary said it would be sufficient reward to put him on the Board of the ABC and make him a Governor of the Reserve Bank. Mr Board liked that idea very much as he hadn’t been sacked as a CEO for a long time and could do with the cash. " From Chapter IX of the Chronicles of Nadir, as told from the grave by Tom Lewis.

"The chickenshit Baby Boomers are scared-waredy of... dying. They're getting older, and they've killed God, and as a generation they've lived greedy, nasty, rich, braying, self-applauding, vacuous, self-serving lives, and they've f***ed up the planet and their kids' futures and their parents' post-WW2 legacy along the way to fund it all, in the greedy short term, and now, Left and Right and all in between, the poor greedy dears are shit-scared-terrified of what God and History and the drowning, choking planet's Third Worlders are f***en going to say to and about them, as they die, and after their deaths." Jack Robertson

"There will always be vulnerable people in our society and there will always be people who seek to profit from them. The only way that we can protect them and protect society by extension, is to have laws which can moderate and control behaviour. Making something illegal merely pushes it underground and into the hands of criminals." Roslyn Ross

"The journey to enlightenment in Australia is by no means complete. But on the issue of sexuality, it has certainly commenced. As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the recent conference in Montreal it is a matter of fundamental human rights and basic human dignity. In the end, it is not only about gays. It is about all people and the quality of freedom and mutual respect in the society that we want to live in. The momentum is unstoppable." Michael Kirby

"The simplest thing any leading opposition figure with both real guts and sense could do is praise the "masses" for their civic spirit - but then, go on to explain exactly how the democratic process itself was designed to aggregate/sift personal experience, remind the audience that the mass media is controlled by the powerful, and is thus not necessarily a trustworthy guide to broader issues, then ask them to vote on personal experience, alone!": John Henry Calvinist

"Over the last decade there has been increasing acceptance that the Republican debate has delivered to this country the classic rock and a hard place proposition. Which is to say; "we'll be damned if do and we'll be damned if we don't!" Option 'C' is therefore a concept that is set to provide a bridge over these troubled waters.": Max Wilkinson