Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

"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

"I write about the people from whom those heroes sprang: the ordinary peoples of Australia, symbolised at their very best by the people of Beaconsfield: by the Knight family quietly coping with their loss, delaying their son’s funeral while they awaited the release of his workmates; by Brant Webb and Todd Russell, trapped in their narrow dark cage enduring mental and physical agonies we can barely imagine; by their heroic rescuers, crouching in a claustrophobic tunnel, chiselling away, at dire risk themselves; by the whole Beaconsfield community, and by the Union, in the tradition of Lawson’s time, in the person of Bill Shorten, caring to exhaustion for its own." Betty Birskys

"Some books I love from page one, some books I hate just as quickly. John McArdle's book is in neither category. It is a ripping good yarn and it is true." Roger Fedyk.

"Do we add value to our lives as a Nation and as individuals by not making our shores a safe refuge from the repression of Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Burma and any other country with a mind to manage its Nationals by the gun? Do we improve our status in the eyes of the rest of the world (except the gun-toting country these PEOPLE are running and hiding from), by rejecting out of hand, the upturned face of a frightened child, running to escape his own countries guns?" Daemon Singer

"Fear is probably the first human emotion that we experience and sadly, for some, if not many, it is also the last. And while Fear has always been a part of the human condition, there are times when it becomes most of what we are instead of a  very small part of what we can be." Roslyn Ross

"We already know that the greater freedom and equality a woman has then the better the society functions. Education is often the first benefit that women receive when they are recognised as equals and that translates into fewer babies, better health, improved diet and increased incomes for families. Everyone wins in a world where females get the same opportunities and benefits as males." Roslyn Ross

"Fascism can be defeated by rational argument (that’s why fascists hate intellectuals), by genuine democracy (that’s why they despise civil libertarians), by legal principle (that’s why they criticise independent judges), and by international conventions (that’s why they fulminate about the United Nations). They claim they are defending our way of life, or our civilisation, even while they are undermining its fundamental principles. All civilisations have tried to raise people above fascism, but the fight has to be had over and over again." Alison Broinowski

"A criminal lawyer friend tells me it is not uncommon for police statements to have the same punctuation mistakes. Everyone is supposed to turn a blind eye to this or perhaps place it with the crop circle mystery again." Jim Dowling

"The Japanese are six times as rich as they were in 1950 and they aren’t any happier and neither are Americans who are twice as rich as they were in the 1970’s. Across the world it seems clear that instead of getting happier as they become better off people become more frightened. Expectations are raised at the same pace as incomes and happiness is always just a little out of reach." Roslyn Ross

"The Left may be criticized for missing a sense of humour. Well, Richard Neville’s recent culture jamming of John Howard’s website has proven to be one of the best japes in years. Jammin’ may refer to dancing in Jamaican patois, but our own brand of creative jamming is in the spirit of another Marley line – “forget your troubles and dance!” Whatever your jammin’, diving into the media fray to rock the system from within has a lot to recommend it." Stephen Smith

"The calls for unity around Australian values following the Cronulla riots highlighted, once again, an uncomfortable reality: no one seems quite sure what are Australian values. And this provides a strong clue to where we should look for answers to much of the social unrest we are experiencing today." George Matafonov

"Rather than condemn media personalities, it is time for Aussie Mossies to talk with them face-to-face, to open up a dialogue with them in good faith. For this reason, I’ve decided to invite Alan Jones to join a select group of Australians of Muslim background as we share food for our stomachs as well as for thought." Irfan Yusuf

"The Government may have acted quickly last year to quash any backbench discussion about banning headscarves from public schools but it is an issue that needs to be discussed in depth, not only for the sake of the children involved, but for the sake of our society in general." Roslyn Ross

"Peter Costello is right. If you can’t commit to Australian values, we should put you on a boat and send you out to sea you later. Democratic beliefs, respect for the rights and liberty of others, and respect for the rule of law are our core beliefs "Those who are outside this compact threaten the rights and liberties of others," the Treasurer warned at his speech to the Sydney Institute. Amen to that." Chris Saliba

"It was when the young policeman started twisting the wrist of the old man lying on the ground that I started asking the question yesterday: am I in another country?" Donna Mulhearn

"Aborigines, like many indigenous peoples in the world, have become something akin to insects ‘pinned’ into a specimen box. The community at large feels ‘guilty’ about the fact that our ancestors conquered and dispossessed them and so we try to make amends by believing that the best thing we can do is ‘help’ them to hold on to their culture; to ‘pin’ them into a place that diminishes our guilt and supposedly helps to ‘right the wrongs’ of the past." Roslyn Ross

"As John Howard would have us believe, “We’ve drawn back from being too obsessed with diversity to a point where Australians are now better able to appreciate the enduring values of the national character.” Thus Kerry Packer was really “a sentimental bloke” and his state funeral a celebration of our core values. Howard’s message rests on: “Australia’s greatness – our sense of balance.” Of course ‘balance’ is a relative term. But as the PM is quick to tell us, it is not to imply a nation at rest. Rather, balance “is the handmaiden of national growth and renewal”. (Even the ‘war on terror’ has now found a sense of balance in the form of ‘the long war’.) But in shifting to the desired position might there be a risk that some ‘tipping point’ will disrupt the balance? If so, we shall argue here that any such imbalance is most likely to be tipped by the middle classes." Stephen Smith