Webdiary - Founded and Inspired by Margo Kingston

Climate change presents a new kind of challenge. It is uncertain in its form and extent, rather than drawn in clear lines. It is insidious, rather than directly confrontational. It is long term, rather than immediate in both its impacts and its remedies. Remedies will require global co-operation of unprecedented complexity and dimension. We have much to contribute and much to lose as we face the diabolical policy challenge of climate change. (Professor Ross Garnaut)

Wholesale constitutional reform in Australia is long overdue. The starting point should be true independence. It is past time for an Australian Republic. ... Surely we are sufficiently grown up to be masters of our own affairs. (Joel Fitzgibbon)

The role of governments in the regulation of all manner of safety standards has generally been accepted for many years. The purpose of any government regulation (and aviation regulation is no exception) is to guard against actions which are potentially detrimental to society.

But let’s be charitable – if nothing else can unite the divided citizens of Cyprus, maybe five minutes with Alex will do the trick. (Bernard Keane)

Perhaps the principal conclusion to be drawn from today's policy challenges is that it would have been better to avoid the build-up of credit excesses in the first place. (Bank of International Settlements)

New South Wales Legislative Council has released its report on Electoral and Political Party Funding in NSW. Among other things, the committee recommends a $1,000 cap on private donations and a ban on corporate donations. "Political donations and election spending would be disclosed in a timely, transparent and accessible manner," says the report.

This week we will sadly see the last of the Australian Democrat senators leave parliament. It will be the end of an era and the end of a dream. Who knows how long it will take for the opportunity of true democracy to return to Australia? Who will keep the bastards honest now?

The principle effectively ... was that, in order to protect a person’s privacy if that person gave personal data to the collector, the collector could not use that data for any other purpose than what the person had given it for, except by specific authority of law or by the approval of the data subject. ... Then along came Google and Yahoo! (The Hon. Justice Michael Kirby)

Whilst there is now plenty of discussion about the responses that governments should be making to address the predicted consequences of climate change, the focus seems to have been largely on the economic, trade and security issues. The social and human rights implications rarely rate a mention. (The Hon. John von Doussa)

The document ..., entitled 'Northern Territory Emergency Response Situation Report as at 1500 hrs Wed 14th May 08', paints a picture of an incomplete roll out of the Northern Territory Intervention, an emergency response that Mal Brough recently admitted to ABC Darwin radio was put together in 48 hours. (Sophie Black, Crikey)

Politically, all democracies are bedevilled by the structures of political power which defeat democracy’s moral influence, killing its empathetic equality of power and political opportunity for all citizens.

What happened to chapters 3 to 7, you ask. Well, I was discussing that with Jack the other day and I think it’s all getting away from him a bit. But just to get you back up to speed – oh yes, a little lower m’dear – I jotted down a few notes and passed them to the scribbler lad.

RU486 remains essentially a prohibited import ... in a category of its own too hard for doctors and pharmacists to get approval to prescribe it, too hard for drug companies to get approval to make it available. And this is having a sad and costly side-effect. You see, RU486 is not only an abortion drug. It has life-saving effects for patients with cancer and benign tumours. (Crispin Hull)

While many are taking small steps personally to save water and minimise use of resources, without leaders acting as statesmen and calling for the big changes which alone can make a dent in the problem, we will get nowhere.

For much of my life I've been unable to understand why certain drugs were banned, why prostitution was banned, why certain forms of gambling were banned, why abortion was illegal, or why certain material was censored. The history of the consequences of banning these kinds of activity is well-known. First, they fail.

Rich-poor, Left-Right, black-white. You can profile a politician by ideology, colour, class, caste, religion, party or geography. But I’ve long preferred another form of profiling, one that transcends all of the above. It derives from a simple but dazzling insight of the British contrarian Tony Benn. (Phillip Adams)

The controlled environment of this program is much easier to cope with than, for example, the incredibly difficult Speakers Corner or the Domain here in Sydney, but it may be that Rudd would cope even in that forum.  

"... and a delay in mining operations that resulted in reduced freight" wasn't sent to the SEC, but was added in a later Halliburton media release. What mining operations might that be? Uranium, do you think?

This budget lacked vision and did nothing to protect us from climate change or the rising cost of energy. It could have been a Howard/Costello budget. It is a shame on the Labor party and I am sure thousands of Labor supporters will, like me, be very disappointed.

This month's update from Democratic Audit Australia has some interesting material on political donations, electoral changes, and the lobbyists' register.

A collection of comments, quotes and opinions on the budget.

The one constant about democracy is that the job description for the national government never changes. Government is meant to provide security and public infrastructure, to correct for market failure, and to avoid telling people how to live their lives. (George Megalogenis)

The ostensible argument for power privatisation is that NSW needs the money for schools, hospitals and other expenditure. The reality is that sale of capital is touted as the way to finance ongoing expenditure, analogous to the classic case of the farmer who sells off a bit of the farm each year to keep the family clothed and food on the table.

The case against members of ABC TV's The Chaser's War on Everything has been dropped. Here's why.

Norman Mailer once wrote: “My long experience with human nature … suggests that it is possible that fascism, not democracy, is the natural state.” Mailer was a novelist, and his business was being provocative. I found his article … to be food for considerable worthwhile thought. After the thinking, I decided he was wrong.

If you want the job done, get Paul Kelly, Archie Roach, Bogle, Williamson, Schumann, Missy Higgins and Lior into a studio with a well stocked bar for the weekend, and they'll give you what a team of musicologists could never create in a million years.

It seems our ex Prime Miniature is now a cult hero amongst born again Aryans. Readers of Webdiary may be interested to see some of the interchange. ADDED: It should be noted that there is no evidence that ex-Prime Minister Howard actually said any of these things attributed to him, and some are clearly extracted from other sources.

Robert Manne's collection Dear Mr Rudd: Ideas for a Better Australia covers some interesting ground, if relatively superficially (or "readable", according to the blurb). But what I find more interesting is what it doesn't cover.

The latest update from the Democratic Audit program at Swinburne on how our democracy is working.