http://www.sauer-thompson.com/ respected as well as despised" G.W.F. Hegel, 'Philosophy of Right']]> en-us thoughtfactory@internode.on.net Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:03:30 +0930 http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/the-australian-15.php An editorial in The Australian--entitled Leadership panic ignores Labor's policy challenges--- says that Labor's only hope is to rediscover the mainstream of Australian politics. It must provide sound, stable and responsible government, just as it did, for the most part, during the Hawke-Keating government. David Pope What then is sound,... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/its-the-dead-ha.php Sadly for the ALP, the current leadership tension, which is fuelled by a hostile media's beatup for click bait and has led to the current disunity within the ALP, is about personalities, not policies. It's about a different face not different policies. Period. David Rowe Most of the noise and... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/the-canberra-pr-2.php This is a reasonable interpretation of the Canberra Press Gallery at work: Alan Moir It's what they do best, other than recycling media release or the relaying the political whisperings when acting in their self-appointed roles as political players. They are, by and large large, hostile to all that policy... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/syria-its-getti.php It seems that what began as a peaceful uprising against secular authoritarian rule of the Assad Regime in Syria in 2011 has increasingly become a war between Shia and Sunni that has engulfed much of the surrounding region. This undercuts the conventional view in the West that Bashar al-Assad’s government... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/where-to-now-2.php Tom Conley in his column Revisiting the banana republic and other familiar destinations at The Conversation highlights how Keating's argument against the resources as saviour view of long-term Australian prosperity was overpowered by the resources boom caused by China's economic development. Australia has been lucky to be in a position... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/broken-dreams.php One of the significant benefits of the Gillard Government's Gonski reforms is that it is a step that begins to address the future of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Young Australians, especially those not from middle-class backgrounds, are having a pretty hard time. The labour market prospects for young people... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/in-a-digital-wo.php We now live in a world where electronic networking has penetrated into part of people's lives to the extent that we now talk in terms of the physical and virtual worlds. We are just as concerned about our personal identity and privacy in a networked world as we are about... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/not-again.php It's becoming a circus. It being Rudd's push to become leader of the ALP yet again. And the Canberra Press Gallery go along with the endless undermining of Gillard by Rudd supporters; an undermining that takes the form of public comments and actions directed against Gillard. Rudd's track record is... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/garnaut-on-afte.php In his Ending the Great Australian Complacency in the early 21st Century speech Ross Garnaut addresses the fateful choice that Australians will need to make in the months and years ahead about how to respond to hard times after more than two decades of extraordinary prosperity. It's not the choice... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/adelaide-urban-1.php The city of Adelaide is changing post the Global Financial Crisis. It's not just the laneway revitalization projects in the CBD -i--t's also the high rise development. The billboards go up. Regeneration is occurring. The billboard or signage says don't worry, this development will respect local charm, traditions, the unique... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/06/the-coal-indust.php The fossil fuel industry currently has its back to the wall with declining demand for its coal exports and the electricity produced by coal-fired power stations. The decline in electricity demand is due to the high penetration of solar power wind energy, the success of energy efficiency scheme and the... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/its-called-poli.php This week's secret deal between the ALP and Coalition over public funding for their party apparatus highlights their self-interest. They needed $10 million a year to do administration work, apparently. The self interest is not just their collective hand in the public till (ie., the extra funding for their own... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/scrutinizing-th.php Both the royal commission into child abuse in institutions and the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse are highlighting the Catholic Church's unacceptable response to pedophilia by its priests in Australia. This is to deny there is a culture of abuse; that it adopts the half-baked solution of moving the... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/goodbye-ford.php Ford's withdrawal from car manufacturing in Australia in 2016 was bound to happen. It was just a question of time after Detroit excluded the Australian branch from its global production and Ford Australia continued to built big cars when consumer demand had shifted away from gas guzzlers to small cars.... http://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/2013/05/two-handed-poli.php The Coalition talks in terms of smaller government and rolling back the welfare state its policies (paid parental leave, dam construction, and Direct Action for carbon abatement) are those of Big Government. Mark Latham spot it, and he sees the significance----the Liberal Party is in retreat. David Rowe Of course...