Paul Murray
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$320m in traffic fines is a great slush fund
Most people would agree that $320 million is a big pot of money. For it to land in the lap of a politician a year out from a State election - with few strings attached - means it becomes a very important pot of money indeed.The term "slush...
Wed, March 21, 2012, 12:02 pm WST -
Turning their backs on justice
The International Justice Conference in Perth was as noteworthy for those who didn't attend as it was for its stellar cast of exonerated convicts and celebrated legal and forensic experts.Not one senior WA police officer or prosecutor saw the need to be...
Wed, March 14, 2012, 12:22 pm WST -
Press probe destined for dust
It's to be hoped that Ray Finkelstein and Matthew Ricketson each got big cheques from the Gillard Government for their months of work on the media inquiry that reported last week.At least a decent payday might lessen the blow when it dawns on them that...
Wed, March 7, 2012, 11:09 am WST -
Legacy of brawl hard to shake
So where do Australians find themselves after the political drama of the past week? Right back in the same mess we've been in for the past 17 months, that's where.We face the same unpalatable choice of national leaders that we were offered at the 2010...
Wed, February 29, 2012, 6:56 am WST -
I'm Kevin, and I'm only here to help myself
Just for a moment, consider one overriding issue in Kevin Rudd's manic grab for power that wouldn't occur to his desperate Labor caucus supporters in a pink fit.Think about Mr Rudd's mandate to be prime minister again. Consider what residual right he...
Wed, February 22, 2012, 8:54 am WST -
There are no shades of grey in racial abuse
If a football spectator was overheard calling an indigenous player "a filthy black dog" most of the media would aggressively pursue the story, demanding that the AFL take action.And the Australian Broadcasting Corporation would be leading the...
Wed, February 15, 2012, 12:12 pm WST -
A hazardous road
A slight increase in pedestrian deaths last year has led to a kneejerk reaction that WA should adopt 30km/h limits near shopping areas, hospitals, schools and aged-care homes.The State Government's academic adviser on road safety, the Curtin-Monash...
Sun, February 12, 2012, 11:15 am WST -
PM's performance the issue, not her gender
Bob Brown's assertion that Julia Gillard gets a hard time from male political commentators because of unconscious sexism is peculiar, even by his standards.He should realise that the real reason behind the ongoing criticism is that she is a redhead and...
Wed, February 8, 2012, 12:15 pm WST -
UN refugee convention is decades out of date
One of the nagging problems many - if not most - Australians have with the $1 billion-a-year asylum seeker racket based on clandestine boat trips from Indonesia is knowing the people who arrive are not the world's most needy refugees.They are just the...
Wed, February 1, 2012, 2:17 pm WST -
Labor's policy reversal illustrates hypocrisy
Some people might be surprised that the Labor caucus this week adopted a completely new position on the vexed issues of retail trading hours and uranium mining without either being put to the vote.They might be surprised because it's the first they've...
Wed, January 25, 2012, 11:25 am WST -
Let's not wait awhile for a foreshore plan
Wait Awhile. That's the simple message from the City Gatekeepers group that now wants the Barnett Government to rethink its Perth waterfront project more than a year after plans were released and only months short of work starting.Wait Awhile. What a...
Wed, January 18, 2012, 12:55 pm WST -
Political shift will leave Gillard with few allies
If Julia Gillard had time for some quiet reflection over her Christmas break, she would have done well to consider the political fate awaiting Queensland Premier Anna Bligh in the coming months.It should have been reinforced yesterday on her visit to...
Wed, January 11, 2012, 12:38 pm WST -
Political fix masks global climate action
Finally, some common ground with the Greens. Even more amazingly, it's with their faintly Stalin-era spokeswoman on climate change, Tasmanian Senator Christine Milne, the frosty face of totalitarian environmentalism.Senator Milne cut through the gloss...
Wed, December 14, 2011, 1:59 pm WST -
Media inquiry born out of political needs
As star chambers go, the Gillard Government's media inquiry is more like a TV chat show than the Inquisition. Its Perth hearings yesterday were held in the basement of a building that used to house the Australian Taxation Office, but that's about as...
Wed, December 7, 2011, 11:51 am WST -
Duped Gillard forgets the axioms of reform
When a super tax on mining was mooted for the first and only time at a Council of Australian Governments meeting - and then only fleetingly - Colin Barnett was the only Liberal Premier in the nation.That ambush fairly quickly led to Kevin Rudd's...
Wed, November 30, 2011, 11:46 am WST -
Standards slipping
The sham of Julia Gillard's minority Government reached its nadir this week with the elevation of the notorious Peter Slipper as the custodian of standards in the House of Representatives.For the price of one vote, the cost to the reputation of the...
Sun, November 27, 2011, 12:47 pm WST -
Action needed on boozy suburban teen parties
The approach of most of the social engineers who pontificate about the often explosive cocktail of youth and alcohol in entertainment precincts is to blame the hospitality industry. However, you may have noticed they are usually silent in the debate...
Wed, November 23, 2011, 12:14 pm WST -
Gillard’s fawning is on wrong side of history
Let the fawning begin. An American president, reduced to the status of a media-driven celebrity rather than the political and economic saviour he promised to be, is on the eve of making his belated first visit to Australia.Recent history will not repeat...
Wed, November 16, 2011, 9:36 am WST -
Libs put Laura Norder at centre of campaign
The major parties have yet to call nominations for the next State poll, but it's already clear that Laura Norder will be running for the Liberals in every electorate.Many people think Laura has a recent Australian background, but the truth is she's been...
Wed, November 9, 2011, 12:33 pm WST -
WA fisheries at mercy of US greenie charity
Before the Gillard Government locks up vast new areas off the WA coast from fishing, the public have the right to know who is calling the shots.Do we really want local fishing policy dictated by an American charitable trust about which most West...
Wed, November 2, 2011, 2:01 pm WST
Our choice
Opinion
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Gary Adshead
May 24, 11:57 amA question of trust and clarityConstruction company boss Gerry Hanssen was quick to shoot the messenger when a report appeared on the front page of The West Australian yesterday ab...
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Andrew Probyn
May 25, 12:31 pmThomson inquiry in contemptDown in the bowels of Parliament there are remnant reminders of how seriously it takes punishment. In the southern end of the basement there were onc...
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Ben O'Shea
May 24, 12:32 pmSpam filterFrom: William DouglasSent: Wednesday, 16 May 2012 7:35 PMTo: Ben O’SheaSubject: Attention: Ben O’Shea, Please contact meAttention: Ben O’Shea,I’m Mr ...
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