Talking Point

It needn't be all of nothing

Ah, the delicious irony. Here I am, sitting at the computer with a deadline looming, determined to write about how women can have it all – sort of – when I suddenly remember I haven’t made the lunches or pulled the clothes out of the ironing basket ...
July 18, 9:28 am
Browse posed hardest decision for watchdog

The Environmental Protection Authority was established 40 years ago to provide the State Government with independent environmental advice, particularly on the environmental acceptability of proposed developments.In a State that boasts twin riches of...
July 17, 12:34 pm
Labor's gross funding shortfall needed redressing

I would like to address some statements made in an opinion piece in this space last Monday, about the Redress WA scheme.That opinion piece suggested there was no reasoning behind the decision to set the Redress maximum ex-gratia payment at $45,000.L...
July 16, 12:25 pm
Alcohol ban on mums-to-be would leave a sour taste

Few would argue we shouldn’t try to do what’s best for our kids, but just how far have we gone in waving the big stick at mothers?Not far enough yet it seems, because Australian Hotels Association chief executive Bradley Woods says he will raise at ...
July 13, 12:22 pm
Heavy hand of the law comes down on decent cop

A plod’s lot in life sucks. Just look at Sen. Const. Shane Clark, a good police officer who is now confined to non-operational duties after being convicted of reckless driving and losing his licence for six months.His sin was to break the speed limi...
July 12, 12:54 pm
Olympic buzz is unbeatable

With the Olympic Games so close, you are so supremely fit that your skin is a fatless veil around your well-fed muscles. The simple act of moving up a step pulls your tendons hard, forcing them to bulge from the side of your legs, and your herculean...
July 11, 12:41 pm
Mums can solve labour crisis

According to a “Domestic Goddess Calculator”, I’m worth $1879 a week.That’s how much it would cost to employ someone to do the shopping, washing, errand-running, cooking, driving, gardening and dog-walking that features in my domestic week. And that...
July 10, 12:29 pm
We must open our eyes to the difficulties of dyslexia

Most days there are tears in my house because I have asked my son to do his reading with me.Most days I don’t blame him, because reading is really tough for a dyslexic child.Something my husband and I love to do with our spare time is tortuous for m...
July 9, 12:32 pm
Asylum debate mustn't lose sight of human drama

The opinion article by Paul Murray (Crocodile tears, June 30) was a deplorable diatribe aimed at committed MPs who seek a way through the impasse on asylum seekers.Many people in the community express fears about the continuing arrival of unauthoris...
July 6, 12:31 pm
We urgently need a plan to boost near-city housing

The other day I was stuck in an all-too-common traffic jam in the city centre. I noticed the passenger in the car beside me was reading an article on the sinking of the Titanic and thought this was a timely coincidence because Perth has struck an ic...
July 4, 2:16 pm
All atwitter over real issues

It’s been a surprising few days. For those of you too distracted by the cacophony of clowns in Canberra to notice the really important stuff, I’ll bring you up to speed.Just weeks away from the Olympic Games gold he’d assumed was already his, the wo...
July 3, 1:20 pm
Fireys don't just stand by awaiting catastrophe

In predicting a bushfire catastrophe in the South West in The West Australian on Monday and then advocating that nothing is done to prevent it, forest activist Beth Schultz breaks new ground in the art of the self-fulfilling prophecy.Of course, Blin...
June 28, 1:39 pm
WA can do more in indigenous education

WA is on its way to reducing indigenous literacy and numeracy failure rates, which will increase opportunities for indigenous men and women to work in mining and other industries.WA is the only State other than Queensland on track to meet the Counci...
June 27, 1:05 pm
Curse on bad-language parents

The line was delivered with pitch-perfect precision. In context. And embarrassingly clear — “F… it!”But this orator wasn’t the driver who’d just had yet another parking spot stolen from in front of him. No, it was a back-seat passenger. One securely...
June 26, 12:02 pm
'Harmless' slap and tickle

More bosses have asked me to take my top off than I care to remember.It was back in the 80s — actually, it was the 90s as well. Radio was fast and loose and a hotbed of lascivious ego. Lotharios stalked the corridors (the best ones were in advertisi...
June 23, 12:10 pm
Australians too slow to understand others

On a recent overseas holiday I fell into conversation with a talkative nine-year-old whose language skills left me feeling wildly jealous but hopeful for the future.I found out she attended a French school at home in Hong Kong where she also learns ...
June 21, 12:28 pm
Marine parks too long coming

The connection of West Australians to the marine environment is legendary. Most of us live near the coast or visit it for work or play. There are those who also have direct or indirect economic interests in what the oceans provide.So, for all these ...
June 20, 12:23 pm
Ill-timed outburst won't help Indonesian cause

Controversial powerful Indonesian politician and business leader Aburizal Bakrie lived up to his reputation during a public lecture in Perth on Indonesia-Australia relations in a globalised world.Mr Bakrie spoke of the need to improve the Australia-...
June 18, 1:07 pm
Life as an invisible woman

I will still be taking my youngest to primary school when I’m 54. There, I’ve said it. The (laughable) truth of it.No one in their mid-50s should be glued by any sticky-fingered tendrils to the exhausting gusto of early childhood, but there are load...
June 16, 1:28 pm
Something fishy

Well, it has come at last, the announcement of the final boundaries for the massive string of marine parks and sanctuary zones for Commonwealth waters around Australia.The consequences for WA commercial and recreational fishers are significant, deva...
June 16, 1:06 pm