The Burning Issue

Fatal shifts in shark activity

The death of surfer Ben Linden near Wedge Island at the weekend confirmed WA’s title as the shark attack capital of the world, with five fatalities in less than a year — three more than the previous average of two attacks a year for all of Australia...
July 17, 12:25 pm
Time for a royal commission

In 1971 the mother of navy recruit Shane Connolly went to a newspaper to complain her son had been the victim of beatings and savage initiation ceremonies at the HMAS Leeuwin junior training establishment in Fremantle.Shane, a 15-year-old from Victo...
July 13, 12:13 pm
Labor campaigns for net result

Keen watchers of politics and the internet (so that’s nerds and geeks respectively) will have already noticed this, but there’s been a change to the way WA Labor is selling itself and it has intensified in recent weeks.On Sunday, it was a YouTube ad...
July 12, 12:51 pm
We can't afford to lose our communal soul

Is Australian society in danger of losing its soul? Or are we just wising up and leaving behind the myths and fables of outdated religious beliefs and practices? The answer, of course, depends on your point of view. But whatever that view is, the la...
July 10, 12:25 pm
Redress shortfall shows cash can't buy empathy

One problem with being financially liable for wrongdoing is that it’s an immediate disincentive to admitting that wrongdoing.Another problem is that it promotes the idea that a payment of money redeems an offence. This doesn’t mean monetary compensa...
July 9, 12:28 pm
For some, Stilnox is just what doctor ordered

Let’s be upfront: I take Stilnox and I have no regrets.I’m not an addict, I’m not an Olympic athlete.But like millions of other Australians, I just want a good night’s sleep.Ever since I was a child, I have suffered from insomnia.My parents tried to...
July 5, 12:22 pm
Health campaign takes guts

Having a “grabbable gut” on the front page of last weekend’s newspaper was always going to make the headlines in more ways than one.But you would guess that was the whole idea behind the graphic advertising campaign — to get people talking and maybe...
July 4, 2:14 pm
Indonesia must be part of the asylum solution

At last week’s Liberal Party conference, former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer told the party that any solution to the asylum seeker crisis must include Indonesia. He is right.His leader’s idea that the way to “include” Indonesia would be...
July 3, 1:17 pm
State housing tenants could lose tax compo

State housing tenants may find that the promise of carbon tax compensation is little more than an illusion if State governments put out their hands for a share of the money.For all the assurances that most Australians would be protected from the eff...
July 2, 12:12 pm
Step back from politics of absurd on warming

On Sunday, Australia’s first economy-wide policy for reducing carbon pollution and tackling climate change will come into effect.It seems everyone has a view on the carbon price. Much has been written by commentators ranging from over-enthusiastic t...
June 28, 1:36 pm
Carbon tax comes at the worst possible time

In less than a week, the world’s biggest economy-wide carbon tax will come into effect in Australia. As a significant new tax it will have massive implications for our economy, household budgets and jobs — and, given current global economic conditio...
June 26, 11:59 am
Fire plan a recipe for environmental disaster

With another heartbreaking fire season behind us, one thing is clear: fire management in this State is a debacle.It is not protecting property or biodiversity and it’s only through incredible luck that people weren’t killed in the Hills, Margaret Ri...
June 25, 1:24 pm
Marine vision ignores the locals' hard yards

The Federal Government made a grand environmental gesture last week by announcing a network of marine reserves for Australia.By some accounts, Australia now accounts for 50 per cent of the world’s total marine reserves.At the same time, the last wor...
June 19, 12:45 pm
Olympic gold has a high price

How much is an Olympic gold medal really worth?If you climb the top step of the dais after years of toil on the training track and 5am starts, no doubt you would say it is priceless.Melted down, the 6g of pure gold plating and 550g of silver would ...
June 18, 1:03 pm
Mental health needs rethink

Mental health policy in Australia, for so long ignored, is finally getting attention. The Gillard and Barnett governments have appointed mental health ministers and significant resources are being identified for new and expanded services.Sport stars...
June 13, 12:30 pm
Flawed process has EPA under gas hub hammer

According to latest reports, in the next month or two the long and fraught environmental impact assessment for Premier Colin Barnett’s proposed gas hub at James Price Point, near Broome, will reach an important milestone.More than 18 months after th...
June 12, 1:09 pm
Time to talk to the neighbours

Seize the day, Chairman Mao once said, seize the hour! It’s a dictum worth considering by Canberra in its approach to Indonesia — Australia’s closest neighbour, the world’s most populous Muslim country, and its third largest democracy sitting astrid...
June 11, 1:59 pm
Kids the new target in the nasty online world

Not content to bitch about women and judge them for everything from their waist size to their lifestyle choices, now the public has plumbed a new depth — bagging a person’s kids for how they look.The front cover of the Australian Women’s Weekly this...
June 7, 12:02 pm
Simple 'sorry' the hardest word

Saying sorry is never easy we’re told, but that’s not strictly true. Bump into someone as you pass in a lift and it is not that taxing to quickly apologise.The sincerity level of apologies can sometimes be questionable but the intrinsic value of “so...
June 6, 12:59 pm
Student success hangs on managing emotions

When parents are surveyed about what they most want for their children from school, responses are very consistent. As you would expect, they want their children to achieve to their potential, be literate and numerate and succeed in their chosen cour...
June 5, 11:54 am