I will be forever grateful to the late Gough Whitlam for allowing me an opportunity to pursue a free education. I was 30 at the time with no qualifications and a chequered work history. My future lot in life was looking like casual labourer/dish pig. Not that there’s anything wrong with good honest sweat of the brow. But my undoubtedly sharp mind was frustrated by menial work and I was at a roadblock. At the…
Most weeks this 1200-word essay comes with a copyright illustration. I’m not entirely sure it really needs one; as often when readers reply, they strip the image out. The weekly sourcing of a relevant image can be a bit time-consuming, but a worthy task. It’s not an issue when the topic is covered by photos I have taken on the road or around town. She Who Also Takes Photos and other family members also contribute. As…
Cat-lovers look away now. Land management and wildlife conservation groups have been increasingly concerned about the escalating feral cat population, particularly in northern Australia, where wild cats have few predators and vast swathes of unpopulated territory to scour for food. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) estimates there are 15 million feral cats in Australia, with each killing an average five animals a night. These figures are conservative and already two years out…
Now that we have your attention, perhaps you could advise us what to do about our modest portfolio of shares, the value of which, in line with the rest of the Australian share market, is down 20% from April last year. Retirees tend to be more jittery about share market gyrations than your high-earning 30-somethings who have another 30 or so years to remedy the situation. She Who Has Been Telling Me To Sell Since…