The Voice – dismissed but not silenced

Yes, I did say I’d write the occasional piece, but not always on a Friday. Just deal with it! Before and after the Voice referendum, I was reading an Australian classic, Coonardoo, by Katharine Sussanah Prichard. This dark novel resonated more as we left on the day of the referendum for a western Queensland caravan trip.. At that stage, we did not know that 60%+ of Australians would vote No to the Voice. Our first…

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Referendums and why they often fail

You’d have to give the Internet prize this week to the wag who posted a photo of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (against a background of jubilant Australian soccer players). “Peter Dutton needs more details before he will support the Matildas,” the satirical headline read. The Matildas meme most accurately portrays the intransigence of the Opposition Leader’s approach to the Voice referendum, saying No because he doesn’t have enough ‘detail’. Mr Dutton, perhaps unfairly, has been…

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Time to befriend an indigenous person

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this blog may contain references to deceased persons. Reading an online ABC story about Ash Barty and her newly-born baby, I was struck by two things. The first was that the story had clearly been assembled with no direct input from Barty. Since retiring from championship tennis last year, Ash has made it fairly clear she values her private life. All the same, she’s famous enough…

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