McBride gets prison – and democracy takes a hit
Whistleblower David McBride goes to prison – and Australian democracy takes a hit, says PETER GRESTE.
Opinion
Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
"The right thing, the honest thing for the Integrity Commission to do would be to close down this nonsense as lacking any proper basis." HUGH SELBY says there are no reasonable grounds to investigate Walter Sofronoff.
"A lot has changed since Mr Berlin pledged his loving dedication together with the royalties of the song from 1926. But the power of love is not one of them," writes The Gadfly columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
"Predicting the next smart financial move is probably as challenging for the average punter as finding a kangaroo in Canberra," writes CLIVE WILLIAMS in a column of whimsy centred on economists – artists or scientists?
Opinion
The seven secret steps of every public servant
"I had previously believed the APS to operate as a well-intentioned mess, but now I see a steely precision to its processes. According to the Cycle, every public servant secretly followed seven immutable steps," writes JUGULAR JAPES.
Letters
Government hell-bent on digging a bigger hole
"It has become increasingly apparent the government is hell-bent on digging an even larger financial and social hole by extending light rail," says letter writer MIKE QUIRK.
Opinion
How ‘phonics’ have come the full circle
Columnist HUGH SELBY journeys into the bewildering world of phonics to discover what they are and why they're vitally important in teaching children to learn to read and write and enjoy it.
"The ACT government should be leading the way with exemplary residential projects, rather than trying to maximise its and its rapacious developers’ short-term gains," says RICHARD JOHNSON, president, Kingston & Barton Residents Group.
Cartoonist PAUL DORIN is bracing for the federal budget on Tuesday.
Reader LEON ARUNDELL offers a Grumpy column around the way he thinks the ACT government is creatively meeting its emissions targets.
"Heading east from Queanbeyan on the Kings Highway there’s remnants and new additions to the curious practice of teddies attached to trees, a feature for potentially as long as four decades," writes Yesterdays columnist NICHOLE OVERALL.
It's back by popular request, another burst of Rattenbury's Believe It Or Else! – tall tales (but probably untrue) from the bowels of the ACT government.
Letter writer COLIN LYONS, of Fadden, says the neglect of the Transport Canberra information office in Alinga Street, Civic, is an example of "incompetent public transport management in Canberra by the government".
"Among both men and women who have experienced violence from their partner, three quarters never went to the police. This is a critical result when, considering what kinds of services are needed," writes HUGH SELBY.
"Refusing bail and holding in a prison those alleged to have been violent to their partner, children or other family members is a flimsy BandAid on a non-healing sore," writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
The omnipresence of the internet in our global lives has changed several centuries of legal thinking. There is now a willingness to pass laws in Australia that have a global reach, writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
"Fred was at the bank yesterday when a little old lady asked him if he could help check her balance. So he pushed her over." Columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS says humour varies greatly , based on individual experiences, beliefs and sensitivities.
"The community is right to ask about the untimely closure of community infrastructure enjoyed by vulnerable Canberrans when it's offered by large, benevolent organisations that enjoy support from taxpayers," writes CRAIG WALLACE.
"His passion cost him his health and his first marriage, but he returned to his public quest for Aboriginal advancement, earning the praise of professorial fellows as 'Australia’s Lawrence of Arabia'," writes ROBERT MACKLIN.
