Posted: 9:36 am on 1st May 2012
Opera companies and orchestras worldwide are closing at an alarming rate for a number of reasons (including the global financial crisis), but the lack of change in the fundamental structure of opera companies is an extremely important contributing factor. We live in a very different time and the expectations of the past can be assumed no longer. We can blithely ignore this, and many practising artists in classical music are…
Posted: 8:00 am on 22nd April 2012
In an Australian first, the Victorian government announced this week that a parliamentary inquiry will be conducted into the handling of child sexual abuse cases by the Catholic and other churches. It is impossible not to sympathise with victims who feel they will finally get the chance to hold their abusers to account. Giving people the chance to tell their stories can have a cleansing effect. Child abuse often occurs…
Posted: 8:00 am on 14th March 2012
I am in favour of legalising gay marriage. This is my personal view, not the corporate view of the CIS. It is a view which many of my colleagues do not share. Despite this conviction, I do not think Bob Katter’s anti-gay marriage ads should be censored. There are many legitimate arguments against gay marriage (including the freedom of religious ministers to choose not to perform them). Gay marriage is…
Posted: 8:00 am on 26th November 2011
Shopping on the weekend is a concept that hasn’t caught on yet in Western Australia. Perth’s state government still believes it is in the ‘public interest’ to dictate when people can shop. The rationale is that if shops were open every day, small business would go bust and families wouldn’t be able to spend enough time together. But what about consumers’ interest? If you’re unlucky enough to live outside of…
Posted: 4:57 pm on 21st November 2011
According to a story in yesterday’s Herald Sun, the federal government is set to run a trial which will see real authority over the operation of 1,000 public, independent and Catholic schools restored to the local level. Under the ‘Empowering Local Schools’ program, parents will assume responsibility for hiring staff, setting budgets, and undertaking minor capital works. The aim is to eradicate centralised micro-management of day-to-day affairs by state education…
