© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Aged “care” and the Covid crisis

For a sickening, towering illustration of the lack of effective and humane leadership that prevails in Australia today, look no further than the COVID-19 crisis ripping through aged “care” facilities in Victoria. In my opinion, some of these organisations should be sued for negligence. There was a highly foreseeable and very grave risk and it seems to me that some of those responsible failed utterly to prepare for it. Everybody knew, based on experience overseas and even as close to home as NSW, what would happen if the virus got into the old people’s homes. But…

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Bring back Parliament, and democracy

On the face of it, the proposition that the COVID-19 pandemic makes it too dangerous for the Australian Parliament to sit might seem to have some almost reasonable basis. When Parliament sits, lots of politicians and their staff descend on Canberra, circulating around the city and potentially creating opportunities for the spread of the virus. Many would come from virus-stricken Victoria, it is argued, and the risks are too great to contemplate. Like I said, it almost sounds a bit reasonable, and yet I don’t buy the story. This is a democracy – so we are…

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The Queen and Covid: slanting the news

Is it news? Or is it propaganda? If it's propaganda, what is it trying to achieve? Living in Australia at the moment these are important questions. Long ago I worked at a newspaper. One job I had for a time (an honorary additional duty, actually) was to mentor cadet reporters. A thing I liked to do during our little "lectures" was to compare the different treatments given to news stories by different newspapers and media outlets. This was, and is, a very instructive and helpful exercise, not only for journalists but for anybody who wants a…

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