Comment History for Ian
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» 10/07/2007 12:50:21 AM The monarchy connects us with New Zealand, with Canada, with Britain, with centuries of cu.....
» 10/07/2007 12:32:44 AM The problem is not the size of the gap between the richest and the poorest, but the opport.....
» 26/03/2007 11:04:37 AM “The United Nations is our last, best hope for a peaceful and prosperous planet.” If so, .....
» 12/03/2007 11:20:26 AM oops. Please read "there's NOTHING counter-cultural about that"......
» 12/03/2007 11:08:09 AM Pretending that population densities in Australia should be the same as those in France an.....
» 27/02/2007 11:41:23 PM Whispering Ted, you say that "we should be on good terms with all decent people and a.....
» 26/02/2007 11:03:49 AM What exactly is "the international community"? I don't see how you can have a co.....
» 13/02/2007 5:55:36 AM "If Chávez and his project fail, one can hardly see Brazil’s Lula (Luiz Inácio Lula d.....
» 9/02/2007 12:13:32 PM Pericles, Our ancestors made something like this happen once, so I don’t see why it could.....
» 8/02/2007 11:32:19 PM Ted, the Commonwealth of Australia has no problem including Tasmania, despite the stretch .....
» 7/02/2007 11:13:26 PM Pericles, I see CANZ as an essentially different kind of beast from the EU because we are .....
» 5/02/2007 7:51:32 PM I agree that merging with New Zealand and Canada would not necessarily have the effect of .....
» 5/02/2007 1:13:17 AM Pericles, if I were involved in business I would probably give business-oriented examples,.....
» 3/02/2007 12:35:51 AM >>I’d still like to hear examples of specific instances as opposed to generalities. .....
» 1/02/2007 11:26:37 AM From your previous posts, Pericles, it seems that you would reject the potential benefits .....
» 1/02/2007 1:08:46 AM Whispering Ted, I agree with your suggestions in relation to the Pacific Island countries:.....
» 31/01/2007 1:39:18 AM saintfletcher, I quite agree with you that "you will never see Australia and NZ give .....
» 31/01/2007 12:03:22 AM I don’t see much parallel between the EU and our situation, because the EU is made of vast.....
» 30/01/2007 12:39:06 PM Klaas, you state your opinions as if they were facts, which suggests a belief that any vie.....
» 30/01/2007 12:44:55 AM Pericles, would you say that NSW, TAS, WA, SA, VIC and QLD were "rammed together for .....
» 29/01/2007 10:56:06 AM I am completely in favour of the proposal, and I would like to suggest ANZAC Day 2015 as a.....
» 29/01/2007 8:38:37 AM Where does proportional representation result in stable, effective government, as distinct.....
» 17/01/2007 10:53:10 PM Good point, TurnRightThenLeft. Many voters evidently feel there is an important distinctio.....
» 15/01/2007 11:46:45 AM Well said, Skeptic: "the question whether we remain a constitutional monarchy or beom.....
» 9/01/2007 12:03:39 AM I agree with Rhian: “Australia’s states have different economic, demographic, social and e.....
» 18/12/2006 11:47:15 AM I suspect Bolivia is more likely to face a civil war rather than a coup. The country has t.....
» 18/12/2006 11:38:16 AM When I was born, all Australians had the right to travel, study and work without restricti.....
» 27/11/2006 9:53:56 PM I love cricket, and I find the Barmy Army tedious rather than offensive. More importantl.....
» 20/11/2006 11:12:39 AM "It is virtually impossible to elect minor party candidates to the House of Represent.....
» 13/11/2006 10:43:48 AM Our lawyer friend says that "Australians are a conservative bunch who when faced with.....
» 16/10/2006 12:10:43 PM History and geography belong together like time and space. Either one is pretty meaningles.....
» 9/10/2006 12:25:58 PM I'm interested by your comments, Georgina, especially by the question of whether it is imp.....
» 9/10/2006 11:51:51 AM "80 per cent of Australians have no idea of the name of their Governor-General"......
» 11/08/2006 4:58:37 AM It seems to me that the desire to adopt a presidential system in Australia is necessarily .....
» 7/08/2006 10:50:44 AM I was born British, just like everyone else who was born in Australia before 1973 or in Ne.....
» 1/08/2006 2:30:24 AM Australia is not an Asian country: not geographically and not culturally. Geographically.....
» 31/07/2006 12:07:12 PM The EU does a pretty neat line in paying French farmers to be inefficient and creating stu.....
» 24/07/2006 12:31:17 PM Part of the problem is that there is no longer any party where actual liberals can really .....
» 5/07/2006 2:40:29 AM Soccer is a great game for kids. It's really simple, so any 8 year old can understand the .....
» 4/07/2006 2:37:17 AM Hi, o sung wu, I think we are looking at the same issue from different directions. From m.....
» 3/07/2006 10:26:42 AM I've played soccer since I was a kid and I've lived in Brazil for seven years, but I still.....
» 3/07/2006 7:27:02 AM Horus, It seems to me that the kind of thinking you refer to is based on the idea that c.....
» 3/07/2006 12:09:37 AM Amel, I can see logic in Ev’s comparison of the situation of Aboriginal peoples in Austra.....
» 28/06/2006 1:00:27 AM David, I do not think that it furthers the debate to present one's own opinions as facts .....
» 28/06/2006 12:40:44 AM o sung wu, you wonder whether Australia has a culture and suspect that it does not. I thin.....
» 27/06/2006 8:25:38 AM I'm always amazed that people see the need to link culture with "race". There is.....
» 18/06/2006 6:18:17 AM saintfletcher, I think one reason why the UK never lobbied for Australia's entry into th.....
» 18/06/2006 6:05:36 AM jaadoo, Our relationship with China is of a different nature from our relationship with th.....
» 18/06/2006 2:12:28 AM jaadoo, I agree that Australia is becoming more mature, but I don't share your view that .....
» 12/06/2006 1:54:38 AM Peace, you ask whether the West has the right to self-rule. I would say of course it does.....
» 6/06/2006 10:40:54 AM Is an Islamist Somaliland better than a failed Somalia? Probably. I would say that order i.....
» 5/06/2006 12:20:46 PM Our geographic proximity to the Pacific Islands is not insignificant. Both in terms of sol.....
» 5/06/2006 10:40:24 AM Indeed, well done Somaliland. I can't quite understand why the Commonwealth countries have.....
» 31/05/2006 1:05:17 PM Scout, One of the aspects I find most irritating about that discussion group is the perp.....
» 31/05/2006 11:26:37 AM Scout, I'm involved with an organisation called the Federal Commonwealth Society, which .....
» 30/05/2006 10:46:54 AM Hi Scout, A new government can make things look more different than they really are. A c.....
» 30/05/2006 8:00:30 AM It's easy to take differences between governments as a sign of differences between populat.....
» 24/04/2006 12:55:06 PM An interesting article, Graham. I'm all in favour of Australia engaging in a more positive.....
» 4/04/2006 4:31:23 AM The problem with the UN is that it is a club of governments. That would be fine if all gov.....
» 29/03/2006 3:32:49 AM Scout, I appreciate that not everyone is going to see things as I do. I’d just like to.....
» 28/03/2006 10:18:38 AM Scout, I didn’t say that all Australian opposition to the monarchy is adolescent rebelli.....
» 27/03/2006 8:45:42 AM Scout, I totally agree that we should not be thinking or talking in terms of race. When .....
» 26/03/2006 8:22:35 AM I am not attached to monarchies per se, nor am I opposed to republics per se. I am also no.....
» 26/03/2006 2:49:29 AM Still replying to Scout, a second message, due to the word limit. I do see Australia’s “.....
» 26/03/2006 2:26:51 AM Scout, I felt the same about Australia’s “Britishness” until I lived in Brazil: I had al.....
» 25/03/2006 1:48:02 AM Hi Scout, When I think of “the British world”, I am not thinking of the whole Commonweal.....
» 22/03/2006 3:48:55 AM Scout, When I say that I do not see Britain as foreign, I am thinking in terms of cultur.....
» 21/03/2006 8:58:56 AM David, you misrepresent my position. You claim that I say that “the UK is not even another.....
» 20/03/2006 11:53:34 AM David Latimer suggests that all non-republicans are “supporters of the status quo”, which .....
» 21/02/2006 12:03:34 AM The title of the article - Beyond self-interest - indicates what seems to me to be a funda.....
» 3/01/2006 2:33:41 PM Cireena, I must admit that the only one of your early modern women that I have read is Aph.....
» 5/12/2005 11:11:46 PM Laurie, you said that the 1789 revolution in France "showed there was no 'divine righ.....
» 21/11/2005 12:48:09 PM Andrew Leigh: well done. How could anyone disagree?.....
» 15/11/2005 11:08:24 PM David, I hope you don't mind if I agree with you here. After years of being an employee, I.....
» 14/11/2005 1:01:36 PM Oligarch, If you had asked the ANZACs what their relationship with the British Empire wa.....
» 10/11/2005 1:15:10 AM I find it absurd to presume that everyone who identifies as Muslim will therefore have a s.....
» 9/11/2005 12:31:45 PM Pericles, if that is not clear enough, nothing ever will be. Sadly, I suspect that nothin.....
» 9/11/2005 1:22:46 AM Numbat, I agree that the decision made by the UK to join the European project put a severe.....
» 8/11/2005 7:37:05 AM In a world where many countries are working towards closer integration, it is sad that our.....
» 8/11/2005 6:56:40 AM Having a Bill of Rights doesn't make any real difference. What makes a difference is being.....
» 1/11/2005 2:56:04 AM It's ironic, really. Thatcher dragged Britain's economy out of the dark ages, but now New .....
» 25/10/2005 2:24:20 AM Based on personal experience, I trust unions and employers to roughly the same degree. Nei.....
» 25/10/2005 2:21:35 AM I think that registration on the electoral roll should be compulsory, but voting should no.....
» 25/10/2005 2:00:25 AM Indeed, it is a great pity that countries like Myanmar and Zimbabwe do not have resources .....
» 25/10/2005 1:42:05 AM Kurds are only part of Iraq now because Iraq has been an artificial post-World War I creat.....
» 23/10/2005 3:50:39 AM Scientific theology? It's like scientific alchemy and scientific spoon-bending. Or perhaps.....
» 21/10/2005 11:32:33 AM Again, David, you (and many others) are defining Christianity as being based on your readi.....
» 21/10/2005 1:01:36 AM David, I can't agree with you on this one: "If I may, that [a commitment to Christ t.....
» 18/10/2005 1:04:33 PM Talking about what happened before the Big Bang is a bit like talking about building a hou.....
» 18/10/2005 10:33:51 AM Maximus, you skew the argument a little there. We all know that the universe exists: that .....
» 17/10/2005 11:58:49 AM I always liked the following argument: 1. God is a marvellous thing that functions like .....
» 7/10/2005 1:30:05 AM Dear all seeing omnipotent voice of reason, at least one person likes your idea of makin.....
» 6/10/2005 4:48:26 AM Hamlet says:"Multiculturalism is more than clothes, food, dance and film. It is accep.....
» 5/10/2005 2:31:29 PM Populations that remain in isolation for long enough will adapt physically to their enviro.....
» 4/10/2005 2:07:21 AM BOAZ_David says that Australia is "still statistically predominantly British", w.....
» 3/10/2005 1:42:50 PM sneekeepete, I find your comment about "our former colonial masters" a bit odd: .....
» 3/10/2005 1:14:22 PM I'm glad that people are talking about the exaggerated attention being paid to China. We w.....
» 27/09/2005 5:31:22 AM I was a vegetarian for some years and survived without serious problems, but then I came u.....
» 27/09/2005 5:11:21 AM "when you face the Almighty ...", says BOAZ. What a load of childish nonsense. .....
» 22/09/2005 7:19:24 AM Yes, Numbat, the numbering system is a little ironic, but I like irony, and it helps prese.....
» 21/09/2005 4:41:32 AM Numbat, I'm sure our Queen is well aware that if she were to congratulate the Australian c.....
» 12/09/2005 11:52:14 AM Equality of opportunity as an excellent ideal, but it is very difficult to measure because.....
» 6/09/2005 2:39:04 AM I think the division of powers between the states and the Federal government should be mor.....
» 27/08/2005 9:58:08 AM Yeah, I'd be intrigued to know too......
» 22/08/2005 10:54:44 PM David, since you are choosing to be truly obtuse, I will leave you to it......
» 21/08/2005 2:39:35 PM David, it is really very simple. The Roman Empire colonised parts of Europe, spreading it.....
» 19/08/2005 9:09:49 AM David, it seems you have caught me out trying to have a discussion about ideas. I first .....
» 18/08/2005 5:03:01 AM David, perhaps you have misunderstood my intentions. * The Federal Commonwealth Society .....
» 17/08/2005 12:35:34 PM Oh, come on, David. Insisting on a republic for Australia means turning to the people of N.....
» 17/08/2005 4:53:43 AM I would like to see the debate get well beyond the simple opposition of "YES, republi.....
» 16/08/2005 7:57:16 AM What about an ANZ federation, Trinity? Does that seem too hard to achieve? When Australi.....
» 16/08/2005 2:17:37 AM David, Yes, I do think a CANZUK federation is plausible, which is not the same as saying.....
» 16/08/2005 1:47:24 AM I'm happy to stick with the system we have, largely because it connects us with something .....
» 14/08/2005 7:15:03 AM And Perseus, I certainly have no objection to the creation of more states in Australia, if.....
» 14/08/2005 7:09:10 AM Perseus, The opinions of the Quebecois will certainly be an important factor. At present.....
» 12/08/2005 3:24:13 AM Ok, David, I’ll await your reply. I hope the ARM gathering is fruitful. Now, regarding y.....
» 11/08/2005 11:02:37 AM An interesting idea came up in a discussion with some friends of mine about the Upper Hous.....
» 11/08/2005 12:52:06 AM David, Firstly, I know that becoming a republic would not lose us our place in the Commo.....
» 10/08/2005 6:38:44 AM David, Somewhere in the triangle formed by Java, the Solomon Islands and the South Pole .....
» 9/08/2005 1:55:17 AM Dear David, I’m glad that you are not unsympathetic to the broad CANZUK idea, and I acce.....
» 8/08/2005 3:12:05 AM David, Regarding the possibility of one of our young Princes marrying an Australian, I t.....
» 7/08/2005 2:36:19 AM Arjay, I agree with what you are saying here: decent Australians of all religious and cult.....
» 7/08/2005 1:41:10 AM In the 1970s, Australians lost their status and rights as British subjects, apparently bec.....
» 5/08/2005 8:31:06 AM Thanks, Trinity......
» 5/08/2005 12:49:23 AM Arjay, most “Christians” I know are not particularly religious, but I know enough potentia.....
» 3/08/2005 10:43:22 AM Pericles, I think we will always be what you call "cavemen". Fear of the unfamil.....
» 3/08/2005 8:21:06 AM David, Reaction from others: I am actually part of a small international organisation ca.....
» 3/08/2005 7:48:18 AM David, For me, the basic idea of federation is to say “Yes, we have our differences, but.....
» 2/08/2005 12:24:36 AM David, What I was trying to get at is that much rejection of the monarchy is driven by p.....
» 1/08/2005 11:56:44 PM Arjay, I have no desire to live under a totalitarian form of Islam, or inded of any other .....
» 1/08/2005 2:39:31 PM The need for "an Australian" as our head of state is pure parochialism. Take it .....
» 1/08/2005 1:57:09 PM I broadly agree with Stone’s points 3, 4 and 5. Given that citizens can vote, I think it i.....
» 3/07/2005 3:36:38 AM Ironically, the republican movements of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United King.....
» 30/06/2005 7:50:47 AM Rainier, Racial purity is always an idiotic concept, no question. The architects of Fede.....
» 29/06/2005 8:45:26 AM Bail Up, I was not talking about Australia withdrawing from anything. I think any reason.....
» 28/06/2005 1:53:29 AM There is nothing odd or anachronistic about Australia sharing a monarchy with New Zealand,.....
» 21/06/2005 6:49:46 AM Let's start by explaining the Spanish "yes" vote: to them, the EU represents the.....
» 14/06/2005 1:37:02 PM "Federalism can certainly be a messy system of government. Democracy always is.".....
» 14/06/2005 1:17:35 PM I always find it amusing when someone suggests that we should become a republic because th.....
» 24/05/2005 2:40:13 AM Mr Gerrit H Schorel-Hlavka says that "Every person in the Commonwealth of Australia i.....
» 24/05/2005 2:12:48 AM We can disagree as much as we like with Howard's line, but we have to recognise that his i.....
» 20/05/2005 1:25:54 AM Philo, we both know that it is pointless trying to convince each other on these points. I .....
» 19/05/2005 1:10:11 AM Philo, My argument suggests that god is a like a wind-up watch, not that I am. I realise .....
» 18/05/2005 1:30:33 AM I always liked the following argument: ----------------------- 1. God is a marvellous thi.....
» 17/05/2005 6:35:54 AM The important thing is perhaps not UKIP's vote in itself, but the fact that there were 15 .....
» 17/05/2005 5:54:49 AM The book is about militant athiests, not normal, healthy, have-a-few-beers-and-watch-the-c.....
» 17/05/2005 5:47:04 AM It is nonsense to suggest that members of some abstract category feel better about themsel.....
» 9/05/2005 1:03:51 PM My reading of the original article is that Thatcher changed the face of politics in the UK.....
» 26/04/2005 1:21:20 PM If I lived where my ancestors came from, in Scotland, I would be preparing to vote against.....
» 26/04/2005 1:06:54 PM The system with the smallest number of politicians would be a dictatorship. Our federal sy.....
» 26/04/2005 1:00:21 PM Isn't it a bit dodgy to go to war in Iraq to overthrow a dictator, then to turn around and.....
» 25/04/2005 3:34:20 AM Except that if Australia had an elected president, the position would almost cetainly end .....
» 18/04/2005 12:08:45 PM The Solomon connection is nonsense. What possible comparison can there be between a baby w.....
» 11/04/2005 12:10:24 PM Pericles, I'm sure Mary is a sweet girl and all, but why should Australians be so parochia.....
» 5/04/2005 9:05:16 AM Was Tung Chee-hwa Hong Kong's "first post-colonial appointee" or just the first .....
» 5/04/2005 8:57:13 AM Brave words from Mr Nazri Abdul Aziz, and I hope they help to move Myanmar closer to an ac.....
» 2/04/2005 1:07:21 AM Oliver, you may well be right about the time for this being past, but I’ll try anyway, bec.....
» 1/04/2005 3:10:04 PM Oliver: Yes, as you suggest, the whole concept of monarchy is vaguely repulsive as an ab.....
» 1/04/2005 1:00:23 AM Oliver, you refer repeatedly to lineage and ethnicity, so perhaps I have created a false i.....
» 31/03/2005 12:41:03 PM Oliver, you talk about what "Britain" has done to Australia as if it were a pers.....
» 29/03/2005 12:55:42 PM Clutching at semantic straws, Peter van Vliet declares that the republic is unfinished bus.....
» 17/03/2005 3:30:46 AM Firstly, Stephen, why is it ok to use a national category like “Australian culture” or “Ch.....
» 14/03/2005 2:34:18 PM The UK is the strongest magnet for Australians living abroad. Until the 1970s, all Austral.....
» 14/03/2005 2:15:25 PM Why do we call ourselves a Western nation? Because our cultural roots as a society - our i.....
» 10/03/2005 1:20:05 AM I like the values you mention, Elite gal: "an educated, moral, modest, industrious an.....
» 8/03/2005 1:48:42 AM Well said, Greg Craven. Federalism is an essential part of Australia's democracy and shou.....
» 8/03/2005 12:53:57 AM I moved from Australia to Porto Alegre in 1998, so I have seen the mixed effects of the Wo.....
» 26/02/2005 2:26:28 AM Yes, TrueBlue, Queen Elizabeth II is our symbolic head of state, oddly enough. The good th.....
» 21/02/2005 2:36:23 PM It is daft to suggest that we should cut our ties with the monarchy because the royal fami.....
» 14/02/2005 2:20:19 PM "The right of a people to self-determination" is a lovely phrase, but how do we .....
170 comments in total: 170 article comments, 0 general comments.
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