Ending

This blog is now concluded.

Not there yet

It is now over 10 weeks since Australia's first Marriage Equality Bill was introduced into the Tasmanian parliament.  It passed the lower house, but this week was defeated in the upper house and is therefore a no-goer.  There seems to be a feeling that some of those voting against the bill were concerned about the constitutionality of state-approved same-sex marriages, when marriages are currently a matter of federal responsibility.  This suggests that the bill might be reintroduced, if these legal concerns can be  addressed.    Will it be a case of not there yet, or will another state be more successful with a different bill for marriage equality?

It is also 10 weeks since the Forest Peace talks seemed to be on the verge of forging an historic agreement.    However, it now seems they are on the verge of collapse, following a proposed restructure of Forestry Tasmania by the government.  I'm beginning to think I will not see peace in the forests in my lifetime.

On the other hand, this week's  news is that Gunn's  Pulp Mill has bitten the dust and will not now be built and that situation has been on the cards for at least a decade.

Neighbourhood tree

More pictures from a decorated tree in my neighbourhood.

He said-she said

This week Tony Abbott actually appeared on the ABC's 7.30 program, where his inability to answer serious questions about substance rather than slogans was embarrassingly obvious.   24 hours later Julia Gillard faced a barrage of questions from the press gallery to deal with allegations about her conduct as a lawyer 17 years ago.  She spent 50 minutes answering all questions until journalists had no more to ask.

The contrast in media behavior between Tony and Julia was stark.

And one media outlet published one claim about the PM's past behavior, then retracted it and  apologized.  Again! (This claim had been published  by them,  then retracted on another occasion)  No prizes for guessing  which newspaper!

If only

Quick thinking by First Dog On The Moon when discussing on ABC RN an article by Barrie Cassidy.  Cassidy was critical of main-steam journalists for never really challenging Tony Abbott's claims or proposals, when they interview him.  Cassidy thought they let TA off too lightly.  Whereupon First Dog On The Moon agreed, but also lamented the lack of an hour-long TV show in which to really test TA out.  Ouch!

But perhaps, on second thoughts, Cassidy can't do much, if TA refuses to subject himself to the same degree of probing questionning that the PM has repeatedly undergone on Q&A; 7.30; Insiders etc?

Where next?

It seems that the best our politicians can do about asylum seekers is to come up with a fix rather than a solution.  No surprises, really

We have to be grateful for small mercies, I suppose.  At least the government has been successful in its campaign against the big tobacco companies and should be congratulated for that.  And now, rather than pursuing a total ban on tobacco products, couldn't this successful policy model be used to more effectively tackle the problem of alcohol abuse in Australia?

Family tree

On a neighborhood street the branches of an old tree reach over the footpath into the garden of a family home.  The family have taken to decorating the tree with mementos of family life, including soccer balls, shoes, models of family life, parties and so on.  It adds to the charm of West Hobart.