Mick Jagger and I have a disagreement. He said: “You can’t always get what you want but you get what you need.” I say: “You can’t always get what you need but you get what you want.” I am talking about news and information. Do we get the facts we need or do we get […]
I had an experience a few months back that got me thinking. Imagine this. American doctor. Plastic surgeon from down south. Strongly believes in God but not in man made climate change. Says we are being arrogant if we believe we can change God’s will regarding the climate. It seems climate change can not exist […]
For those of you who do not live in Sydney, we have had a letter signed by the heads of 34 Anglican schools and published as an open letter in newspapers. It all relates to anti-discrimination laws being proposed. Current laws allow discrimination against LGBTI students and staff. The new laws would remove that discrimination. […]
One of the most sophisticated civilisations of the 1500’s, the Incas, managed to survive with only three rules. “Ama Sua. Ama Llulla. Ama Quella” : Don’t lie Don’t steal Don’t be lazy In other cultures, the Christian religions came up with the ten commandments. There were expressed in two subsets. One subset is about how to live […]
It seems the standard summary of every government infrastructure project. is “Over time and over budget”. How can they get it so wrong we ask? Well, this is an area I know about. Years of being a project manager have taught me a few things about budget creep and missed deadlines. To explain it I […]
The headlines say it in different ways but it all boils down to the same thing. Wage growth has stopped. Wages are going backwards when compared to inflation. Wage growth is around 2% whereas inflation is running at 3.1% The government tells us jobs and growth are going ahead in leaps and bounds but wages? […]
Trade is boring. We hear about G7 meetings discussing trade, Trump dumping trade agreements and glaze over. Maybe we should pay more attention. When Hawke and Keating came to power in Australia (1983) they completely revised our trading arrangements. What they did, and the reasons they did it are lost in the decades since. It […]
For the last two weeks the local media has been full of Israel Folau’s comment on homosexuals. For people who are not aware, Israel Folau is probably the best rugby player in the world. He is also deeply religious. In the recent debate on gay marriage, he was firmly on the “no” side. He was […]
With those four words, Bill Clinton summed up the relationship between business and politics in the 21st century. Politics become focused on the economy. Politicians then started to assume the “economy” is a pseudo name for business. Somehow “It’s about Business stupid.” does not have the same ring. It was not always thus. There were […]
If I were to say that democracy was in danger of collapse, that dictators would emerge over the next few decades would you say I was deluded? Many would. Maybe I am. The niggling problem is that there are signs democracy is imploding. When a form of government implodes, it can happen very quickly. Here […]