Ideas and opinions – Page 2

High seas and the High Court

For more than a week, the Australian Government has been under national, and international, scrutiny as to how it has handled two boats of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka. These boats were confirmed to be at sea, near to Christmas Island. As part of the severe policy in place by the Australian Government, ‘on waterContinue reading “High seas and the High Court”

Australia & Tamil refugees: what the media is saying

With reports that Australia has returned more than 150 Tamils seeking asylum from Sri Lanka, back to the Sri Lanka, the spotlight on Australia’s ‘draconian measures’ (as the New York Times puts it) towards refugees has been in the national and global spotlight. And it hasn’t been ignored by the UNHCR — the United Nation’sContinue reading “Australia & Tamil refugees: what the media is saying”

#BHB2014 Pearls of Wisdom part 2

Day one at Big Hearted Business (un)Conference 2014 (BHB2014) wrapped with Fabian Dattner on stage. There is a reason leaders listen to that woman. Day two got started with Danielle La Porte — who had flown all the way from Canada to be at the Regal Ballroom in Northcote. Some would describe Danielle as a self-helpContinue reading “#BHB2014 Pearls of Wisdom part 2”

Big hearted pearls of wisdom #BHB2014

This weekend I’m attending Big Hearted Business (un)Conference 2014 — an annual event run by Big Hearted Business (BHB), designed to ‘teach creative people about business, and business people about creativity, in ways that makes sense’. BHB is the work of well-known and widely-loved singer, songwriter and actor Clare Bowditch, who is also hosting theContinue reading “Big hearted pearls of wisdom #BHB2014”

Just the facts: Australia and refugees

Last week, I found myself in a long and heated discussion with a friend about refugees in Australia. The friend was quoting some wild ‘facts’, and I found myself responding along the lines of, ‘That isn’t the case — I’ll send you a link to a website that will show you’. There was then someContinue reading “Just the facts: Australia and refugees”