In this issue:

We Could Be a Clever Country… But We Haven’t the Energy

Campbell Newman To the Rescue of the Queensland LNP?

The Libyan War and Western Tribalism

Distorted Perceptions

Australian Racism

We Could Be a Clever Country… But We Haven’t the Energy

Democracy can be a way of testing out ideas and implementing the most productive of them. In this article, Karyn Brinkley argues that democratic culture in Australia has become toxic because it undermines rather than facilitates visions of the future.

Campbell Newman To the Rescue of the Queensland LNP?

In a risky attempt to gain the initiative in Queensland politics, the Liberal National Party has turned to someone outside of parliament to lead them to the next election. Although the polls are currently favourable, it’s still too soon to decide whether this move is brilliant or absurd. In this article, Scott Prasser reflects on the gamble by Queensland non-Labor.

The Libyan War and Western Tribalism

The history of Western intervention into the domestic affairs of other countries is ambivalent to say the least. The nature and implications of such interventions are becoming even more complicated in the context of the rapidly shifting terrain of international relations. Here, Daryl Morini navigates a way through the passionate debates surrounding the ongoing war in Libya.

Distorted Perceptions

For many years, perhaps even a lifetime, we can make ourselves suffer for no good reason other than stubborn adherence to a redundant doctrine. A primary example is the insistence that governments should be judged on their ability to produce a budget surplus. In this article, Martin Leet argues for a change in perceptions.

Australian Racism

Self-images invariably twist and hide the truer nature of things, whether they are about an individual, group or nation. In this article, Peter Kuttner argues that there is far more racist prejudice in Australia than many of us are willing to concede.