Ari on the web

One need not be a francophone to understand this front page story in Le Monde: Le vote français plonge l'Union européenne dans une période d'incertitudes The French, the great leaders of the European cause have done the unthinkable and given the thumbs down to the EU Constitution. The EU is one of those great political phenomena which has wonderfully inoffensive objectives, but when the practical details are considered, manages to offend nearly everyone. The Constitution has been adopted by nine countries already, although rarely is this due to popular support - most countries, such as Germany most recently, have chosen to adopt it via a parliamentary vote. Much as this latest vote might be a setback, Europe, or more rightly the EU, will survive and eventally prosper. Individually, each European nation knows that it is vulnerable economically and culturally if it seeks to stand out on its own. In an era of trade blocs and strategic alliances, each nation is in a fairly weak...

I'll be away in Canberra for three days from Tuesday to Thursday of this week. I'd love to meet up with Canberra friends, both new and old. If you've got a couple of hours free, get in touch , so that we can drink coffee, read the papers, and make up rumours about Barnaby Joyce. Who's with me?

It was hard not to be emotionally moved by the tsunami of coverage of the Schapelle Corby judgement that was delivered on Friday. Given that there are plenty of people around the world have are victim to far greater injustices than Corby, it seems a tad irrational to become so emotionally involved in this case. Perhaps it comes down to deep-seated prejudices - here was a young, attractive, Australian woman on trial - that mean we prioritise some people's suffering over others. Most likely, on a subconscious level we can all relate to Schapelle - she could be our sister, or our daughter, or in some parts of Tassie both at once. This might further explain the lack of Indonesian sympathy for her, since most Indonesians have trouble identifying with a 20-something fair-skinned boogie-boarding beauty therapy student. A few observations about the past 48 hours: - The Federal government has finally given formal assistance to Corby as she mounts her appeal. The question was asked,...

Just returned from a very interesting forum at the Jewish Museum of Australia, based around the fiery new book Jews and Australian Politics . On the panel was co-editor Phillip Mendes (Geoffrey Brahm Levey was the other hand in this effort), along with Michael Danby and Julian Sheezel , both Jews with a long involvement in the Labor and Liberal parties respectively. All three were in good form, with Mendes offering some interesting insights into the drift toward conservatism (well, toward voting Liberal, at least) amongst Australian Jewry, whilst Danby and Sheezel launched some diplomatic but well directed attacks at their political opponents. I admit I am yet to read the book although I would quite like to, so for now I'll just offer a few interesting snippets from Thursday night's forum: - Just what is the character of Jewish voters, and how has it changed over time? Mendes forcefully argued that whilst Jews generally come from a higher socio-economic background, they u...

...long live the King.

Those looking for the piece on Bill Shorten mentioned on Crikey(.com.au) can find it here .

Queenslander Barnaby Joyce has been in the Senate all of, well, eh, he's yet to take office, actually, but he manages to attract the sort of attention that most of the red-leather seat warmers can only dream of. Today, he made the front page of The Oz with a crackpot proposal for "zonal taxation": Queensland Nationals senator-elect Barnaby Joyce and Queensland colleagues have suggested their own long-term solution: generous tax concessions in regional Australia to attract infrastructure investment. The Queensland Nationals, who will play a crucial role in the Senate from July 1 after helping deliver the Coalition a majority, say flat and favourable tax rates in depressed rural areas would breathe new economic life into the bush. Mr Joyce, who is championing the "zonal taxation" proposals, argues the tax initiative would be cost-neutral because it was the fastest way to turn welfare recipients into working taxpayers. The proposal continues in a long tradition ...