Calls for an Australian reconstruction and development bank to take the risk out of $7 billion in bad farm debt has been supported by federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce. Further, Senators Nick Xenophon (Independent, South Australia) and John Madigan (DLP, Victoria) have introduced a bill prepared to establish an Australian reconstruction and development bank (ARDB), under the Reserve Bank of Australia, with the…

Marriage ‘equality’ threat to ministers of religion Sir, I was very pleased to read that the federal Attorney-General George Brandis has instructed the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to identify provisions in Commonwealth legislation that “unreasonably encroach upon traditional rights, freedoms and privileges” (News Weekly, February 1, 2014). It may be of interest to your readers to know that I have recently reviewed…

  THE PENGUIN HISTORY OF MODERN CHINA: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present by Jonathan Fenby (London: Penguin UK, 2nd edition, 2013) Paperback: 840 pages ISBN: 9780141975153 RRP: AUD$26.95 Reviewed by Warren Reed The art of foretelling the future is notoriously risky, especially if you stand still in the present and simply peer up ahead. Look back…