Articles – Archive

There is a common belief that slavery is a thing of the past. Many people learnt at school about the wonderful work done by organizations such as the Anti-Slavery Society and individuals like William Wilberforce. Th...

Read more ...

Singapore has a lot going for it. It is a success story of economic development, even with the current Asian crisis. But it is a pity that it has such a poor human rights record. It is very interesting to compare the social indicators of Singapore and Britain, such as the ra...

Read more ...

First Published: 25th November 2008, Daily Telegraph. Also Published: Puls Polonii: November 08....

Read more ...

The annual "State of the World" book is the most important annual review of how the world's environment is going. It is published by the Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institut...

Read more ...

Don't judge the rest of the world's population by what you see in Australia or New Zealand. We are aging countries - and not necessarily representative of the world's growing population. The United Nations Fund For Populat...

Read more ...

The first international attempt to ban terrorism arose out of the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia on October 9 1934. That attempt failed - and almost 70 years later, the internationa...

Read more ...

The thalidomide scandal is one of the standard case studies taught in media courses: fearless journalists take on a huge corporation which is behaving badly towards its ch...

Read more ...

The first international attempt to ban terrorism arose out of the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia on October 9 1934. That attempt failed - and almost 70 years later, the internationa...

Read more ...

The October 2002 Bali tragedy should be seen in the context of global violence and the nature of the new warfare state. First, thousands of people have been killed in recent years in Indonesia by Islamic fund...

Read more ...

One of the most common themes in international politics relates to countries breaking up. I have just been reading a wonderful book that explains some of the international law principles involved. The late Julie Dahlitz, a...

Read more ...

Australians are living longer and they are demanding higher standards of care. Older Australians are not necessarily willing or wanting to live in aged care centres. They want to stay home - they want "choices". "Choices" is, of course, the mantra of the current form of econ...

Read more ...

The Higher School Certificate season is with us once again. Students and their relatives are under a great deal of stress. But are we making too much of the HSC results? Much of the stress that students feel is due to the ...

Read more ...

The largest loss of life ever sustained by the Australian media industry took place on October 16, 1975 at the East Timor village of Balibo. Five journalists were killed. All the governments that had citizens involved in the deaths have refused to reveal all that they know....

Read more ...

With all the bad news about human rights violations nowadays, a sense of perspective is important to see that some progress has been made. December 10 was Human Rights Day: the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Unive...

Read more ...

I was reading recently about the Mission's work among young people that attracted the police's attention. The police had to be called to deal with what was described as a "crowd of lively and noisy but good-humoured boys". Mission organizers had planned on 60 people attendin...

Read more ...

We all like drinking tea. But it's rare for a tea ceremony to be honoured in an Australian Catholic Cathedral. Last Saturday I attended a very moving ceremony at Sydney's St Mary's Cathedral, which had the theme "Peace Thr...

Read more ...

There is a great deal of discussion about economic reform. But not too much attention is being given to how this will affect older Australians. Now there is a very useful publication which highlights some of the main issues. ...

Read more ...

The Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests have again reminded the world of the dangers of nuclear weapons. But we ought not to forget the terrible legacy of the five other nuclear powers. The ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JUNE 4 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON JUNE 6 1999 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM There is now a "granny boom" around the wo...

Read more ...

The Romans used to maintain control over their citizens by bread and circuses - the people were kept fed and entertained, and they were satisfied and so they did not rebel. 2,000 years later, we have not learned from that lesson. ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JANUARY 8 1999 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON JANUARY 10 1999 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM. The only thing more common than the predi...

Read more ...

Getting old is not identical with fate. Individuals play a major role in designing their own process of aging. Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene have written a brilliant book on aging called: The A...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JULY 5 2000 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON JULY 7 2000 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM. This is the International Year for a Culture of ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 4 1998 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON SEPTEMBER 6 1998 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. Now that Australia is going to have a federal el...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY MARCH 5 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON MARCH 7 1999 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. Elections are usually a time of discord and name-calling...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JUNE 5 1998 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON JUNE 7 1988 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM. The Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests are bad n...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY MAY 5 2000 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON MAY 7 2000 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM Nowadays it pays to be "green". It also pays to prove that yo...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 5 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON NOVEMBER 7 1999 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. ...

Read more ...

BROADCAST ON FRIDAY AUGUST 6 1999 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON AUGUST 8 1999 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM. RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY ...

Read more ...

BROADCAST ON RADIO 2GB JULY 3 1998 An ounce of prevention is better than a ton of cure. If prevention is so good, then why is the State Government so reluctant to finance it? ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON NOVEMBER 28 1999 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. We are living in a world of great change. It is ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY MARCH 3rd 2000 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON MARCH 5TH 2000 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. The mining incident in Romania has been called the w...

Read more ...

BROADCAST ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIANWILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON SEPTEMBER 5 1999 ON "SUNDAYNIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JULY 21 2000 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON JULY 23 2000 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. It is possible to encourage young people to become more ...

Read more ...

10.12.2008: The piece below was broadcast ten years ago. To find out more about the UN's Human Rights Policy in 2008 follow the link. RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BRO...

Read more ...

10.12.2008 - This week the Australian government has been questioned over it's decision not to publish it's emission targets prior to the UN climate talks in Po...

Read more ...

RADIO 2CBA FOCAL POINT COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JANUARY 28 2000 ON RADIO 2CBA FM. Indonesia now has more violent clashes than at any time since the May 1998 resignation of the corrupt President Suharto. There is also...

Read more ...

RADIO 2CBA FOCAL POINT COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 29 1999 ON RADIO 2CBA FM. World trade is growing faster than national economies. In other words, countries are doing more trade with each other as the years go ...

Read more ...

RADIO 2CBA FOCAL POINT COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 31 1999 ON RADIO 2CBA FM There has been much debate over whether the third Millennium begins tonight or in one year’s time. I think that the Pope has the rig...

Read more ...

RADIO 2CBA FOCAL POINT COMMENTARY In 1961, President Eisenhower coined the term "military industrial complex" to describe the way in which the military and industry were benefiting from the arms race. I th...

Read more ...

FIRST BROADCAST ON FRIDAY JULY 2 1999 ON RADIO 2GB'S "BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME" AT 9 PM, AND ON JULY 4 1999 ON "SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE" AT 10.30 PM. There is more to ...

Read more ...

Broadcast Friday 2nd January 2004 on Radio 2GB’s “Brian Wilshire Programme” at 9pm Church bells are one of the distinctive sounds of Christmas and other parts of the year. It is interesting to see how Australians are...

Read more ...

What Binds Humanity Together? What should global citizenship mean for Australians today? How can we act together to advance our...

Read more ...

This weeks photo's come from Lucia De Giovanni. She is a freelance photojournalist, concert and editorial photographer. Lucia is a regular contributor to Reverb, The Denver Post live music review site, as well as BlogCriti...

Read more ...

The corporate crashes in the United States, Australia and elsewhere have again focussed attention on the issue of corporate social responsibility. I spoke recently in Brisbane at a corporate governance conference organized...

Read more ...

We like to think of backpackers as pleasant, easy-going people who do not do any harm to people or to the environment. This may not always be the case. Campbell Smith, himself a young person, has an article in the current ...

Read more ...

The death toll in India has topped 100 and many westerners have been taken hostage after a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks rocked Mumbai today. Mumbai, the gateway to India and India’s financial powerhouse has c...

Read more ...

The rise of China and the continuing problems of the United States create new challenges for Australia’s traditional foreign policy focus. For the first two or so centuries of European settlement, there are three broad t...

Read more ...

David Hicks is shortly to be freed. But what about all the other prisoners from the Afghanistan conflict still held in detention? I have been reading about one bizarre case. US journalist Ron Suskind in his new book The Wa...

Read more ...

Australian Federal Police said yesterday that they will not seek to extend an order limiting the movements of former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks. Hicks, a poorly educated Australian citizen, father of two and a conve...

Read more ...