Posts By Me

The Broadford ANZAC Day Commemoration was once again a solemn and moving ceremony. The Broadford Branch of the RSL [Returned and Services League] is to be commended. To see so many hundreds of people attend, demonstrates both the high regard for the Broadford RSL and the importance with which this commemoration is held in the community. This particular event held…

The ongoing debate on national infrastructure investment for telecommunications in Australia is mind-numbing.  I was a teenager when the Snowy Mountains Scheme was completed. An inter-generational non-partisan development that strengthened the country. I am not sure we demonstrate the ability to replicate such developments? Those concerned with the demographic challenges facing the country over the next generation and the implications for…

Ravi Parikh, in his HEAP weblog, offers some advice on "How to Lie with Data Visualization" The importance of "data-literacy" and the cautious, if not skeptical mind, cannot be over-stated in a world of 24 x7 news cycles. . Parikh offers a number of telling examples of the mis-use or abuse of data visualisation to distort or deliberately add bias…

Inspiring Connections. It is very appropriate in Youth Week 2014 that a group in Gippsland, Victoria, the "Gippsland Youth Commitment", has developed an online architecture and business model that is designed to get agencies and organisations to work collaboratively by sharing online resources.. for the sole purpose of improving outcomes for young-people. Yes, there are many such initiatives. What makes this…

There remains no doubt in the mind of the Victorian Auditor-General about the challenges facing Rural and Regional Victorians. Mr. John Doyle, Auditor-General for Victoria has published the current assessment of Access to Education for Rural Students [April 2014]. This report highlights the lack of evidence-based planning for the DEECD and the challenges for the education sector as a whole.…

Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) - Judgment of 31 March 2014 Final and without appeal- The Court therefore will order that Japan shall revoke any extant authorization, permit or licence to kill, take or treat whales in relation to JARPA II, and refrain from granting any further permits under Article VIII, paragraph 1, of the Convention, in…

The move from generation at the source of supply to generation at the source of demand is fundamentally restructuring the generation and distribution markets for electricity in  ways we still do not comprehend [well at least I don't]. The opportunities for alternative energy sources is as profound. One of the major drivers? Knowing what your neighbour is doing! Alex Laskey, President of…

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People can expect to live up to 10-17 years less than non-Indigenous Australians. The appalling state of Indigenous health has many causes. The mortality rates for Indigenous Australians is on par with some of the world’s most impoverished nations. The United Nations Report, The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (2009) indicated Australia and Nepal have the world’s worst…

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