1 November 2020. With the Taiwan dilemma deepening, Australia might be forced to take a stand As the United States gets closer to an unusually divisive election potentially followed by months of distracting disputation, will China take the immense gamble of trying to invade Taiwan, or at least strangle it into submission? If so, Australia […]
Posted 7 April 2020. A response to the film. Terrence Malick’s latest film, A Hidden Life, provides an account of the life and death of Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian Catholic family man and farmer who refused to fight in Hitler’s war. The film portrays Franz, his wife Franziska (Fani), and their three daughters as important […]
The real story behind the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Posted 7 April 2020. In response to the suicide attacks on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001, the US issued an ultimatum to Afghanistan’s Taliban regime to hand over Osama bin Laden and the other Al Qaeda leaders or else the US would invade the […]
Stefan Gigacz 26 January 2020 Catholic Outlook ParramattaPosted 10 March 2020 On 27 January this year, the world will commemorate the liberation by Soviet troops of the infamous camp at Auschwitz, where so many people perished during the Second World War. Sadly, this was not the end for all camps. Many people would continue to die […]
Paul Barratt. Posted 28 November 2019. Where we are today is that the practice of the last twenty years has purportedly taken away the power to send Australia to war from the Governor-General, and placed it at the disposal of junior ministers in the Defence portfolio. This cannot be allowed to stand. The war powers […]
Susan Connelly. A great deal is being written about the violence and deaths in Papua and West Papua, the two provinces of Indonesia which occupy the western half of the island of New Guinea. But what is being done about it? The confusion of names in this region exacerbates the problem. West Irian, Irian Jaya, […]
Brian Toohey. Labor governments surrendered Australian sovereignty by agreeing in 2008 to renew the lease on North West Cape without any conditions on how US nuclear attack submarines could use the base[i]. This could include undermining China’s ability to deter a nuclear war[ii]. Labor subsequently agreed to let the US install long-range ground sensors at […]
Michael Mazengarb. 29 July 2019 A new study of the economics of nuclear power has found it has never been financially viable, that most plants have been built while heavily subsidised by governments, often motivated by military purposes, and that nuclear power is not a good approach to tackling climate change. The study has come […]
Jessica Morrison. Inspired by my grandmother’s delight in visiting the Holy Land, I too made a pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine eight years ago. I was profoundly moved by being in the places from which my faith stories emerged. However, this joy was overshadowed by the reality of Israel’s military occupation and its effect on Palestinian […]
Bruce Duncan. Shocked by savage attacks on Muslims by a radicalised Australian in New Zealand, of all places, and on Christians and other Sri Lankans by Islamists, it is clear that the virus of ISIS is spreading, despite the defeat of the so-called Caliphate in Syria. Islamist and racist violence will never be eliminated simply […]
Bruce Duncan. Pope Francis has made dialogue with Islam a high priority, as he is acutely aware that the scourge of war and displacement of peoples will not stop until these great religious traditions can consolidate effective norms of peace, justice, toleration, and cooperation. As the leader of the Catholic Church and a spokesman for […]
