“The Howard Government has warned that all states except South Australia will forfeit funding for major road projects unless they adopt tough anti-union measures for the building industry.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie responded angrily to what he described as “blackmail” and declared his state would not change its industrial relations system.

Industry observers regard Canberra’s linking of road funding to workplace relations as unprecedented.” (n.c.a)

It’s Invasion Day.
I think we should scrap Australia Day, and declare Mabo Day, a day when we can celebrate the courage and determination of individuals, and reflect on the healing and reconciliation process.
Otoh, I’ve just had fun putting terms like ‘invasion day‘, ‘australian shame‘, ‘aboriginal genocide‘, ‘aboriginal deaths in custody‘, ‘Mabo’‘ and ‘Wik‘ into the site search engine at www.australiaday.gov.au.

Doing some research for trips I want to take this year – Vietnam/Cambodia, Russia, Lebanon, I came across this article about Melbourne.
I love Melbourne, and will return one day, but for the moment, I’m enjoying cheap flights to Europe far too much. I’m going to Krakow for the weekend next month, and want to do trips to Riga, Vilnius, Zagreb, and maybe Bucharest.

“Divisions in British culture may be deeper than we thought. Scientists have discovered startling evidence that suggests different species of early humans may have fought to settle within our shores almost half a million years ago.” Observer
With bonus giant! elephant! content.