My actual final speech

The final question

My Final Speech

Posts from elsewhere: More refugee mistreatment & CPRS endgame
Following are links to some posts I’ve written elsewhere: Focus is continuing on the conditions Tamils taken off the boat in Indonesia are being kept in. But there’s even worse happening in Thailand. Regional cooperation will need to be part of our future approach, but it will a hard, slow road. From Asian Correspondent, a look at where the CPRS is at with one sitting week of the Senate remaining. Also fro

It was 20 years ago today.
It was 20 years ago today. On 20 November 1989, the international Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC) was formally adopted.  According http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/18/us-ratify-children-s-treaty?tr=y&auid=5614841 to Human Rights Watch, the Convention became “the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history.  Twenty years on, only two countries have failed to ratify the Convention – Somalia and the USA. In the USA, Presidential action to ratify an international treaty requires the approval of the Senate.  I think this is a good mechanism and one Australia should adopt, even though it would undoubtedly be frustrating fr

Yungaba: Last change to see
Yungaba: Last change to see One theme which is rather common through Queensland’s history is a failure to recognise important aspects of the past or to value its built heritage.  So perhaps in a sadly ironic way, it could be seen as apt that a very historic building, and most of its grounds, are about to officially pass into the hands of developers to be http://www.yungaba.org.au/development.html turned into upmarket private accommodation, thus locking the public out of it for ever. Tonight (Friday 20 November) marks the final public event before Yungabah and the grounds surrounding it are passed over to the control of developers.  Perhaps fittingly for a lo

Acknowledging local successes at improving Indigenous health
One of the benefits for me of not being in Parliament has been the chance to get more directly involved in community based organisations.  One of those I have got more involved in over the past year or so is the Queensland branch of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (usually known as ANTaR). ANTaR started in the 1990s and has maintained a continuing role in promoting better community level understanding of issues affecting Indigenous Australians and advocacy and activism towards achieving equality and reconciliation.  One aspect of ANTaR which always appealed to me was their willingness to engage in practical i

Running again
It’s nearly two years since the last election, when the Democrats lost all their seats, and over sixteen months since I finally left the Senate,  as did the Democrats as a party.  After a lot of thought,  I’ve decided to get back into party politics and contest a seat at next year’s federal election. It was formally announced today that ’ll be running in