This cute little fellow is the Sharmans rock wallaby. It lives only in the section of the Great Dividing Range and is very endangered. Unfortunately, it lives only in the area where the Gawara Baya wind farm will be developed, near the village of Mt Fox west of Ingham, with the bulldozers and other heavy equipment due to come onto the site in the next few weeks. Its chances of going extinct, therefore, are very high. drive.google.com/file/d/1ZIt…

We have a representative democracy. How representative is it? * 50% are women - good so far. * 50% of ALP and 33% Libs are former staffers, party officials or government advisers. * 33% have post-graduate degrees (6.5% of population). * 20% are lawyers. * Close to 0% are from the working class. How can you be representative when 45-50% of the population is not represented in the chamber?

The answer to violence, including against women, is not more restrictions on free speech but more civil and rational discourse and there we all have a role to play.

These are suggested guidelines for political action, not a dogma. What happened to Helen Haines is a warning to us all. Nonviolence needs to be an integral part of everything we do, including social change politics. GUIDELINES FOR NONVIOLENT ACTION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 1. Don’t demonise your opponents. Your purpose is to effect positive social change not to humiliate or destroy your opponents. Use language that communicates this to all concerned. 2. Be brave. Being violent or being too fearful to act are two sides of the same bad coin. 3. Try to make your means consistent with your ends. Self-defence is sometimes necessary but it’s difficult to build a nonviolent society by using violent means. 4. Have a clear idea of the humane alternative you want. 5. Use the framework of self-limiting radicalism. You want positive changes without violent overthrow. This is especially important in a society that already has representative democracy, democratic institutions, separation of powers, the rule of law and a system of human rights.

Woke politics is destroying the left. If the left is to survive we have to revitalise democracy, free speech, living within the limits of nature, universalism and, given what is happening with riots across Europe, self-limiting radicalism. Otherwise, be prepared to accept at least a decade of conservative governance across the liberal democratic world.

The directive to “globalise the intifada” really is being carried out as Palestinian flags and keffiyehs proliferate in France around burning town halls and schools and shops are looted and the homes of defence chiefs in Britain are being targeted by pro-Palestinian splinter groups. Protests against Israeli policy are fine; using pro-violence slogans simply gives fuel to extremists and potential terrorists.

This brave French woman is trying to do at this late stage what the organisers of the protests in France should have done long ago….insist on strict nonviolence. Instead the protests about education funding went ahead with violent rhetoric, abuse of the police and the inevitable happened….the thugs and extremists took over. Protest is an integral part of democracy but organisers have to show responsibility. I have organised many protests….none were violent in any way.

My latest essay in Arena Magazine. arena.org.au/the-greens-the-…

I’m quite new to X so I was quite surprised by how many pro-Russian bots there were when I put up a post advocating Australian military support for Ukraine.

The decisions by both the Australian Greens and One Nation to refuse to support Australian military aid to Ukraine is indefensible. Ukraine is a democratic country that has been viciously attacked by an expansionist and authoritarian Russian regime. The statement by Greens leader, David Shoebridge, that the Greens stand for nonviolence is pure cant. There is nothing in Greens policy that says we can’t support a country that has been invaded and Shoebridge should hang his head in shame at his bullying treatment of Ukrainian diaspora leaders yesterday. Pauline Hanson is clearly following Trump’s lead here. Whose lead is Shoebridge following?

Liberalism, the dominant framework for Western societies for over two centuries is under attack. From the left, identitarians reject its emphasis on universalism, free speech and individualism and on the right, rejection of its identification with elites - highly educated minorities who disdain the “deplorables” of the working class. Liberalism can only survive if it becomes relevant to the working class. This means more than simply providing more social welfare, housing etc. it means having transitory elites, rotating management, decentralisation of control, meaningful community discussions about social policy and working class involvement in governing. It also means that liberal attempts to control who can speak and what they can say, like the current federal government’s Digital Duty of Care Bill, need to be scrapped.

I have communicated my anger to One Nation that they have no policy for the Victorian election that commits them to supporting the rights of women and the welfare of children against the transgender extremism that the Labor government introduced with the help of the Greens. I know that others have done the same. Nevertheless, no such support has come from One Nation and so it seems inevitable they will lose the gender-critical vote. The two champions for women and children have been Moira Deeming from Family First and David Limbrick from the Libertarians.

I participated in the anti-Vietnam War and anti-conscription movement of the late 60s and early 70s. I opposed Australian and US involvement in the war but did not support the Communist leadership of the Vietnamese resistance because they were clearly going to institute a one-party state. I was critical of my own government but did not support its violent overthrow. Some in the movement however did support the Communists and did support the violent overthrow of capitalism and, especially in the US, this took the form of the terrorist organisation -the Weather Underground - that carried out numerous bombings. I am worried that history is about to repeat itself, only more dangerously this time. While I support the call for peace in the Middle East and am critical of the policies of both Trump and Netanyahu, there is a line that I think the pro-Palestine movement must not cross but are in great danger of doing so. The calls for the destruction of Israel, the glorification of the authoritarian, terrorist, Islamist groups Hamas, the blanket condemnation of “Zionism” and calls to “globalise the intifada” (both of which imply that any Jew around the world who supports the state of Israel is a target) all buy into a narrative that fails to notice when red lines get crossed. I greatly fear we will see the emergence of home-grown terrorism in the coming period from a small minority who have bought this narrative and crossed the red line into violence.

You could put Jesus in as leader of the Greens and they would still be hopeless. For a start, they would call him a bigot, a Zionist and a transphobe.

Teachers are now fighting back against the madness. As an ex-teacher I am so proud. protectourkids.com.au/petiti…