At some stage we will put Politics to one side and look at Current Affairs once more as we have a number of issues awaiting our attention.
The results for the Senate are still not clear, but detailed results are available for lower house seats like Indi. It will enable us to analyse differences in voting patterns in this electorate and see how Benalla voted.
At some stage we will put Politics to one side and look at Current Affairs once more as we have a number of issues awaiting our attention. Australia still seems lucky when I reflect on events in Britain and America. This week was marked by the murder of a British politician, who was called a traitor for advocating that Britain remain in the E.U. A number of us in the Politics class have been wondering if Trump’s divisive politics in America would result in someone shooting him, and now someone has tried.
I believe the last attempted murder of an Australian politician was in 1966 when Arthur Calwell the ALP leader was wounded. Peter Kocan was 19 when he was given a life sentence for the attempted assassination. He spent years in penal and psychiatric institutions. His book The Treatment and The Cure shows people can be redeemed and mental illness can be treated, even if it was by the brutal methods of electric shock treatment in vogue at that time. For me his book ranks with One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a compelling and disturbing account of prison life. Politics in western democracies is meant to allow people with different views to be able to discuss and decide how as a society we proceed. Let us hope that murder continues to have no place in our political life. Murder and violence though seems to be all too common each weekend when (usually) women and children bear the brunt of men who are out of control. As the poster outside the library reminds us there is an undeclared war happening in our suburbs that rages on. Isn’t it time we did something more to bring this to an end? |
Politics and Current AffairsJoin our discussions as we dissect local, state, federal and world affairs. Meeting times2nd and 4th Tuesday 10.00 am to 12 midday
U3A Meeting Room 1 Convenors and contact detailsBrian Harker
0478 606 398 Neville Gibb
0428 858 688 Thank you, Terry!Terry Case
Politics & Current Affairs Convenor, c 2013 - 2022. Archives
November 2024
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