I WAS deeply saddened by the removal of Adnate's mural depicting one of the founders of the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative, Aunty June Rose, and her great granddaughter Nayeli, due to graffiti damage. Thank you Transport for NSW for collaborating with Adnate for an equally stunning replacement mural of Thirrilmun, but the graffiti damage gives pause for thought. Login or signup to continue reading Was the damage simply an act of mindless vandalism destroying something artistically beautiful; a rejection of the respect owed to our Indigenous elders; or a reflection of deep-seated racism in Australian society? At least the NSW Art Gallery packers can appreciate the artistic merit of Matt Last's (Adnate's) paintings in gifting him the Packing Room Prize in the Archibald.
THE Coalition's embrace of nuclear power has created plenty of debate, but even the storm of protest that followed failed to expose a far greater problem in my opinion: the sidelining of science. In this case, we had political hacks within the Coalition and journalists from the Murdoch media telling us that the CSIRO got it wrong and that they know better. It's just one example of how economics has usurped control of political policies and it's not restricted to the Coalition.
It's a process that is hard to explain given that economic predictions - just like meteorological ones - are subjected to the whims of the butterfly effect, meaning that small and seemingly trivial events may ultimately cause m.
