Most people could put together a team to lift a body, put it in a box, put it in the ground, or deliver it to a crematorium.
-Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, MLC at NSW Parliament, backs do-it-yourselves funerals
Perhaps the NSW Department of Fair Trading was feeling a little bruised when it completed its consumer guide on arranging funerals. In most cases, cemeteries and crematoria will not deal directly with anyone other than a funeral director Digging up dirt
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Carr's decade of lost opportunities
If the Carr Government was a Broadway show getting the sort of reviews that have lately been coming its way, producers would be quietly lowering the curtain.
In reality, the Government's 10 years have been characterised by largely wasted opportunity, false starts, unrealised promise, half-hearted effort and timidity. Given a choice between spin and substance, the Government more than not has opted for the former, convinced that papier mache is less electorally risky (but not necessarily more affordable) than solid carpentry. In part, this is because real changes are guaranteed to offend some, particularly those with interests vested in old methods that benefit the few at the expense of the many. An unproductive bureaucracy weighed down by a Government commitment not to force out those who are unnecessary, comes to mind. And this from a Government played off a break by trade union mates whose obstinacy retards reform of education and public transport, to name but two.
• Spin v Substance [ What a farce. Labor state treasurers spat the dummy and walked out of a meeting that affects 20 million Australians ("States defy deadline to wipe out taxes", Herald, March 24). No wonder we are looking for alternatives to how we are governed ... one is a tax, the second a duty and the third is a levy Answer to tax stoush is to abolish state governments; Business sounds warning on infrastructure ; Defaults on home loans and credit cards have plunged to historic lows despite record household debt, a sign that Australians are taking more care with credit. Swimming in debt, but we're not drowning ]
• · For Europe, for ourselves, and for humanity, comrades, we must make a new start, develop a new way of thinking, and endeavor to create a new man The Wretched of the Earth ; The Utilities Minister, Frank Sartor, says that the former Liberal premier Nick Greiner - now the chairman of a powerful international water and infrastructure provider - reported adversely to him about a company fighting to get access to the city's pipes and sewers. Water firm in grab for $500m effluent subsidy, says Sartor
• · · The excruciatingly personal details watched by the nation on prime time television may have softened Tony Abbott in the eyes of the voters Sting in the tale ; So surreal that if it had been a plot for a novel, publishers may well have rejected the storyline as being ridiculously over-blown In the Name of the Father, Part 2
• · · · Thirty years on, Vietnam and its people are still living through very tough times Vietnam: 30 Years On ; Kofi Annan’s plan for revitalisation Kofi Annan’s plan for revitalisation
• · · · · New liberals justify their policies by pointing to the danger of social engineering. Republicanism: a trap for progressives? ; Peter McDonald and Rebecca Kippen Reform of income tax in Australia: a long-term agenda
• · · · · · Call it an ROTC program for the CIA: young researchers are trained to analyze global conflicts in the interests of national security ... Many social scientists say a new government program will turn fieldwork abroad into spying. Can secrecy coexist with academic openness? Cloak and Classroom ; Mr Ruddock will meet his NSW counterpart, Bob Debus, to produce a report on uniform defamation laws, following a meeting of Attorneys-General this week. Mr Ruddock said the States and Territories will take a second look at three key issues: jury trials, correction orders and the ability for corporations to sue for defamation Interview: Philip Ruddock