The Federal Government has approved the creation of one of the world's largest coal ports near the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, sparking outrage from conservationists and the Greens.

In the wake of Nelson Mandela’s death, hosannas continue to be sung to the former ANC leader and South African president from both the left, for his role in ending the institutional racism of apartheid, and from the right, for ostensibly the same reason. But the right’s embrace of Mandela as an anti-racist hero doesn’t ring true. Is there another reason establishment media and mainstream politicians are as Mandela-crazy as the left?

The Abbott government has thrown the childcare sector into disarray by asking providers to ''do the right thing'' and hand back $62.5 million given to them by the former Labor government for wage increases.

The Assistant Minister for Education, Sussan Ley, said on Tuesday the government would instead use the $300 million allocated for professional training and development for childcare workers.

More than 500 of the world's leading authors, including five Nobel prize winners, have condemned the scale of state surveillance revealed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden and warned that spy agencies are undermining democracy and must be curbed by a new international charter.

Eagle-eyed readers of last weekend's newspaper may have spotted an unusual assemblage of letters in Harry the Dog's regular word puzzle.

The overwhelming response to details of victim's ordeal made a mockery of church's hardball tactics at royal commission.

The Obama administration appears to have almost no international support for controversial new trade standards that would grant radical new political powers to corporations, increase the cost of prescription medications and restrict bank regulation, according to two internal memos obtained by The Huffington Post.

A shocking documentary about the struggle of the people of Jeju Island, S. Korea.

The Coalition has inherited Labor's problems with industry - the high dollar and a dwindling manufacturing sector. But it lacks the nous to come up with real solutions, writes Ben Eltham

Should the federal government "save" Holden? What about Qantas? Hell, what about the entire local car industry?

Australia is in the box seat to crack the US sugar market, leaked trade documents show. But, in return, it may have to allow US companies to sue Australian governments in international tribunals, a concession it has not been willing to make until now.

It is still not clear why Tony Abbott seems determined to trash Australia’s hard-won reputation as a good citizen of the world, but there can be no doubt that he no longer cares what our erstwhile friends and neighbours think of us – provided that he can achieve his short term domestic objectives.

from Mike Carlton ….

John Pilger: Apartheid Did Not Die

Video

Apartheid Did Not Die is a 1998 Carlton Television documentary, written and presented by John Pilger, which was directed and produced by Alan Lowery, which provides analysis of South Africa's then new, democratic government.

There was a time young Americans would stitch a Canadian flag on their backpacks and pretend to be Canadian so they would not be blamed for the awful things being done by their government.

It may now be time for Australian travellers to pretend to be New Zealanders, though the flag trick would probably not work.