Comments on: What’s so wrong with a judiciary dealing with rights?

By: Frank Said

Frank Said — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

A Bill of Rights with a sunset clause might be the answer, with the proviso that all rulings made under tha Bill becoming null when the Bill expires. If the experience were a happy one a new Bill could then be enacted.

By: Brian Abbey

Brian Abbey — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Stephen Keim is a man for whom I have the deepest respect. But is there any sense, if you want to have a serious discussion of anything at all, giving air time to a glib, blinkered, dill like George Pell? He thinks we can do without a bill of rights because Zimbabwe has one and it hasn’t prevented them treating the mass of the people like fools and reaching new heights in official lying and open brutality towards those who disagree with the Mugable dictatorship. Couldn’t we please just wave the old George off the stage by first reminding him that 75% of the people of Zimbabwe and the national political elite profess some kind of Christianity, and then inviting him to second the motion that we get rid of that on the same grounds? God, I’m tempted to say, what an intellect the man deploys!

By: nic

nic — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

What is the significance of the last paragraph? How does the stolen generation link to Srebenica or a bill of rights?

By: Dr Harvey M Tarvydas

Dr Harvey M Tarvydas — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

It’s very kind of you to be respectful of Pell. His Zimbabwe comment says it all about him for Brian (below). Confronted with it he may actually be able to admit to being intellectually dishonest here. There is room for confusion of genuine intellectual effort in difficult terrain but congratulations on the clear and easy path you deliver here. Who could ever morally oppose the workings of anti-discrimination concepts in law as you’ve elucidated. But discrimination is absolutely the fundamental intellectual process of morality. It’s more complicated than the ‘walking and chewing gum’ thing. Doing the right thing is hard work and worth setting down for safety sake when you get there. Even The Hon. George Pell can be frightening when he’s trying. With friends like Howard suspicion is to be expected. Nic (below) should think about the recent ANZAC day as not only an example of an ‘intergenerational’ duty for our Dr Nelson to ponder but a brilliant ‘multinational intergenerational’ one.

By: Tom McL

Tom McL — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Mr Keim is making a footnote to the * symbol earlier in the text re majoritarianism does not mean democracy, very true, much more complex than that.