Writer in search of readers

I am currently working on three plays: The Last Secret, the second in my Seatown trilogy; Séance, a play about a boy’s boarding school in the Sixties and A Matter of Freedom, a play set in New Delhi.

 

Sexuality

 

Sexuality is just a part of you. It should not define who you are. What you do with your life and how you relate to others is what really counts.

 

Whether you are gay, bi-sexual or heterosexual, if your sexuality is the main focus of your identity you are still trying to resolve your sexuality, rather than accepting it and just living your life.

 

Gay rights, is about everyone just accepting the fact and moving on; judging everyone on their merits, rather than their sexuality.

 

Bob Brown is probably one of Australia’s best-known gay males. His public life has not been about his sexual preference. It has been about his dedication to conservation and his work in politics. I admire what he has achieved. The fact that he is gay is irrelevant.

 

19.4.13

 

Thank God

 

The born again Christian who thanks God for getting him a parking spot near the supermarket on Saturday morning doesn’t stop to wonder what kind of God would do that when there are millions of people suffering and dying over the world who are much more deserving of His attention.

 

16.3.13

 

Saving the Planet

 

Conservationists alone will not save the planet. It will take their effort combined with every conceivable kind of innovator and a majority of the world’s citizens to make a difference.

16.3.13

 

God

 

A god who creates an infinite universe with billions of souls then chooses a few thousand to live forever and condemns the rest to eternal damnation must be a moron. What rational person could believe in such a god?

16.1.13

 

Cardinal Pell

 

Cardinal Pell believes the confidentiality of the Catholic confessional in Vatican Law is above the Australian legal system. Does he also believe Sharia law is above Australian Law?

14.11.12

 

Lloyd Rayney trial

 

The West Australian FREE TO PARTY headline for Rayney acquittal. Sour grapes journalism from a newspaper that judged him guilty from the start.

2.11.12

The bias in the West Australian’s coverage of the Lloyd Rayney trial is becoming extreme. The prosecution story dominated the paper for a week. The opening of the defence case was relegated to page 51 with a recount of some of the prosecution argument. Now, the prosecution is back on the front page.

Perhaps the West Australian should look at the archives and remember the way Lindy Chamberlain was once convicted by the media.

8.8.12

The West Australian continues to present a biased coverage of the Lloyd Rayney trial.  The Rayney case for the prosecution story dominated for a week. Now the defence case begins it is relegated to page 51 with a recount of some of the prosecution argument.

4.8.12

 

Teacher conviction

The tone of The West Australian is increasingly tabloid. On Wednesday 1^st August they ran a front page banner and an article at the top of page three about a teacher recently convicted of lying and perverting the course of justice over a speeding fine.

Wasn’t the fact – reported in the article – that she was suffering from stress enough reason to minimise exposure of her plight?

Perhaps they could have balanced the report by questioning why something so minor would attract a sentence of approximately two years when serious crimes such as king hit assaults are being dealt with so leniently.

2.8.12

 

Lloyd Rayney

The West Australian seems to have forgotten that justice is based on the premise of innocence until proven guilty. I have not seen a more biased presentation of a criminal case since the Azaria Chamberlain inquest. Rayney is fortunate that he is not being tried by a jury.

Unlike most people I speak to, I have not decided whether he is guilty or not. I remember the way Michael Chamberlain stood by Lindy and I am cautioned by the way Rayney’s daughters seem to believe in their father’s innocence.

There have already been too many wrongful convictions in Australia. The archives are full of evidence that the media played a part in those miscarriages of justice.

We know that Corrine Rayney was brutally murdered and everyone wants justice for her but we should let the Court decide if the prime suspect is guilty or whether the murderer is still at large.

28.7.12

 

Panel Shows

The recent incident in which Yumi Stynes and George Negus lampooned Victoria Cross winner Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, highlights the nature of the ubiquitous panel shows on Australian television.

On these panels, so-called celebrities sit around having the same kinds of conversations that everyone else has at the morning tea table or the barbecue  - the only difference being they are televised nationally. Like their breakfast radio counterparts they are simply full of themselves and think they can say anything they like.

After saying something offensive they try to excuse themselves by claiming that it wasn’t intended to offend. Hello? When is offensive not intended to offend?

My suggestion for a response to their insensitivity is: Don’t watch them. Slash their ratings. Show them how irrelevant they are.    29.2.12

 

Education

The education system should be constructed like a maze so that only those who develop an acceptable level of critical thinking can exit.

Critical thinking is essential at every level of education and training.  A carpenter once installed a sliding window for me and cut the sliding groove in the sill opposite the fixed part of the window.

Burqua

If an Australian woman wants to live in a strict Muslim country she has to conform to the dress code of that country. There are no concessions for her own cultural sensibilities. When a strict Muslim woman chooses to live in Australia she must understand that the dominant cultural attitude toward people who conceal their faces, whether by niquab, balaclava or hoody is one of suspicion. We value open expression and distrust those who conceal their identity. When it comes to our law, we are entitled to demand individuals to be accountable. Anonymity enables individuals to stand beyond the law.

Litigation

Kristy Anne Fraser-Kirk sues Mark McInnes for $37m

What relationship do lawyer’s fees and ambit claims have to the real value of human behaviour?

Islam

I have as much respect for Islam as I do for Christianity. I consider them both to be deeply flawed institutions, which have produced despicable, admirable and transcendent human behaviour.

New Delhi Commonwealth Games

India is India, whatever Games may come. Good luck and best wishes to everyone in New Delhi. The focus on  negative stories  by some sections of the press in the lead up to the Games has been a display of cultural ignorance and western prejudice. This is an Indian Commonwealth Games. Let’s celebrate India herself as we participate in this event. India will always defy expectations but it will never disappoint the sincere seeker.

Reflection

When you don’t make decisions, you live by the decisions of others.

Australian Disasters

In the recent national disaster known as the Ashes, no one lost their life, their home, or their livelihood. Phew! I guess it’s not so bad after all. Let’s help flood ravaged Queensland and Carnarvon rebuild while our cricketers sort themselves out.

Sharia Law in Australia

In Australia we have religious freedom, we don’t need Sharia Law.

 

 

4.8.11

Obstructionist Republicans need to acknowledge Obama inherited eight years of Republican administration.

The West Australian 28th July 2010  “Women and Rudd in Julia’s Way”

Graham Kierath has taken political commentary to a new low. Does he really believe anyone cares what his daughter thinks of the way Julia Gillard walks?

(I Disagree West Australian 30th July)

In Box

An email now circulating, is cleverly written in the style of Nostradamus and purports to be his prophecy about Julia Gillard (the Cunning Lady) reducing Australian to poverty.  Is this creative Liberal campaigning? The sad thing is that some otherwise intelligent  people believe it is genuine.

8.9.10

Politics is not about substance, it’s about rhetoric. Successful politicians inspire others to do good work.

3.10.10

Business people in WA who want daylight saving can just set their alarms and get up early like farmers who have to milk the cows.

Drawn netball finals are played on, until one side is two goals ahead. The AFL should try this.

4.10.10

Congratulations New Delhi. The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth games was magnificent. Now it is time for the rest of the world to understand India.

21.10.10

On Radio National yesterday, the Boss of Rio Tinto said “If you can’t trust the government, who can you trust?” What a master of irony.

25.10.10

Let’s be honest about speed cameras. The safest speed is with the flow of traffic.

EDGE

Walking on an image of itself
as silent as the river,
a sleek heron
with its sharp beak and thin mind
probes the silver shallows for food.

Once like the heron,
I have become fat in my mind.
No longer solitary or lean,
I have become a creature of
comfort rather than necessity.

I no longer stalk the shallows
of clean rivers where I saw
pure reflections of myself
and meditated on survival.

MOONWINE

The crescent moon floats
on red wine
in my upturned glass.

I drink to the universe.

GIFTS

Poems are gifts
from the universe
that I gift to you.

EARLY EVENING

Bright star
shot from the cannon
of a crescent moon.

Love can be like that.

COSMOS MOMENT

A swathe of stars
dives toward the crescent moon,
trailing galaxies beyond measure.
The thin lipped moon smiles.

POOL

the space between
an encumberance of stones
filled by the stillness of water
stillness, appearing empty
reflecting perfectly

WELL OF SILENCE

In the well of silence
I dwell
momentarily at peace
with some small part of
my deep self.