Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Irene Khan makes so much systemic sense!

On ABC TV last night and again on radio national this morning Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, here to receive the Australia Peace Prize at the University of Sydney, demonstrated a powerful, ethical intellect that puts the level of public discourse, and that of the current government, to shame. Her arguments are cogent, ethically grounded and systemic. Her take on the Australian notion of 'mateship' shows how vacuous the PM's views on the same subject are. As she says, this government has renigged on its international responsibilities for creating 'mateship' at a global scale. The failure to sign the Kyoto agreement and to support UN action in Iraq being the more notable examples.