Mission & Justice

Gwynne Dyer, 10/6/08

In the Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze,” the world’s most famous private detective refers to “the curious incident of the dog in the night.” “But the dog did nothing in the night,” replies his interlocutor. “That was the curious incident,” says Holmes. The dogs aren’t barking over the US-Iraq treaty, either, and that is equally curious. To begin with, the Iraqi dogs aren’t barking. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki clearly doesn’t like the deal that the Bush administration is forcing on him, but will accept it because his government wouldn’t survive a week without US military support. The Shiite religious authorities will not issue a fatwa against it, because their first priority is to preserve the Shiites’ newfound domination of Iraq. But in fact most Iraqis who know about it, hate it.

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Imre Salusinszky; 26/4/08

The Rudd Government is about to launch a major takeover of child protection, leveraging its control of family assistance and childcare to intervene earlier in the child abuse cycle. The move comes in response to the deepening crisis in state-based child protection systems across Australia. Also among the wide-ranging reforms being considered is a new Children’s Commissioner, who would monitor the performance of the states in combating child abuse. A proposed national framework for child protection could also include elements of the Howard government’s intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities - such as quarantining welfare payments to make sure they are used in the best interests of children.

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