Craig Hill
Peter Garrett
Australia’s Federal Education Minister banned from schools by state government
Queensland has banned Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett from visiting two state schools as the row over the Gonski funding changes escalates. Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has expressed his concern to Mr Garrett that “schools are being used as political stages,” adding that his Government does not “think this is good for either students … Continue reading
Many Australian teachers find national literacy and numeracy plan too difficult to understand
Many teachers do not know how to use data provided by annual assessments of their pupils’ literacy and numeracy ability, despite often criticising the tests themselves, a new report has found. The report, from the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee also said teachers need more training to help understand the basics of … Continue reading
Australian universities lower entrance scores despite concerns over graduate standards
Universities are having to continue to lower entry scores to maintain expanding numbers, sparking warnings that school inequality is to blame as regional and poor students get left behind. Commonwealth student applications and offer data for this year also show that universities are continuing to recruit into teaching degrees a rising proportion of school leavers … Continue reading
Australia must improve performance on indigenous education
Federal School Education Minister Peter Garrett will today demand that the states and territories dramatically lift their game on indigenous education, warning that they are not on track to meet their Closing the Gap targets. Mr Garrett will use the education ministers’ meeting in Sydney to call on states and territories to improve their performance … Continue reading
A fifth of Australian teaching degrees will fail new government quality test
About a fifth of the 400 teaching degrees offered by universities around Australia will struggle to meet standards required for accreditation by the national teaching institute, and half of those courses are expected to close. The chairman of the Australian Institute for Teaching School Leadership, Tony Mackay, yesterday said the new national standards for accrediting … Continue reading
Australian government defends indigenous policy
The Gillard government has defended its indigenous policies after Howard minister Alexander Downer called for children to be moved out of remote communities and into boarding schools and for increased access to property ownership. Mr Downer said sending children from remote communities into boarding schools in regional towns and cities would help them “acclimatise to … Continue reading
Australia: Kevin Rudd reignites leadership speculation with barefoot bowls tournament
It is a rollback to the heady days of Kevin07. More than five years after Kevin Rudd filled television screens and Facebook pages from dusk until dawn in his campaign for The Lodge, the self-described “humble” backbencher is again reigniting leadership speculation with a blitz of mainstream and social media. As Julia Gillard jetted-off for … Continue reading
Most Recent Posts Post on My Blog About China: China News
China’s military has an Achilles’ heel: Low troop morale
The Chinese Communist Party has unintentionally revealed weaknesses of the country’s military. One indication came with the building of facilities for launching new intercontinental ballistic missiles in an inland desert region. The other was a series of further attempts to increase childbirths, including measures to help reduce the costly burden of educating children. Behind these […]
Cadence Column: Asia, September 20, 2021
China steps up expansion via Hong Kong elections. Seven editors are banned from Wikipedia on concerns of not acting in good faith and with relation to China. The US sails through the Taiwan Straight again, this time a destroyer. Taiwan wants more backup runways for fighter jets. Escalations only continue and no side shows any […]
China adds powerful new ship to maritime patrol fleet
China has added a new powerful ship to its fleet of maritime patrol vessels in the South China Sea, state media has reported. The 5,560-ton Hai Xun 03 was launched on Tuesday and will become the largest ocean patrol ship under the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), the official China News Service reported, adding that […]
A lesson in political economy on investments in China
Paul Krugman, the eminent Nobel laureate in economics, recalls how companies are different from nations and their reasons. Business managers have different perspectives. It is economists – not managers – who place the question of foreign trade, the balance of payments and the exchange rate at the center of their reflections. Since 1989, China and […]
Are China’s climate promises just a load of hot air? (Yes!)
China is prepared to hold its cooperation on climate issues hostage to Western concessions elsewhere. Few cities in China represent the country’s addiction to coal more than Tianjin, where Alok Sharma travelled this week to talk about cooperation on climate issues. It sits on the coast of one of China’s most polluted regions, and its […]
The vanishing allure of doing business in China
It is nothing new for foreign firms to endure shakedowns by the Chinese Communist Party. As far back as revolutionary times, Chairman Mao’s victorious troops did not directly confiscate foreign-owned assets as their Bolshevik forerunners had done in Russia. Instead, they wore them down with higher taxes and fines so big that eventually companies gave […]
Wikipedia blames pro-China infiltration for bans
Wikipedia has suffered an “infiltration” that sought to advance the aims of China, the US non-profit organisation that owns the volunteer-edited encyclopaedia has said. The Wikimedia Foundation told BBC News the infiltration had threatened the “very foundations of Wikipedia”. The foundation banned seven editors linked to a mainland China group. Wikimedians of Mainland China accused […]
Diaries of former Mao aide spark custody battle over unofficial history of China
Today, “Li materials” are the subject of a legal battle between Stanford University and Mr. Li’s widow in Beijing. This is a battle for custody of an unofficial history of China. In millions of handwritten Chinese characters, Mr. Li documents his early days in the party, the revolution that brought him to power and his […]
World’s dirtiest cities list raises issue: Why don’t politicians call out China?
Ponder this: A new tally of global cities’ emissions finds that the top 25 are responsible for 52% of the planet’s urban greenhouse gas emissions. Twenty-three of those are in China. New York City is the first American city to appear, at No. 26. Out of the top 75, just four other American cities are listed […]
Cadence Column: Asia, September 13, 2021
The easiest solution to China’s escalating situation in the South Sea is to enforce China’s own formal statements at face value. China says they respect other countries and do not want to militarize the South Sea. Leave it at that. Any disrespect toward other countries is not at the behest of Xijinping. Any militarization of […]
