:: One People, Many Cultures ::



::Living Together in Respect and Friendship::

I was away for almost all of John Howard’s 12 years as Prime Minister, but I saw the Australian economy boom under his leadership and believed he was doing a good job. Unfortunately, he refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, sent soldiers into Afghanistan and made a farce of the Republic referendum against the wishes of the Australian people. I think voting him not only out of the top job, but also out of his own seat, shows that money isn’t as important to the Australian people as a just and sustainable world.

The Higher School Certificate exams have finished and today marks the beginning of the reward for school leavers. Twenty thousand NSW students will spend time in the next month on the Gold Coast drinking, lying on the beach, flirting and enjoying the results of the last. A report on the radio today said that an area had been fenced off for the event. I skipped it when I finished school, in favour of saving money for my exchange to Japan, but I don’t think it was wild enough to warrant a fence in those days. Now, it sounds like Lord of the Flies.

The first Tuesday in November is the Melbourne Cup. Australia’s premiere sporting event. It was in doubt this year following an epidemic of equine flu, but all was right on the day. Sydney weather was sludgy, but sun shone inside the office when the traditional sweepstake opened for business. I placed my $5 and drew Scenic Shot, a camera toting racehorse I knew nothing of. The rest of my day was swallowed by videoconferencing problems, but from 2:55, no one in the country was interested in meetings or classes. I followed the cheers to a meeting room now furbished with prawns and champagne to find everyone from my floor crammed into the small space and loving it. Well, all except an American immigrant who’d placed 2 bets only to have them both scratched before the race began.

The race was over in 2 minutes, with a breakaway from the middle of the pack coming second by a nostril, but the party was still going strong when I closed all my issues and left for the day.