THE HOMELESS

It's easy just to say the homeless will always be with us.

Three years ago Kevin Rudd attempted to do something about it. This is what happened . . .

SWAN'S WAY

Aarrgh! Sorry, late again. This piece on the Treasurer appeared in Saturday's Canberra Times.

I fear if Julia Gillard had the numbers he'd already have been shifted. As it is she doesn't - so he stays . . .

CLIMATE CHANGE

Why do all the UN"s Climate Change negotiations take place in beautiful resorts? Perhaps it would be more appropriate for them to meet in Iceland in winter . . . more might get done.

This is a (brief) summary of what Australia has done to combat changing weather over the past three years. Many promises; a great deal of talk - a bit lighter on the action.

A GOVERNMENT ADRIFT

It's not so much that this government lacks direction, because both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard know exactly where they want Australia to head.

The problem is that both these people appear to be going in different directions but neigther are sharing their objectives with ordinary Australians . . .

FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH CHINA

This column was hard to write. I wanted to try and incorporate two contrasting ideas: (1) that the Wikileaks haven't really told us anything we don't already know, but also (2) that now they're public knowledge countries will act appropriately.

This reveals two further consequences. Rudd's relationship with China is now finished and he will have to be moved from the Foreign Minister's job before this can be restored.

The third issue is why did he say what he did? What prompted his remarks? I've tried to answer these questions below:

SPORTING PROWESS ISN'T EVERYTHING

Bad news for sports fans this week - Australia won't be hosting the World Cup in 2022.

What's significant about this isn't that we missed out but rather that it demonstrates, even to those who don't follow anything apart from sport, that our role in the world isn't quite as significant as the boosters like to suggest . . .