Matt John

“It is wrong to draw a sharp line in one's imagination between the "nature" present on the Rocky Mountain front and that available in the suburbanite's own front yard. The natural world found on even the most perfect and stylized of lawns is no less real than that at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Different, yes, but to draw too sharp a distinction between the sparsely settled world of Alaska and the dense suburbs of Levittown is a prescription for the plundering of natural resources. It is easy to see how the yard, conceived as less natural and thus less important than the spotted owl, is easily ignored. The point is underscored by research showing that, surprisingly, people who evince concern for the environment are more likely to use chemicals on their yards than those who are less ecologically aware. ”
― Ted Steinberg, American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn

“Laura tingle: "So it's not jut that we see Gillard as a backstabber who brought down an elected prime minister, it is that we see her as the very reason we have minority government. Gillard has become the embodiment of a crushing number of uncertainties and disappointed expectations, both about politics and Australia's future, which makes voters uncomfortable -and in some cases angry.”
― Laura Tingle, Quarterly Essay 46 Great Expectations: Government, Entitlement and an Angry Nation

“Rudd proved to be too conservative for the nation he led, while Gillard's campaign for re-election was too cynical. But the problem goes deeper than any individual's failure. Labor in office suffered a return of the identity crisis that has plagued it in its wilderness years in Opposition... the party had given up its soul to the machine. p208”
― George Megalogenis, Balancing Act: Australia Between Recession and Renewal

“Government is weaker today because the public it serves is quicker to anger, and because the Opposition has realised the safest way back to power is opposition, not policy renewal. No mandate need be respected because the Opposition can trust the media to set impossible standards for government to meet. p237”
― George Megalogenis, Balancing Act: Australia Between Recession and Renewal