Bøger udgivet af Connor Court Publishing

Romping hilariously through the three years of the Gillard/Rudd government, Rowan Dean's sharp pen and eagle eye chronicle the finest and funniest moments of what has been an exhilarating roller-coaster ride. From the back-stabbing intrigues of Julia Caesar in ancient Rome to the reincarnation of Kevin VII and the latest positions of the Kevin Sutra, from Mission Impossible exploits of forged credit cards and high class hookers to evil climate change denier monsters and 'the world's greatest treasurer', from people smugglers to pink batts to politician pop stars, the most entertaining political story in Australian history finally gets the book it richly deserves. Whether you're keen to learn how Kevin finally pulled it off, or to complete a course in dismantling democracy, or to brush up on your spin and media manipulation techniques, Beyond Satire will bring tears to your eyes. Of laughter.

Christos Tsiolkas The Untold Story is the first in depth systematic look at the life and work of one of Australia's most popular and controversial storytellers. From Tsiolkas' early days as a struggling writer to the present universal acclaim, his compelling untold story is at last recorded. For the first time the writer speaks candidly and de profundis about everything: his turbulent life (his childhood, adolescence and adulthood) and subjects dear to his heart (literature and criticism, identity, the state of humanity - decadence, materialism, spirituality, ethics, racism, animal liberation, intellectuals and the media - religion and death). He also reveals secrets and valuable insights about his four controversial novels which he discusses at length - from his first provocative Loaded to his latest international bestseller The Slap. Essential reading for Tsiolkas' numerous fans who have always wondered: "what is the real story behind the 'Tsiolkas phenomenon'"?

"Alive in the Spirit" invites Catholics to open their lives more fully to the power of the Holy Spirit. With spiritual wisdom and compelling stories Fr Ken Barker describes with clarity and conviction the many ways we can expect the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives, bringing new freedom, hope and personal transformation... Fr Ken Barker is the founder and Moderator of the Missionaries of God's Love (MGL), a new emerging congregation in the Australian Church. He is involved in many works of evangelization and spiritual renewal, and is the author of popular books, including 'Becoming Fire', 'Young Men Rise up', 'His Name is Mercy', and 'Amazing Love'.

Why are so many Aboriginal Australians still disadvantaged? Why is so much potential still wasted? Why is 'the Aboriginal problem' still intractable? Why can we not even agree on the causes, let alone ways forward? Why have billions on special programs had such little effect? Is it all bad news? How can we: realise the talents of all Australia's Aboriginal citizens, eradicate disadvantage, grow Aboriginal success, and achieve at last the real potential of this country? In Black and White: Australians All at the Crossroads seeks to illuminate the issues through perspectives of concerned blackfellas and whitefellas, both, on root causes, how issues play out on the ground, and what needs to be done. It is the hope of the editors that experiences and ideas, from the community base to the heights of policy, may reveal the common ground that is sine-qua-non to working out real answers and practical programs that will make a difference. As the subtitle's reference to our National Anthem suggests, all Australians - that's all of us - must put an end to the wastage of Indigenous talent and the denial of the real Australia that has diminished our nation far too long. Aussies can do anything. Together we can't lose!

Born and raised in Zwola, in rural Poland, Zygmunt Tratkiewicz was an ordinary young man, conscripted at age 23 to the national military service. When World War II broke out, Zygmunt was faced with trials and adversities that he could not previously have imagined. Fortunately for him, as he fought for his country and spent time as a prisoner of war in Germany, "Lady Luck"was more often than not on his side. From Poland to Daylesford, "This Soldier's Fortune" tells the story of one soldier's triumph, of a battle well fought and a life well lived. Zygmunt Tratkiewicz, born in 1915, now lives in the beautiful town of Daylesford, Victoria, with Gladys, his wife of 62 years. At 94 years old, the proud father, grandfather and great-grandfather is still a keen handyman and avid bowler.

With a foreword from Suzanne Noffke OP. In Leadership as a call to Service. The lives and works of Teresa of Ávila, Catherine of Siena and Thérèse of Lisieux, Christine Cameron looks at a synthesis of the lives and works of the three women doctors of the Catholic Church as servant leaders. The seminal work of Greenleaf (1970) on servant leadership and Spears (1998) with his identification of the ten core characteristics of servant leadership provided the framework and inspiration for this book. The focus is on how the ten core characteristics of listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualisation, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building community are reflected in the leadership practices of Teresa, Catherine and Thérèse. Christine Cameron is married with a grown family. Christine has served in administrative positions in Catholic primary schools in New South Wales Australia as Principal, Assistant Principal and as Religious Education Co-Ordinator. This book is based on Christine's recent successful PhD research Women Doctors of the Catholic Church: A Study in Servant Leadership.

Policy in Bioethics develops when people can reach agreement. We make progress when we listen to each other. About Bioethics, as the first of a series, explains the different secular and theological approaches to Bioethics, seeking to identify strengths as well as weaknesses because it is the strengths that produce good policy. In each case the assumptions and structure of the moral reasoning adopted are explored including a reflection on the role of religion in a secular society and a constructive approach to teaching Bioethics. The other books in the series include Care of the Sick and Dying, Donating Human Organs and Tissue, Man and Woman He Made Them, Motherhood and Technology, and Protecting the Human Person. The latter is to cover a range of issues such as Experimentation on Human Beings, Capital Punishment, Torture, Identity and Catholic Facilities and Cooperation with Evil. Associate Prof Nicholas Tonti Filippini BA (Hons), MA(Monash), PhD (Melb), FHERDSA, KCSG is Associate Dean and Head of Bioethics at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne. The Institute is associated with the John Paul II Institute in Rome and the Lateran University. It is registered as a higher education provider in Australia to provide graduate courses in Bioethics, Theology of Marriage and Family, and Religious Education. Professor Tonti Filippini is a philosopher who has specialised in bioethics for the past 30 years including having been Australia's first hospital ethicist and Director of Bioethics at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, 1982-1990. He is well known internationally and has published widely in Bioethics.

Tim Fischer AC, in his Foreword to this book writes: "As you study the papers that follow, as each of us tries to take up the cudgels for a better and Christian-oriented society, we do so helped by both the work of Catholic Social Services Victoria and the bold leadership of the 266th occupant of the Throne of St Peter as the first Southern Hemisphere, first Argentinian, first Jesuit Holy Father, resident downstairs at the hotel Santa Marta in Vatican City - namely Pope Francis." Many of the chapters in this book are based on papers presented at a conference organised by Catholic Social Services Victoria in 2013. The topic of that conference, the impact of Catholic identity and mission on what we do and how we do it, is relevant to the many parts of the Church working in a culturally diverse Australia. The aim of the conference was to enhance the contribution of the Church to the building of a more just and compassionate society - to enhance our work in building the Kingdom. This book extends that work.

The inspiration for this book of essays came from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI). The Sydney Opera House and the St James Ethics Centre have hosted FODI for four years. Although the organisers try to canvass ideas that appeal across the political spectrum, they are about as balanced as the ABC1 television's Q&A and as subtle as, 'when did you stop beating your wife?' For example, Israel is an apartheid state was a nice little starter in the 2012 Festival. Ilan Pappe an Israeli was invited to speak; he is the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Who are the people who attend FODI and believe the nonsense they are fed?: those who forsake the world of markets and profit, who forsake religion, except for environmentalism, who forsake science, except in the service of climate change abatement policies. They are the people we call, and they also call, Progressives. The proposition in this book is that not much progress occurs when Progressives rule the policy roost. These are beaut little essays, written in an opinion style, easy to digest, indeed quite dangerous and perhaps the first of many volumes. Australia needs liquid fuel security - David Archibald 22 Arab countries one goal: destruction of Israel - Barry Cohen. The world needs the Anglosphere - Peter Day. School choice matters to poor students - Kevin Donnelly. Science matters in a post-modern world - James Franklin. Religion matters for faith, hope and love - Ian Harper. Downsize Canberra: remove federal income tax - John Humphreys. European Union as self-aggrandisement - Michael James. Abolish the Human Rights Commission - Gary Johns. Biodiversity does not matter: revealed biodiversity matters - Eric Jones. Foreign investment matters to Australian workers - Asher Judah. Bittersweet charity - Miranda Kiraly. Family is the fundamental unit of society - Richard Lyons. We need nation states - David Martin Jones. Intellectuals do not matter - Greg Melleuish. Financial complacency in the face of three economic crises - Frank Milne. Does respect matter? - Kerryn Pholi. Privatise the ABC - Tom Switzer. Australia should become a superpower - Cassandra Wilkinson. Progressives: philosophy adrift without an anchor - Tim Wilson.

For thirty-five years, Peter Fenwick managed the professional services consultancy, Fenwick Software, which he founded in 1976. Its culture is built on the principles of classic liberalism. Its employees are granted an appropriate degree of autonomy, provided with opportunities to grow and assume more responsibility, and encouraged to apply their skills to help each other and to deliver value for their clients. In 2011, Peter established an employee-shareholder scheme and sold 75 percent of the business in equal parts to five key staff, one of whom, 31 year-old Greg Galloway is now CEO. The firm is thriving and the culture is being maintained under his leadership. In The Fragility of Freedom, Peter applies his experience to a wider canvas. He explains how the coercive and regulatory powers of the state have been captured by powerful sectional interests for their own economic benefit, leading to corruption in public life and crony capitalism in business. Civil virtues have declined throughout the community with leaders in politics, religion, business and the trade unions often abusing positions of trust. The Fragility of Freedom is his quest to identify what is wrong and suggest ways to put things right. The book provides readers with a basic understanding of the cultural heritage of our Western Civilisation - the fundamental principles of liberty, prosperity and free enterprise. It discusses the consequences of socialism, the welfare state, distributive justice and unsound money. Replete with quotations from over fifty philosophers and economists, it introduces readers to some of our great thinkers. It equips them to engage in informed debate and to challenge conventional wisdom. Peter recommends that the role of the state be limited to functions that cannot be achieved by lower orders of organisation. He proposes a moral society based on the principle of subsidiarity in which individuals take responsibility for themselves and their families, behaving as good citizens within their community.

Why are Australian Intellectuals and academics so hostile to contemporary Australian life? Why do they so often hold disparaging views of their fellow Australians? This was not always the case. In the nineteenth century Australians of an intellectual disposition sought to work with their fellow Australians to build a better and freer country. But from the end of the nineteenth century, beginning with the Bulletin an intellectual culture emerged which was adversarial in nature and increasingly hostile to the aspirations of ordinary Australians. This culture of intellectuals became embedded in key institutions, including the universities, the world of the arts and the ABC. It became a subculture isolated from mainstream Australia in intellectual ghettos. It is a world which bristles with hostility, negativity and nihilism. History has been a favoured domain for Australian intellectuals and they heartedly condemn the Australian past and the Australian people. The only problem is that the more they blacken the past the more they turn off students from studying history. The result is a real crisis in the study of the Australian past. The only way forward is a much more sober and sensible approach by intellectuals, especially in terms of appreciating our Western heritage.

Occasionally a book will shake people's ideas and Ken Phillips shakes them often by exposing concepts you may not even realize you hold. Every day, when you 'go to work', you are involved in legal and human relationships that have a vast impact on who you are or, more significantly, who you are allowed to be. It is these ideas that Ken Phillips rattles. What is your career? Who defines your work life? What does it mean to manage or be managed? What is the firm? How do organizations achieve their objectives and make profit? How are these things---and you---controlled and regulated? These are just some of the questions which flow from this book. Professional managers, national and international policy makers, economists, labour lawyers and entrepreneurs will find much in here of deep interest. More importantly, it's the individual that will resonate most closely with the ideas that Ken presents. About the Author -- Ken Phillips is an independent contractor operating as his own business, as a researcher, commentator, consultant and lobbyist on labour and workplace reform issues. Among his many activities, Ken is a published authority on independent contractor issues, directs external research on industrial relations versus trade practices issues, and promotes the concept of 'markets in the firm'. Through his articles in Australian newspapers, think-tanks and academic journals, Ken is known for approaching labour issues from outside normal perspectives. He is also co-founder and Executive Director of Independent Contractors of Australia.

"We need to support those who tell the truth" -- Bess Nungarrayi Price. There is a reluctance to scrutinise and address the fundamental cultural generators of Aboriginal violence. Where violence is seen as part of culture, too often it is defended as the cultures right to practice it.

Max Sculley's definitive critique of Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki comes with a timely warning that despite these practices' surface appeal for helping fitness, relaxation and health, they are closely linked to underlying Eastern philosophies that are incompatible with Christianity. Vatican documents, including one authored by the present Pope when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, have highlighted the spiritual dangers associated with methods of meditation associated with Eastern religions. Despite these warnings Yoga, Tai Chi and Reiki continue to be promoted in parishes, schools and religious orders. Max Sculley's detailed and well documented analysis of Yoga, Tai Chi and Reika includes gripping personal stories that bring home the dark side of these practices. This book needs to be widely circulated among teachers, clergy and religious.

The financial world is experiencing increasing financial volatility with far more frequent financial booms and busts. Dr Peter Jonson is a former Chief Economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and a lifelong economic thinker and writer. In Great Crises of Capitalism, Peter summarises four hundred years of capitalist progress, including the costly setbacks from major wars and repeated episodes of financial instability. Such episodes are occurring with greater frequency, and this presents great dangers and also great opportunities for governments, for professional investors and managers of people's individual or family financial nest eggs. The concluding chapters include messages for governments, central banks and individual or family investors. Booms are not all bad, as big and often exciting projects are undertaken when people's confidence is high, while most of the crooks and incompetents get found out in the busts. Peter Jonson says it would be futile, as well as counterproductive, to strangle the golden goose that is capitalism by more and more constricting regulations. Sensible policies can however be devised to reduce the damaging froth and bubble. Beyond that point, companies and individuals, even governments, need robust strategies to benefit from the booms, avoid the worst of the busts and then go shopping for bargains. The final chapter discusses future crises of capitalism. Peter Jonson believes that the biggest threat to capitalism is instability caused by policy swings: expansion/recovery/asset inflation/goods inflation/policy-tightens/economy-falls back, etc. Such outcomes would destabilise the beliefs of the econocrats in major countries, as well as their political masters, making policies even worse, and greatly damage economic performance. But we also need policies to counter geopolitical risks, epidemics and shortage of clean water and other resources as the global population approaches 9 billion people.

This fascinating and engrossing book should be read by anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War, Southeast Asia and Australia's relations with the region. It offers exciting behind-the-scenes insights into: - The Vietnam War and its strategic importance to the region - Ted Serong, the CIA and the Phoenix Program in Vietnam - The Rise and Fall of Soeharto - Bob Santamaria, the Pacific Institute and the Asia Pacific Community - The growth of regional co-operation leading to ASEAN and APEC - Democratisation and the Rise of Radical Islam - And Much More Follow Frank through the war zones of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, guerrilla-infested areas of Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines and the exotic capitals of the region. "I was totally my own boss," says Frank. "Santamaria in effect handed me a bag full of money and said 'go and report'." Ted Serong said hubristically: "I'll run the war, you run the politics, keep me informed, and build the regional Southeast Asian architecture." Frank Mount covered the Vietnam War and Southeast Asia for forty years as a political correspondent. He was also a political activist and Executive Secretary of the Pacific Institute. He was later an intelligence analyst for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as he explains in the book. And later still, the Director of Austasia Consultants and Editor of Asia Pacific Report. He was educated at Parade College, Melbourne and the University of Melbourne graduating with honours in economics.

The natural environment matters a lot to many people. Their views on issues such as recycling, population control, economic growth and renewable energy are often held strongly and emotionally. But some of these views are best described as 'little green lies'. Sometimes people bend the truth because they believe they are protecting others from the harm caused by environmental decay. Others do it for personal gain. But unlike 'little white lies', telling 'little green lies' is not harmless. If they become so widely accepted that they form the basis of government policies, our society can be worse off for them. They can even end up causing environmental damage. There are twelve propositions addressed in the twelve chapters of this book: 'Peak Oil' has been reached. Renewable energy production should be stimulated. Consumption choices need to be informed by products' 'food miles'/'ecological footprint'/'embodied energy'/'virtual water'/'carbon footprint'. World population should be capped. Economic growth and trade are bad for the environment. No waste should go to landfill. Water and energy should be used 'efficiently', whatever it costs. The environment is of infinite value and must not be harmed. We must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to avoid global climate change. The care of the environment cannot be entrusted to the private sector. Agriculture and mining are always in conflict with the environment.

Bad Economics is a book for everyone who wants to understand why things have gone wrong rather than slavishly accepting the mainstream version of events. It takes on the illusions and delusions which regularly shape economic policy.

In an age of ever increasing litigation we have become highly tuned to the need for justice. But is there room for mercy? In this book Fr Ken Barker argues passionately that without mercy justice will not be complete. He makes a compelling case for mercy through the use of stories about remarkable human beings who, faced with hurt and violence, have chosen to forgive rather than to seek vengeance. He reminds us that mercy is the highest quality in the heart of God, and hence the most liberating attitude for any human heart. This book provides much needed teaching on forgiveness. With great clarity and sensitivity Fr Barker addresses the deep questions that arise in our hearts when we have been the victims of violence, or when we have been deeply hurt by a betrayal of trust. "Why forgive when a grave injustice has been done against me?" "How can I forgive when they don't deserve it?" "Does forgiving someone mean I have to forget?" "When I forgive do I have to excuse the one who offended me?" "How can I forgive when I feel hatred in my heart?" "Why has God allowed this to happen to me?" The gospel principles enunciated here provide a sure pointer towards freedom for all who have agonised with these questions. The stories offered here of those who have found this freedom are a light in the darkness, and an inspiration towards the highest calling of any human being - to have mercy and to forgive.

Activists and even some scientists will tell you that the science behind the expected major warming of the globe is rock solid. In fact, the projections of temperature increases in coming decades are based on entirely unproven forecasting systems which depend on guesses about crucial aspects of the atmosphere behaviour and the all-important oceans. In addition, these forecasts use carbon dioxide emission scenarios that have been generated by economic calculations rather than from science, and parts of which are already hopelessly wrong less than a decade after they were made. As Mark Lawson explains in this book, in layman's language, this lunacy has been compounded by further forecasts based on these already deeply flawed projections and combined with active imaginations, to produce wild statements about what will happen to plant, animal, bird and marine life, as well as coral reefs, hurricanes, sea levels, agriculture and polar ice caps. The books shows that these projections are little more than fantasy. On top of all this lunacy activists, aided and abetted by some scientists, have proposed a range of solutions to the supposed problem that are either never going to work, such as an international agreement to cut emissions, or are overly complicated and expensive for no proven return, such as carbon trading systems and wind energy. None of these proposals have been shown to be of any use in reducing carbon emissions, outside of theoretical studies. Where wind energy has been used in substantial amounts overseas the sole, known result has been very expensive electricity for no observed saving in emissions. Mark Lawson is a senior journalist on the Australian Financial Review. He has a science degree from Melbourne University, and has been a science writer, editorial writer and Perth bureau chief for the Review. He now edits a series of reports for the AFR, including environmental reports.

This book is an autobiographical account of one family's journey through the puzzling maze of autism, as narrated by mother Rochelle Miller. Sometimes wry and irreverent, it tells of the challenges and triumphs involved with caring for two sons with Autism Spectrum Disorder, examining a serious subject in a sometimes not-so-serious light. --- "There is much pain and some black humour along the path of raising autistic children but also quiet pride and solace gained by seeing progress made, however incremental. Rochelle Miller has raised not one but two children on the autism spectrum with the help and support of Ben and many others, she has now written her personal story with clarity and vibrance." - The Honourable Tim Fischer AC, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

Lessons in Humility is the bizarre story of Barry Dickins' life as a teacher. He gained his Diploma Of Education at The Melbourne State College forty years ago although he failed Classroom Management. He has taught Drama and Creative Literature to cherubs at a primary school and prayer-composition at a secondary college. The recollection unfolds at the point of doom but cheerfully expands when the author experiences enlightenment when he is put in with Grade Ones forever. Barry Dickins' writing has been called 'The defeat of the desperate by the bizarre' which means of course that his stage characters are inevitably overcome by not themselves but their surroundings. Join the catastrophic but noble hunt for meaning as our indefatigable community-loving teacher collides with life head-on. Nietzsche once wrote that 'only with laughter do we slay' and never was that epithet truer for a willing servant of education who not only clashes with bureaucracies but can't comprehend society either. What he is brilliant at is never teaching but the forgotten art of listening. Children adore to be carefully heard and practising that fact is what gets him through Hell in one piece. The fantastic and fatal daily hurts and contradictions are faithfully recorded here by a writer who loves poor people so well he knows what lollies they've knocked off. Many essays have been composed and published upon teaching in the 200 years of the strap. Many are marvellous but this is true. You too will feel as you have held class at The Boil Street Special School in Sickening Road. The author learns the timely lesson in modesty at the rickety helm of teaching chaos. It's not that his kids are stupid but that he is arrogant. He teaches poorly because he listens worse. It is only when he surrenders his portrait of himself as an artist to the wheelie bin of life that he finally learns that teaching is to do with others and not vanity. Vanity is interesting but it will never get the soul a Roadworthy Certificate.

As I Have Loved You is a much needed resource for parents. Using easy to understand language and graphics, it offers parents advice and materials for training their own children in a well integrated sexuality according to the mind of the Church. The inspiration for this book comes from Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, and the specific teaching of the Pontifical Council for the Family's document, "Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality." The materials have been trialled for the past eight years, and have been used in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA and Britain.