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September2013 No.499 VolumeLVII,Number9 John de Meyrick, Christopher Heathcote, John O’Connor, Roger Townend Letters 2 Keith Windschuttle chronicle 4 David Free Divine Comedy the Democratises James Clive poetry 7 Warming Global on Science the Questioned Who Cartoonist The environment 13 John Spooner Julia Patrick Sustainability Green of Ambitions Radical The 18 David Martin Jones Minogue Kenneth of Mind Conservative The tribute 20 Adam Bisits River Robe at Achieved Copeman Charles What 26 Patrick Morgan Under Down from Emerges Man Underground An politics 28 Daryl McCann Thatcher Margaret of Determination The 32 Peter Barry Democracy Subverts Voting Compulsory How 38 David Askew Conservative Communitarian the Burke, Edmund philosophy&ideas 43 Michael Cook Wars People’s Other Fights Australia Why defence 48 Alan Moran Stagnation Economic Causing in Economists of Role The economics 56 P.D. Jonson Crisis a During Banking Central 60 Compassion Philip Burcham Medical of Death the and Counselling Genetic bioethics 64 Ted Rule China Mao’s of Death The history 72 Hal G.P. Colebatch Layman? a Been Had Kerr John Sir If What 76 Michael Connor Play Red One Play, Blonde One theatre 78 Alan Gould Me Knows Know I Dark the into Out Go To literature 83 Mark Gregory Free Be Will I Day The 86 Neil McDonald DVD on Maigrets “Unseen” The film 88 Peter Samuel Executive Visiting to Advance Cash firstperson 92 R.J. Stove Teichmann Max of Memories 94 Murray Mitchell Die and Naples See 98 G.F. Adler Honolulu in Stopover stories 101 Hal G.P. Colebatch Block Writer’s 105 Penelope Nelson Trinca Helen by Madeleine books 107 Milton Osborne Howgego Raymond by Encyclopedia of Exploration, Vol. 5 108 Jamie Grant Frances Jean by Where She Lives 109 Peter Ryan Eloquence of End Justifiable Only The ryan 111 Maid Kitchen The 31: Joe Dolce; Laden bin Osama of haiku Lost 12: Poetry Russell Erwin; 37: Seneca Hill Ghost Melissa Ahart; 46: Second Sunday Geoff Page; 47: The Big C Word; Bed Bug Dreaming Joe Dolce; 55: Of a Marriage Russell Erwin; In Barcelona Ron Pretty; 59: One-way conversation with a black swan Dan Guenther; 63: Mollusk Stamps of the World Melissa Ahart; Astronomy Lesson Nana Ollerenshaw; 75: On Cuteness Geoff Page; 81: Camelus Joe Dolce; 82: Flu Fanculo; The Kissing Disease Joe Dolce; 85: The Muse Reads J.R. McRae; 87: Bondi sketches Melinda Smith; 91: Kite Joe Dolce; 93: Remembering David Chandler; 97: The Encounter; Chemo Nana Ollerenshaw; 100: Bush Medicine Dan Guenther; 112: Rhyme of the Sea Nana Ollerenshaw L e t t e r s such blurring of the divide between the separation of powers will be unlikely to occur again. Editor John de Meyrick Keith Windschuttle St Ives, NSW [email protected] Vice-Regal Advice LitEr ary Editor SIR: Ken Barnes (Letters, July- Canberra v Teachers Les Murray August 2013), refers to my article (May 2013) on the propriety of High SIR: I am perplexed at how the dEput y Editor George Thomas Court Justices Barwick and Mason ALP has so speedily passed “work providing advice to the Governor- choices” legislation to impose on Contributing Editors General, Sir John Kerr (himself a Australian teaching. Books: Peter Coleman lawyer), in relation to the dismissal A major part of the Gonski Film: Neil McDonald of the Whitlam government in 1975. education reforms package is that Theatre: Michael Connor He says it was wrong of Kerr to Australian teachers must complete CoLumnist have sought that advice but poses a more training, undertake more Peter Ryan question to me in relation to a gov- professional development, and ernor-general like Major-General have a Canberra-dictated perform- Editor, Qua dr ant onLinE Roger Franklin Michael Jeffery (a non-lawyer) as to ance review every twelve months. [email protected] who else he could have turned to for School principals will have more expert legal advice had he been in power over their teachers, with Ch air m an of thE the same situation. regulations for shedding teachers to boar d of directors A governor-general, whether be relaxed. Canberra will scrutinise Elizabeth Prior Jonson a lawyer or otherwise, is not pre- teachers around the country, with vented from seeking legal advice official “performance files” kept on Subscriptions from whatever source of expertise every teacher. Phone: (03) 8317 8147 is thought appropriate. The present Teachers face more bureaucratic Fax: (03) 9320 9065 Governor-General, Quentin Bryce controls, more work is required of Post: Quadrant Magazine, (who is qualified in law), recently them, with federal oversight, fed- Locked Bag 1235, sought advice from the Solicitor- eral regulations, federal reporting North Melbourne VIC 3051 General on a potential conflict and federal tracking of them. More E-mail: quadrantmagazine@ of interest (her son-in-law, Bill work and effort but not a cent more data.com.au Shorten, being a prominent minis- pay! Bravo Labor! ter in the Gillard government that These reforms are exactly the Publisher was facing an internal leadership things WorkChoices was proposing challenge with potential constitu- to introduce into teaching. Please Quadrant (ISSN 0033-5002) is published ten times a year by tional implications). explain, Kevin. A governor-general is not con- Quadrant Magazine Limited, Christopher Heathcote fined in the choice of legal experts. Suite 2/5 Rosebery Place, Keilor, Vic Balmain NSW 2041, Australia There are not only eminent legal ACN 133 708 424 practitioners to whom a governor- general may turn, but also academic Real Dangers Ahead Production lawyers who specialise in areas of the law relevant to the kind of issues SIR: Although I agree with many Design Consultant: Reno Design that arise for governors-general. of Paul Collits’s criticisms of anti- Art Director: Graham Rendoth Any such advice a governor- Western and exaggerated alarmist Printer: Ligare Pty Ltd general may seek must be entirely sentiments (July-August 2013), it 138–152 Bonds Road, independent from any perceived seems to me that he has overlooked Riverwood NSW 2210 bias or political influence and should the possibility that “watermelon Cover: Colours of Australia never be sought from someone who environmentalists” can some- “Heidelberg” may be called upon to judge the times be right, albeit for the wrong issues to which that advice relates. reasons. www.quadrant.org.au As several commentators have There have indeed been seven- observed, the events to which I teen years of approximately stable refer seem to at least ensure that average global temperatures, at 2 Quadrant September 2013 Letters about 0.5 degrees above 1950–75 deferred by the 1970s introduction 100, boundary 10! temperatures; so far this is empiri- of high-water-requiring high-yield Naturally, there are uncertain- cally at variance with climate mod- “Green Revolution” cereals and ties and debate concerning these ellers’ predictions of increasing other crops; yet, by 2010, about limits. But we lightly dismiss them temperature due to measured rapid 1 billion people suffered chronic at our peril. increases in global carbon dioxide hunger, and the number keeps All this doubtless reminds us of emissions. However, there is plenty rising. With no equivalent to the the Club of Rome’s 1970s predic- of reason for concern that addi- Green Revolution’s rapid increase tions of exhausted basic resources. tional heat energy in Earth’s mildly in food production currently in These were deferred by technologi- warmer atmosphere is strongly humankind’s “agricultural toolbox”, cal replacements, new discoveries, associated with increased frequency there are grave concerns at the pros- and so on. But for how far into the and severity of abnormal weather pects for feeding another 2 billion future? There are plenty of exam- events, for example, extreme heat increase in humankind. ples, from studies of ecological and waves in Europe, extreme cold Based on 2010 data, we in human population dynamics, of winters and snowfall in Europe and Australia each require 7.8 global population overshoot and collapse, USA (due to increased warming hectares (gha), defined as a hectare summarised by the MIGODS phe- causing arctic jet-stream penetra- with world-average ability to pro- nomenon: migration of a species tion down to lower latitudes), rapid duce food and resources and absorb into a new environment, innovation melting of polar sea ice and its wastes, to support our current of new ways of exploiting it, growth replacement by heat-absorbing lifestyle; one global average life- of population, overexploitation of open ocean, methane release from style needs 2.7 gha; the minimum available resources, decline of popu- melting permafrost, high-intensity productive area needed to sustain lation, until a new sustainable level storms and cyclones, and quite a lot one person’s most basic needs is is attained within its degraded envi- more. It is possible that we are see- 0.07 gha, assuming a mostly vege- ronment. We need to proceed with ing a brief abnormal pause in global tarian diet with minimal land deg- caution, with due regard for (sorry, warming due partly to increased radation, water shortages and waste Paul) sustainable limits to resource coal burning in China and India, disposal. The Stockholm Centre’s consumption, and for each nation’s with increased cooling particulate attempts to quantify global “safe population-carrying capacity. emissions. Pre-industrial carbon operating limits” (or “boundaries John O’Connor dioxide atmospheric concentration for a healthy planet”) for some Cottles Bridge, Vic was 280 parts per million; it was 387 essentials, in 2010, were as follows; ppm in 2010, rising at about 2 ppm in some densely populated regions, per year. The Stockholm Resilience these limits are locally exceeded: Brazil’s Slaves Centre (a worldwide team of sci- Land use (percentage of land entists) has proposed a “safe limit”, available for conversion to produc- SIR: Lincoln Wright, in his article within which humankind can tive cropland): then 11.7 per cent; on Brazil (July-August 2013), states safely operate without risking seri- limit 15 per cent.