Excruciating Moments

Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosphy?
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine -
Unweave a rainbow, as it ersewhile made
The under-person'd Lamia melt into the shade.

John Keats

I'm in the Blue Mountains; it's misty in the beauty of the trees, and cold, for the first time in a long time, the hint of the end of summer. But it's the constant drizzling rain everyone talks about. The mystical shapes of the gums; the retreated, quiet houses isolated in the bush; the mist and the drizzle coating everything with atmosphere. It's been years and years since it's rained like this. El Nino has turned to La Nina, the city's dams, once hitting crisis point at 30%, have now doubled; and the hapless hopeless moronic Morris Iemma, Premier God knows why of NSW, has declared there will be no cuts in water restrictions. Partly, of course, because he has to justify spending billions, literally billions, on a desalination plant which everyone thinks will benefit his cronies at Macquarie Bank more than it will benefit the people of the state. Where the truth lies no one knows, because like everything this hopeless government does, it is shrouded in secrecy.

Australia is veering towards saying sorry; and whether it will be an historic moment in Australia, hugely, hugely significant as I said on radio the other day, an unblocking of the pipes and a great step forward towards reconciliation between mainstream and indigenous Australia, only time will tell. But so much policy has been an abject failure. So much of the country is an absolute mess. The conservatives, as ever utterly hopeless communicators and utterly inept in their ability to express themselves and their standpoints, look old, racist, colonialist; just abject fools. Howard left them all lurching in their own vomit; choking on their own greed, surrounded by wealth and utterly unable to even understand what is happening on the ground. Five minutes ago they were denying there was even such a thing as mortgage stress; that it was something made up by that evil Labor government. Five minutes ago they wouldn't say sorry.

And there are logical reasons to query the whole sorry business; not now, it's a steamroller, symbolism is important and it has become a force, a magnificently expensive tax payer funded force, based on a one sided and biased Bringing Them Home report which didn't interview both sides of the story; and many of the present problems are due to the problems in that report, which indeed first recommended the national apology. But when the nation was on the move, campaigning for reconciliation and there was good will right across the land to fix past wrongs and to move on together, Howard refused to say sorry. Instead, in a way which deepened even further the Left's loathing of him, he expressed deep regret. Deep regret wouldn't do it, and more ammunition was handed to the other side.

And now, now Brendan Nelson has come out, finally, ineptly, and said the Liberals will support an apology. It's reluctant, it's half hearted, and it makes them look terrible. When there's a tsunami on the way, get out of the way. There were reasons to object, and they could have carried the country with them, but by sitting on the fence, as they did with so many other issues, including family law and child support reform, they've been cut to ribbons. I have no sympathy, except for all those people they've screwed, all those people who put their faith in them. It will be a long time now before a conservative government is back in power. It was let leaked that after two weeks debate, in their party room meeting, Brendan Nelson showed real leadership. Oh really. The story had to be leaked because Malcolm Turnbull, an unstoppable force of nature, is at his heels, ready and waiting, the natural alternative to resurrect them and move forward.

Instead, hapless and hopeless. But at least not as hopeless as Labor's Morris Iemma at state level. Wherever you go, from taxi drivers to smart little professional parties, the diagnosis is the same: Iemma's useless, completely useless. Yet he stays on. He makes another fool himself in front of another television camera, his minders grimace because even they can see how bad he's coming across; and we pay tax and we pay tax; to support multiple layers of idiocy.

For a minute it looked like Kevin Rudd might believe in good governance. Already the gloss is starting to wane, the slickness peeling off, "picfacs" only; as they manipulate the press to make themselves look good. And will all be lost; or the will turn; a new and triumphant nation, a new and triumphant people, will look with hope on a new era. Not today they won't.

THE BIGGER STORY:


The Archbishop of Canterbury is said to be overwhelmed by the "hostility of the response" after his call for parts of Sharia law to be recognised in the UK.
Friends of Dr Rowan Williams say he is in a state of shock and cannot believe the criticism from his own Church.

All the main political parties, secular groups and some senior Muslims have expressed dismay at his comments.

However, the Bishop of Hulme, the Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, criticised the "disgraceful" treatment of Dr Williams.

Legal code

The BBC understands from sources who work on Christian-Muslim interfaith issues that Dr Williams has faced a barrage of criticism from within the Church and has been genuinely taken aback by how his words were received.

He's not fit to be Archbishop of Canterbury, he doesn't seem to know what his own business is

Islamic Sharia law is a legal and social code designed to help Muslims live their daily lives, but it has proved controversial in the West for the extreme nature of some of its punishments.

BBC News religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says both traditionalists and liberals in the Church have their own reasons for criticising Dr Williams.

Traditionalists maintain that English law is based on Biblical values and that no parallel system could be tolerated in the UK.

Liberal Anglicans believe giving Sharia legal status would be to the detriment of women and gay people.

Resignation call

Among those critical of the archbishop is the chairman of evangelical Church group Reform, the Reverend Rod Thomas.

SHARIA LAW
Sharia law is Islam's legal system
It is derived from the Koran and the life of the prophet Mohammed
Sharia rulings help Muslims understand how they should lead their lives
A formal legal ruling is called a fatwa
In the West, Sharia courts deal mainly with family and business issues
English law recognises religious courts as a means of arbitration

"The Church at the moment, and the country, needs a clear lead. The country is itself in a debate about its own sense of identity," he said.

"The moral values that we pursue are ones that we need to know are clearly grounded, and it would be most helpful for the leader of the Church to be able to explain to people how the values we cherish stem from our Christian tradition."

UKIP MEP Gerard Batten said it would be the "thin end of the wedge" and called on the archbishop to resign.

He said: "I think he's shown he is totally unfit for the role he undertakes. He's not fit to be Archbishop of Canterbury, he doesn't seem to know what his own business is, and he's not fit to sit in the House of Lords. I think he should go."

'Hysterical misrepresentations'

However, there has been some support for Dr Williams.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said it was grateful for the archbishop's "thoughtful intervention".

The organisation added that it was saddened by the "hysterical misrepresentations" of his speech, which would only "drive a wedge between British people".

There is, and should only be, one law which covers all people and to suggest it can be otherwise is to seriously damage our rights
Patricia London, UK
Send us your commentsMuhammed Abdul Bari, Secretary-General of the MCB, said: "The archbishop is not advocating implementation of the Islamic penal system in Britain.

"His recommendation is confined to the civil system of Sharia law, and only in accordance with English law and agreeable to established notions of human rights."

The archbishop had been "ridiculed" and "lampooned" by some people, according to Bishop Lowe.

"We have probably one of the greatest and the brightest Archbishops of Canterbury we have had for many a long day," he said.

Catherine Heseltine, from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, said some people might be getting the wrong end of the stick.

"I'm concerned this debate is getting out of control because people hear the word Sharia and instantly scary images of beheadings," she said.

Dr Williams told BBC Radio 4 on Thursday that he believed the adoption of some Sharia law in the UK seemed "unavoidable".

In an interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, Dr Williams said Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".