As the 21st century proceeds apace, Australia faces new and old challenges, both domestically and internationally. These include managing complex governance issues, preventing democratic fracture, balancing an ever- shifting geopolitical strategic order, addressing the recognition and identity demands of marginalised groups, and responding to crises and urgent policy challenges, such as climate change. Bonotti, Miragliotta, and the other contributors to this volume analyse and evaluate the challenges which confront Australia by locating them in their national and comparative context. The various contributions reveal that while these challenges are neither novel nor unique to Australia, the way in which they manifest and Australia’s responses to them are shaped by the country’s distinctive history, culture, geography, location, and size. The chapters offer a cutting- edge analysis of these pressing challenges faced by Australia and offer reflections on how to address them. The book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of Australian politics, and of comparative politics in a global perspective.

As the 21st century proceeds apace, Australia faces new and old challenges, both domestically and internationally. These include managing complex governance issues, preventing democratic fracture, balancing an ever-shifting geo-political strategic order, addressing the recognition and identity demands of marginalised groups, and responding to crises and urgent policy challenges, such as climate change. Bonotti, Miragliotta and the other contributors to this volume analyse and evaluate the challenges which confront Australia by locating them in their national and comparative context. The various contributions reveal that while these challenges are neither novel nor unique to Australia, the way in which they manifest and Australia's responses to them are shaped by the country's distinctive history, culture, geography, location, and size. The chapters offer a cutting-edge analysis of these pressing challenges faced by Australia and offer reflections on how to address them. The book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of Australian politics, and of comparative politics in a global perspective

On 2 September 2008, in a valley in eastern Afghanistan, Trooper Mark Donaldson made a split - second decision that would change his life. His display of extraordinary courage that day saw him awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, making him the first Australian to receive our highest award for bravery in wartime since Keith Payne in 1969. Yet Mark's journey to those crucial moments in Afghanistan was almost as exceptional as the acts that led to his VC. He was a rebellious child and teenager, even before the death of his father - a Vietnam veteran - when Mark and his brother were in their mid - teens. A few years later, their mother disappeared, presumed murdered. Her body has never been found. Mark's decisions could have easily led him down another path, to a life of self - destructiveness and petty crime. But he chose a different road: the army. It proved to be his salvation and he found himself a natural soldier, progressing unerringly to the SAS, the peak of the Australian military. From his turbulent early years to the stark realities of combat in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan, Mark's book is the frank and compelling story of a man who turned his life around by sheer determination and strength of mind.

Australia. Monograph on economic and social development trends from 1950 to 1978 and projections to the year 2000 - covers technological change, mineral resources, energy sources, trade, economic growth, population dynamics, employment, agricultural development and industrial development, etc. Bibliography pp. 289 to 298, graphs and statistical tables.