http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/mitch-fifield/ Mitch was sworn in as Senator for Victoria in the Australian Parliament on 1 April 2004 and re-elected at the 2007 election. He was appointed the Shadow Minister for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector on 14 September 2010 and also serves as Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. Mitch is Chairman of the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee and a member of the Senate Select Committee on the Scrutiny of New Taxes. Before entering Parliament, Mitch worked as a senior political adviser to the former Federal Treasurer and held senior advisory positions in the Victorian and New South Wales state governments.  He also served as a reservist in the Australian Army Psychology Corps and studied politics at Sydney University.   en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/living-zionist-free-is-tutu-hard/ So Archbishop Desmond Tutu has congratulated the Marrickville Council for their temporary boycott of Israeli products. But living a Zionist-free life is actually much harder than most people probably think. This fact finally dawned on the Council earlier this year, when they were forced to concede that their attempt to boycott Israel as part of the global Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions campaign was “impractical and untenable.” Yet last week in the Federal Parliament, the Labor Party watered down a motion moved in the House of Representatives by Julie Bishop on the issue, voting to remove the condemnation of Marrickville Council contained in the original motion. The reasoning behind Labor’s refusal to condemn Marrickville Council remains opaque. Perhaps some Labor MPs are sympathetic to the goal of removing Zionism in all its forms from their lives, or perhaps they are just afraid to incur the wrath of their Greens allies, some of whom - including Marrickville Mayor Fiona Byrne - still advocate for “in-principle” support of the boycott. feeback@thepunch.com.au (Mitch Fifield) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/living-zionist-free-is-tutu-hard/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/living-zionist-free-is-tutu-hard/#item6025 Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:30:08 +0000 Mitch Fifield | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/auscorps-time-for-an-official-army-of-volunteers/ In the aftermath of the Brisbane floods Kevin Rudd cast himself in the role of volunteer-in-chief, wading through the waters in his uniform of rolled up chinos and sodden business shirt. It’s easy to be cynical, I guess. The real volunteers, of course, sought no recognition for their work. Over 22,000 of them, ably commanded by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, rolled though Brisbane to lend a hand. These volunteers are a testament to the Australian spirit of generosity and mateship. But Kevin Rudd could still do something genuinely useful to help the cause of volunteering. feeback@thepunch.com.au (Mitch Fifield) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/auscorps-time-for-an-official-army-of-volunteers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/auscorps-time-for-an-official-army-of-volunteers/#item5042 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:40:36 +0000 Mitch Fifield | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-the-opposition-its-not-our-job-to-just-roll-over/ ABC’s Insiders program rather cleverly used Kylie Minogue’s latest jingle - Get Out of My Way - as the soundtrack to their summary of the final week in Federal politics before Parliament adjourned for the year. It was the constant refrain of the Government in the last few weeks of Parliamentary sitting – that the Opposition should just “get out of the way” and pass through Parliament the legislation that will clear the way for the full roll-out of the National Broadband Network. Prime Minister Julia Gillard shrilled repeatedly during Question Time that the Opposition should “get out of the way” of the Government’s $43 billion white elephant. The Government argues that the Coalition is “anti-reform” for refusing to cave into Gillard and Conroy’s demands that we simply stand aside as legislation worth $43 billion of taxpayers’ money is put through the Parliament without a modicum of accountability. feeback@thepunch.com.au (Mitch Fifield) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-the-opposition-its-not-our-job-to-just-roll-over/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/were-the-opposition-its-not-our-job-to-just-roll-over/#item4704 Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:35:01 +0000 Mitch Fifield | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/spare-me-the-artists-pain-change-book-import-laws/ Australia’s creative industry has again shown its canny ability to frame a debate. The recent dispute over lifting restrictions on parallel book importation has been cast as a classic good versus evil battle. On the one side, we apparently have the noble educated patriots, boldly standing on the last line of defence for Australian culture, and on the other we have a mounting tide of sub-standard (foreign made) literature and a cabal of neo-liberal charlatans hell-bent on unleashing it on the young impressionable minds of Australian readers. Author Tim Winton says the Productivity Commission is “hostile to Australian rights.” Louise Adler, CEO of Melbourne University Press, launched a shrill attack on the Productivity Commission as “neo-liberals and economic fundamentalists.”  feeback@thepunch.com.au (Mitch Fifield) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/spare-me-the-artists-pain-change-book-import-laws/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/spare-me-the-artists-pain-change-book-import-laws/#item1348 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:55:36 +0000 Mitch Fifield | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/as-tempting-as-it-is-we-should-never-scrap-the-states/ Standing up for Federalism in the Federal Parliament has never been a particularly popular activity. It was even less popular in recent years in the Parliamentary Liberal Party when Liberals controlled the Federal Government and every state and territory was being mismanaged by the Labor Party. It’s understandable when you are part of a successful Federal Government, and witness daily examples of failures by your political opponents at a State level, to think the answer is to simply shift responsibility from State level to Federal level. And there have undoubtedly been serial failures by State Labor administrations in the areas of health, education and infrastructure. But is centralism the answer? feeback@thepunch.com.au (Mitch Fifield) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/as-tempting-as-it-is-we-should-never-scrap-the-states/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/as-tempting-as-it-is-we-should-never-scrap-the-states/#item1107 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:25:26 +0000 Mitch Fifield | Author bios | The Punch