Submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion
18 February 2026
Format of the submission
This submission generally follows the Commission's terms of reference. It relates itself to the behaviour of cognitive dynamics underpinning our thought processes. Human behaviour, whether on the scale of individuals or right up to societies, follows the laws of cognition regardless of what the specific content may be; just as the laws of physics determine the behaviour of electrical current, be that in a light bulb or anywhere else on the energy grid. And, as with electricity, the laws exist whether they are recognised or not. Examples are provided to underline their effects.
The following sections serve as subtopics for the purpose of general categorisation. When it comes to describe the nature of human activity systems, given the latter's innate nonlinearity (a main feature of cognitive dynamics), what can be seen as a particular category is in reality a domain interacting with the wider system throughout its life span. All the elements influence each other all the time - the question is to what extent they influence each other. Same here. As has often been said, antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine. There are bound to be overlaps which this submission needs to reflect.
Note that the brief references to cognitive dynamics are just that; they are not meant to serve as exhaustive explanations. As for the latter, see the Otoom website [1].
The sections are:
Human notions, memes
Hierarchies of concepts, effects
Religion
The world today
The law
Conclusion
References
The re-representative nature of the neuronal system in humans is not only the source of our ideations as a precursor to actions, it allows us to modify an idea before any action is taken.
Although that may seem utterly trivial, when it comes to the combined effects of ideation, memes and subsequent action, even at the present stage of human evolution the unquestioned acceptance of religion or any form of ideology demonstrates a rather profound ignorance of those effects.
Hierarchies of concepts, effects
As far as any reflection of outside information within the brain is concerned, such a re-representation of reality is being generated from birth onwards, step by step. It takes years to form a somewhat useful picture of our surrounds, and even then a deeper understanding of what reality actually means can be elusive. The meaning behind such words as 'child', 'maturity' and 'wisdom' hint at the awareness of the aforesaid to some degree.
Nature does not substitute, it adds. Just as in older cities the original layout can still be discerned, just as the human foetus still contains traces of the preliminary evolutionary stages, so do the subsequent re-representative layers across the brain's neurons get added to whatever happens to be there already.
That is why one's early childhood environment is so important, or, as the Jesuits already knew, 'give us a child till he's seven and we'll have him for life' [2]. In the current context a letter to NewScientist is particularly poignant given the situation in schools [3]. To quote from the letter, "This leads to the sort of conversation I had recently with a medical practitioner who claimed to believe in 'creation science' and who seemed to be totally unable to grasp the incongruity of his position."
Since a child's home environment is mostly determined by the parents, the inculcation of the parents' sentiments impacts the re-representative quality of the growing child's brain in a substantial manner. Later in life differing notions can emerge, but they will always relate in some way or form to those previously held. It doesn't matter if later an idea should be the direct opposite - the fact that it is recognised as an opposite means the other still exists. For that reason alone any re-education programs can never be totally relied upon.
Human brains have the capacity to hold ideations, and their content is not necessarily amenable to conscious evaluation. Ideations do survive.
The neuronal development in individuals can readily be transposed into the larger scale of society.
For most of our history the dynamics - or mechanics - of reality were mostly hidden from human understanding. Because the abstractive quality of human thought seeking some meaning in our surrounds virtually demands an explanation with or without any facts at hand (see above), interpretations were created which had to be satisfactory to their minds under the circumstances. Quite literally this resulted in the remarks of the type 'there be monsters' added to any area on maps for which geographical details had not been available. Phantasy can also still the fear of the unknown.
Those interpretations naturally used the situatedness of the human collective in order to give its members the overall direction they needed. From that nexus emerged the concepts of supernatural, ie imaginary, beings in relation to the sun, the waters, crops, animals, etc, as well as human (inter)actions and desires. Since for any positive there is bound to be a negative in life, anything 'good' was associated with positive beings and anything negative with their opposite. Labels such as 'god' and 'angel' as well as 'devil' and 'demon' served their respective purposes.
The characteristics of the human collective gave rise to power structures, their discriminatory potency, and measures of indoctrination. From priests to military commanders the concepts were also put to good use for confidence building regardless how delusional their source may have been.
Eventually inquiring minds here and there lifted the veil from the manifestations of reality and their reasons behind and thereby countered the erstwhile perceptions imposed by religion. The arguably most effective improvement was accomplished by the European Enlightenment - no more witches and their burnings, the earth did indeed revolve around the sun, being a heretic no longer meant a death sentence.
The most perilous path towards understanding existed under those religions whose conceptual framework represented a spiritual dictatorship, that is one god, one rule, with nothing else permitted. Words were modified accordingly. Hence for a believer the expression, "Behold God's love! Embrace it or we'll kill you" can seem quite acceptable.
As it happened, Christianity mellowed as a consequence of the Enlightenment. For example, in 2021 Cardinal Ferrer was compelled to declare, "we [the Catholic Church] have not always acknowledged the profound changes that have taken place in the Church and in the Roman Curia in recent times" [4]. Yet in pre-Enlightenment days the unforgiving nature of the Christian Church could be compared to the rule of the Taliban today, ISIS even [5].
Note however that it took centuries for the change to have some effect, and even then it was mainly limited to demographics within which the constant push towards logic and reason was available. Humans gain a deep personal satisfaction from the comfort provided by religion. The deep personal satisfaction was not unseated by the resultant intolerance on open display, nor by the systemic mutilation of their children, nor by the screams of those having their limbs crushed and their bodies burnt alive, nor by the convulsions of the victims as the priest ripped the living pulsing heart out of their chests; nor seeing how their entire society self-destructs. Egocentricity at its finest.
It matters what types of human behaviour a religious dogma subordinates. For example, a twisted morality with its psychological disorders, questionable personal hygiene and muted intellectual dexterity go hand in hand and had been a hallmark of European society for centuries, in stark contrast to cultures without such fetters, as numerous historical accounts attest [6]. Their aftermath remains to this day.
Islam and its subjects on the other hand never had similar resets and today it is as raw as it always had been for the past 1400 years. Hence when it comes to the intensity of religious commitment, being 'Christian' no longer carries the same connotations as being 'Muslim'.
One by-product of modern attitudes is the growing blindness to vehement mindsets. Now being tolerant oneself the sheer force of the opposite is no longer understood.
Looking forward from the present and searching for a new beginning is commendable, but the past has its own legacy and must not be dismissed.
The religions of this world played their part in the formation of societies, nations and empires. The ebb and flow of ideology exists in tandem with the politics at any time.
What matters is to what extent an ideological and/or religious interpretation addresses the demands of reality as it is understood. For example, in 1900 there was an outbreak of the plague in Sydney as well as in San Francisco. In San Francisco the Chinese were forced into restricted areas corresponding to widespread racism towards Chinese immigrants [7]. In Sydney they hunted down the rats [8].
Worldwide the intensity of religion can be used as a general guide to a nation's standards. In Demographic orientations [9] the average life expectancy, infant mortality, literacy, GDP per capita and the existence of capital punishment are compared between countries and their religions. The higher the religious intensity, the lower the standards and vice versa (there are some exceptions and for good reason; see the article).
Such is that influence that the present Commission was deemed necessary.
Christianity has been instrumental in formatting the politics behind European exploration, expansion and colonisation with all their consequences. Once its belief system had been mitigated slavery was abolished and colonisation was regarded in a more empathic light.
Islam on the other hand did not change. Throughout its history the religion had expanded vigorously and the current geo-political layout is testimony to its underlying conquest-focused traits.
Using the statistics derived from the Seshat project [10] and published in the book Figuring Out The Past [11], there are seven direct listings of major Islamic societies which featured special taxes on non-Muslims and/or slavery: (1) Abbasid caliphate (p. 80), (2) Mali Empire (p. 111), (3) Mamluk sultanate (p. 114), (4) Ottoman Emirate (p. 131), (5) Safavid Empire (p. 138), (6) Mughal Empire (p. 142), (7) Ottoman Empire (p. 188). Their influences can still be identified today. Of course, those entities were not the only ones that practised conquest, but nowhere else had it been such an integral part of an ongoing ideology.
At times slavery was forced to be less obvious due to exterior pressures (for example, the British ending the slave trade in Zanzibar which flourished under the sultans up until the 19th century [12], although in essence slavery still exists today such as in Saudi Arabia [13]).
Sometimes the hints are more subtle. In the travel section of one of the Courier Mail's weekend editions comparisons are made between two Indonesian islands, Bali and Lombok [14]. Under the Lombok entry we read, "Bali grew into the party island it is largely because of the looser restrictions allowed by Hinduism". Yet behind that innocuous sentence hides the violent history of Indonesia's islamisation [15]. Many more historical sources about Muslim conquest are provided in Words matter: on the National Response to Islamophobia [16].
The current state of the world illustrates the effects of domination through conquest. This also includes their potential, that is attempts at achieving dominance by applying a consistent pressure. Nations thus targeted seek to protect themselves using their military and security agencies.
Pressure can also be applied in a more indirect manner. Affinitive interest groups being harnessed to a political agenda, demonstrations being infiltrated by certain activists, tendentious social media posts, they all can be employed in the service of outside interests. Security agencies (such as Australia's ASIO [17]) are well aware of those threats. For examples from here and abroad (including in academia) see the social experiment [18].
In terms of sheer potential, direct and indirect threats can emerge from a cognitive default position; that is to say, an existing attitudinal framework which puts the owner at loggerheads with their surrounds, usually in the case of immigrants coming from a substantially different culture compared to their new host. Even if the discrepancy is not intentional, when coming face to face with their new environment the more deeply held beliefs can make themselves felt since they subconsciously determine one's behaviour [19].
How those undercurrents format people's perceptions can be seen in the various opinions furnished by Muslims to persuade Australian politicians to adopt measures against what is perceived to be Islamophobia. Subjective beliefs override a continuum of adversarial behaviour, examples of which are listed in the aforementioned Words matter: on the National Response to Islamophobia [16].
Notions and memes spread across societies and exert a substantial influence on politicians and the laws they come up with.
In a parliamentary democracy the situatedness of a rule set derives its practicality from the confluence of three sources: (1) the law makers (politicians), (2) the law administrators (judiciary, security services), and (3) the citizens going through their daily lives. All three answer to the cognitive dynamics playing their part for various reasons; crossovers can occur but are not a given.
Politicians design a law according to their perception of a need. Administrators determine the applicability of a law within the juridical framework. Citizens are faced with the consequences should they run foul of any of its content. And the ambience of the populace feeds back into the political arena.
Employing a more critical view one can say that the intent behind a law does not necessarily agree with the resultant effect; adjudication may not always resonate with the general population; citizens become disrespectful if their own opinions happen to differ and so they undermine the efficacy of parliament.
Note the potentially insular nature of those three spheres. Mutual discrepancies as a consequence undermine social cohesion and at the extreme end they can even lead to revolutions, a fundamental reset of society's framework.
A nation's social cohesion relies on the congruence among those three main sources (the social contract), and the severity of disruption derives from the conceptual distance between one's core identity and the perception of this or that issue. The hierarchy of concepts is therefore instrumental, be that within the mind of an individual or across the society.
For example, at a recent Australia Day rally held on the 26th of January an Aboriginal man burnt the Australian flag as a protest against what indigenous people see as invasion of their culture by the colonisers 200 years ago [20]. There were calls for making such an act illegal, with civil liberties lawyer Terry O'Gorman arguing against it. That article was followed by an opinion piece by O'Gorman in which he outlined his reasons [21]. In the current context it is worth quoting from the latter.
"However [O'Gorman wrote], in any charge brought arising from a public flag-burning incident, a court would consider whether there was a danger of violence, intimidation or targeted harassment or was it a peaceful political protest." "Case law from the High Court of Australia and various state and territory Appeal Courts have held that protest conduct, even disruptive protest, cannot be banned merely because it is unpopular and confronting." And, "Further it has been ruled by superior courts that offensive and insulting political speech remains protected unless it crosses into real disorder or intimidation."
Consider the dynamics represented by "violence, intimidation", "peaceful political protest", "High Court of Australia", "Appeal Courts", and the rulings by "superior courts".
Mr O'Gorman's knowledge of the law not being in question, we can say that the legal significance of, in this case, a burning of the flag, stands below that exercised by the upper echelons of Australia's judiciary. In turn, that arrangement stands for what the entire nation is taken to mean. But does it?
If 'Australia' represents a large-scale human activity system, then its subsystems defined under the points (1) to (3) mentioned above would need to contribute to its overall validity, otherwise the system itself becomes compromised. Thus to rearrange the entire hierarchy in terms of what has been constructed within the legal framework of a subsystem produces an incongruence. Hence burning the flag is not only about any - local - incitement to violence or otherwise, it constitutes a wilful abrogation of what a national flag actually stands for as a whole.
The feedback loop via the cognitive dynamics (from parliament to the law to individuals' sentiments and back to the top) has closed, confirmed by the fact that indigenous activists do call for their own sovereignty [22], and at an anti-Israel protest a senator (no less) threatened to "burn down" parliament, leading to an investigation by the Australian Federal Police [23]. The crossover between indigenous sentiments and antisemitism can be observed and so becomes relevant here (and of course, so is the connection with the Islamic religion).
Since cognitive dynamics reflect the reality of the situation (in contrast to perception, that what the situation is believed to be), in practical terms the society can hardly be called cohesive.
Another example would be the often heard resentments by Torres Strait islanders as they stand on their pristine beaches fringed by palm trees and with their traditional food in the azure waters, lamenting the encroachment by an industrial state. What they don't see (and possibly cannot see) is what exists in the vast ocean and beyond: The nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers with their guided missiles, populations measured in their billions, international economies with their powerful reach, and global confrontations tearing at the status quo. Yet there is no one to tell them. To draw an analogy, you may build your house to suit your personal taste but when the tectonic plates shift underneath you'd better heed the laws of physics.
The more complex the human activity system, therefore the more contact points it has with its surrounds, the greater the likelihood its actions will chafe against that overarching reality. Builders of stage coaches can afford to be idiosyncratic, but modern buses are far more unforgiving.
In decades past Australia had enjoyed a relative tranquility compared to other nations. International relations had to be navigated but internally the perceptions and/or ideologies were managed by its political parties. In the 21st century the gravitational centre of its demographic composition has moved. Moreover, the traditionally employed demarcations along race and culture no longer apply when it comes to memetic behaviour influenced by social media, including cultural blocs beyond the country's borders. AI can be used to create self-fulfilling prophesies. Members of political parties are not necessarily synchronous with the parties' official designation. Social cohesion, if derived from a broadly shared culture, becomes fragmented due to the multitude of perceptions. So far the political class could entertain a certain nonchalance because its members never had to confront the havoc created by ideology within so many other populations. Yet Australia never really had been totally immune from delusional disruption, with Jews being one group that could already recognise the emerging signs because they had seen them before elsewhere.
It starts with language. When longer-term residents have trouble expressing themselves in English, not only has their relationship with the rest been compromised, wider society finds it difficult to interact with them. This includes the feedback loop mentioned earlier regarding the law. Acquiring the language of one's host society is a sign of respect (somewhat along the lines of 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery'), and how much this will be welcomed can be experienced by any traveller who attempts even only a few foreign words and sees the appreciative reaction by the locals.
Next to language we have the insularity caused by demographic clustering. The suggestion by former prime minister Scott Morrison to have Islamic texts translated into English was met with opprobrium [24]. Since the Koran itself remains hardly read by non-Muslims, the deliberate recasting of its content for general consumption is made possible. On the other hand, there is Excerpts from the Koran [25]. (It is interesting to note the fundamental change in European societies triggered by the translation of the Christian Bible into languages that the average reader could actually understand [26].) As it is, the juridical framework is unable to address the cohesion-disrupting factors embedded within Australian society. With Hitler's Mein Kampf on the other hand there are no such problems; its aggressive content is too well known.
Isolationist clusters enable their members to engage in practices which otherwise would find opposition if exposed to their surrounds. The Australian Federal Police has provided specially trained officers to deal with forced marriage [27], and reports of this issue have risen from 91 in 2023-24 to 118 in 2024-25 [28]. Schools are asked to identify such incidents because "potential victims are often being school-aged". Forced marriages are not restricted to Islamic cultures, but the dynamics related to exclusivity on one hand and elimination made possible due to inclusivity stand out. The figures also demonstrate the increasing lack of cohesion in the country overall.
Within the - however realistic - view on social cohesion there nevertheless exist what can be described as social pyramids [29]. Based on the concept of the crime pyramid where at the top we have the actual thief for example, below the few outlets for the stolen goods and at the bottom the many customers who buy the goods, the same can be applied to any concept that motivates people. The motivational intensity decreases down its layers with a corresponding increase in the number of their respective associates, although outside prompts can force members to migrate upwards because they have become more engaged.
The essential difference between such pyramids lies in their contents. The more pyramids there are, and the more their contents diverge from the mainstream, the more problematic the composition of the entire society becomes. The danger is further heightened when the lower layers are mostly hidden from general view and the top shows itself only now and then.
The pyramids' content also supports the trend towards isolation. Disparate mindsets are likely to avoid contact with the rest in order to preserve their identity, with sometimes disastrous results. In 2022 a girl's religion-obsessed parents prevented her from receiving medical treatment because in their minds it was their god who would come to the rescue [30]. As a consequence the girl died. Keeping away from the mainstream is typical of cults.
Home schooling is another case in point. Data relevant to Australia show an increase of 110% from 20,260 in 2018 to 42,452 in 2022 [31]. The authors note that not all children are registered as such and the true figures may well be higher. The top four reasons given by parents are, (1) religious instruction, (2) a calling from God, (3) concerns about curriculum at other schools, (4) concerns about other schools' adherence to parental choices. Keeping children at home does not contribute to their wider socialisation and the parents' motives reflect the isolationist trend.
Even the incidents of dog attacks would be pertinent here since we are essentially dealing with social mammals and underlying dynamics. Across Queensland's largest council areas dog attacks occur at leat 124 times per week [32]. The consensus among dog trainers is that many internet posts falsely advise owners against letting their pets interact to keep them "safe".
These issues point to the inherently fragile nature of legal frameworks. The law does not represent an inviolate structure of absolutist rules, rather a however temporary merger of mutual agreements between people who have recognised its usefulness for certain purposes under particular conditions. This forms the uncomfortable background behind the factors (1) to (3) referred to earlier. For that reason any protection against such instability may not be found within the usual domains since by their very nature their scopes are limited by the assumption the law is robust; moreover, the domains themselves tend to be of the reactionary type. Further still, the instrumentalities employed within the domains to uphold the law rely for their existence on those selfsame agreements and so are just as fragile in the end.
On the international scale the weakness can be observed in the case of Russia's incursion into Ukraine, and in the European Union's steady decline of its military when after the end of the Cold War the erstwhile threats were deemed to have disappeared (perhaps less wine and dine and more spine is in order). In any case, the belief that something doesn't exist because it is not apparent is a common error in human thinking. The constant reference to international law and its transgressions reveals the discomfort in so many quarters should what is called the 'established order' have been overturned simply because someone made it so after all.
The mutual interdependence between the elements comprising human activity systems ensures that the associated memes find their way into affinitive demographics here and there. National borders offer no protection.
In principle human behaviour has remained the same over the millennia, only the means have changed. Advanced technology in general and far more powerful weapons together with the ubiquitous use of the internet in particular, have lent an additional potency to so many traditional sentiments, preferences and antagonisms. As always, governments seek to address the effects but the modern-day complexity of demographics raises the effects' potential to new heights.
The one consistent major driver behind people's motives has been - and still is - religion, that is some form of spiritual ideology while their secular counterparts may come and go (which is not to say the latter cannot have disastrous consequences in any case). Attempts to somehow abolish such influences altogether are not only unrealistic, they can be so counterproductive the cure is worse than the disease.
Yet mitigation to some degree is necessary because the globalisation and hence interconnectedness of deleterious memes no longer spares any nation on this earth. As for the costs, it is now a matter of not being able to afford to leave things as they are. As Albert Einstein said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." [33].
Since this Commission refers to Australia and this nation being a parliamentary democracy, any policies need to be situated within the democratic structure. A democracy, for all its advantages, also has its weak points; loop holes that can be exploited to undermine its overall efficacy.
Bertrand Russell, whose work History of Western Philosophy [34] certainly proves his own intellectual dexterity, presents his take on U.S. populism:
"According to the popular American conception of 'democracy' not only are one man's political rights as great as those of another, but his intellectual judgement is equally to be respected on all points. On topics from medicine to astronomy, opinions are allowed the same weight as that of a man who has spent his life in studying the question at issue; indeed, if popular passion is roused, the opinion has the greater weight, because more people agree. 'Democracy' is interpreted as meaning that the majority knows best about everything. The prevalent feeling in America, except among the highly educated minority, is that such questions of expertise should be decided, not by those who have studied them, but by the prejudices of the ignorant majority." [35]
Although written at the end of World War II, the relevance to current attitudes should be obvious.
As a general rule, the overbearing presence of religions can be compared to our approach to natural events such as floods. It would be useless to fight them per se, but it is possible to redirect their forces so they become less destructive. On a similar note, we provide special tunnels under highways to prevent traversing animals from colliding with the traffic; one can't wish away the animals, nor can we do without the highways.
Governments play their role in setting down certain preconditions which redirect their citizens' behaviour. As alluded to in the above quote by Russell, the majority, like market forces, does not act in the interests of the entire system, the nation. Both follow the laws of their specific dynamics and those are not necessarily in sync with the wider system. What happens under 'mob rule' is a demonstration of just that. Market forces determine the costs of building houses, yet thousands of homeless can be the result.
The pitfalls of democracy are described in Democracy: out in the cold? [36]. Behind it all stands the question: If democracy is about tolerance, how tolerant should one be towards intolerance?
The sheer number of source countries making up Australia's migrant intake can be gleaned from the table provided by the Department of Home Affairs [37]. It would be fanciful to imagine that all these immigrants' believes, concepts and expectations would suddenly be in perfect alignment with those of their new home. At the same time, they are expected to participate in the democratic process.
The idea of 'multiculturalism', so beloved of many politicians, is somewhat disingenuous. If we were truly multicultural any traits of the cultures imported from overseas would be equally honoured as those already here. Hence no laws about marriage customs, morality in general, nor any habits practised by the newcomers. Clearly, this is not so, and despite the exhortation to practise 'respect' and 'diversity' they are applied rather selectively, such as Muslim parents being allowed to wrap their daughters from head to toe no matter how hot and humid the weather, but have a harmless Yogi sit naked in the park and watch what happens (more or less in line with, you can have any colour you like as long as it's black - and some colours are indeed better than others).
Using logic at least there is the potential for agreement, whereas with selectivity based on dogma the arguments are endless. At the same time, perceptions about others held by - mostly home-grown - decision makers are usually derived from the impressions gained through the common mode of travel making use of hotel staff, reception committees, tour guides, the sterile displays of the local culture, and the like. They may not be the same as those encountered when mixing with the local population; in other words, experiencing a society from the ground up.
In that superficial view there are no differences between demographics well adapted to modern times and others who fall short as demonstrated by nations that surge ahead, others that are mostly stagnant, and others still that are falling behind if not collapse altogether. Consequently, immigration policies are not as realistic as they should be.
If the recruiting officer of a company is in the habit of selecting unsuitable candidates they would be sacked; if done deliberately, the police would be called. Yet when it comes to selecting immigrants for an entire country, due diligence is thrown out the window.
Since religion forms the main background to just about any culture, the prevalence of private schools, most of which serve the religious inculcation in children, are a constant source of ideology injected into society. Not only is such influence ongoing, it is of a kind that is particularly difficult to counter when the secular and rational interests of the nation are at stake. Well may the Commission support social cohesion, yet those schools ensure its hands are tied.
Abolishing religious schools, while letting the parents practise their religion if they must, would contribute to what could be termed a spiritual neutrality as far as society as a whole is concerned. The present situation is illogical, just as it would make no sense for a nation to practise political neutrality and then allowing foreign military bases on its home ground.
At present spiritual neutrality does not exist. Amidst the laws and amendments there is one option that is absent: freedom from religion. The Basic Charter (article 4) would be a place to start [38].
Governmental initiatives carry a political cost, but disparate concepts undermining social cohesion are far more costly in the end. As has been seen, resentment can turn into anger, rage even. Then the response by governments hardens in tandem (unless society is allowed to simply disintegrate). Unmitigated extremism pushes the envelope into dangerous directions and from there into possible scenarios: Budgets falter due to the increasing pressure; security agencies draw resources away from the general infrastructure; censorship tightens ever more; governance turns into a form of elitism in order to rule clearly defined castes; with prisons overflowing a modern version of lobotomy becomes viable; the death penalty is reintroduced; the mass deportation of entire groups. And, of all the various sections making up society, in the end which would congeal into the dominant one to set the government's agenda?
Whatever will find its way into the Commission's report and from then on into official policy, human frailty will accompany any actions. For all the magnificence achieved by individuals, as a species we cannot be trusted - and so visionary plans will be restrained by the hand of mediocrity, in itself stayed by the inevitable shortcomings so natural to humans.
It may well be that this is the best we can hope for.
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A guide and/or introduction to the website is For first-time visitors, https://www.otoom.net/firsttimevisitors.htm.
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S Wolpert, A New History of India, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.
M Pembroke, Silk, Silver, Opium: The Trade with China that Changed History, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2025.
W Dalrymple, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2024.
R Crowley, Spice: The 16th Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World, Yale University Press, London, 2025.
G Milton, Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 2002.
R Tannahill, Sex in History, Abacus, London, 1979.
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8. Bubonic Plague Comes To Sydney in 1900, The University of Sydney School of Medicine, Sydney, Australia, https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine/museum/mwmuseum/index.php/Bubonic_Plague_comes_to_Sydney_in_1900. Accessed 25 January 2026.
9. M Wurzinger, Demographic orientations, 10 February 2016, https://www.otoom.net/demographicorientations.htm.
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16. M Wurzinger, Words matter: on the National Response to Islamophobia, 28 September 2025, https://www.otoom.net/wordsmatter.htm.
17. Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, https://www.asio.gov.au/. Accessed 26 January 2026.
18. M Wurzinger, the social experiment, 11 February 2022, https://www.otoom.net/thesocialexperiment.htm.
19. D Wegesin, Reassessing Your Long-Held Beliefs: Can you change your mind's programming?, Psychology Today, 2006 Sussex Publishers, LLC, 1 August 2022, https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/present-in-this-moment/202208/reassessing-your-long-held-beliefs. Accessed 27 January 2026.
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21. T O'Gorman, Why flag burning is price of freedom, The Courier Mail, Brisbane, 29 January 2026.
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26. J Pradhan, Bridging Centuries and Cultures: The Cultural, Linguistic, Historical, and Literary Influence of Bible Translations Over Years, International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol (6), Issue (4), April (2025), Page - 6396-6403, https://ijrpr.com/uploads/V6ISSUE4/IJRPR42318.pdf. Accessed 1 February 2026.
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