It seems an odd use of the talents of someone who, by all accounts, has many.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s appointment on Sunday of Quentin Bryce to the position of Governor-General has seen her abilities and values lauded from all quarters.

Surely, though, Ms Bryce – lawyer, lecturer, gender advocate, chair of a multitude of important national bodies, little bush battler and lately Queensland Governor – could have been found a better use for her talents than a largely ceremonial, and increasingly moribund, role as the Queen’s representative in Australia.

Mr Rudd has won praise for his apology to the Stolen Generation, his upcoming 2020 Summit, his confrontation with the Chinese over Tibet and now the appointment of Ms Bryce.

It is to be hoped for the sake of our indigenous population, the nation’s future and the advocacy of human rights that those initiatives have more substance than the last.

Those who have been so quick to measure Ms Bryce’s appointment as symbolic of the final emergence of women to an equal footing with men should consider just what the role entails.

There is no doubt that in the scheme of things, being appointed Governor-General of Australia after being Governor of Queensland since 2003 is career advancement of a kind.

But is it actually any more than just a bigger house, bigger salary, bigger staff and bigger stage for someone who will effectively continue to be a well-spoken, spectacularly coiffed clothes horse fulfilling a role of no substance beyond an expensive nod to the past – effectively the embodiment of a 1960s Women’s Day Australia?

I would have thought such an appointment would be considered an insult yet disturbingly, given that it is 2008 this year, it is being devoured as some great leap forward in the emancipation of women.

We really do have a way to go.

Why we don’t measure up

Singapore, meanwhile, is showing just how far you can go if you have the will and political leadership.

The small, powerful island state may not be the embodiment of all to which we aspire but its lead on recycling shows what is possible.

It was announced on Monday that Singapore will meet its target of 60% recycling of all rubbish by 2012. Last year 54% of the island’s 5.6 million tonnes of waste was recycled, up from only 40% seven years ago.

Hopefully our own Prime Minister will move quickly from the symbolism of the early days of office to real goals and targets and measurable outcomes on many of the environmental challenges facing Australia.

Until we start valuing the environment as the core of national sustainability the integrity of the ecosystems that support life on this continent will continue to be eroded regardless of how many fine words are spoken in their defence.

Old practices and bad habits survive for as long as they are allowed. It is time for Mr Rudd to set direction, name targets and get on with it.

How to make homes unaffordable

Property analyst Michael McNamara, who heads Australian Property Monitors, took a long overdue swipe at the Howard government’s first home buyers’ grant for not only being hugely wasteful of the national purse, but also being responsible for the lack of housing affordability it was meant to address.

Introduced ostensibly to offset the impact of Howard’s GST the First Home Buyer’s Grant - first at $7000 and then at $14,000 - dumped billions of dollars into the property market.

What followed was the property boom which made some spectacularly wealthy but which has resulted in over-valued markets and first home buyers locked out of the game.

"Any time you divert taxpayer funds to encourage people to buy, it is counter-productive to improving affordability," Mr McNamara said on Monday.

"Essentially what was intended to improve affordability did the exact opposite. And now we’re all paying the price."

Mr McNamara was probably being a little generous. What was intended was to save Mr Howard’s bacon.

Now new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has the problem.

It might be the right thing to do, but it is unlikely the grant will be withdrawn any time soon.

Nor for that matter will be the favourable tax concessions which also artificially inflate markets, and which have seen the financial future of many Australians tied inextricably to the property market.