Currently, Secretaries of Departments in Australia can be fired by politicians but rarely are. The most recent example of a Secretary being fired was when the Abbott Government took power, and fired three secretaries. The most high-profile Secretary, Andrew Metcalfe, is believed to have been fired due to his defence of the Gillard government's asylum seeker policies (especially the Malaysia Solution), and his public opposition to turning back the boats.

At Federation, there was a dispute about whether the national capital should be Sydney or Melbourne. The compromise was making a new capital city in NSW, so long as it was at least 100 miles from Sydney, and Melbourne was the temporary capital.

“I was driven thence by foul winds for a space of 9 days upon the sea, but on the tenth day we reached the land of the Lotus-eaters, who live on a food that comes from a kind of flower. Here we landed to take in fresh water, and our crews got their mid-day meal on the shore near the ships. When they had eaten and drunk I sent two of my company to see what manner of men the people of the place might be, and they had a third man under them. They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return…” (Odyssey IX)

A Ulysses contract allows one to bind one's future self to a certain course of action. If they do not fulfil the terms of the contract, they will suffer a punishment (e.g. a fine, prison sentence) stipulated in the contract, which is enforced by the state

Dimitri has been very close friends with Katarina for a long time. Recently she married Evgeny, and now Dimitri is good friends with Evgeny, albeit not as close as with Katarina. Katarina has an ongoing affair with Valentin, which continued through her previous marriage too. She believes that he is her true love and her “soul mate”, and Dimitri thinks she may be right. Evgeny does not know about the affair, but Dimitri believes that if he found out, he would immediately end the marriage. Valentin and Katarina will likely never be together - Valentin is married and has his own family in another country. Neither would move to live with the other. Once a year, each tells their spouse that they are going on a “business trip”, where they meet up and go about their “business”. Dimitri tends not to judge people’s sexual lives, but is uncomfortable with adultery, most of all because it involves lying. Occasionally the subject of these “business trips” comes up in the company of Katarina and Evgeny, where Dimitri either has to cover for Katarina or reveal the truth about Valentin. Thus far Dimitri has always covered for Katarina.

From Craig: “When we were quite young, my older brother Greg regularly bullied me. My parents never thought to intervene. As we got older, distance helped us eventually get along. But in our 50s, when I announced I was marrying, he bullied our mom into rewriting her will to ensure, should I predecease him, that my future stepson would not inherit any of the estate: He would get it all. When settling the estate some years later, he went after more than was justified and showed a marked lack of trust in me. I really don’t think any of his behavior was intentionally malicious — just what he felt he deserved or needed for his own safety. At that point I had enough and stopped interacting with him, except for birthday cards. I’ve politely laid out my feelings in a letter; he eventually acknowledged he may have made “some errors.” But that’s about it.”

Too bad for Greg, he now has a kidney problem that means if he does not receive a compatible kidney soon, he will die.

A pill has recently been invented that prevents you from lying. It is irreversible, and the fact that you have taken it can be proven through medical documentation. So far, only a small proportion of society has chosen to take the pill.