The costs of living and the price of death: Spare a thought for Gaza and Sudan
In response to questions about starvation in Gaza and Sudan, a Federal Labor MP has explained, ‘In Australia, the cost o…
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Towards an effective lobbying regulatory scheme
Although lobbying is integral to democratic representation, there are concerns regarding the secrecy and unfair influence of professional lobbyists, which may ultimately lead to corrupt conduct by lobbyists and/or officials. Continue reading »
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Capitalism is the single greatest source of violence
What the present moment reveals, once again, is that Western aggression during the “Cold War” was never about destroying socialism, as such. It was about destroying movements and governments in the periphery that sought economic sovereignty. Why? Because economic sovereignty in the periphery threatens capital accumulation in the core. Continue reading »
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Why Australia needs a national folklife centre
Twelve months since the launch of the Albanese Government’s new cultural policy, REVIVE, it’s time we promoted Australia’s heritage of folklife. Continue reading »
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Lions lying down with the lambs
Rwanda is now a peaceful country which remembers each year, the awful genocide of 1994. People can blindly become killers if their leaders are successful in instilling enough fear into them. Learning from history is an antidote. Continue reading »
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‘National emergency’: Why Korean voters handed 192 seats to opposition parties
By stopping short of 200 seats, the electorate sent a message that both ruling and opposition lawmakers to make more use of dialogue and negotiation. Continue reading »
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China was never an imperialist state
During its long history, Chinese dynasties were as often the victims of outside aggression as they were invaders of foreign land. Continue reading »
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Why conventional economic theory is wrong about technological change
Society as a whole has a critical interest in the direction of technological innovation. This cannot be left uniquely to a limited group of capitalist bosses. Consultation with all the key interest groups and government regulation have a critical role to play in ensuring future economic growth and a fair go for all. Continue reading »
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The Belfast Good Friday Agreement – a model for Palestine?
The continuing horror in Gaza touches us all deeply, even if only vicariously. It leads us ineluctably to the question, often asked in exasperation: Is there no solution? But we’ve been here before and some point to the 1998 Belfast Good Friday Agreement (BGFA), which ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland, as a possible model Continue reading »
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Marking 10 years of the Russo-Ukraine War
On February 28, 2022, four days after Russia had attacked into Ukraine, Moscow and Kiev began peace talks. Continue reading »
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Was the Covid-19 pandemic a ‘relatively mild pandemic’?
Recently, a former Prime Minister (who also once served as Health Minister) was quoted as declaring “the Morrison government’s Covid response as a ‘grotesque overreaction’ to a ‘relatively mild pandemic’”. Continue reading »
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Major acceleration in processing of asylum seekers
In the last three months, processing of primary level asylum seeker applications increased from 1,002 in December 2023; to 1,479 in January 2024 and 2,037 in February 2024 (see Chart 1). Continue reading »
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Departure of Justice Richard Refshauge: end of an era
It was a particularly technical legal point. The colleague was an experienced trial advocate with a case in which he felt there was a slim plot of fertile ground on which he might be able to appeal. But he just couldn’t quite work out how all the pieces might come together. Continue reading »
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As we approach the Federal budget, whatever happened to ‘Measuring What Matters’?
With the federal budget just over three weeks away, researcher Chelsea Hunnisett has some pointed questions for the Albanese Government, including: what happened to plans for a wellbeing economy, and where is your commitment to intergenerational investment for health and wellbeing? Hunnisett is a Laureate PhD Candidate and Government Relations Specialist in the Planetary Health Continue reading »
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The word retaliation needs to be broken open to see what’s hidden inside
Some time back I watched SBS’ ‘The Australian Wars’. It was, to many, a completely different viewpoint of settler colonialism, the impact of invasion, and the very legitimate defence of land by Australia’s indigenous native population. Continue reading »
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Israel / Palestine, Media, Politics, World//=$this_post['view']?>
If the mainstream worldview was accurate, Gaza wouldn’t be burning
The destruction of Gaza proves the entire mainstream western worldview is bullshit, because if the mainstream western worldview was accurate, the destruction of Gaza would not be happening. Continue reading »
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Israel / Palestine, Politics//=$this_post['view']?>
UNRWA is facing a campaign to push it out of the occupied Palestinian territory
This is a time of seismic change in the Middle East. At the heart of this region, the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees – UNRWA – is a stabilising force. Today, an insidious campaign to end UNRWA’s operations is underway, with serious implications for international peace and security, says Philippe Lazzarini. Continue reading »
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Government, Politics//=$this_post['view']?>
‘To Boldly Go’—but not so far as to replace the private sector
The Government’s foreshadowed bill for a “Future Made in Australia” has been met with two very different kinds of response, one positive, welcoming the prospect of initiatives from the Government to support and promote investment in forward-leaning projects and the “industries of the future”, the other negative, saying that governments should stay out of private Continue reading »