Politics
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“Considering” recognition of the State of Palestine
The recognition of the State of Palestine has been an issue for the current Labor government since it came to office. Readers are reminded of these articles: The ALP and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, 9 August 2022; Why did Australia oppose the ICJ advisory opinion on Israeli settlements?, 15 February 2023; Recognise Palestine Now!, Continue reading »
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Modi puts religion at centre of campaign – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Hate speech an appeal to ‘bigoted supporters’. Plus: High-tech shake-up for China’s military; EU sings ‘old colonial song’; Bomb plot trial starts in Hong Kong; Recognition urged for Myanmar opposition; West’s chip restrictions ‘will not work’. Continue reading »
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The age of eco-anxiety
Back in 1947 the W.H. Auden poem, The Age of Anxiety, was published a year after he renounced his British citizenship for US citizenship. Continue reading »
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Podcast: Australia’s recognition of the State of Palestine an overdue move in support of peace
Respected journalist Quentin Dempster and former Ambassador to Palestine, Ali Kazak discuss the situation in Palestine and how the Australian governments reticence to recognise the State of Palestine is overdue and would be a positive action in support of peace. Continue reading »
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Cruelty of language — the NYT’s leaked Gaza Memo
Ramzy Baroud responds to revelations about The New York Times “guidance” on language about the Israeli mass slaughter in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. Continue reading »
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Australia’s new defence strategy fights last war
The Ukrainians changed the face of modern warfare with inexpensive Chinese-made drones equipped with cheap Chinese-made cameras. These provide both battlefield intelligence and a platform for delivering destructive weapons. Continue reading »
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A future made in Australia: Can it work, what are the risks?
Claims that industry assistance comes at a cost to other industries and consumers are too often right. Industry policy should therefore be limited to areas of identified market failure and requires tight evaluation of each case and that performance targets are met. Continue reading »
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Creating a liveable, equitable world
A call to women to put social needs, not just economic needs, back on the political agenda. Continue reading »
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If Avani Dias had been white, would Murdoch media have ignored her India ban?
Strange but true. A reporter from the state-owned broadcaster in Australia was booted out by India, purportedly the biggest democracy in the world, and the Murdoch media in Australia has ignored it in toto. Continue reading »
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Israel is holding more hostages than Hamas
Hamas is holding 132 hostages: 130 of them were taken captive on October 7 and two were taken hostage before then (one in 2014, the other in 2015). Continue reading »
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Not in my name
In this quiet hour, I summon words, a humble man amidst shadows long, To speak of wounds not my own, to voice a plea so loud and strong. For streets that haunt with harried silence, for whispers in the dark, For the women who carry nightmares in the hollows of their hearts, I say, not Continue reading »
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Weekly Roundup Saturday 27 April
The so-called “cost of living” crisis is a low-wage problem of the Coalition’s making, the dangerously simplified world of central bankers, spooks and cops on the threat from social media, democracy becomes collateral damage from fear campaigns. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic Continue reading »
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Rhetoric and reality in technology visions
The complex interplay of vision, power, and governance in innovation districts, precincts, and hubs. Continue reading »
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War on Gaza: A cruel month of massacres for Palestinians as the US mask is ripped off
As tensions flare with Iran, the US continues to provide full support for Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip. Continue reading »
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Americans don’t understand: China is not afraid of the US
China knows that, if it has to, it can stand alone and that it can defend itself. It knows, too, that most nations of the world, other than America (which is, despite itself, somewhat conflicted), want to do business with it; to connect with its growing confidence and with its strengthening brand of non-threatening, non-coercive, Continue reading »
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Michael Pascoe: Negative gearing to change – it’s ‘the vibe’
“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune” Continue reading »
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Think-tanked
As a China-watching think tank winds up after Morrison-era cuts, a respected analyst reviews government funding for security-related research and education. Continue reading »
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The Israel dilemma
As a gentile with an historical association with Israel, I must admit to being greatly puzzled by the double standard that is evident in the destruction of Gaza. Continue reading »
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The court decides; doom to follow?
As predicted in Pearls & Irritations earlier this month, an appeal by the two losing candidates in the 14 February Indonesian presidential election has been trounced this week by the Constitutional Court. Continue reading »
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Worse than the Nakba: A wilful, deliberate, total genocide in Gaza
Lies and impunity paved the way for the worst time in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hanan Ashrawi says Gaza is “worse than even the Nakba, because it is a wilful, deliberate, total genocide”. Continue reading »
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UN rights chief demands international probe of mass graves near Gaza hospitals
“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights. Continue reading »
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From imperial romance to practical security history
At the levels of public ritual and private observance, the ANZAC narrative is much about processing loss and assuaging grief. But let us recall here its nature as an imperial romance, and what that might mean for our place in the multi-polarity of the current world order? Continue reading »
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‘Impactful projection’, 1915 style: Lest we forget Anzac Cove
Anzac Day. We mark it respectfully. True respect demands that we also not forget the essential question about the first ‘Anzac Day’ – 25 April 1915. Why were Australian soldiers at Anzac Cove in the first place? Continue reading »
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Will the freedom flotilla sail to Gaza?
The non-violence training to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ships to Gaza has been intense. As hundreds of us from 32 countries gathered in Istanbul, we were briefed about what we might encounter on this voyage. “We have to be ready for every possibility,” our trainers insisted. Continue reading »
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ASPI chief takes exception to being singled out by China
The director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a lobby group for big tech and foreign agencies, claims that China’s alleged targeting of the agency “should be of concern to all Australians”. Continue reading »
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Red poppies and bare ground: Why do we discriminate among our war dead?
The 100 000 or so dead men and women in Australia’s overseas wars are symbolised by red poppies, on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, in shrines around the nation, on the more than 5000 war memorials in our towns and suburbs, in war cemeteries overseas, and worn on Anzac Continue reading »
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World’s biggest democracy expels ABC journalist but little noise in Australia
One wonders how the Australian mainstream media will react to the news that India, the so-called biggest democracy in the world, has thrown out ABC correspondent Avani Dias from the country. Continue reading »
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Australia’s group think epidemic and the Adelaide AUKUS fairytale
The idea that nuclear submarines can be built in Adelaide under AUKUS has the characteristics of the “group think” that led to invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has been described by former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as a “bit of a fairytale”. “Some government in the future will make the obvious decision and not Continue reading »
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Our entire view of the world remains insular. How can Australia change?
Unlike virtually every non-Anglophone country on the planet, Australia still has no mandatory teaching of foreign languages in its schools. Why do we assume, as a matter of colonial entitlement, that people from non-Anglophone countries will understand us, but it is not even a matter of decency to make the same effort to understand them? Continue reading »
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Lehrmann and the engagement of ministerial staff
In the oceanic commentary on the Bruce Lehrmann cases, little attention seems to have been given as to how he got into Minister Linda Reynolds office in the first place. If he hadn’t all could have been spared the terrible things that have happened as a consequence of his admission – the catastrophic ignominies he Continue reading »