-
Subscribe to our weekly and daily Pearls and Irritations newsletter!
-
Most viewed recently
- ABUL RIZVI: Questions Ahead of Home Affairs Meeting That Never Happened
- JOHN MENADUE The myth that the Liberals are better economic managers?
- ABUL RIZVI. New regional visas – a recipe for exploitation and destitution.
- EMMA ALBERICI. There’s no case for a corporate tax cut when one in five of Australia’s top companies don’t pay it.
- MUNGO MACCALLUM. Drunken braggarts get stung.
-
Recent posts
- PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 21 April 2019 21 April 2019
- SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND 20 April 2019
- PATTY FAWKNER SGS. Vague wanting. Our lives, yours and mine, are too precious to fritter away on lukewarm commitments and half-hearted vows. 19 April 2019
- JOHN MENADUE. Appealing to our Better Angels. A repost from 30 June 2011 19 April 2019
- BEVAN RAMSDEN. Do the US Marines in Darwin pose a risk to our peace and security? 19 April 2019
Categories
- Arts and Reviews (46)
- Defence/Security (901)
- Drug Reform (30)
- Economy (1,244)
- Education (255)
- Environment and climate (477)
- Health (606)
- Housing (85)
- Human Rights (442)
- Indigenous affairs (79)
- Industrial relations (36)
- Infrastructure (202)
- International Affairs (1,961)
- Asia (361)
- Links (10)
- Media (592)
- NBN (81)
- Politics (3,083)
- Refugees, Immigration (652)
- Religion and Faith (614)
- SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security (60)
- SERIES: Making housing affordable (15)
- Sport (56)
- Technology, start-ups and new media (6)
- Tributes (49)
- Uncategorized (223)
Archives
Recent comments
- Anthony Pun on ANDREW CHUBB. China’s assertive maritime policy is older than Xi (East Asia Forum)
- Charles Lowe on SUSAN RYAN. Older women are budget losers.
- Anthony Pun on ABUL RIZVI. New regional visas – a recipe for exploitation and destitution.
- Charles Lowe on BOB CARR. Australians with Chinese origins need to come together.
- Mike Yewdall on MUNGO MacCALLUM. ScoMo is happy to keep the campaign as mean and ugly as possible.
Tag Archives: The Guardian
FRANK BRENNAN, TIM COSTELLO, ROBERT MANNE and JOHN MENADUE. We can stop the boats and also act decently, fairly and transparently
The only way forward in dealing with Manus Island and Nauru is for bipartisan commitment to keep the boats stopped while settling refugees in Australia.
CHRISTINA HO. Hothoused and hyper-racialised ethnic imbalance in our selective schools.
This is a repost from November 3, 2016. “Across Sydney students from a language background other than English (LBOTE) regularly make up 80% or 90% of enrolments in selective schools.” As families increasingly turn away from their local public schools, … Continue reading
JOHN MENADUE. White man’s media – Rupert Murdoch’s faulty memory.
Rupert Murdoch has asserted again that he has never asked anything from any Prime Minister.
PAUL DALEY. Why Australia Day and Anzac Day helped create a national ‘cult of forgetfulness’.
Australia Day and Anzac Day are months away. But I’m getting in early. It’s beyond time Australia cast off these sturdy cultural crutches that both, somehow, define national birth, so we can discover who and what we truly are. Australia … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Media, Politics
Tagged ANZAV Day, Australia Day, indigenous Australians, Paul Daley, The Guardian
1 Comment
‘Racists aren’t welcome here: how we kicked a racist passenger off the bus.
A nice story from The Guardian ‘Our better angels’ . See link below. John Menadue http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/19/racists-arent-welcome-here-how-we-kicked-a-racist-passenger-off-the-bus?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Posted in Human Rights, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged community action, racism, The Guardian
Comments Off on ‘Racists aren’t welcome here: how we kicked a racist passenger off the bus.
Migration experts say it is unlikely closing camps on Manus and Nauru islands would re-start boats. We are beyond that point.
See link below – article by Ben Doherty in The Guardian, 16 August 2016. It includes an interview with me, Peter Hughes and others, on the need to act quickly to process in Australia, the detainees presently held in Manus … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged Ben Doherty, Manus and Nauru, offshore detention, offshore processing, The Guardian
Comments Off on Migration experts say it is unlikely closing camps on Manus and Nauru islands would re-start boats. We are beyond that point.
In the service of empires from Fromelles to the present day.
See link below to article by Paul Daley in the Guardian ‘Australians didn’t sacrifice themselves at Fromelles, the British sacrificed them’. John Menadue. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2016/jul/19/australians-didnt-sacrifice-themselves-at-fromelles-the-british-sacrificed-them?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+AUS+v1+-+AUS+morning+mail+callout&utm_term=182252&subid=18184347&CMP=ema_632
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics
Tagged Fromelles, Paul Daley, sacrificed for Britain, The Guardian
1 Comment
‘Refugees don’t self-harm because of me, Peter Dutton, they self-harm because of you.’
One of the many disappointments of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership is that he reappointed Peter Dutton as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. This disappointment is reinforced by his attempt to blame refugee advocates rather than his own policies for … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Politics, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged Nauru, Peter-Dutton, Sarah Smith, self-harm of refugees, The Guardian
Comments Off on ‘Refugees don’t self-harm because of me, Peter Dutton, they self-harm because of you.’
John Menadue. Are Conservatives better economic managers?
According to opinion polls the public clearly believe that Conservatives are better economic managers. Like other Conservative leaders, Malcolm Turnbull keeps asserting that this is so. Tonight in the budget, Scott Morrison will probably tell us about the importance of … Continue reading
What a godsend politicians and journalists are to ISIS.
In The Guardian, Simon Jenkins writes about the way that the ISIS recruiting officers will be thrilled at how things have gone since their atrocity in Belgium. He points particularly to the ‘paranoid politicians and sensational journalists’ who have perhaps … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Media, Politics, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged Brussels bombings., ISIS, Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
3 Comments
Which country has the world’s best healthcare system?
On 9 February, the Guardian published a report on health systems around the world. It drew particularly on analysis of ratings by the Commonwealth Fund and its correspondents around the world. The UK’s national health service was ranked number one … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Health, Politics
Tagged analysis of world health systems, The Guardian
Comments Off on Which country has the world’s best healthcare system?
What’s holding back the world economy.
In this article from The Guardian, Joseph Stiglitz points to the slow growth rates in the developed world and the reasons for them. He says that ‘In the US, quantitative easing did not boost consumption and investment partly because most … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics
Tagged bank liquidity, Joseph Stiglitz, poor economic growth, quantitative easing, The Guardian
Comments Off on What’s holding back the world economy.
Brad Chilcott. I donated a kidney to my son. Don’t tell me not to make it ‘political’.
In early December, I went into surgery to give my eight-year-old son Harrison my left kidney. He heard me groaning in recovery as the anaesthetist put him to sleep a few hours later so that he could receive it. The … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Politics
Tagged Brad Chilcott, kidney transplant, public health, The Guardian
3 Comments
Stan Grant. The Australian Dream!
Posted in Indigenous affairs, Media, Politics
Tagged Adam Goodes, racism, Stan Grant, The Guardian
Comments Off on Stan Grant. The Australian Dream!
Turkey and Daesh
In this blog on 6 December 2015 ‘Turkey’s new neighbour – Daesh (Islamic State)‘ John Tulloh referred to an article by David Graeber in The Guardian on how Turkey is obstructing Kurdish forces that are the most effective opponents of … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs, Politics
Tagged David Graeber, John Tulloh, President Erdogan and Kurds, The Guardian, Turkey and DAESH, Turkey's aid to DAESH
Comments Off on Turkey and Daesh
Nauru and the Philippines
Three days ago, on 6 October, I posted a story ‘Nauru and the Philippines‘. That story carried an unconfirmed report that the Australian government was negotiating with the Philippines government for the transfer of 600 asylum seekers in Nauru to … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, International Affairs, Media, Politics, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged asylum seekers, Ben Doherty, Cambodia, Daniel Hurst, Julie Bishop, Michael-Sainsbury, Nauru, Philippines., The Guardian, UCAnews
Comments Off on Nauru and the Philippines
John Howard on political Royal Commissions.
Last September John Howard said ‘I am uneasy about the idea of having Royal Commissions or enquiries into essentially a political decision. … I don’t think you should ever begin to go down the American path of using the law … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged John Howard, Pink Bats Royal Commission, Royal Commission into Trade Union governance and corruption, The Guardian
Comments Off on John Howard on political Royal Commissions.
Tributes to Malcolm Fraser.
See below, tributes from Fred Chaney and Robert Manne on Malcolm Fraser’s achievements in public life. John Mendue. Fred Chaney in The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/malcolm-fraser-a-leader-who-believed-there-is-a-moral-compass-in-our-nations-life Robert Manne in The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/frasers-great-conservative-achievement-cementing-whitlams-progress-on-race
We should expect more.
In this article in The Guardian, Richard Flanagan, the Booker Prize winner, refers to the increasing ugliness in Australian public life. He says ‘Writing my novel “The Narrow Road to the Deep North” I came to conclude that great crimes … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Media, Politics, Refugees, Immigration
Tagged Gillian Triggs, Julia Gillard, News-Corp., Prince Phillip, refugees, Richard Flanagan, The Guardian
Comments Off on We should expect more.
Climate change – If only!
Last Saturday David Cameron, the British PM, Nick Clegg, the Deputy PM and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and Ed Milliband, Leader of the British Labour Party, signed a joint pledge on climate change. The three leaders agreed on three … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged Al Gore, climate change, David Cameron, Ed Milliband, Nick Clegg, The Guardian
Comments Off on Climate change – If only!
Is religion the cause of war and violence in the Middle East and elsewhere?
We are consistently seeing the ghastly side of Islam with public beheadings but we also need to keep in mind the ghastly side of Christianity which was so evidence during the Crusades. Many conclude that religion, now and in the … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Religion and Faith
Tagged David Shariatmadari, Fields of Blood, IS, Karen Armstrong, The Guardian
Comments Off on Is religion the cause of war and violence in the Middle East and elsewhere?
Australia is worst performing industrial country on climate change.
For the Lima Conference on Climate Change that has just begun, a report by the think-tank Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe examined the 58 emitters of greenhouse gasses in the world, and about 90% of all energy-related emissions. The … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Environment and climate, Politics
Tagged climate change, fossil fuels, Germanwatch, The Guardian
Comments Off on Australia is worst performing industrial country on climate change.
As the Berlin wall fell, checks on capitalism crumbled.
The Economics Editor of the Guardian, Larry Elliott, describes how capitalism is facing an increasing crisis. He says that after the fall of the Berlin wall, we have seen the dark side of the post-Cold War model. Instead of trickle-down, … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Politics
Tagged capitalism failure, economics and morality., Larry Elliott, The Guardian
2 Comments
Secrecy and Propaganda.
Yesterday Richard Ackland in theGuardian.com highlighted the way that the media cooperated with the government in the propaganda about raids on potential Muslim terrorists in Sydney and Melbourne. Both the NSW and Commonwealth Governments spared no effort to highlight the … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Human Rights, International Affairs
Tagged AFP, moderate Muslims, NSW police, Richard Ackland, The Guardian
Comments Off on Secrecy and Propaganda.