We are avoiding the truths set out on Gaza by the International Court of Justice
Our World gets worse and worse, reflected in inhumane, racist, behaviour. And what for us – Australians – is really bad …
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Drafting the first laws to govern AI
Yesterday the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Ed Husic, released a discussion paper proposing a set of 'mandatory guardrails' for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Science Fiction fan, Richard Creswick thinks he beat the Minister to the punch. Continue reading »
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For Australia to meet emissions reduction targets, we don’t need nuclear energy
The Federal Opposition’s energy policy includes the construction of nuclear power plants. Peter Dutton says that we need them because Australia’s emissions reduction target of 43% on 2005 levels by 2030 is unachievable. Is this true? We argue that it is not – and especially if the Australian Government works with state and territory governments Continue reading »
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Next year’s US Taiwan policy: Trump versus Harris
Very much on the minds of the government as well as residents in Taiwan is the November election in the United States. The question is which candidate, Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, will oversee a more friendly policy toward Taiwan? Continue reading »
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The democracy metanarrative
In its strategic competition with Russia and China, the United States has constructed a metanarrative based on democracy versus authoritarianism (i.e. good versus evil). Continue reading »
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Poem: Intimations of mortality
Today it is hard to believe in the spiritual power of Nature, because our social behaviour is doing so much damage to it. Being obsessed with economic success and technological achievements, we live in a permanent state of stress and ambivalence, unable to make peace with Nature and with ourselves. Continue reading »
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A minority Labor Government is likely after the next election
Public polls and what I have heard of private polls suggest we may be facing a very new political ball game after the next federal election. Continue reading »
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The NACC’s refusal to consider Robodebt
In creating an integrity commission - the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) - the Albanese government was entrusted to ensure federal integrity. Instead it has wasted a fortune on a body that can’t or won’t do its job. Continue reading »
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The sound of enforced silence
Our censors, as the record shows again and again, have no special concern about acting in a serious manner. Power has no such obligation. Continue reading »
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UN expert says impunity for Israel must end as ‘Genocidal Violence’ spreads to West Bank
“Apartheid Israel is targeting Gaza and the West Bank simultaneously, as part of an overall process of elimination, replacement, and territorial expansion,” said United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Continue reading »
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Environment: Earth system tipping points threaten our stable environment
Dangerous tipping points threaten the stability of several of Earth’s natural climate-controlling systems. Conclusion: warming of 1.5oC is not safe. Possible to protect humans from dangerous animals without killing them. Tanzania accused of apartheid by its own people. Continue reading »
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Not all deaths at sea are equal
Dave Kellaway reports from Italy, and reflects on the media coverage of the sinking of the luxury yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily compared to the way the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean are usually reported. Continue reading »
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A ‘liberal Hawk’ is a Hawk nonetheless. Time to focus less on the ‘liberal’, more on the ‘Hawk’
"Since it was impossible to change the politics of the system, it became necessary to change the type – or stereotype – of the person in charge of carrying out the policy." Fidel Castro, in Obama and the Empire, 2012. Continue reading »
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The US made the Dutch an offer they couldn’t refuse
Hold on to your mobile phones, civilians, this is gonna get rough. If you thought the Sopranos and Corleones were intimidating, check this out. Continue reading »
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Messing up the sense of the census
It’s hard to imagine how the government could have made a bigger mess of questions about gender identity and sexual orientation for the 2026 Census. Continue reading »
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Unsuccessful asylum seekers now exceed those at primary and AAT stages
As has been the case every month since around 2015-16, the number of asylum seekers in Australia continued to set records, reaching 116,389 at end July 2024. The total number refused at both the primary level and at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), but not departed, is now a record of 43,499. On current policy Continue reading »
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Why WA gets the share of GST that it wants
WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti MLA is almost certainly right when she says that there would be a “voter backlash” [in Western Australia] if “you take our [sic] GST”, as reported in The Australian. Continue reading »
