All Articles
-
To recover Australia’s sovereignty, vote strategically
There is a democratic tool at our disposal which is poorly understood and generally used ineffectively. That tool is Preferential Voting. Continue reading »
-
Pine Gap – No price could ever be right
To the horror of the Australian defence and foreign policy establishment, Senator Jacqui Lambie had a characteristically sharp and to the point response to Donald Trump’s imposition of a 25% tariff on Australian steel exports to the United States. Continue reading »
-
Is Dutton a ‘strong’ leader? Is Albanese a ‘weak’ leader?
Peter Dutton portrays himself as a strong leader, capable of standing up to bullies abroad while contrasting himself to weak leaders at home. His stentorian posturing is underpinned by a grimly reactionary imagination. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese quibbles and stalls as he tries unsuccessfully to fend off Trump’s tariffs, plaintively offering up access to Australia’s rare Continue reading »
-
Coalitions of the deluded: Starmer’s Ukraine peace plan
UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has been getting ahead of himself of late. At Lancaster House earlier this month, he first proposed to some 18 leaders that a “coalition of the willing” might be cobbled together to protect Ukrainian territory should peace be struck in the Russia-Ukraine War. Continue reading »
-
The West’s ‘international community’ and the other 85% of humanity
“A leader leads by example, not by force.” Sun Tzu, The Art or War Continue reading »
-
A letter to us all: What kind of democracy do we want?
In Goldstein, we’ve met them. You’ve likely encountered them too – those entitled, aggressive voices who seem to believe democracy is theirs to command, not ours to share. They’re the ones who stand too close, snapping photos and videos without permission, hurling insults at volunteers who dare to stand for something. They target Team Zoe Continue reading »
-
Does Jesus need a barber? The question is a trap
Western media usually tags Indonesia as having more Muslims than any other country. That’s statistically true – but lesser known is that 11% of the 284 million don’t follow Islam. The constitutionally secular republic has more Christians than Australia. Continue reading »
-
Submitting to, or trying to placate, bullies never works
Europeans are doing it, the great bruiser Doug Ford is doing it, Mark Carney is gearing up to do it – even Keir Starmer is doing it. But it’s a dance our very own prime minister isn’t doing. Continue reading »
-
A five-minute scroll
As media campaigning ramps up for the forthcoming election, Peter Dutton avoids the question of his polling while Media Watch reveals the Liberal Party connections of Freya Leach and Juice Media produces a satirical clip on majority government. On global tensions, Professor Keyu Jin from the London School of Economics speaks about China and the Continue reading »
-
Government refuses to articulate ‘frankly terrifying’ security risks
The Albanese Government has jammed itself by trying to not talk about the greatest threat to Australia’s future, but has now opened itself to the charge of playing politics with security issues. Continue reading »
-
ANZUS and NATO are kaput and Trump doesn’t care
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have proven too gutless, so far, to speak frankly to Australians about the implications of the imposition of new tariffs by the US, the first of many, to be imposed on Australia. They have expressed some ritual regrets and said it was a poor reward for their sycophantic grovelling over Continue reading »
-
EU welcomes its first dictatorship
Democracy has just been overthrown in an EU nation for the first time ever – with the tacit backing of the European Union itself. Buckle up: if the pre-emptive coup in Romania is allowed to stand, this means that the EU has torn up its own rule book and welcomed a dictatorship into the community. Continue reading »
-
It’s the banks, stupid
Why does Australia continue to have a rampant cost of living crisis? That’s the $300 billion question. The hard men of Australia’s economic press claim it’s because of inflated wages and low productivity. Yet evidence suggests it’s mainly because of our big four banks. Continue reading »
-
The Manichean moment is over
If Donald Trump has done nothing else, he should have convinced Australian strategic thinkers that the long-standing mantra of China-bad/America-good is no longer appropriate. Continue reading »
-
Figuring out China: It’s still complicated
I visited Beijing in December for the first time since COVID, at the invitation of Renmin University and the Beijing Municipal Government. As well as attending the major conference they were hosting, I was keen to catch up with members of the network of public administration scholars I had helped to establish 15 years ago. Continue reading »
-
Timor-Leste and its Australian critics: A credibility gap exposed
Damien Kingsbury’s recent piece, Timor-Leste appears to abandon sustainability, recycles tired tropes from Australian academics bent on safeguarding Canberra’s interests in the Timor Sea. Continue reading »
-
Empathy, culpability and madness
Is Trump mad? If declining to share the joys and troubles of the whole human race, to decline a seat at humanity’s common table is a form of madness – then yes, Donald J Trump is mad. Continue reading »
-
A five-minute scroll
It is 22 years since Rachel Corrie was killed by the Israeli military as she defended a Palestinian home against a bulldozer. Adam Bandt on ABC’s Insiders says the priority should be to end AUKUS. Bombing continues in Yemen where Ansar Allah is maintaining a blockade in the Red Sea. The Australia Institute calls out Continue reading »
-
Despite recent increases, JobSeeker still leaves people below the poverty line. Here’s why that affects us all
Over the past two years, there has been some progress in improving the JobSeeker payment. But payment levels remain below the poverty line. Continue reading »
-
A message from the new editor, Catriona Jackson
It is day one for me as editor and I want to express my thanks to editor-in-chief John Menadue and board members Michael Keating, Mike Gilligan, Joe Camilleri and Jocelyn Chey for placing their trust in me. Continue reading »
-
A massacre in Sharifa
The residents of the Syrian village of Sharifa lay in puddles and rivulets of blood. Some died with arms outstretched; others seemed to clutch protectively at their chests. Most had been executed with shots to the head and two women had their faces blown apart. Continue reading »
-
The Australian: tool of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship?
The Australian has made itself the newspaper of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. This reflects the fact that Australia’s Right is part of a transnational network of networkers. It also conveys that these figures aim to shape the thinking of Australia’s “conservative” leaders in troubling directions. Continue reading »
-
It is time to put the nation on the couch
Imagine if we took the psychological health of our nation seriously. Not the health of individual citizens — though that is vital — but rather if we took the mental health of the nation seriously. What would it look like and is it even possible to do that, to understand that a nation has a Continue reading »
-
Anatomy of a public meeting: genocide a key election issue
Sunday evening in a crowded Glebe Town Hall in Sydney, the audience came to hear speakers address several objectives to “make candidates” attitude to genocide a key election issue, hold politicians accountable for genocide, vote for humanity”. Continue reading »
-
The Australian War Memorial needs to be removed from the influence of international arms companies
Last week the ABC Four Corners program “Sacrifice“ highlighted the harsh reality that we have lost control of the Australian War Memorial, which is dedicated to remembering the many thousands of Australian lives impacted by war. This investigation exposed the way in which unscrupulous political decision-making has led to a major redevelopment that risks turning Continue reading »
-
Smart appliances, smarter economy: Reviving China’s growth through innovation
Describing my grandfather as frugal is an understatement. Over the years, I have watched him patch and mend, prolonging the life of everything from leaky kettles to threadbare armchairs. My attempts to convince him to part with aging household items were always met with the same stubborn reply: “It still works.” Continue reading »
-
Sultanistic or neo-fascist? President Trump and 21st century ideology
In trying to understand US President Donald Trump, the proposition has been put that he is sultanistic. In many respects, Trump’s second presidency does appear to be “sultanistic”. Continue reading »
-
US-Europe relations flipped by Trump
For most of the post-World War II period, relations between Europe and the United States have followed a consistent pattern regardless of changes in government on both sides of the Atlantic. Continue reading »
-
Environment: The folly of focusing on net zero
Governments and corporations have been tricking the public by focusing emissions reduction attention on net, rather than real, zero. Reducing methane emissions would reduce global warming quickly and cheaply. Bring back our swamps. Continue reading »
-
Slaughterhouse Syria
The terrorists set loose on Syria more than a decade ago were slaughtering Alawis, and now they are systematically slaughtering them again – in their thousands. Continue reading »
