All Articles
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MARK BUCKLEY. Is Scomo Fair Dinkum?
In Australia it is entirely appropriate for a politician to display religiosity in his public, and or private, life. That being said, it is also appropriate, if said religiosity is on public display, for the politician to fully divulge the length and breadth of those beliefs. In that way the electorate has the opportunity to Continue reading »
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VIC ROWLANDS. Israel Folau – a line in the sand.
If Israel Folau cannot find a way to qualify his homophobic interpretation of the Bible so that it does not cause hurt and offence to other people, his reputation as a person may well be the main casualty of his wilful disrespect. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL McKINLEY. Reflections on the nuclear dimensions of Hugh White’s ‘How To Defend Australia’
Australian strategic thinking, like Dracula’s Transylvania, is very much troubled by the undead. Research undertaken 50 years ago by Ian Bellany, a nuclear physicist and predecessor of Hugh White in the ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, wrestled with a remarkably similar Australian defence problematic – namely whether nuclear weapons might be a safeguard against Continue reading »
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CHAULA RININTA ANINDYA. Should Indonesia accept Islamic State returnees? (East Asia Forum)
Indonesian former members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) stuck in Syria are now under the media spotlight. Many of them live in poor conditions, are struggling to make ends meet, expressing remorse for joining IS and pleading for the Indonesian government to repatriate them. The issue of how to handle them is now stirring Continue reading »
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J.A. DICK. Natural and Unnatural human rights
On Monday, July 8, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the creation of an advisory commission: the “Commission on Unalienable Rights.” He hopes it “will provide the intellectual grist of what I hope will be one of the most profound re-examinations of inalienable rights in the world since the 1948 Universal Declaration.” Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. AFP needs a leader who is a character with character, not a bureaucrat with opinions (Canberra Times 20.7.2019)
The ‘old-fashioned cop’ type Dutton is said to want are mostly known for preferring their prejudices to the facts. Continue reading »
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FINTAN O’TOOLE. Boris Johnson. The Ham of Fate (New York Review of Books, 17.7.2019)
When things are too serious to be contemplated in sobriety, send in the clown. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. The Coalition’s conflict of disloyalties on health.
The private health insurance funds have effectively been on notice for 50 years, since the time of the moon landing. Continue reading »
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GEOFF GALLOP. Effective public servants need nuanced understanding of politics, what drives their minister and government. Geoff Gallop offers eleven theses on Australian politics in practice.
Geoff Gallop is a former premier of Western Australia. Your minister cannot avoid dealing with the politics, so you should understand the ideas behind it, and the policy compromises they must make to secure alliances. Continue reading »
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BE SEO. Australia is turning into a car park for dirty vehicles (AFR 15.7.2019)
Australia’s most popular cars emit between 8 and 42 per cent more carbon dioxide than their UK counterparts, raising concerns that the country has become a parking lot for dirty vehicles. Continue reading »
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ELISE HARRIS. Persecuted Christians urge more action, fewer empty words
With global religious persecution increasingly thrust into the international spotlight, members of several Christian communities suffering violence and discrimination have said promises are no longer enough, but action is needed from political leaders. Typically seen as a political non-priority, religious persecution, and anti-Christian persecution in particular, has been getting more attention since the 70th anniversary Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. We came in peace for all mankind!
I sometimes think I was the only one who was not gobsmacked. On that day fifty years ago when mankind kicked the moon, I was working in the Canberra press gallery, keeping an eye on the television for the news, but never doubting the outcome. Continue reading »
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Skulduggery by the Morrison & Andrews Governments Robs Victorian Public Schools of Billions
Skulduggery between the Morrison and Victorian Labor Government will defraud Victorian public schools of about $17 billion over ten years to 2028. The new funding agreement between the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments signed last month will mean that public schools will be under-funded indefinitely while private schools are fully funded or more by 2023 at Continue reading »
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Boris Johnson’s Reticence on UK Ambassador was Responsible and Mature.
Johnson’s judicious refusal to be baited will give him the political space to begin repairing bruised relations with the White House and its tweet-prone cantankerous occupant. Continue reading »
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GEOFF RABY. Xi Jinping: much more than just one man (The Interpreter, Lowy Institute, 16 July 2019)
Book Review: Xi Jinping: The Backlash by Richard McGregor (Penguin, Lowy Institute, 2019) Richard McGregor has written a dazzling account of the first six years of the Xi Jinping era and what he sees as the “backlash” to Xi’s increasing authoritarianism domestically and assertive foreign and defence policies. Continue reading »
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JUDITH WHITE. Arts vandalised in NSW
Buoyed by the re-election of the NSW Berejiklian Government in March, Minister for the Arts Don Harwin is ploughing ahead with the controversial move of the Powerhouse Museum from Ultimo to Parramatta. He has at last responded to the painstaking, long-running Upper House Inquiry into Museums and Galleries, which focused on the affair. His response Continue reading »
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MASSIMO FAGGIOLI. Reform or Dismantle? Why We Need to Keep the Institutions that Keep Us.
One of the effects of the sex-abuse crisis is the current moment of institutional iconoclasm—the temptation to get rid of the institutional element of the Catholic Church. The failures of the church’s institutions are now on full display, even more so than after the revelations of the Spotlight investigation. It is hypocritical, however, to interpret Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 21 July 2019
The close connection between climate change and loss of biodiversity is finally receiving the attention it deserves, particularly the need to halt deforestation and begin massive programs of reforestation. Vales Point power station in NSW provides an indication of the perils in store for the public purse as privately owned fossil fuel facilities reach the Continue reading »
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SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media Continue reading »
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RICHARD BEASLEY The Murray Darling Basin Plan – Four Corners v Media Watch
Monday week ago, Four Corners aired “Cash Splash”. It concerned whether government funded water saving schemes (“efficiency measures” in the Basin Plan) have been a waste of money. Since the broadcast, the National Irrigators Council, and other lobby groups, have indicated they will lodge a complaint to the ABC. Subsequently, “Media Watch” suggested that Four Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS NEWTON. ‘Fine phrases … dark thoughts’. Reflections on the Centenary of ‘Peace Day’, 19 July 1 919.
It is one hundred years since ‘Peace Day’, Saturday 19 July 1919. On that day, celebrations were held across the British Empire to toast the great victory that had been won – supposedly crowned by the Treaty of Versailles. A hundred years later, shall we face up to some of the historic realities of the Continue reading »
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RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Can Australia Defend Itself?
Since the advent of Donald Trump as United States president, the certainties that are said to underpin Australia’s defence doctrine are less than ever convincing. Trump’s cynicism about alliances underlines the fact that ANZUS is no longer (if it ever was) a guarantee of American military assistance. Neither Prime Minister Morrison posing on the deck Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Defence ‘culture’ holding back balanced defence force
An analysis of Australia’s strategic culture, as distinct from posture, might have offered alternative or expanded answers to how we have got to where we are and how Australia should be defended in future – comment by Alan Behm on Hugh White’s “How to Defend Australia”. Continue reading »
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BRUCE THOM. Climate Change and Relativity—Some Parallels.
Science can be incomprehensible to many, yet it requires others to help communicate and apply great works such as those of Albert Einstein. Climate change science is also quite complex and those in this field are facing similar difficulties to those who sought to explain relativity to the broader public. It is irresponsible of decision-makers Continue reading »
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PATTY FAWKNER, SGS. Chittister, Censorship and an Adult Church.
It was decades ago, but I remember the day and the conversation well. It was a Monday morning and I was returning to work at a Catholic adult education organisation after a short break. I was confronted with the news that, during my absence, our newly appointed director had removed copies of Paul Collins’ book, Continue reading »
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MARK BUCKLEY. Words Have Meaning
When a politician speaks we should be able to decipher what he or she is saying. Most of them, at least these days, have an education of sorts, and presumably when they use words they use them in a way that their listeners understand. So “no” should not have a special meaning; and neither should Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS : Korea : Just what did the DMZ Reality TV show add up to ?
After the enormous Reality TV coverage of the hastily arranged Trump:Kim meeting at the DMZ and the wads of media commentary afterwards,have the prospects of an eventually peaceful Korean peninsular been enhanced? To a large extent the jury is still out on this but there are a few possible glimmers of hope. The crunch issue Continue reading »
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ERIC HODGENS. Missing the Catholic Bus.
The Catholic Church is now in freefall. Vatican II called for adaptation to the modern world. Most of the opportunities for adaptation have been missed. How do we catch the last bus? Continue reading »
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The crisis in Private Health Insurance arrangements in Australia is a symptom of our public health failures.
“Australia’s private health insurance (PHI) industry fears it is in a death spiral, and politicians need to rethink whether or to what extent taxpayers should continue to subsidise the industry” the Grattan Institute tells us as they call for a review of the purpose of PHI in Australia. The Grattan report emphasises what is already Continue reading »
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GEOFF RABY. The Problem with China’s Soft Power: It doesn’t have any( AFR 17 July 2017)
Last week the US Pace Gallery announced it was closing its flagship contemporary art gallery in the famous 798 art space and expanding at home. Also last week, police squads and bulldozers moved in to demolish several more of Beijing’s spontaneously formed art villages. Continue reading »