All Articles
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The end of occupation: A state of Palestine at the UN
UNSC approval of the application for Palestine to become a full UN member state this week would necessarily lead to the end of the occupation. One UN member state cannot occupy the land of another. In the present circumstances, a US veto of Palestinian statehood would make America look ridiculous. It would be seen as Continue reading »
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Lest We Forget: Japan joining AUKUS a stark reminder of China’s Century of Humiliation
With the addition of Japan, AUKUS ceases to be a device to supply nuclear powered submarines to Australia several decades in the future but a stark reminder of the oppressive powers that abused Chinese sovereignty in the 19th and 20th centuries. Continue reading »
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Over Dutton now looms the spectre of a quick trip to Government House
By mid-May, Budget time, the Albanese government will be a week short of two years in power. Albanese is moving into the zone where he could confidently approach the Governor-General, new or old, for an early election, perhaps as early as July, unexceptionably in October or November. Continue reading »
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How many more tragedies? Sydney siders in disbelief as they lay flowers
Our society is failing the seriously mentally ill. Continue reading »
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XR blocking arteries of capitalism labelled “catastrophic inconvenience”
One month ago, three Extinction Rebellion protesters led by Deana ‘Violet’ Coco blocked the Westgate Bridge to deliver a desperate plea to all Australians. ‘Climate Breakdown has Begun.’ Continue reading »
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Tasmanian politics and the Lambie train-wreck
Jacqui Lambie tried to turn her idiosyncratic brand into a sort-of-party. But, like so many of those arrangements before, it’s quickly falling apart. Continue reading »
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Ok, Allah, we passed your test
There are five major and hundreds of minor religions in the world. But don’t worry – yours is the right one. – Anon Continue reading »
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Shielding the dollar by bashing China
Ian Bremner argues convincingly that the American Dollar remains embedded as the global reserve currency since: “you can’t replace something with nothing”. Nevertheless, intensifying US misuse and abuse of the dollar’s standing has expanded the worldwide search for one or more “alternative somethings”. Now an intriguing argument has been advanced that a central reason Western Continue reading »
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US declines Israel’s invitation to start WW3 (for now)
Iran has carried out its long-promised retaliation for Israel’s attack on its consulate building in Damascus, launching a massive barrage of drones and missiles which it claims hit and destroyed Israeli military targets, while Israel says they dealt only superficial damage with a few injuries. The US and its allies reportedly helped shoot down a Continue reading »
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Western powers never believed in a rules-based order
Liberal democracies remain shamefully complicit with Israel, despite its ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. Continue reading »
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Access, undue influence and the Constitution
The sponsored pass system for lobbyists to access Parliament House opens the door to undue influence and potentially corrupt behaviour. Facilitating such opportunities is both unwise and inappropriate. Continue reading »
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Western misinformation and the so-called Xinjiang genocide
The UN Human Rights Report of August 31, 2022 says what’s happening in Xinjiang constitutes “crimes against humanity”. In plain English, this is saying it is not genocide under the UN Genocide Convention. It confirms an earlier Amnesty International report in 2021 to the same effect. Both are clear implicit rejections of unsubstantiated genocide claims. Continue reading »
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Even-handed? No. Just inane
I think if I hear again, in some attempt at a supposed even-handedness an interviewer ask a representative of the Palestinian people in this terrible time, ‘do you also oppose the actions of Hamas on 7th October?’ I will puke. That is not a pleasant prospect. Continue reading »
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Labor not tribal enough for three of its own
The ACT Labor-led Government might lead the nation in many worthy ways and it might, too, you might think, especially six months out from an election, be vigilant to avoid what many might see as an embarrassing own goal. But no… Continue reading »
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TAFE shutting the door on the battlers
Recent figures show that around 30% of Australian school children do not have adequate reading skills. This 30% of Australian school children need vocational knowledge and skills to find a productive place in Australian life, but some will have their reading tested by TAFE then told, without a hint of irony, “You need to go Continue reading »
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Glencore and the patronising disposition of unaccountable power
The recent P&I article by Chris Douglas featuring Glencore and the Great Artesian Basin raised many genuine concerns, especially regarding the sophism of corporate social responsibility. These included Glencore’s predatory culture and rapacious deeds and the egregious conduct of many other extractive mining brigands across Australia and elsewhere around the globe. Continue reading »
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Does Australia owe Fiji $75 billion reparations for historical blackbirding?
In 2023, an American economics firm, Brattle, provided its reparation calculations to a symposium on Transatlantic Slavery Reparations chaired by international judge Patrick Robinson. Brattle calculated that the USA and slave-trading European countries owed the Caribbean and Americas US$130 trillion for wrongs done over a 400-year period. Continue reading »
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How the left became cheerleaders for US imperialism
Figureheads like the Guardian’s George Monbiot have wrecked the left’s ability to think critically, encouraging an analysis of power politics more suited to the playground. Continue reading »
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Environment: Oil and gas producers underreport methane emissions
How accurately are methane emissions reported and whose estimates can you believe? Who should be the last producers of oil and gas? What are Australia’s commonest birds? Continue reading »
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The stark monuments of conflict in Israel and Palestine
Visits to the historical sites of Israel and beyond provide stark reminders that the past – including the recent past – is always with us, with places and monuments marking conflicts of ideologies and conflicts of people. Continue reading »
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The urgent call to halt the Migration Amendment Bill 2024
In a critical forum addressing the Migration Legislation (Removal and other Measures) Bill 2024, Kalyani Inpakumar, representing the Tamil Refugee Council, shed light on the troubling direction of the Albanese Labor Government’s migration and refugee policies. The implications of this bill are stark and unsettling. Continue reading »
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Whitlam’s biggest bull story
Forty-nine years ago, the Australian Prime Minister and the President of Indonesia met in a tiny sugar town in North Queensland and tried to convince the world they were discussing beef cattle exports, and not the invasion of East Timor. Continue reading »
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UK media shouldn’t be ‘impartial’ – but fearless and truthful
We need journalism that is committed to accurate and uncompromising investigation and not a spurious “impartiality” that hides brutal facts of occupation and genocide. Continue reading »
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The forgotten Palestinians in Syria
The Syrian Civil War was the longest and most complex geopolitical conflict to emerge out of the Arab Spring, thus creating a complicated legacy for leftist analysts to interrogate. In this interview, exclusive for Counterpunch, former United Nations special rapporteur, and international relations scholar Richard Falk, breaks down Palestine and Syria and the history and Continue reading »
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Anti-junta forces control Myanmar borders – Asian Media Report
In Asian media this week: Resistance has regime capital in its sights. Plus: Japan, US, boost Tokyo’s anti-Beijing role; International law ‘backs China’ in islands’ disputes; Tech giants will not solve climate change, social injustice; South Korea voters deliver rebuff to president; Given a chance, Chinese and American folk like each other. Continue reading »
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‘Worst I have seen’: 75% of Great Barrier Reef suffers coral bleaching
“We are really running out of time. We need to reduce our emissions immediately,” one expert warned. “We cannot expect to save the Great Barrier Reef and be opening new fossil fuel developments.” Continue reading »
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Focus research beat ups
In journalism and politics there are beat ups every day of the week. But some are so outrageous that they make a zephyr breeze look like a tornado. Continue reading »
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The Voice and Australia’s democracy crisis
The dire state of truth in Australia’s civic space crystallised in 2023. We had seen the waning influence of News Corp’s impact on our elections and assumed it meant that enough of us were becoming inoculated against the propaganda. The defeat of the notoriously mendacious Coalition government might have signalled a ceasefire, a moment for Continue reading »
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Australia’s destructive housing inequality – Weekly Roundup
Housing inequality has put Australia on a destructive trajectory, how the Coalition blocks economic reform, Australia’s changing politics played out in Tasmania. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues. Continue reading »
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Janet Yellen came – China was polite
Janet Yellen came, she pontificated and postulated, ate some nice Chinese food, drank a beer with Nicholas Burns, a man that Chinese people loathe and hold little respect for; then she left. This tells the world all about her trip, what she ate and drank was more important than what she said and did. Continue reading »