All Articles
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SCOTT BURCHILL. Australian minds have not been decolonised.
Australia has never been properly decolonised, particularly in both the political and psychological senses, as most states which came into existence during the 20th century were. This has had a profound effect, not only on the way aboriginal Australians have been treated by settlers from around the world. It has also contributed to a lack Continue reading »
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Review Lite for VET! – What happened to the Royal Commission?
Under the pressure of an upcoming Federal election and little action taken to address ongoing issues in the vocational education and training sector, in November 2018 the Prime Minister announced a review into VET. The review was to be undertaken by a New Zealander with a report due in March 2019. One suspects this is Continue reading »
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DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND DAVID BOND . UK National Cyber Security Centre says Huawei is manageable risk to 5G( Financial Times London 18.2.2019
British intelligence has concluded that it is possible to mitigate the risk from using Huawei equipment in 5G networks, in a serious blow to US efforts to persuade allies to ban the Chinese supplier from high-speed telecommunications systems. Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH. The ties that bind – the US and Saudi Arabia.
If an international criminal like ‘El Chapo’, the Mexican drug baron, can be tried (and convicted) in the US within two years of falling into American hands, why can’t the surviving alleged perpetrators of the 9/11 atrocity? Why is it that relatives of the 9/11 victims suing for damages have yet to see a day Continue reading »
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MARILYN HATTON. Pray and light a candle for our church in crisis.
For years a small but expanding number of Catholics in Australia have beenappealing for church reform and have struggled to gain attention from our bishops. Our prayers and entreaties for change in the clerical, male-dominated cloisters have fallen on unattentive ears. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. The UK will make Brexit on 29th March
The UK will make Brexit on 29th March if the government is to avoid a huge humiliation and unforgivable damage to its economy, not to mention the nation’s future diplomatic standing and credibility. This appears to have got through to Theresa May, the UK PM, as the civil service is working day and night to Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. The Debate About Anzus and the Defence of Taiwan.
Last week Pearls and Irritations printed spirited contributions by Hugh White and Cavan Hogue about the future of Anzus and the American Alliance. They were both responding to an earlier paper in The Strategist, the in- house journal of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, by Paul Dibb entitled “ Australia and the Taiwan contingency.” It Continue reading »
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LAURA TINGLE. Senior bureaucrats send a message to the Government and the Opposition (ABC 19.2.2019)
The political significance of his [Mr Pezzullo’s] interventions are twofold — the first is that it makes clear the security establishment does not believe the legislative changes, of themselves, will spark a wave of new boat arrivals. The second is that, just as Mr Lewis and Mr Pezzullo were sending a clear message to the Continue reading »
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JILL MARGO. Why Denmark is reducing hospitals while we are building more. (AFR 19.2.2019)
“About 15 years ago, we realised the solution to these problems is not more hospitals but to think about how we can deliver healthcare in a different way,” says Hans Erik Henriksen, CEO of Healthcare DENMARK. “We aim to deliver as many services as possible through primary healthcare, municipalities, health centres and outpatient clinics and Continue reading »
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GARY McLAREN Is an NBN quick fix possible?
The National Broadband Network went from a nation building project to political football after the 2013 election. Is it now too late to save? How much of the billions spent can be salvaged? How much needs to be spent to remedy the fundamental flaws? Continue reading »
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PETER BROOKS. Will Labor Really Be Brave On Health Reform – Response To National Press Club Address By Catherine King.
The major challenges that beset our health system are well articulated with the obvious commitment to strengthening Medicare, making it fairer and tackling some of the major funding deficits introduced over the past decade such as the Medicare rebate freeze. The major and anticipated announcement of the establishment of the Australian Health Reform Commission is Continue reading »
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ALAN PEARS. The Politics of Confusion on Achieving the Paris Commitment
Will Australia meet the government’s Paris climate commitment? Experts disagree, while the government avoids explaining exactly how it will achieve its goal. This creates confusion and conflict, which suits the government in the lead-up to the election. Lack of information and widespread disruptive change mean it is not yet possible to make a definitive judgement. Continue reading »
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MIKE SCRAFTON. Some possible implications for Australia’s strategic policy in Trump’s emergency
President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency over illegal immigration on the southern border of the US is destined to bring on a short term constitutional and political crisis in the US. The security of the US/Mexican border is not of direct interest to Australia but the longer term outcome of contest between the Executive Continue reading »
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KIM WINGEREI The Banking Royal Commission – The work has only just begun!
Even if all the 76 recommendations of Kenneth Hayne’s Banking Royal Commission were to be implemented, not much would change. There is a reason bank stock rallied after its release, bank board members and executives have little to fear. Continue reading »
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PATRICK JORY. Explaining a Thai royal’s aborted electoral debut (East Asia Forum).
On 8 February 2019, Thai Raksa Chart (a Thai political party aligned with exiled, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra) made the bombshell announcement that it was nominating King Vajiralongkorn’s elder sister, Ubolratana, as its candidate for prime minister. Late that same night, the King issued a royal command, almost as explosive, effectively forbidding the nomination. Continue reading »
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EKA KURNIAWAN. Indonesia’s next election is in April. The Islamists have already won. (New York Times 14.2.2019)
When Joko Widodo, the incumbent presidentof Indonesia, last year chose Ma’ruf Amin as his running mate for the general election this April, it became clear that Indonesian politics is now backed into a corner. Mr. Ma’ruf is an Islamic cleric and scholar, and Mr. Joko was perhaps hoping to dampen attacks from conservative and radical Islamic groups that have Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. National Security: How Professional is the Advice?
Prime Minister Morrison and Minister Dutton have launched a scare campaign over the Medivac Bill, alleging that 1000 refugees will arrive in Australia from Manus and Nauru in a matter of weeks, which will in turn start the boats coming again. In an effort to gain some credibility for this claim, the Government has cited Continue reading »
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PAUL BONGIORNO. Did Scott Morrison miss his Tampa moment? (The New Daily 18.2.2019)
The question playing on the minds of nervous Coalition MPs is whether Scott Morrison has missed his “Tampa moment”. Should the embattled Prime Minister have seized the moment of last week’s humiliating government defeat in Parliament to have called an immediate election? Continue reading »
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JOHN AUSTEN. Transport for an incoming NSW Government.
NSW faces an election in March. This note – to help an incoming government – draws on transport matters identified in Pearls etc. It won’t be in the incoming government’s briefs. Never mind – people who matter read Pearls! Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The marketeer in the Lodge.
In the world of marketing, there are no such things as losses – only opportunities; and Scott Morrison, if he is nothing else, is a dedicated marketeer. Continue reading »
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ROSS GITTINS. Stagnation spanner in the works? The tradesman you need to call is Keynes. (SMH 16.2.2019)
Every so often the economies of the developed world malfunction, behaving in ways the economists’ theory says they shouldn’t. Economists fall to arguing among themselves about the causes of the breakdown and what should be done. We’re in such a period now. It’s called “secular stagnation” and it’s characterised by weak growth – in the Continue reading »
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BRUCE LINDSAY. Reflections on the Murray Darling Basin Royal Commission
The headline findings of the Royal Commission into the Murray Darling Basin – unlawfulness, incompetence, regulatory capture – are spectacular. Despite its strong scientific base, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been undermined by the power of vested interests and a general ambivalence toward rivers. But responses to the Commissioner’s report by governments, opposition parties, the Continue reading »
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MOBO GAO. The Chinese United Front Strategy: Its History and Present.
Amidst the fear of political interference of the Chinese government there is often a reference to one organ of the Chinese State, i.e., the United Front (UF). In some Australian news stories about the China, UF is sometimes dangled to the unsuspecting Australian public as an all-purpose threat in the same way the Red under Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. The rot set in when they privatized the Commonwealth Bank
The banking and finance commission’s focus was on specific poor behaviours. It avoided broad policy issues, including the general failure of competition to improve consumer outcomes. Continue reading »
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TIM WOODRUFF. Health Reform From Labor: Does the Policy Match the Vision?
ALP health spokesperson Catherine King addressed the National Press Club this week to expound Labor’s vision of health care changes if it wins office. Perhaps the highlight of the address was a restatement of Labor’s vision ‘of a truly universal health care system in which every Australian has affordable access to the high-quality health care Continue reading »
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TONY SMITH. Last hurrah for New South Wales Coalition Government – a festival election?
The Coalition Government in New South Wales faces the fixed four year election in late March. It has been looking desperate for the last couple of years and has come under pressure recently about drug deaths at music festivals. Its decided course of action in this area might well alienate younger voters and prove to Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN. Safe Turnbacks and Appropriate Medical Care for Asylum Seekers (Eureka Street, 18 February 2019)
We are all gearing up for the third election in a row when boat turnbacks and the punitive treatment of refugees and asylum seekers feature. It need not be so. It’s time voters sent a message that it should not be so. The overwhelming majority of our politicians and the overwhelming majority of voters are Continue reading »
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BARRY CASSIDY undercuts Liberal scare campaign over boats. (ABC Insiders)
This time the Coalition has over reached Continue reading »
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BOB DEBUS. How close to Armageddon do we have to get?
The 2019 OECD Environmental Performance Review for Australia, launched recently and reported in The Guardian if hardly anywhere else, makes horrible reading. “Australia is home to a 10th of global species and is seen by many as synonymous with pristine coastal areas and an outback brimming with nature. However the country is increasingly exposed to Continue reading »