All Articles
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SUE WAREHAM. How the Australian War Memorial has lost its way.
In a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories inquiry into Canberra’s national institutions Sue Wareham ,on behalf of the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) calls for major changes at the AWM The submission notes that the inquiry’s purpose is to report on strategies that Canberra’s national Continue reading »
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WANNING SUN. Is Anti-China Rhetoric Harming Social Cohesion in Australia?
In September 2016, I published a major report on the Chinese-language media in Australia, and one of the points I made there was that the state Chinese media have been making gradual inroads into Australia’s existing ethnic Chinese newspapers and radio programs. Many commentators have cited this trend as evidence of China’s influence within our Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Attempts to appease Trump will end badly
When the Iran deal was signed three years ago, it met with stiff opposition from hardliners in Tehran and Washington. The former were infuriated at closing off possible pathways to the bomb while the agreement lasts in return for sipping from the poisoned chalice of an untrustworthy Satan. The American neocons were frustrated that regime Continue reading »
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DMITRI TRENIN. Russia and Ukraine: From Brothers to Neighbours.
Russia is parting ways with both Ukraine and Belarus. This did not have to be a tragedy with Ukraine, and can still be handled amicably with Belarus. Moreover, an independent Ukrainian state and a Ukrainian political nation ease Russia’s transition from its post-imperial condition and facilitate the formation of a Russian political nation. Continue reading »
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PETER DAY. An Open Letter to Pope Francis
Dear Papa Francesco, The Australian Catholic Church is in deep crisis and is in urgent need of your pastoral presence and leadership. Today, the former President of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, archbishop Phillip Wilson, was formally charged with covering-up child sexual abuse; while Cardinal George Pell has himself be charged with sexual abuse and Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. United States and Israel: Known By the Company We Keep.
In our voting with the US against a resolution of the UN Human Rights Commission to establish an independent enquiry into recent Israeli use of lethal force against Palestinian demonstrators, we have shown far and wide, our subservience to the US and, by extension, to the policies of Benyamin Netanyahu. Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH. Count Australia out on Iran, Uncle Sam.
A U.S. presidential executive order makes it illegal for America to target a foreign leader for assassination. But it seems it is perfectly acceptable to try to throttle another country’s struggling economy as a means of getting rid of its leader through regime change. This appears to be the raison d’être of President Trump in Continue reading »
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JOHN DALEY AND BRENDAN COATES. We can’t begin to fix our housing crisis until our leaders start levelling with the public
Governments at both Federal and State level are still avoiding the politically difficult changes that would make a real difference to housing affordability. But we won’t make progress unless our leaders eschew the popular but ineffective options in favour of planning and tax reforms that could actually improve affordability. Continue reading »
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CHRIS MARTIN AND HAL PAWSON. Last year’s affordable housing green shoots have withered
Budget 2018 fails the 1.5 million Australian households living in unaffordable rental housing or officially homeless, despite the urgent need for Commonwealth leadership on affordable housing policy. Continue reading »
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PAUL COLLINS Stop the Buck-passing and Resign.
President Harry S. Truman promised that ‘the buck stops here’. Well, last Friday afternoon Rome time, the Chilean bishops—all thirty-four of them—decided to stop the buck-passing and ‘face the music’, that is confront the consequences of their pretty-much complete failure to deal with the sexual abuse crisis. They all offered to resign. What are the Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Liberals have a bloke problem.
Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison were determinedly hitting the hustings last week as they tried to persuade the sceptical that their Enterprise Tax Plan was not only viable, but is actually a good idea. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Dutton’s extended police powers won’t be confined to airports
Dutton’s proposal to allow police to stop people at random at airports has little if anything to do with community safety, and everything to do with his desire to extend police powers and to help the government in its bid for re-election. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Parliamentary report on Section 44: Despite serious democratic deficit, referendum can wait!
There could be no clearer case for an early referendum than the fact that over half of all Australians today have barriers to nomination under s.44. In practice, the Report states, some may never be able to overcome these barriers and nominate. Indeed, 10,779,230 people (46% of the population) were born overseas or have one Continue reading »
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JOHN AUSTEN. Newcastle port restriction – action not words please!
Instead of handwringing politicians should act to reverse the outrageous restriction on Newcastle port. Continue reading »
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HENRY SIEGMAN. The two-State solution: an autopsy
During the latest outbreak of violence in Gaza, Israeli security forces, using high-powered rifles and live ammunition, have killed forty Palestinians (and counting), and wounded more than five thousand. B’Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have all accused Israel’s government and its minister of defence, Avigdor Lieberman, Continue reading »
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Update to May 2017 ‘Making Housing Affordable’ series
Pearls and Irritations continues to publish various blogs on housing affordability, recognising that the cost of and accessibility to appropriate housing remains out of reach for a significant part of the Australian population. Continue reading »
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SAUL ESLAKE. What has changed in the housing market over the past year?
Property prices have moderated in our largest cities over the past year, thanks in part to tightening of lending by APRA, and on inflows of foreign capital. There is some respite for first-time buyers, but the picture for renters is mixed. This year’s Budget had nothing significant for housing and those on lower incomes have Continue reading »
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TAREQ BACONI. What the Gaza Protests Portend
The battle against infiltration in the border areas at all times of day and night will be carried out mainly by opening fire, without giving warning, on any individual or group that cannot be identified from afar by our troops as Israeli citizens and who are, at the moment they are spotted, [infiltrating] into Israeli Continue reading »
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JENNIFER DOGGETT. Health Budget Gaps.
Prevention, out-of-pocket costs, and oral health. Continue reading »
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SUSAN RYAN. The impact of the 2018 Budget on women. It is most notable for its omissions.
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) each year prepares an analysis of the impacts of the federal budget on women. Since the Coalition government abandoned the practice of including a Women’s Budget Statement in the official Budget documents, a policy-oriented women’s NGO, the NFAW, has prepared this work. This extract gives an overview of the Continue reading »
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DAVID SPRATT. Senate report recognises climate change as existential risk, but fails to draw the obvious conclusions.
Climate change is “a current and existential national security risk”, according to an Australian Senate report released on Thursday 17 May. It says an existential risk is “one that threatens the premature extinction of Earth-originating intelligent life or the permanent and drastic destruction of its potential for desirable future development”. These are strong words. Continue reading »
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ELAINE PEARSON. Australia’s lame response to Anwar Ibrahim’s detention was a mistake
The region looks to Australia as a functioning democracy. We shouldn’t sideline human rights issues for trade and security ties. Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND …
“Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive. But to be young was very heaven” — that’s how many older Australians, with the distorted hindsight of nostalgia, look back on the turmoil of 1968. ABC Radio National has devoted a series of its regular programs to the events around 1968. The most concise is Continue reading »
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PETER DAWSON. Review of Sunburnt Country.
Peter Dawson reviews Sunburnt Country’ – Dr Joelle Gergis’ new book on Climate Change Climate Scientist, Dr.Joelle Gergis’s book pulls together from wide-ranging sources the story of the Australian climate since white settlement, but also reaches back 1000 years and more. She seeks to convince us that the climate change challenge we face is, by Continue reading »
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TSEEN KHOO. What Anzac Day meant for Asian Australians.
This year, just before ANZAC Day, I read a poignant, insightful piece by Nadine Chemali about what new migrants to Australia really thought about Anzac Day. Continue reading »
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TONY DOHERTY. Review of Hugh Mackay’s “Australia Reimagined – Towards a compassionate, less anxious society”.
Hugh Mackay has spent almost his entire working life asking Australians about what makes us tick, what are our basic concerns, what gives us hope and meaning, why do we do what we do? His acute observation, honed by the skills of solid social research, has illuminated his readers for at least fifty years. His analysis Continue reading »
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MICHAEL PASCOE. Profit-rich private health insurers burning billions on non-health costs
Australian capitalism’s sheltered workshop, the private health insurance industry, is burning billions of dollars a year unrelated to Australians’ health. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL O’KEEFE. Why China’s ‘debt-book diplomacy’ in the Pacific shouldn’t ring alarm bells just yet
Talk of Chinese “debt trap” diplomacy is nothing new, but a recent report by Harvard University researchers has resurrected long-held fears that China’s debt diplomacy poses a threat to Australian interests in the Pacific. Continue reading »
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The Vicar of Bray
The Vicar of Bray has become a cultural byword for political expediency, hypocrisy, and insincerity. He changed his allegiances time and time again. Can you think of an Australian Minister who reminds you of the Vicar of Bray? Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Consultation group to help reshape Internet domain names management.
With three months to develop new processes to redress historical weaknesses the company managing Australia’s Internet domain names has created a broad-based consultative group to guide the process. Continue reading »