All Articles
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Flawed democracies: Modi, Trump, and a dilemma
Is democracy spawning elected autocracies? In 2024, a tale of two much-vaunted yet internationally ranked “flawed democracies” is unfolding. The outcomes of their national elections—India in June and the US in November—will test the mettle of the democratic institutions that underpin their governance systems. Continue reading »
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China’s property market is at risk of an overcorrection, not oversupply
There is no risk of China’s property sector woes spreading into a financial crisis but there is a policy-induced housing crisis and restrictions must be further eased. The property market must be stabilised to restore public confidence and spur private consumption, so economic growth can reaccelerate. Continue reading »
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Staring into a void — of neither two states nor one
I support recognition of a Palestinian state, in the UN context, as an affirmation that our values apply in our approach to dealings between states as well as within states. Continue reading »
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Senator Wong’s speech a good step but more must be done to halt Israel’s assault on Gaza
The Jewish Council of Australia today welcomed Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Senator Penny Wong’s speech overnight which signaled a shift in the Australian Government’s otherwise steadfast support for Israel and its actions. Continue reading »
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It is time to de-demonise Hamas
Who would not condemn the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 when hundreds of Israeli civilians, as well as hundreds of military and security personnel were killed? Why then is Hamas so popular amongst Palestinians and in the wider Muslim world? Continue reading »
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The Government must abandon its gas policy
For every thousand tonnes of fossil fuels mined, one person dies. As climate science provides increasing evidence of accelerating warming, we must recognise that gas is our main threat and stop producing it. Continue reading »
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There is no simple fix to residential aged care
Aged care staff are unhappy and many older people in residential aged care are unhappy. Certainly, the NSW Health Minister and the hospitals are unhappy because there are 600 people sitting in acute hospital beds who could be in aged care facilities. Continue reading »
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Putin says he follows Israel’s Gaza example in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has in the past justified brutal Russian military actions – such as in Ukraine and Syria — by saying they are the same as the Israeli actions we now see in Gaza. Continue reading »
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Gaza asks us a question about what kind of future we want to have
The main reason I’ve focused so hard on Gaza these last six months isn’t so much because of how evil and horrific Israel’s mass atrocity is in and of itself, but because it’s so intimately intertwined with all our world’s other problems, and with the future of the human species. Continue reading »
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Stopping Israel’s genocide
The order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 28 March 2024 to stop genocide in Gaza is not a go-to-jail card for Israel. So Israel just ignored it. In so doing, it followed the example of the US which had ignored an ICJ decision against the US and in favour of Nicaragua in Continue reading »
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Fossil fuel’s war on protest
Madeleine King, Minister for Resources in the Albanese government, recently announced that she will curtail the ability of Australians to challenge resource corporation projects in court (The West Australian 26/3/24). This attack on democratic rights is built on decades of disinformation shaping the global discussion on fossil fuels and climate change. Continue reading »
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End of peak China?
It is easy these days to grab a headline about the end of peak China. China’s imminent economic stagnation is becoming conventional wisdom, unless of course one happens to be in the resources, energy, green industry, or automobile sectors, just to name a few. There, China’s demand continues to surge or, alternatively, depending on the Continue reading »
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The crossbench and the environment
The environment is a key policy concern for Independent MP Kylea Tink, as for the other “Teal” Independents. Continue reading »
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Commercial lobbying – an abrogation of democracy?
Lobbying has been part of politics for the past two millennia, but in the past twenty years it has become an artform in persuasion and influence. At times it is scarcely possible to distinguish the elected representatives from unelected politicians. It seems now that a political career is not just election to a parliament, but Continue reading »
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ACT law reform to be still-born?
ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury might get the feeling that the new Law Reform and Sentencing Advisory Council he established in November last year is channeling Freddie Mercury: they want it all, and they want it now. Continue reading »
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New Zealand nearly sanctions the United Nations
The Bank of New Zealand blocks a donation to UNRWA, then thinks again. Continue reading »
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The United States leaves a mess in Ukraine, moves on to China
The US State Department’s No 2 now admits the AUKUS joint submarine project between three of the Five Eyes is tied to Taiwan and mainland China. Continue reading »
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Australian military refuses to disclose arms deal with Israel to protect its ‘reputation’
Australia’s Defence Department has refused a Freedom of Information request about the details of an arms deal with Israel on the grounds that such information “could harm Australia’s international standing and reputation,” which suggests the details must be pretty damning. Equally as scandalous, this refusal was reportedly made in consultation with the Israeli government. Continue reading »
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The crimson thread of racism festers in the darker interstices of Australian culture
In 1890 Henry Parkes spoke of “The crimson thread of kinship running through us all.” He believed this “crimson thread” – evocative of blood – united all white people in the Australian colonies and bound them to Britain. The federation he was advocating for Australia was to be exclusively white and eternally British. Continue reading »
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Accountability for the deaths of innocent people applies to Australia too
The death of young aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza last week was a tragic reminder that we have all failed to stop this unrelenting violence against the innocent. Many Australians have been horrified that the six months war continues, because governments fail to uphold international law and even our own leaders have hidden from Continue reading »
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Please help stop the war on children in Gaza – appeal by paediatricians and child health experts
As paediatricians and child health professionals we have committed our professional lives to promoting the physical and psychological health of children. Continue reading »
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China’s economic success in face of growing U.S., EU protectionism
The Western press is filled with stories of foreboding about the Chinese economy. We are told regularly that China’s fast growth is over, that China’s data are manipulated, that a Chinese financial crisis looms, and that China will suffer the same stagnation as Japan during the past quarter century. This is U.S. propaganda, not reality. Continue reading »
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How smart is the government as it sloshes our money about into hydrogen, “critical” minerals and now solar panels?
We are getting used to mega-sized investment announcements from the government – a couple of billion for hydrogen projects, four or maybe six billion for “critical minerals” and now a billion for solar panel manufacturing. Continue reading »
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Crossbench is Labor’s real opposition
Albanese’s practice of preferring to govern and legislate through deals with the coalition rather than with Greens and Independents is plainly because of a theory or strategy of what is in Labor’s long-term interests. It presumably includes the fear that Labor itself could atomise, as the coalition has done, if the influence and power of Continue reading »
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The Lehrmann defamation case, journalist values and the MEAA Code of Ethics
During the early 1990s, I once asked an experienced media adviser with whom I worked and admired what his thoughts were on the Australian Journalists Association (now the MEAA) Code of Ethics. His answer was that the code amounts to a point of departure in the way that journalists practise. Continue reading »
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Losers whinge, winners rule
A tip to take a wee shot at understanding the way of doing politics in Indonesia: Suspend rationality. Now imagine PM Anthony Albanese offering Scott Morrison a ministry – choice from five. Not such a smart move for Down Under but OK for next door. Continue reading »
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Australia’s disgraceful diversion of responsibility over Gaza war crimes
It seems our PM and Foreign Minister remain able only to show a carefully graduated and modified ‘outrage’ over the death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza. Expressed directly to Netanyahu, Albanese could only deliver restrained diplomatese: sought was a “thorough investigation” with “full accountability and transparency”. That hardly rocked Netanyahu to the core: Continue reading »