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Author Archives: John Menadue
JOHN MENADUE. News Corp – a rogue organisation (Repost from 21 September 2018)
Rupert Murdoch’s form in abusing power and finding truth hard to handle continues. ‘Turnbull has to go’ is typical behaviour for a man who has done more to damage democracy than any living media person . I worked with Rupert … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
Tagged Bruce Guthrie, Carl Bernstein, Ed Milliband, Fox News, John Major, Ken Cowley, Matthew Freud, News-Corp., Rod Tiffen, Rupert Murdoch, Tom Watson
5 Comments
DUNCAN GRAHAM Could Kiwi values fly north?
New Zealand’s image has always been less coarse than Australia’s. Both nations claim to be egalitarian, peopled by ‘can-do’ improvisers. The Jolly Swagman’s cousin is A Good Keen Man. They salute the ‘fair go’, sharpen scythes to slash tall poppies … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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MIKE SCRAFTON. ASPI’s Agenda for change 2019
To pinch an epigram from former Air Force colleagues in Defence, ASPI’s ‘Agenda for change 2019: Strategic choices for the next government’ is a target rich environment. The contributors set out a smorgasbord of advice on strategic policy issues for … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
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RICHARD BUTLER. Nuclear Nonsense
Nuclear Nonsense The profound hypocrisy of the ownership of nuclear weapons is growing. Sideshows such as those wanted by Trump, in Singapore and Hanoi will change nothing. A return to serious discussions by the two nuclear weapons mega-powers, Russia and … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
3 Comments
JUDITH WHITE. Government arts policy slammed in NSW report
The NSW Coalition Government has breached its own Treasury guidelines and governance of the arts and culture sector needs a complete review, according to the final report of the Upper House Inquiry into Museums and Galleries.
Posted in Politics
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NOEL TURNBULL. Dodging the draft
Kim Jong-un has managed to achieve something that Presidents Johnson and Nixon couldn’t – get the draft dodging Donald Trump to Vietnam. Of course Trump didn’t stay long – soon leaving on a jet plane.
Posted in International Affairs
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GARRY EVERETT. Sex Only??
The recent Hollywood movie, On the basis of sex, tells the story of the first successful court case argued by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 9th Circuit Court. The subject matter was discrimination by the Federal Tax Laws, against a … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
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OLIVER FRANKEL AND SUSAN RYAN. Monthly housing digest – Jan/Feb 2019
This is the first of what is intended to be a monthly digest of interesting articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material relevant to housing stress/affordability and homelessness – with hypertext links to the source material. While the focus … Continue reading
IAN DUNLOP. Keeping Australians Safe and Secure
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne recently gave us the benefit of his wisdom on the parlous state of Australian politics, doubting that it is any longer capable of acting for the long-term good of the nation. Prime Minister Morrison confirmed the … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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CHAS W. FREEMAN JR. After the trade war, a real war with China
[T]he greatest danger of a [real] Sino-American war is Taiwan. Taiwan is a former Chinese province that was recovered from its Japanese occupiers by Nationalist China at the end of World War II. In 1949, having been defeated everywhere else … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
3 Comments
LESLEY RUSSELL. Can Primary Health Networks (PHNs) Drive Needed Primary Care Reforms?
LESLEY RUSSELL. Can Primary Health Networks (PHNs) Drive Needed Primary Care Reforms? A strong primary care system is essential to the equity, efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system and for improvements in health outcomes. However, the structure and funding … Continue reading
Posted in Health
2 Comments
STEPHEN de WEGER. Clerical sexual abuse of adults. Another blind spot.
In 2013, after working as a research assistant project into clergy sexual abuse of children, I decided to undertake an exploratory study into clergy sexual misconduct against adults. During this study I came across what I believe should be a … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
11 Comments
FRANCIS SULLIVAN. Pell conviction blows apart bishops’ mantra
Yesterday’s announcement of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell has been shattering for many and a relief for others. The fact that the most senior cleric in Australia has been found guilty is devastating on many levels. Not the least … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
9 Comments
BARNEY ZWARTZ. George Pell has fallen, but the cardinal’s legacy casts a long shadow
So Cardinal George Pell – by far Australia’s best-known church leader of the past 25 years, the highest-ranked Australian ever at the Vatican, a confidant of prime ministers – faces a jail sentence for child sexual abuse. The dispenser of … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
3 Comments
MIKE SCRAFTON. Facilitating repression, abandoning values.
Admirable as Senator De Natale’s persistence was in pressing Defence on the issues of military sales to Saudi Arabia, he pursued the wrong issue. Australia is, and will remain, a trivial player in the global arms market and the Yemeni … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security
1 Comment
GEORGE MONBIOT. Dark money is pushing for a no-deal Brexit. Who is behind it?
Modern governments respond to only two varieties of emergency: those whose solution is bombs and bullets, and those whose solution is bailouts for the banks. But what if they decided to take other threats as seriously?
MIKE SCRAFTON. The dangerous shibboleths of ‘strategists’
Some commentators on strategic policy seem to regard Australia’s national interests as close enough to immutable. That makes strategic policy a trivial and static matter.
Posted in Defence/Security
2 Comments
ROBERT MICKENS. The sex abuse summit and the Vatican’s lack of transparency.
Illustrative of the Church’s fear of revealing the truth is the case of Msgr. Joseph Punderson.
Posted in Religion and Faith
4 Comments
TREVOR COBBOLD. Education Department Slammed for Failure to Monitor How School Systems Distribute Taxpayer Funding
The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit of the Parliament has slammed the Commonwealth Department of Education for failing to ensure that government funding of public and private school systems is distributed according to needs-based principles.
BOB DOUGLAS : Towards a proper policy on asylum seekers
Last month, the Victorian prize for literature and the Victorian Premier’s prize for non-fiction work were awarded to an Iranian refugee, Behrouz Boochani, for his book, “No friend but the mountains: Writing from Manus prison.”
Posted in Refugees, Immigration
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PAUL COLLINS. Catholicism’s Year from Hell
Without a doubt the last twelve months have been Catholicism’s annus horribilis and, let me assure you, there’s still not much light at the end of the tunnel.
Posted in Religion and Faith
8 Comments
HUGH WHITE. Canberra’s growing silence on US leadership in Asia
Sometimes what is left out of a major policy speech is as important as what is said. This was certainly true late in January when Australia’s Defence Minister Christopher Pyne spoke about regional security in a keynote address to a … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
2 Comments
MACK WILLIAMS. The Second Trump:Kim Summit – Just another step along the way?
Amid all the media speculation feeding off Trump’s own optimistic commentary and resolute scepticism of many long term Korea watchers there are some recent glimmers of very limited progress emerging from the Hanoi Summit. After a late start, the lead … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
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IAN WEBSTER. Of minds imprisoned.
Beyond the image of the vagabond and the impaired bodies and minds of homeless people there are untapped veins of intellect and potential; this is where our focus should be. “The homeless are our most important dreamers, prophets and poets … Continue reading
Posted in Health
2 Comments
JOCELYN CHEY. What to do about Human Rights in China
Human rights in China are under threat. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government ignores international representations. Should Australia even attempt to intervene? What would we risk? The easy course would be to do the minimum and restrict our representations … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights
4 Comments
LINDA SIMON. 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 … Continue reading
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.
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 … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs, Politics
1 Comment
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
2 Comments
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 … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
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