Writer
P&I Guest Archive
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RODNEY TIFFEN- How Turnbull shrank in the job
The most important date in the history of the Turnbull government was December 1, 2009. That was the day Tony Abbott defeated Malcolm Turnbull after a revolt by the right wing of the party defeated Turnbull’s support for an Emissions Trading Scheme to address global warming. Continue reading »
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JOHN WHITE, PETER FARLEY, DAVID GILLETT, CHRIS STOLTZ.- Wasted Capital in Major Project Development.
The establishment of the Australian Public Service (APS) Review Panel is a powerful opportunity to examine the state of play of project development at the federal government level and kick-start a positive step change in performance. This will apply pressure to state governments and business to achieve similar step changes in performance. Continue reading »
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NATALIE ACTON. A revolution that starts in the heart.
An afternoon at the Sydney Writers’ Festival had delivered me an unexpected and precious gift. I think I’d experienced what Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister names as having an “unboundaried heart”, writes Natalie Acton. Continue reading »
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DENIS MULLER. How the right-wing media have given a megaphone to reactionary forces in the Liberal Party.
The polarisation that is devouring Australia’s politics is reflected in the increasingly stark polarisation of the country’s professional mass media. Continue reading »
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BRUCE GUTHRIE. Hello Rupert, bye-bye Malcolm (The New Daily 23/8/2018)
Anyone who doubts Rupert Murdoch’s role in the political chaos that has played out in recent days has never worked for him at a senior level. Murdoch’s annual visits to Australia invariably trigger seismic events both in and outside News Corp, the company he’s presided over for decades. So is it any surprise that Malcolm Continue reading »
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TIM COLEBATCH. Let the voters decide (Inside Story, 23.08.18)
An early election is the only solution to the chaos in the Liberal party room. Continue reading »
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LARRY ELLIOTT. Think our governments can no longer control capitalism? You’ve been duped.
In reality there has been a class war, in which the right has spent decades using the state to undermine workers. We can fight back. Continue reading »
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VIC ROWLANDS: Where on earth are we going?
John Howard could smell political advantage under water. Tampa changed politics in this country for the worse and made any future rational discussion of immigration and refugees thereafter political poison. Howard was in Washington when the Twin Towers were struck and it understandably had an immense impact on him, but it is hard to avoid Continue reading »
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LESLEY BARCLAY, HANNAH DAHLEN, NIGEL LEE. Australia is breaking records for intervention in childbirth, and the costs are many.
Variation in rates of obstetric intervention, including caesarean section, were recently cited by the Grattan Institute’s Dr Stephen Duckett when suggesting that a new Code of Conduct for doctors should include a focus on over-intervention. In the article below, Emeritus Professor Lesley Barclay AO, Professor Hannah Dahlen and Dr Nigel Lee argue that concerted efforts Continue reading »
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IAN BUCKLEY.Historical Light on Current Aims to Attack Iran
This article highlights the vitally important role played by former US intelligence officers to prevent ongoing illegal regime changes across the world, presently Iran. Then, to better understand current examples, it explores their historical origins, consequences and possible remedies aimed at prevention. Continue reading »
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FENG ZHAUKUI. Joining B&R can open up new opportunities for Japan.
Recently, more and more Japanese companies have taken actions that show their positive attitude about participating in the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative, and Japanese leaders have also made some positive gestures. Continue reading »
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TIM COLEBATCH. A party too divided to rule.
The reckoning has arrived for a party — and its Coalition partner — riven by cultural fixations. Continue reading »
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MARK HUDSON. The too hard basket: a short history of Australia’s aborted climate policies (The Conversation, 20.08.18)
Less than three years ago, after Malcolm Turnbull had wrested the prime ministership from Tony Abbott, I wrote an article entitled “Carbon coups: from Hawke to Abbott, climate policy is never far away when leaders come a cropper”. Continue reading »
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TONY BERG. To Close the Gaps, Deal with Alcohol Abuse.
For ten years our political leaders have talked about closing the gap. The harsh reality is that the gap in disadvantage suffered by indigenous Australians fails to close. Worse, there has been little discussion about why the gaps do not close despite all the money, the effort, the programs and the goodwill over the decade. Continue reading »
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WILL STEFFEN. A Fundamental Re-think of the Climate Change Challenge
Using a complex systems framework, we argue that a set of feedback processes intrinsic to the Earth System could form a planetary threshold which, if crossed, would not only speed up climate change, but also take the trajectory out of human control and propel the system irreversibly to a Hothouse Earth state. Continue reading »
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BEVAN RAMSDEN. The Force Posture Agreement between the U.S. and Australian Governments
This Agreement makes Australia a base in the Indo-Pacific-South East Asia for the U.S. military and from which they can parade their strength, intimidate and launch hostile acts against our neighbours. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN GRENVILLE Who has been best for Australia: Trump or Obama? (Lowy Institute, 14.08.18)
US President Donald Trump comes in for widespread criticism, but he has at least one well-placed Australian defender. Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says that for Australia, Trump has been better than Obama. On the whole, Trump has been “good for us”. This is seriously misguided. Continue reading »
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KOFI ANNAN. Stop ‘war on drugs’ (05.11.13, CNN)
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Globally, communities are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies that are not working… .(In memory and honour of Kofi Annan Continue reading »
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DAVID JAMES. Australia’s deadly game of mates (Eureka Street, 13.08.18)
In Australia it is common to hear criticisms of the corruption in developing countries. It is a constant theme, for example, in media coverage of Papua New Guinea, our nearest neighbour. Continue reading »
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ANIKA MOLESWORTH. The drought and intergenerational equity
In failing to act on human-induced climate change, our political leaders are neglecting the rights of the next generation. Continue reading »
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LYNDSAY CONNORS. Tempora mutantur…
Times change, but the Australian system of planning and funding schools is in a time warp, being held back by vested interests from keeping pace with the demands upon it. Continue reading »
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TIM LINDSEY. Jokowi’s deputy pick confirms rise of conservative Islam in Indonesia
The selection of the controversial and highly conservative head of the Indonesian Ulama Council as Jokowi’s vice presidential running mate is disturbing. It reveals Jokowi’s lack of political authority and is yet another demonstration of increasing intolerance among Indonesian Muslims. Continue reading »
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NASSRINE AZIMI. Rethinking Our National Holidays?
I often ask my students to think what it means to live in a country with a constitution that prohibits wars of aggression, and removes from national priorities war-mongering discourses, distractions and impulses? Continue reading »
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PETER SMALL. Mulesing; Have we convinced ourselves of our own rhetoric to the wool industries detriment?
It is five years since I first went to China and I heard the plea of wool processors for Australia to do something to increase the availability wool from non-mulsed sheep. I responded with the well-worn rhetoric as to why we had to mules. You all know the lines; – “Mulesing is the lesser of Continue reading »
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JEFFERY SACHS. We Are All Climate Refugees Now.
This summer’s fires, droughts, and record-high temperatures should serve as a wake-up call. The longer a narrow and ignorant elite condemns Americans and the rest of humanity to wander aimlessly in the political desert, the more likely it is that we will all end up in a wasteland. Continue reading »
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VIJAY PRASHAD. The knife in Iran’s back: Trump opens door to chaos.
On Tuesday night, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani went on television to talk about the reinstatement of sanctions by the United States against his country. He prepared the country for more privations as a result of the sanctions. Responding to US President Donald Trump’s offer of a meeting, Rouhani said pointedly, “If you stab someone with Continue reading »
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WAYNE McMILLAN. Are Millennials Thinking Seriously about Socialism?
A recent report from the Australian conservative, right wing think tankThe Centre for Independent Studies, 1. reckons that Australian millennials are lurching towards Socialism. In this report millennials don’t mention what they think about Socialism, or what shape or form it should take and how it could be implemented. I guess they are feeling that Continue reading »
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JOSEPH E STIGLITZ. The US is at Risk of Losing a Trade War with China.
The “best” outcome of President Donald Trump’s narrow focus on the US trade deficit with China would be improvement in the bilateral balance, matched by an increase of an equal amount in the deficit with some other country (or countries). In fact, significantly reducing the bilateral trade deficit will prove difficult. Continue reading »
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HYLDA ROLFE. What’s in a name? The threat to our National Parks
For three years now, Sydney-based company Gap Bluff Hospitality Pty Ltd (GBH) has been revising an offer it made to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) under which the company would assume a large share of the burden of repair and maintenance of former Defence and other buildings in the Gap Bluff and Green Continue reading »
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CHRISTIANE BARRO. Ninety years on, no justice for Australia’s last Aboriginal massacre.
Last Tuesday marked 90 years since the last recorded massacre of Aboriginal people in Australia. Continue reading »