Writer
Andrew Farran
Andrew Farran in his younger days was a diplomat, Commonwealth civil servant and law academic (Monash). His subsequent business interests included international trade, intellectual property and publishing, and wool growing. He was a regular contributor to Pearls & Irritations from 2017 – 2020. Writes extensively on international affairs and defence, contributing previously to major newspapers (metropolitan and rural). Formerly director of major professional publishing company; now of a major wool growing enterprise.
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What ails Britain? Don’t mention Brexit
I’ve been asked to come out of blogging retirement, temporarily, to explain why Brexit has been at the root of Britain’s most serious problems since Brexit was decided in 2016 and which a growing body of commentators rate as a colossal mistake. Contrary to Boris Johnson’s repeated assertions, Brexit has not yet been done and Continue reading »
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States of chaos: internal border closures a disaster during pandemic
Free movement between the states is central to the Constitution — long-term lockdowns and officious regulation will have dire consequences. Continue reading »
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Brexit tensions push Britain and Europe closer to a damaging trade war
Complications over the Northern Ireland Protocol and pressure from Brexiteers are straining already fraught UK-EU ties. Continue reading »
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Farewell Chilcot and Barratt: public servants who truly served the public
Australian politicians could learn from two public officials — one who scrutinised the Iraq War, and one who sought change to the way we conduct war. Continue reading »
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The French have much to be furious about
The Australian submarine contract was integral to France sustaining its defence sovereignty beyond Europe. Now the French feel betrayed by the contract’s cancellation and how badly it was mishandled by the Australians. Continue reading »
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Afghanistan, the aftermath: Recognition or engagement?
What are the options for states, including Australia, in their dealings with Afghanistan following the retreat of the previous government and the assumption of power by the Taliban? Continue reading »
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ANZUS at 70: Is a strategic rethink overdue?
After 70 years of living with ANZUS, through one aborted action after another, surely now is the time to give the alliance a deep rethink. Continue reading »
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Have government responses to COVID-19 eroded freedoms?
Has it come to the point where it is imperative that we have a Bill of Rights as a bulwark against creeping arbitrary executive power and oppression as such protections as might exist are being steadily and stealthily eroded away supposedly for the public good? Continue reading »
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Behind the scenes: Section 92, the High Court and State coronavirus border closures
Nearly four months after the High Court ruled in favour of the WA Government against billionaire miner Clive Palmer, who challenged WA’s coronavirus border closure, we have the Court’s reasons for its decision. Continue reading »
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Carbon tariffs and taxes should not be an item for the WTO
Carbon border tariffs would tie the World Trade Organisation in knots and detract from its core purposes. Such a tax would also discriminate against the poorest in the world. Without broad consensus they would be illegal. Continue reading »
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Taiwan: to war or not to war, is that the question?
Are we at risk of stumbling into a war with China over Taiwan – as happened in 1914 over a war with a rising Germany? Continue reading »
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Brexit still not done and dusted?
The lies and misrepresentations spun by Brexiters (and the UK government) ever since the 2016 Referendum are coming home to roost. While niggles and irritations were expected, they were seen as transitional. But major consequences for the British economy are heaping up. Continue reading »
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Section 92 case decided but Court’s reasons still awaited
If national unity and the Federation were endangered in 2020 it was thanks to the Commonwealth government, the States, and the High Court, which bypassed a fundamental principle of the Constitution designed to secure the Federation and prevent discrimination among the States and their citizens. Continue reading »
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EU/China investment deal splits the West?
At a time when the United States and China are distancing themselves from each other’s economies, especially in the area of investment and high tech, while at the same time doing their best to undermine the global system for trade and investment, it may seem curious that on 30 December the EU and China concluded Continue reading »
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Post Brexit? It is not pages of legal text that sustains communities. It is political commitment.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government may have got Brexit across the line, and avoided the embarrassment and discomfort the country would have suffered had they not, but clearly they have not delivered on what was promised at the 2016 referendum. Continue reading »
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Brexit on the threshold
What will become of Brexit in the next few days? The Chinese may wish their foe to live in interesting times. But nothing that the British and the Europeans could do for themselves could rival the chaos and pandemonium now besetting them across the Strait of Dover. Regardless of deal or no-deal post-Brexit, disruptions to Continue reading »
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Brexit: The cliff is being pushed further back!
The negotiators have been given a few more days to achieve what they haven’t been able to in more than four years. Has there ever been such a prolonged display of muddled statecraft – negotiations that affect people’s lives and businesses to a far greater degree than in any other deal? Continue reading »
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Brexit – denouement or disaster
As the process towards a post-Brexit agreement with the EU staggers towards its denouement (or otherwise) the gathering scene is looking increasingly bizarre. What has gone wrong to date is almost bound to go wrong again, as 31 December deadline approaches. Continue reading »
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What’s the point of FTAs (including RCEP, with China?
With virtual fanfare the much heralded Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Regional_Comprehensive_Economic_Partnership was signed this weekend with the ten nation ASEAN group in addition to Australia, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. As with the former 12 nation Trans Pacific Partnership, the United States has withheld its participation. What are these mega trade agreements Continue reading »
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The High Court and Section 92 again
David Solomon’s item on the above – https://johnmenadue.com/palmer-loses-border-war/ – is headed ‘Palmer loses border war’. It is not just Palmer that lost the war; in one way or another, as Australians, we all have. Continue reading »
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The wool trade: hostage to intransigence
Animal welfare groups object to the wool industry because of the process of mulesing, a treatment used to protect sheep from fly strike. They argue that mulesing is cruel and invasive regardless of whether painkillers are used. There is, however, an alternative to mulesing that is painless, bloodless and no less protective. Continue reading »
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Britain facing two potential devastations
Britain is facing two devastations in short order – a further surge in coronavirus cases; and achieving coherence from its imminent departure from the EU. Both will have deleterious effects on future economic growth, though long term from Brexit more so than the virus. Continue reading »
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Rafferty has taken charge of the ministerial decision making process.
While confusion over the supervision of quarantined returning travellers by private security firms in Victoria may have arisen from exceptional circumstances, a broader question concerning the unfettered exercise of Ministerial (Executive) power has come to the forefront of governing in this country.At stake, as seen, are due process and the liberty of the individual citizen. Continue reading »
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The High Court must rule on State border controls before more businesses are bankrupted and family relations traumatised.
No government, whether Commonwealth or State, has primacy over movement across State borders. Primacy lies in the Federal Constitution which states in Section 92 that “trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States … shall be absolutely free”. A distribution of powers does not come into it. Continue reading »
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Brexit – a crash landing in prospect
Brexit is done but its end-shape is not. The final stages of the post-Brexit negotiations are shrouded in mistrust, misrepresentations, and most recently an intended breach of international law. The real intentions of the negotiators, both sides, remain clouded. Continue reading »
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Under the proposed Foreign Relations Bill the states might be down but they are not out
If Mr Morrison wants to ride roughshod over certain state interests in the external sphere he had better be prepared to brief counsel at the High Court. Continue reading »
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The longer term consequences of the pandemic may be fewer citizens’ rights
When we require a bureaucrat’s permission to leave the country, or to cross our neighbourhood’s State border, one far removed from any known instance of a viral infection, our rights and liberties are indeed slipping. They are doing so right under our noses. Continue reading »
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Australia’s dubious record in supporting international law.
As the world descends into power politics, less powerful nations must place their faith, and potentially their security, in the retention and development of a credible international legal system. That credibility turns on the respect and observance given to it by smaller powers. Continue reading »
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Section 92 of the Constitution lost to shortsightedness
It is a pity that the Commonwealth has formally dropped out of the Clive Palmer challenge in the High Court over State boundary closures as offending Section 92 of the Constitution – though prior to that it had made a written submission to the Court. The issues transcend Mr Palmer’s interests. Continue reading »
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Out of sight, out of mind. What’s happened to Trade?
Trade does not get the attention it requires as all external issues are viewed through the prism of the defence/intelligence agencies, subordinating the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade itself. This has become worse since trade was integrated into that department. Continue reading »
