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- EMMA ALBERICI. There’s no case for a corporate tax cut when one in five of Australia’s top companies don’t pay it.
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- BOB CARR. How the Israeli Lobby operates.A repost 17 October 2018
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- GREG AUSTIN: Australia, Israel and the Pentecostal PM 17 October 2018
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Author Archives: Carol Summerhayes
WILLIAM BRIGGS. The Chinese threat in far away Hobart.
Two events in the past couple of weeks have signalled disturbing trends in local and global politics. It might seem a long bow to draw a link between a city council election in Hobart with the sometimes rarefied atmosphere of … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
MARGARET O’CONNOR. Changing the culture of the church.
“What is the good of drawing up, on paper, rules for good behaviour, if we know that, in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean for a … Continue reading
Posted in Religion and Faith
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JOHN INVERARITY. Do we have a higher priority as a society than the raising our children: We must end alcohol advertising in sport.
As responsible adults we need to do all we can to ensure that our young are provided with the best opportunities to live purposeful, fulfilling lives and are encouraged to partake of these opportunities. We need to strive to provide them … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Sport
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LESLEY RUSSELL.Tackling the wicked problems in health – by building bridges with social services.
None of the “wicked’ problems in health – obesity, mental illness and suicide, chronic illness, ageing – will be solved with just hospitals, doctors, nurses and prescription pads. They all require resources beyond those provided by the health care system. … Continue reading
KEVIN BAIN. New thinking needed on refugee policy for a new period (Part 1 of 2)
Both Robert Manne and John Menadue have recently put proposals at this blog for better refugee policy. As an amateur who has accumulated an awareness of the counter-intuitions, swirling dynamics and deep knowledge required in this fiendishly complex policy space, … Continue reading
Posted in Refugees, Immigration
10 Comments
KIM WINGEREI. (Art) encounters of the Jones kind.
When the artist by the name of Banksy had his own artwork shredded, it was his right. It was (and is) his own artwork and he wanted to make a statement about his work being sold at an auction. But … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
4 Comments
SALVATORE BABONES. Australia -the world’s first immigration economy.
Australia’s economy is addicted to immigration, requiring ever-increasing infusions of new people to stave off an inevitable collapse.
Posted in Economy, Refugees, Immigration
4 Comments
RAMESH THAKUR. President Moon Jae-in is driving the Korea peace train.
The Korean War is 68 years old. Despite a ceasefire in effect since 1953, the heavily militarized border is still patrolled by soldiers, ringed with barbed wire and covered in land mines. Almost seven decades of containing, isolating and embargoing … Continue reading
Posted in Asia
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MICK PALMER. The drug trade has just kept getting bigger,more dangerous and more prosperous.
The facts are clear. For over half a century our governments have relied heavily on law enforcement to curb the drug trade and reduce drug use. However, despite huge funding, ever increasing levels of police effectiveness and genuine effort, and … Continue reading
Posted in Drug Reform
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JONATHAN PAGE. How Buddhism helped this cancer doctor care for his dying patients (ABC Science interview)
Medical oncologist Jonathan Page says being more in the moment helps him to be a better doctor. His relationships with his patients were once characterised by “coldness…. and a lack of grieving”. But a mental health crisis that led him … Continue reading
Posted in Health
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CHRIS MILLS. The next BIG thing: renewable water.
When cattle and sheep are dying in vast number across Eastern Australia, how sane is it for the driest inhabited continent in the world not to capture and redirect wastewater and stormwater from our cities and towns into food and … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
2 Comments
MAX HAYTON. Jacinda Ardern stands for kindness and collectivism.
The New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, challenged the forces of isolationism, protectionism and racism in her speech to the United Nations General Assembly.
Posted in International Affairs
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ANDREW FARRAN. Fearing a Cold War with China!
There are fears that the Trump Administration may, with the urging of America’s military/business and security complex and support from middle America, extend its trade war with China into a new Cold War. This would be unlikely to gain substantive … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
2 Comments
CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. Keeping the mates at arm’s length in the gambling industry.
The Grattan Institute’s report on access and influence in Australian politics, ‘Who’s in the room?’, comes at a time when the reputation of politicians and the political system seems to be plumbing new depths.
Posted in Politics
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KIM WINGEREI. The politics of change – reviews of Michelle Grattan’s anthology and Laura Tingle’s Quarterly Essay.
As trust in our political leaders continues to decline, writings and commentary decrying the malaise in which our democracy finds itself are booming. Everybody has a view of what’s wrong. Much of it along similar lines of lack of leadership, … Continue reading
MICHAEL THORN. Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics. The revolving door.
Those searching for remedies to the parlous state of Australian politics and public policy-making might dwell on this claim by the Grattan Institute: “…more than one-quarter of politicians go onto post-politics jobs for special interests, where their relationships can help … Continue reading
ABUL RIZVI. Privatising visa processing – the alarm bells are ringing (Part 1)
Major ICT transformation projects conducted ‘in partnership’ with a big IT company are high risk. Privatisation of core government functions such as visa processing are also high risk, especially when undertaken under the cloak of commercial-in-confidence type secrecy. Doing the … Continue reading
Posted in Refugees, Immigration
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TONY SMITH. What is a good MP?
It is hardly surprising that, as female Liberal Party parliamentarians have expressed dismay over the way that they were bullied during the removal of Prime Minister Turnbull, party powerbrokers have reacted by seeking to prescribe the role of the politician. … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
2 Comments
PETER SMALL. National Party and Climate Change, Part 2.
If we accept the premise that humans are rational beings and have a reason for doing what they do, then in my first article I tried to throw some light on what motivated the National Party, and the Coalition, to … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
2 Comments
BRIONY DOW. Do we need a Royal Commission into Aged Care?
With the recent announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care, debate is raging in the aged care sector and beyond as to whether it is really needed.
MAX HAYTON. Climate change policy wins wide support in New Zealand
New Zealand’s coalition government under Jacinda Ardern has made dealing with climate change one of its highest priorities. It is planning dramatic new legislation and to the surprise of many observers, no doubt including some watching from Canberra, there is … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
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