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Author Archives: Carol Summerhayes
GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. Vale Evan Williams
No Australian adorned the professions of politics and journalism like Evan Williams. He was much more than a beautiful writer. He was a beautiful man, who brought a shining light and grace to thousands of lives. He died a few … Continue reading
Posted in Arts and Reviews, Media
1 Comment
ANTHONY PUN. Australia at the crossroads of economic survival.
Recent articles in the South China Morning Post and Pearls and Irritations are wake-up calls for Australians in the pilot seat for the next five years driving Australian foreign relations and trade. Some pundits are pessimistic about a quick turn-around … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
KATE McDOWELL. Together or not in the performing arts.
The way the performing arts is funded in Australia hasn’t changed since the 1990s, but the Australian cultural landscape has changed dramatically.
Posted in Arts and Reviews
Comments Off on KATE McDOWELL. Together or not in the performing arts.
DAVID SOLOMON. Rubbishing the electorate.
A golfing friend told me this week that he had been door-knocked during the campaign – ‘by Peter Dutton himself’. He wondered why the sitting MP would visit him, but quickly worked it out. He had filled in a form … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
3 Comments
MARK SWIVEL. Why is no-one talking about non voters?
Australia is famous the world over for our compulsory voting system. We are one of a handful of countries that require our citizens to vote. Technically we only require voters to turn up and get their name marked off the … Continue reading
MARJORIE COHN. Human rights and global wrongs in Venezuela,Cuba and Nicaragua.
Under the guise of protecting human rights, the Trump administration is illegally meddling in three countries it has dubbed the “troika of tyranny” — Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed, “Miami is home to countless Americans, who fled … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
DAVID LEITCH. We crunch the numbers and find costs of Labor’s emissions target are not that big. RenewEconomy May 3 2019
ITK has looked at Labor’s emissions reduction target – the 45% cut from 2005 levels by 2030 – and we estimate the community wide costs to be less than $2 billion per year, as summarized in Figure 1.
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on DAVID LEITCH. We crunch the numbers and find costs of Labor’s emissions target are not that big. RenewEconomy May 3 2019
AVI SHLAIM. Benjamin Netanyahu and the death of the Zionist dream.
Israel’s founding fathers are turning in their graves.
Posted in International Affairs
2 Comments
CAVAN HOGUE. The panda versus the grizzly bear.
Our actions and public statements on Huawei and other Chinese investments clearly identify China as a potential threat which logically makes it an enemy. We do not apply the same standards to other countries which have the same technical capability. … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
JOHN MENADUE. Jobs at Adani or on the Great Barrier Reef.
There are very strong grounds for Australia to phase out the mining of steaming coal as soon as possible and certainly not to promote new coal projects such as Adani. Our planet is increasingly at risk. Protecting the Great Barrier … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Environment and climate
4 Comments
ANTHONY PUN. Understanding the battle for telecommunications supremacy.
Sam Byford’s article, on the Huawei chairman accusing American critics of hypocrisy over NSA hacks, represents the current battlefront in the US-China trade war over “telecommunications” (telecoms) and its battle plan objective. This article takes a deeper dive into the … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
HENRY REYNOLDS. Anzac Day.
As we approach Anzac Day for another year, its national significance is reaffirmed. But we are so familiar with the accustomed ritual and rhetoric that it escapes critical scrutiny. And its sanctity places it outside the reach of sceptical inspection.
Posted in Uncategorized
5 Comments
KIERAN TAPSELL. Anzac Day and apologies for the sins of the past.
Apologies for the sins of the past have always created controversy. If it is accepted that nations are entitled to glory in the great achievements of their individual members, then it is also appropriate that they regret what other members … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
4 Comments
DAMIEN WILLIAMS. We need to keep temperature to a 1.5 degree increase… a letter to the Hon. Mark Dreyfus MP
Labor’s attempt to find the middle ground in its climate policy pays lip service to the warnings that credible scientists are making on the need for drastic cuts to fossil fuel emissions by 2030. The party’s position, outlined by the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
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TIM BEAL. The clash of diasporas.
On 11 April New Zealand’s ‘spy chiefs’, as the media labelled them, gave evidence to the Justice Select Committee of Parliament. Rebecca Kitteridge, director-general of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), and Andrew Hampton, director-general of the Government Security Communications Bureau … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
1 Comment
BEVAN RAMSDEN. Do the US Marines in Darwin pose a risk to our peace and security?
A recent US war exercise involving US Marines landing, capturing and securing an island off the coast of Okinawa is touted as a new US military strategy to use in its challenge to China in the South China Sea. Is … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, International Affairs
8 Comments
GRAEME WORBOYS. Celebrating Kosciuszko’s 75th anniversary.
The 75th anniversary of the establishment of Kosciuszko State Park falls on Good Friday, 19 April 2019. The Park was famously established by Premier William McKell to protect the nationally important mountain water catchments, to restore soil erosion caused by … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate
7 Comments
GIDEON LEVY. Israel’s new wretched republic.
On Tuesday, the Second Republic of Israel was born. It will be different from its predecessor. The First Republic chalked up impressive achievements, accompanied by lies and deceptions. The Second Republic will dispense with any pretense.
Posted in International Affairs
2 Comments
SUSAN RYAN. Older women are budget losers.
The 2019 budget contains little to improve the circumstances of the poorest older women. Increases of 10,000 previously announced home care places are provided for. An extra 13,500 residential places were provided. A new $8.4 million is allocated to mandatory … Continue reading
Posted in Economy
2 Comments
ALISON BROINOWSKI. How long to extradition for Assange?
WikiLeaks watchers had been expecting it for weeks, but when news came on 11 April that Ecuador had revoked Julian Assange’s asylum, a collective shudder went around the extended community. Next day the pictures appeared, and they made it worse. … Continue reading
Posted in International Affairs
3 Comments
ABUL RIZVI. New regional visas – a recipe for exploitation and destitution.
The Government’s new regional migration arrangements make it easier for potential migrants with lower skill levels and limited English to access temporary residence via low paid jobs in regional Australia. At the same time, the government is making it significantly … Continue reading
Posted in Refugees, Immigration
2 Comments
RONNIE KASRILS. I fought South African apartheid. I see the same brutal policies in Israel.
As a Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist I look with horror on the far-right shift in Israel ahead of this month’s elections, and the impact in the Palestinian territories and worldwide.
Posted in International Affairs
5 Comments
TIM WOODRUFF. Cancer is horrible; so is death from any cause.
The Opposition Leader has announced the biggest investment in Medicare for a generation, $2.3 billion to be spent eliminating the co-payments faced by those with cancer who see specialists, need diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy. It is also guaranteeing all new … Continue reading
Posted in Health
2 Comments
GEOFF RABY. Wresting China diplomacy back from the securicrats.
In the fading days of the Morrison Government, two important decisions are likely to be overlooked. Both came last week. One was to establish the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations and the other the appointment of a new Ambassador to … Continue reading
Posted in Asia
2 Comments
ANTHONY PUN. The battle for the Chinese Australian vote.
Important lessons learned in the last state elections in Victoria and NSW point to the ubiquitous use of social media “WeChat” in influencing voters in the Chinese Australian community and the realisation that their votes could be pivotal in changing … Continue reading
CAVAN HOGUE. Ukraine, clowns and comedians.
It looks very much like Ukraine will elect a TV comedian with no political experience as president. Since Australia is ruled by clowns at the moment we are hardly in a position to criticise!
Posted in International Affairs
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JOHN AUSTEN. Fast rail – apologies please from perpetrators.
A recent post said politicians should not ‘bite the bullet’ on high speed rail – but apologise for money wasted; unrealistic expectations fanned; incompetence. It suggested a start with Newcastle – a city dudded by bureaucrats. Better still would be policy … Continue reading
Posted in Infrastructure
5 Comments
MARY KELLY. The horrifying reality of a military occupation.
I recently spent some months living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I was shocked, deeply distressed and angered by what I witnessed on a daily basis. Palestinians living under the Israeli military occupation experience a relentless, dehumanising, brutal and intimidating … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, International Affairs
4 Comments
JOHN MANT. It’s not less population but better planning.
‘It’s not the excessive population growth, it’s the failures of city planning’, it is said in defence of high immigration levels. Planning has been a mess for a long time. But in NSW there may be signs of hope with the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
JOHN KERIN. Wage compression and its wider implications, economic and political.
All macro-economic variables relate to one another. The economic growth rate, monetary and fiscal policy, budgetary policy, business profitability, investment, taxation (and the avoidance and evasion of tax), the wage rate, transfers and trade balance all interact and adapt to … Continue reading