Writer
David Solomon
David Solomon is a former legal and political correspondent. He has degrees in Arts and Law and a Doctorate of Letters. He was Queensland Integrity Commissioner 2009-2014.
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Labor’s plan for an anti-corruption body
The ALP this week released an outline of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) it would introduce if it were to come to power at the next federal election, a body based on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that has operated (mostly) successfully in New South Wales for more than three decades. Continue reading »
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National Cabinet is not to blame, unless you ask the State Governments
There has been a subtle but nevertheless significant shift in the operation of the National Cabinet. It reflects the growing evidence that Prime Minister Scott Morrison recognises he is no longer in control of Australia’s response to the Covid pandemic and that many people are questioning his increasingly inept performance. Continue reading »
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ICAC wants real regulation of lobbying with its unfairness and the inherent risks of corruption.
ICAC tried 11 years ago to persuade the NSW Government to introduce a basic system to regulate lobbyists in the state, but only the bare bones of its proposals (essentially, just 5 out of 17 recommendations) were put into effect. It has now revisited the problem and determined a far more comprehensive scheme that would Continue reading »
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Lobbying: British ex-PM shows the way, Australia pretends there is no problem
Don’t you pity David Cameron, the former Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain, who led the charge (from the Opposition leadership) against the evils of lobbying, but discovered, after he ceased to be PM, that he could profit greatly from his former office by becoming a lobbyist? Continue reading »
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Morrison fails leadership test – again
The Morrison Government’s botched and controversial ban on Australians returning from India shows just how error-prone it can be when it makes Covid-19 related decisions without the help of State and Territory leaders. Continue reading »
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Morrison exposes his frailties. He needs empathy training
Andrew Laming who conducted vile harassment and bullying campaigns on social media and elsewhere against several women in his electorate has been ordered to do empathy (or ‘awareness’) training. Continue reading »
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Morrison’s government: the most amoral in 50 years
It is extraordinary that a Liberal Party leadership manages to be outside the bubble when anything might go wrong. Concepts of right and wrong have no place in what it does, and even what it says it does. Its only concern is the exercise of power, to satisfy its current whimsies and to excuse and Continue reading »
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Quarantine: States also have powers to make laws
Commentators have repeatedly drawn attention to the section of the Commonwealth Constitution that apparently makes the Federal Government responsible for quarantine. However, this is not an exclusive Commonwealth power. Continue reading »
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The mechanics of elections to suit the major parties
The Commonwealth Parliament has a very long-standing practice of requiring its Joint Committee on Electoral Matters to conduct a post-mortem after every federal election – not about how it was won or lost (that has already been done in the media and elsewhere) but how the electoral mechanics worked and what changes might be made Continue reading »
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You’ll need a vaccine whether you like it or not
Sixty-plus years ago when, as a student, I was making my first overseas trip, there was more hassle involved in getting the required ‘international certificates of vaccination’ certificate (issued by the Department of Health on behalf of the World Health Organisation) than there was in obtaining a passport. The little yellow booklet also received more Continue reading »
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No winners in Clive Palmer’s border war with WA
Clive Palmer had a spectacular loss in his High Court challenge to Western Australia’s border restrictions – but he has probably helped influence the easing of those restrictions, beginning from the middle of this month. Continue reading »
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Queenslanders are different
Annastacia Palaszczuk had an extraordinary victory at the Queensland election. While the (very few) polls suggested Labor might cling on to government for an unlikely third consecutive term, she managed not only to win seats but increase Labor’s primary vote by about 5 per cent for its highest primary vote since 2009. Continue reading »
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Morrison Government is running scared of a federal integrity body
This week’s trials of Gladys Berejiklian only confirm the Morrison Government’s largely unspoken fears that a federal ICAC would do the government a lot more harm than good. Continue reading »
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Morrison governing from the rear
At the end of all the announcements in the budget of tax cuts and give-aways to the private sector to promote an industry-led recovery, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg had a somewhat unsettling (though it was not intended as such) rallying call: ‘The road to recovery will be hard – but there is hope. The Morrison government’s Continue reading »
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Lobbyland. Fixing corruption risks in lobbying
‘A lot of money can depend on the success or failure of a lobbyist’s representations to Government.’ That statement, in a report by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1990, was about lobbying by property developers, particularly in local government, but it is true of a great deal of lobbying at national, State Continue reading »
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NSW Nationals self-destructing?
For at least the last 50 years, pundits have been predicting the imminent end of the National Party – or the Country Party as it was half a century ago. Continue reading »
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Planning in the age of the virus
Are we getting to the point where the public simply tunes out when one of our political leaders outlines their latest plan, or road map, or framework for the way the nation or their state will deal with the virus? Hasn’t the public seen enough – experienced enough – in the past seven or eight Continue reading »
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Defending border protections
Diversity – not unity – is what federalism is about. Australia is a federation and that is not going to change. Continue reading »
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Queensland’s election in the shadow of the virus
Queensland faces a full state election on 31 October. Unlike recent state and federal by-elections, this election will be severely effected by the Coronavirus. And as with the virus, just what will happen in 11 weeks time is anybody’s guess. Continue reading »
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Disagreeing with the US over China
The AUSMIN talks are an important first, demonstrating that the Australian government won’t go all the way with Trump’s USA. The next step (if only) would be for the Prime Minister to change his telephone number. Continue reading »
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The Palace Letters show that the Palace effectively encouraged John Kerr to remove the Prime Minister.
The Palace letters provided two crucial elements of the dismissal by Governor-General Sir John Kerr of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975. The first was to stiffen Kerr’s resolve – to give him the backbone – to sack Whitlam. The second was to ensure that Kerr gave Whitlam no fore-warning of what he Continue reading »
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National Cabinet fractures
There is a serious split in the national cabinet manifest in the current border wars. It has been apparent for a few weeks now but the decisions by a number of states to deny Victorians (or some of them) access through their re-opened borders has brought it to a head. Continue reading »
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David Solomon. Black Lives Matter here, too.
I hate the way we so often slavishly follow whatever fashion is currently gripping the American people. But I make an exception for the protest movement that has taken to the streets prompted by the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the United States. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. How the Queen and Kerr were blind-sided
It was both fortunate and fortuitous. The scheming of the Queen and Sir John Kerr to keep their correspondence secret was defeated not on the merits but by accident and thanks to legislation that came into being long after their arrangements were put in place. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. They should have said: No Minister
One of the worst aspects of the sports rorts affair is the way elements of the public service turned a deliberate blind eye to what was known, or assumed, to be a failure by the Minister to be bound by the requirements of the law governing the way the grants could be approved. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. The triumph of federalism?
How good is federalism – Australian style? Until the coronavirus crisis struck, the verdict would have been: pretty ordinary, at best. But at the moment it is flourishing. Can this outbreak of good health last? Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. Privacy should be protected
If I thought my privacy would genuinely be protected, I would have little hesitation in downloading the coronavirus tracing app being developed for the national cabinet. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. Planning for a better future
Its time to think about – and plan for – what will be on the other side of this coronavirus bridge the Prime Minister keeps talking about. It may be 12, 18 or 24 months away, but the thinking and planning for life after COVID-19 should start now. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. The Government could do better
There’s a simple way for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to assert some real leadership and focus the attention of the nation on how the corona virus pandemic should be confronted: he should sack the two Ministers who have demonstrated most publicly their incompetence in dealing with it. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. Don’t panic. The economy is fine.
The economy is in good shape. Got that? Continue reading »
