Writer
Jack Waterford
John Waterford AM, better known as Jack Waterford, is an Australian journalist and commentator.
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Judge Dyson, moving in the lower circles of hell
If Dyson Heydon is guilty of the sexual harassment allegations made against him, most people would agree that he deserves what he gets. Continue reading »
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Law can’t hide hypocrisy, lying and double dealing
Forty years ago, Justice Anthony Mason, later Chief Justice of the High Court, made it clear that mere embarrassment — or the avoidance of being found to be a hypocrite — is not enough to justify the protection of the courts when the government is involved. Continue reading »
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Justice impossible with secret trials
Over in the United States, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, John Bolton, has a book about to hit the newsstands. It is very critical of, and indiscreet about, his former boss. It shows Trump double dealing with China, approving, not disapproving of its persecution and detention of the Uighars, and seeking China’s Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Punishing the ‘undeserving’ – the robo-debt fiasco
Heaven knows how the ultimate costs of the robo-debt fiasco will pan out. So far the Commonwealth has announced that it is paying back about three-quarters of a billion to nearly 400,000 people whose rights were trampled upon. Continue reading »
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No public interest, it seems, in watching public money burn
The political cynic could easily imagine a string of reasons for ignoring calls for a royal commission or other inquiry into the robo-debt debacle. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Morrison has all of the flexibility in the world
No modern Australian prime minister has faced the political, economic and social challenges of Scott Morrison. But it’s a funny sort of crisis because no prime has ever had such access to the extra resources he can call to bear — if he wants to. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. The size of the COVID deficit is a political, not an economic choice
We have had an obsession with the balanced budget and with at least the aim of a reduction of government debt, at least since John Howard blew the Budget in 1983-84, then, more than a decade later, discovered a $5 billion “black hole” in the last Keating Budget. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Trump: the man who made America little again
Donald Trump, who campaigned on making America great again has presided over — indeed caused — an enormous fall in American prestige, moral authority and effective power in the world. It may still have, by far, the most military power, and enormous economic resources, but the practical management of the Covid-19 crisis invites only derision. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Shooting ourselves in the boot again
The announcement of the international inquiry to be conducted into international management of the Covid-19 pandemic did not achieve any of the particular purposes initially said to justify Australia’s putting its head above the parapets and attracting China’s ire for doing so. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Dutton fights from the flank
The Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, was rarely to be found when the discussion was fixing on how a cruise liner entered our borders and spread Coronavirus and Covid-19 across the continent – perhaps the most serious breach of quarantine and biosecurity since federation. But that reticence has not stopped a non-stop barrage of Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Good policy comes from loud debate, not good manners
It took only a question about some fresh developments with the Sports Rorts affair for the prime minister to note, sourly, that it was back to politics as usual. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Digesting the cases being missed
As we cautiously begin to lift the lockdown, if we don’t know who the silent carriers are, how can they play an active role in keeping the community safe? Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Asymptomatic Covid cases will give us our next waves
As the Prime Minister and Premiers look to relax COVID-19 restrictions, we still need to be wary of the significant proportion of asymptomatic cases. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. We intended Covid inquest idea as an insult – for no good reason
There is nothing wrong with thinking that there would be an appropriate moment for an extensive international scientific review of the arrival of the 2019 coronavirus. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Spies and non-combatants rehearsing war dances
It is becoming fairly obvious that there is a significant group within Australian government that is spoiling for a major confrontation, perhaps to skirmish level with China. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. The snares of proclaiming victory against the virus
With success beyond all expectations in the struggle to contains the coronavirus in Australia, one might imagine that the next task before the prime minister is discerning that exact moment at which it is appropriate to roll back the various forms of social distancing and quarantine so as to concentrate on rebuilding the economy. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Still fighting with one hand tied behind our back
Americans have so epically mismanaged the coronavirus that it is difficult to look to it for lessons. The same might be said of most of the nations of western Europe, including Britain. But the blame lies more on their politicians than on their scientists. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. A matter of clout, and of egos
When Bret Walker is trying to find out who can be held responsible for Ruby Princess stuff-ups, he will probably look for his own team of investigators, even at the risk of tripping over others with fingers in the accountability pie. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Has Gladys got Peter, or Scott in the cross-hairs?
Peter Dutton has been heard – usually whistling to the dogs – but not much seen over recent weeks, and there have been some who have ventured to suggest that his coyness may have something to do with the Ruby Princess debacle – the one, and the most important boat he failed to stop. Were Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Prosecution as an obstacle race
Many people who had opinions about Pell’s guilt or innocence will retain them despite the High Court’s decision. Whether they fall on one side or another, there are several words of caution: Continue reading »
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JACK WATERORD. A free and innocent Pell, but not a martyr to any cause
The jubilation in some quarters, and the dismay and despair in others when the High Court unanimously ordered a judgment of acquittal of Cardinal George Pell on child sexual abuse charges was entirely predictable, if only because the case has become, in spite of every effort, the symbolic battleground for Catholic Church accountability for such Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD supports Pearls and Irritations
There are any number of websites by which one can keep up with the news. Some also have interesting commentary. But johnmenadue.com is the place of choice for serious attention by experts into important public policy issues — whether in defence and international affairs, in education, immigration, health, housing, the environment and climate change, and on social issues. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Failing to mass test condemns us to repeated epidemics
Australia needs to start mass testing for Coronavirus if we want to truly get a grip on this epidemic. Otherwise, those reluctant to present to medical authorities may continue to unwittingly spread the virus. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. The young not the old are the key to beating COVID-19
Coronavirus not only effects the elderly and cooperation on the part of the young is the key to beating COVID-19. Perhaps we need Grim Reaper ads to highlight the risk to their own. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.- The not-so-dirty secret the COVID-19 panel wants to hide Part 2
Poor messaging and own-goals killing flu strategy Continue reading »
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The not-so-dirty secret the Covid-19 panel wants to hide Part 1
Officials are not independent. They are more loyal to ministers than the public need for information Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.- China’s formidable achievement
China deserves credit, not abuse for epidemic management Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.-COVID-19 mapping must go beyond the sick to the well
Only mass screenings will tell us about the dynamics of the disease Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.- Covid-19. The risks to us as it spreads to our region and elsewhere.
The US already has a two-tier health system: when the disease takes hold in the general population, many of its facilities will be swamped, with only the wealthy able to be sure of proper treatment. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.-Covid-19 and the economic hospital
We are not ‘fighting’ the virus but staging a skilful retreat. Continue reading »
