Writer
Jerry Roberts
Jerry Roberts, born and raised in Mid-West USA, trained as a newspaper reporter in Perth and has covered politics, manufacturing, and Aboriginal Affairs. He has spent the second half of his life in outback Australia.
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JERRY ROBERTS. The Holy City.
The Jerusalem embassy is Scott Morrison’s first serious mistake as Prime Minister, but Australians think Tel Aviv is a subsidiary of Telstra so he may get away with it. It is the bread and butter domestic issues that win and lose elections. There may be subjects that interest Australians less than Middle Eastern politics but Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Armistice Day thoughts
In 2014 publishers gave us some superb books describing the origins of the First World War including Christopher Clark’s spellbinding The Sleepwalkers. In the four years between 2014 and 2018 has the world moved towards peaceful coexistence? Do we learn from history? You must be joking Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Globalism meets economic nationalism. Don’t write off Trump or Morrison.
The most interesting political action worldwide is happening in Europe and right now the focus is on Italy’s coalition government of left and right standing up to Brussels rules. Similar forces are at work in the United States of America. Are these working-class pressures building up in Australia? I hope so but we will learn Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Pomp and circumstance. The Royal tour.
There is some debate whether it was H.L. Mencken or P.T. Barnum who said that nobody ever went broke under-estimating the intelligence of the public. Either way, the executives of Australia’s self-proclaimed Royal Network followed the advice faithfully when preparing for the current Royal tour. They assumed that the entire population of our continent is Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Bill Shorten, Chris Bowen, Steve Bannon and the TPP
When Bill Shorten on camera announced that Labor would support the TPP he looked like a schoolboy telling the teacher that the dog ate his homework. Bill knew his excuse was phony. Will the TPP be the issue that finally forces the ALP back to the labour movement or will the Party fudge its way Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Is Ken Wyatt’s position tenable?.
Ken Wyatt is one of the few high-class acts in a low-class environment known as the Australian Federal Parliament. If he is driven out of the place it will be the Parliament’s loss, not Ken’s Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. The Cuckoo and the Nest.
Of all the abuse heaped on the head of Malcolm Turnbull the heaviest spray came from Noel Crichton-Browne, a past President of the West Australian Division of the Liberal Party, a Senator and political power-broker par excellence. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Whither Labor?
Stan Grant in his interesting post of 10 September asks which kind of conservatism our Prime Minister will practise. Since we are about to commence a decade of Labor in office in Canberra a more pertinent question is what type of Labor Government will it be? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. What is the issue?
Young Australian families are living in brand new suburbs on the outskirts of our cities. They now constitute a significant proportion of the nation’s population. A few years ago, these suburbs were sandhills and bush. They have no post-settlement history. Do they have a culture? What interests these young couples? In political terms, what is Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Media monstrosities and a fundamental political error
The two overpowering impressions remaining after last week’s political drama are an abuse of media influence correctly identified by Chris Uhlmann and a mistaken view among some Liberal MPs about the nature of their Party’s “base.” Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Politics and Religion
Fraser Anning has given us the most spectacular take on The White Australia Policy since Labor legend Arthur Calwell’s 1947 quip: “Two Wongs don’t make a White.” Calwell later explained that he was making a joke at the expense of the member for Balaclava, T.W. White. I accept his explanation just as I accept Senator Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. What was the plan?
Peter Dutton was set up to lose the next election and to lose it badly. That would have left the Liberals in an even more chaotic mess than they are in today. To whom should they turn for salvation? Why, of course, to Captain Chaos himself – Tony Abbot. That was the plan. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Will Turnbull call a snap election and let the people decide?
The 19 August Fairfax-IPSOS poll showed the Coalition with 33 per cent of the primary vote and Labor with 35 per cent. John Menadue added the two figures and deduced that 32 per cent would not have voted for any of the major Parties. The problem for pollsters after the drama of Tuesday morning in Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. West Australian white ants move into interesting territory.
Putting aside the anonymous gutlessness of the West Australian Parliamentary Liberals and the colossal arrogance of The West Australian Newspaper, the campaign against Opposition Leader Mike Nahan has raised a useful question. Which is more influential in election campaigning – conventional newspaper and television or the brave new world of Facebook and Twitter? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Why kill Bill?
Despite the failure of the strategy in the Super Saturday by-elections, Malcolm Turnbull is more determined than ever to kill Bill. What drives this homicidal obsession? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Termites and other animals.
When West Australian Opposition Leader Mike Nahan appeared on the news under fire for dual citizenship I hope everybody else shared my reaction. Not again, I moaned. Surely, we had enough of this nonsense in the federal Parliament. Do we have to go through it in the States? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. The weirdest by-election of them all
On a day of weird and silly by-elections the weirdest of all was held in Perth. For Sydney-siders who have never heard of the place, that’s a remote capital city on the Indian Ocean side of the continent. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. A Win-Win Weekend for the Liberals.
Whichever way you look at it, Saturday’s by-election in the hills of Perth was a heavy blow to the West Australian Government and Premier Mark McGowan and a corresponding boost for the Liberal Party. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Share the Blame.
It is not just the bankers who have lost status under the spotlight of our Royal Commission. Australia’s governing classes in their entirety are diminished. Our politicians on both sides of the House, our regulatory bureaucracies, the media, our Professors of Economics and Business Administration, our “independent” think tanks and their incessant propaganda of deregulation Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Cause and effect.
Royal Commissions are often diverted into by-ways that are interesting and entertaining but have little relevance to the terms of reference and do nothing to solve the problem that required the inquiry to be established in the first place. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. The Dalai Lama, Falun Gong and Australian Democracy.
In his 2010 book, “The Party,” Richard McGregor described the iron grip exercised by the Chinese Communist Party on its homeland. Now Clive Hamilton in “Silent Invasion” traces the tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party as it squeezes Australia’s political, corporate and academic bodies. We should all read both books. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS The West Australian Liberals get serious
A weekend of elections lifted the spirits of the Liberal and Labor Parties while the Greens made another attempt to back-stab themselves out of existence. The most important political event was the one that received the least attention. It was a by-election held in Perth’s seaside suburb of Cottesloe. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Populism and Social Democracy.
So-called “populist” parties in recent European elections have all but wiped out established social democratic parties. The exception was Britain where Labour improved its position under the uncompromising social-democratic leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. Two questions arise at home. What fate awaits our social democratic party, the Australian Labor Party? More importantly, what is populism? Continue reading »
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The American Empire, China, the Region and Australia
As the American Empire weakens we see a tendency to look to China and seek security in a nebulous concept of “the region.” We are not facing up to the defence of our continent by Australians for Australians. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Change the date of the day by all means and change Australia
Let’s change the date of Australia Day, not just for Aboriginal public relations, but to prove that we can do something – anything – to cast off the chains of our pusillanimous politicians and their little mates, the boofhead media commentators. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. The Real World
A streak of idealism runs across the pages of Pearls and Irritations. That is good. Political comment without idealism is mere gossip but what are the chances of fulfilling ideals in the real world? Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. The Miners Win Again- A REPOST from October 27 2017
A two-paragraph story under the heading “Gold hike dead” on page 24 of the West Australian newspaper, Friday 13 October, ended the latest chapter in the one-sided battle between Australian governments and the mining industry. The miners won again. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Neoliberalism, Neoclassical Economics, Twinkle-toes Turnbull and a New Year’s Resolution
We have put the gender issue to bed. The priests have had their five years of infamy. The electors of New England and Bennelong have told the High Court where to stick the dual citizenship clause. Is there an opening for the Parliament and the press to consider the only issue that matters – the Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Will today’s Labor Government in Western Australia repeat the mistakes of 1983?
Dominating the front page of Wednesday’s West Australian newspaper (6 December) was a picture of the State’s Premier, Mark McGowan, striking a tough-guy pose. Ghosted over the photo of the Premier was a big headline saying “Fat Cat Cull.” The fat cats are public service chiefs and the story revived memories of Premier Brian Burke Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Parliamentary reform needs external drive
Privatisation and corporatisation of government services such as Australia Post have reduced the power and influence of the Parliament and made it less relevant to our daily lives. Parliamentary reform is important but needs to be seen as part of a bigger picture – much bigger. Continue reading »
