Writer
John Menadue
John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.
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John Menadue. Undiplomatic, politically partisan – and wrong!
Julie Bishop has decided to take on the President of the United States over his comments to an audience at the University of Queensland on the state of the Great Barrier Reef. It shows immaturity to jump in so quickly to defend what I think is the indefensible by attacking others without any real basis. Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Julie Bishop – substance and style
According to opinion polls, Julie Bishop’s standing has climbed. In Harper’s Bazaar she has been described as the Woman of the Year. It is suggested that she could be a leadership contender… But how much substance and how much achievement has there really been. How has Australia’s foreign policy interests been advanced? Before looking at Continue reading »
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Tony Abbott and the G20
In the media in the past few days we have been overwhelmed by stories and photo opportunities from the G20 in Brisbane. It will take some time to sort out fact from spin. I have set out below some comments and opinions from observers. It provides a useful but only partial account by observers of the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. We pass by on the other side.
We are one of the richest and most privileged people in the world but our recent performance on Ebola, foreign aid and refugees tells the world a quite different story. On Ebola, our response has been grudging and slow. We tendered one excuse after another. We moved quickly however to commit our military to combat Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Media failure.
Yesterday I posted a story from ‘a former ABC correspondent’ concerning cutbacks in ABC bureaus, particularly in our region. The post was entitled: ‘The ABC:soft targets and collateral damage’. Cutbacks at the ABC are a very serious problem and will prejudice Australia’s future in our region. So much of Australian media reflects the pattern laid Continue reading »
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John Menadue. ‘No eulogy is equal to such a name’
In a celebratory Mass for Gough Whitlam, Fr Ed Campion recalled the brief inscription to Machiavelli in the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce in Florence. ‘Tanto nomini nullum par elogium, 1527’. Look around and we see monuments to Gough Whitlam everywhere – Medicare, needs-based education funding, recognition of China, no-fault divorce, university education, land rights, Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Australian business is ‘too risk averse’
In August this year the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Glen Stevens, told a Parliamentary hearing that Australian companies were being ‘too risk averse’ by focusing on sustaining a flow of dividends and returning capital to shareholders rather than investing in future growth. Research by Credit Suisse shows that non-financial companies in the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Winners in the privatisation of Medibank Pte
Many would expect that the 3.8 million members or policy-holders of MBP who are arguably the owners of the company, would be the financial winners in the proposed privatisation. But not a bit of it. Some of the 3.8 million members will seemingly get some preferential issue of shares. But it will be chicken feed. Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Some personal reflections – a light has gone out.
Gough Whitlam’s death has prompted a quite remarkable bipartisan response in the parliament. And rightly so, for he was a great parliamentarian for over 26 years along with 70 years of public life. His forum was the parliament rather than the street or the protest march. He had great respect for the parliament and that Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Farewell to Gough Whitlam, 21 October 2014
Few public figures have left their mark on Australia like Gough Whitlam. I knew him for fifty years. He was the most exciting and challenging public person I have met. Australians owe him a great debt for giving them new opportunities and linking the aspirations of working people with those of the university educated. For Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Post-script from France.
My wife and I and quite a few members of our family, have been summering in France for a week or two. We have enjoyed the history, the architecture and the beauty of the countryside. Not for nothing, France has 37 sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Many other Australians also feel the attractions Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Asylum seekers – institutionalised cruelty, the banality of evil and immorality.
You might be interested in this repost. John Menadue The recent statement by the Australian Catholic Bishops on asylum seekers says ‘The current policy has about it a cruelty that does no honour to our nation … Enough of this institutionalised cruelty … We call on the nation as a whole to say no to Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Nelson Mandela’s leadership.
You might be interested in this repost. John Menadue. In all the tributes and stories about Nelson Mandela, there was one that caught my attention. In his book ‘The Long Walk to Freedom’ he said: ‘A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Insiders and Outsiders.
You might be interested in this repost. John Menadue. As social beings, we usually like to be part of the group, an insider. We are cautious about being outsiders, on the periphery. Yet being outsiders has some real advantages. Growing up in country towns in South Australia, I felt what it was like to Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Reform of our banking sector.
In my blog of May 30, 2014, ‘Are our bankers listening or caring?’ I drew attention to a conference in London on ‘Inclusive Capitalism’. At that conference the Governor of the Bank of England and the IMF Chief both said that bankers regarded themselves as different and not bound by the need for economic and Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Stuck in a closed information loop
Conservatives who read and listen to News Corp media have a problem. They are encouraged to believe that the world is really like News Corp says it is. The inevitable result is a loss of reality. Paul Krugman in the New York Times on September 23 wrote of the problems of right-wing Republicans who keep Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Great Teachers
There has been a lot of recent comment about the importance of good teachers; how they can be recruited, trained and rewarded. Let me tell you about two teachers who turned my life around. Many of us have had such experiences with great teachers. Professor W.G.K. Duncan at Adelaide University taught me Political Science in Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The dubious trade deal with Korea
In earlier blogs – See July 6, 2014 ‘Turbocharging our trade or mainly hype’ – I drew attention to the exaggerated benefits of bilateral free trade agreements. We now have 7 of them with more under negotiation, including with China and two signed but not yet in force. These FTAs are third-rate in promoting trade Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Postcard from Copenhagen – I went to the ‘wrong’ church.
I fronted up for Mass last Sunday – or so I thought. The web had described the cathedral as small case ‘c’ catholic rather than upper case ‘C’ Catholic. It was the Protestant/Lutheran cathedral in Copenhagen. I missed the Eucharist but it was a moving encounter with my ‘separated brothers and sisters’. In 1536 when Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Why health reform is so hard. It’s about power.
You may be interested in this repost. John Menadue. I have been actively involved in health policy for over twenty years. Throughout that period Medicare has been the shining light that has well and truly stood the test of time. But necessary health reforms are hard. They are deferred or avoided. Without ministerial leadership Continue reading »
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John Menadue–We stopped the boats; we will now stop the jihadists
You may be interested in this repost. John Menadue By linking boat arrivals and jihadists in the one sentence, a couple of weeks ago, Tony Abbott sounded very much like a dog-whistler that we can expect to hear more from in the future. He knows there is widespread, although a mistaken perception, that most Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for? Part 5
Democratic Renewal At the same time as addressing overarching ‘Labor’ principles that could guide Labor policies and programs, there are two immediate issues which must be given high priority. The first is democratic renewal in our public institutions, including the ALP Our democratic systems, almost everywhere, are under great challenge. We are increasingly alienated from Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for? Part 4
Ethical responsibility Those in prominent office should promote those qualities which draw on the best of our traditions and the noblest of our instincts. The duty of those with public influence is to encourage hope and redemption rather than despair and condemnation, confidence rather than fear. It is to promote the common good – to Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for Part 3
Citizenship We are more than individuals linked by market transactions. Our life in the public sphere is no less necessary than our private lives. As citizens we enjoy and contribute to the public good. It is where we show and learn respect for others, particularly people who are different. It is where we abide by Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for. Part 2
From values to principles The purpose and role of a Labor Government could be to give expression to the values set out below – to achieve as far as possible the ‘common good’. Values such as fairness, freedom, citizenship, stewardship and ethical responsibility would be generally accepted by most people. As the values are translated Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The Great Complacency
Professor Ross Garnaut has spoken many times about our great complacency and our unwillingness to undertake the types of economic and social reform that we saw in the Hawke/Keating periods and in the early days of the Howard Government – think, GST. Have the golden days of reform gone forever? The former head of Treasury Continue reading »
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John Menadue. NATO, Ukraine and Russia.
Nato,Ukraine and Russia…Katrina vanden Heuvel Washington Post 10 September 2014 If the United States and Europe were thinking rationally, the NATO summit in Wales last week would have been an opportunity to discuss a lasting resolution to the violent crisis in Ukraine, which has claimed thousands of lives and crippled the country’s economy. Instead, amid a fragile Continue reading »
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John Menadue The Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program – ’a dog’s breakfast.’
In an article in Eureka Street on 8 September, Fr Frank Brennan described the Royal Commission report into the HIP as a ‘dog’s breakfast’. He described the reasoning behind Mr Hanger’s conclusion on commonwealth responsibility as ‘bizarre’. He added that the report was ‘inadequate and flawed’. See Frank Brennan’s comments at the end of this Continue reading »
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John Menadue. We ‘warn the Tsar of Russia’.
In September 1892, the headline ‘The Hobart Mercury warns the Tsar’ did not threaten Russia sufficiently to attract a response or change its belligerent behaviour. I don’t think the Tsar thought it necessary to respond to people who have an exaggerated view of their own importance The Hobart Mercury over-reached itself. Australian Prime Ministers, particularly Continue reading »
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John Menadue. MH17 – At last a thank-you to Malaysia may be on the cards.
In ten days’ time, Tony Abbott will be visiting Malaysia and India. The visit to Kuala Lumpur will at last be an opportunity for him to thank on our behalf the Malaysian Government’s significant contribution to ‘Operation Bring them Home’. Without fanfare the Malaysian Prime Minister secured two key outcomes that have been of great Continue reading »