Writer
Noel Turnbull
Noel Turnbull has had a 40-year-plus career in public relations, politics, journalism and academia. He blogs at http://noelturnbull.com/blog/
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Army and Defence PR – an ungrateful mess
Australian Army PR was once a successful system which benefitted the troops, media and the community. Now it has been subsumed into a bureaucratic corporate brand management system closely controlled by Ministers and their staff. Continue reading »
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Biden at Gettysburg
Donald Trump thought about giving his campaign speech at Gettysburg but opted for the safety of the Rose Garden instead. Continue reading »
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A round up of the latest US polls
Whatever anyone thought of the first Presidential debate it doesn’t seem to have yet halted Joe Biden’s gradual increases in support as measured by a variety of US polls. Continue reading »
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Australia and VC Awards
Among the many memorial plaques in the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral is a small plaque and bust honouring Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC (9 November 1884 – 4 August 1917). Continue reading »
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ALP rank and file push reforms
The Bracks-Macklin Victorian ALP review released its first recommendations in July 2020 – no brainer rules amendments for immediate action to end bulk membership sign-ups and ensure individual members pay for their own membership. Continue reading »
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How would a fairness campaign fare in Australia?
Whether it was ever a myth or not there has been – until recently – an ingrained belief that Australians value fairness and the fair go, as the concept was often characterised. Continue reading »
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The myth and the veterans’ problems that will not die
There are almost too many myths about Australia’s Vietnam War involvement to keep track. But one of them – that all National Service conscripts had the option of volunteering or not when about to be posted to Vietnam – is possibly the most persistent. Continue reading »
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Greg Sheridan’s feverish cherry picking
What has Greg Sheridan of The Australian been smoking or taking, or is it just common or garden cherry picking? Continue reading »
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Tin ear PR
Sometimes PR campaigns to address problems cause even bigger PR problems. For instance the aged care industry is planning a major campaign to ‘change the conversation’ and ‘win the hearts and minds of middle Australia’ according to The Age (2 September 2020). Continue reading »
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When power – or the desire for it – ends
When asked during one of his long, long media conferences about speculation on whether he was planning to stand down as Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, replied “I’m not going anywhere”. Continue reading »
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Thank you for your service
The Morrison Government’s hypocrisy ranges across many areas but one of the most galling is the disparity between the protestations about thanking veterans for their service and how they allocate veteran related budgets. Continue reading »
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The looming financial and social storm – Part 2
Global debt, financial and social problems are about to get worse thanks to the usual suspects – governments’ corporate welfare policies and corporate welfare rorts – and dramatically increase inequality. Continue reading »
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Why do LNP Governments hate the arts and universities?
LNP Governments’ vindictive attitudes to the arts are obvious from the widespread cutbacks they have imposed on the sector. Ditto universities which have been forced to rely on overseas students to make up funding shortfalls and are then attacked for doing so. Continue reading »
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Putting Rosalind Franklin into pandemic perspective
The British decision to put Rosalind Franklin’s famous Photograph 51 on the new 50p coin is a reminder that the controversy over her DNA X-ray diffusion work is but one part of a much larger scientific career. Continue reading »
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Four legs good two legs bad, private good public bad
For decades there has been a relentless chorus – rather like Orwell’s four legs good two legs bad – conditioning us to believe that private is good and public is bad. Continue reading »
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Been there, done that – Thatcherism and Reaganomics revisited
The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has announced the government recovery strategy – emulate Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. The problem is that Australia has been there and done that with the same very mixed results Reagan and Thatcher achieved. Continue reading »
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Watching Fox News in the US may kill you
Recent US studies demonstrate that watching Murdoch’s US Fox News increases the likelihood of you believing what’s not true about COVID-19 and – if acting on it – possibly dying. Continue reading »
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How climate has changed the world
The Morrison Government’s attitude to our history is that it started with Captain Cook and then – as if transported by the DeLorean car – arrived at the era of John Howard, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Milton Friedman. Continue reading »
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The cost of outsourcing public health services
The current Victorian Hotel Quarantine Inquiry headed by the Honourable Justice Jennifer Coate AO is putting two things on trial – one predictable media fodder and the other at the root of decades of neo-liberal outsourcing and privatisation. Continue reading »
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Our warmongering allies: the alliance, Part 2
In 2004 Janet Jackson flashed a breast (sorry, suffered a wardrobe malfunction) during the Super Bowl half time entertainment. The same day 109 innocent civilians were killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq. Continue reading »
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Australia and the US, an odd couple for an alliance
Successive Australian Governments have revelled in having a close relationship with their US counterparts. At times it is has been pandering; at others it has resulted in engaging in illegal or unwinnable wars; all cloaked in mutual admiration. Continue reading »
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What does the Eden-Monaro result mean?
The Eden-Monaro by-election status quo ante result raises two questions: why isn’t the Prime Minister’s high approval rating translating into an improved rating for the government; and, why do the media keep up the same old tired approaches to covering political events? Continue reading »
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US belief in national exceptionalism collapses
Donald Trump promised he would make America great again. Instead he has presided over a significant collapse in belief in American exceptionalism. Continue reading »
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Three different views on post-COVID recovery
Two reports on social and economic options for post-COVID-19 recovery, one from the Grattan Institute and one from Phil Ruthven, have recently been published. We can assume there is a third, not yet public: a snap back and marketing plan lurking in the Prime Minister’s mind. Continue reading »
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Google is not always the best answer
Google has become the default casual research tool for most people, albeit a sometimes dangerous one for students with AI plagiarism software widely used in universities. Yet print editions of various reference texts are still of greater value and utility than online searches. Continue reading »
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How and why political parties are corrupted in Victoria and elsewhere
Modern Australian political parties are more likely to be corrupted by ideological or religious fanatics and power-seekers than by disputes about policy and how to get into government. Continue reading »
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The battle to shape perceptions of political parties
Right wingers are better at framing policies than progressive parties. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Who cares about scandals, incompetence and corruption?
Recently the New Daily ran two Michael Pascoe pieces exposing a $2.5 billion regional grants program rort 25 times bigger than the sports rorts. Forwarding it on to someone elicited the surprising response: “Who cares?” Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. There’s no doubt Morrison is swimming against a tidal wave Part 3
The Morrison Government is adopting the newest form of doubting climate change by arguing that yes it does exist but that it can all be fixed by some unproven technological developments such as carbon capture or hydrogen both of which may end up looking a bit like nuclear fusion – just around the corner for Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Nev Power’s fossil mates still pushing doubt – Part 2
In 2008 David Michaels’ published a book – Doubt is their Product. How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens your Health – which was instrumental in the subsequent exposure of the systematic efforts of various industries to raise doubt about the science relating to areas from tobacco to today’s climate change. Continue reading »