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P&I Guest Writers
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TONY KEVIN. What Aust Govt should do about the Khashoggi murder and other great Saudi crimes of state.
I believe Khashoggi was coldly and brutally murdered in a symbolic and deliberate medieval deterrent state punishment in a Saudi consulate on foreign soil. Australia should declare the Saudi Arabian Ambassador here persona non grata, and should withdraw our Ambassador in Saudi Arabia. Continue reading »
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GARY SANDS. Vatican–China relations are warming up, but at what cost?
The Vatican is drawing closer to China. With the signing in September 2018 of a provisional agreement on the long-contested appointment of bishops in China, many are questioning what this development means for Catholicism in China and for the Vatican’s ties with Taiwan. This article was published by East Asia Forum on the 23rd of Continue reading »
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Australians oppose Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem Israeli capital.
A special Roy Morgan SMS Survey taken on December 14-15 2017 shows a large 76% of Australians opposed to US President Donald Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel with only 24% of Australians expressing support for Trump’s decision earlier this week. This article was published by Roy Morgan on the 16th of Continue reading »
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VIJAY PRASHAD. Khashoggi saga takes spotlight off Yemen tragedy.
By now, few doubt that Jamal Khashoggi is dead. It is most likely that the Saudi journalist – who once advised kings and billionaires – was killed by an interrogation team sent from Saudi Arabia to meet with him in Turkey. This article was published by Asia Times on the 18th of October 2018. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL TOMASKY. Fighting to Vote.
If you grew up, as I did, in the 1960s and 1970s, watching (albeit through a child’s eyes) the civil rights movement notch victory after victory, you could be forgiven for thinking at the time that that happy condition was normal. By high school, in the late 1970s, I began reading some history and learning Continue reading »
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LYNDSAY CONNORS. Morality, marketing or a strange convergence of both?
In the final weeks of the run-up to the Wentworth by-election, the Prime Minister promised rapid amendments to anti-discrimination law to remove the freedom of private schools to expel students on the basis of their sexuality, his own fears of ‘gender whispering’ in public schools that he claimed had driven him to enrol his children Continue reading »
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MARTIN HIRST. Who’s got the energy mix to win the Victorian state election?
As the Victorian election looms, energy prices are a critical issue for voters. The Liberals espouse scrapping the renewable energy target and lifting the ban on onshore gas extraction. Labor has its program for expanding wind and solar. Voters have a clear choice on energy and climate but have been presented with a false dichotomy: Continue reading »
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DEBRA VERMEER. 70 years since six Good Samaritans set sail for Nagasaki.
Seventy years ago this month, six Good Samaritan Sisters set sail for Nagasaki, Japan, to respond to the need of the people there in the wake of the atomic bomb dropped on the city in 1945. For Sister Mary Constable, 99, of Sydney, it was one of the defining experiences of her life. Continue reading »
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ROSS BURNS. Moving to Jerusalem
If you wanted to launch a thought bubble to see if there was any room for manoeuvre on Australia long-standing position on the central Middle East issues, would you do it the way chosen by PM Morrison this week? Certainly not if you wanted to justify it in the context of Australia’s commitment to a Continue reading »
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HUGH EAKIN. The Khashoggi Killing: America’s Part in a Saudi Horror (New York Review, 18.10.18)
In the spring of 2012, I made an extended visit to Saudi Arabia to report on the effects of the Arab Spring there. The arch-conservative oil monarchy was pursuing a robust counter-revolution, but the uprisings had brought new energy to reformers across the region. I was curious to see how Saudis themselves saw their country’s Continue reading »
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PETER VARGHESE. Australian Universities and China. Part 2 of 2
My remarks today are very much a personal perspective, drawing on my past engagement with China as a foreign policy practitioner and informed by my current role, but it is not an official University of Queensland position. Today I wish to talk about what China means to Australian universities: what are the issues we face, Continue reading »
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GEORGE MONBIOT. As the fracking protesters show, a people’s rebellion is the only way to fight climate breakdown.
Our politicians, under the influence of big business, have failed us. As they take the planet to the brink, it’s time for disruptive, nonviolent disobedience. This article was published by The Guardian on the 18th of October 2018. Continue reading »
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HENNY SENDER. The weaponisation of the dollar risks rebounding on the US.
One consequence of the America First policies will be to create a bipolar financial world. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN HOWES. Bringing in backpackers is not the right way to get more workers onto farms.
Suddenly, getting workers onto farms is a top political priority. Over the weekend, and again in parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced plans to get more backpackers working on farms. Continue reading »
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DAVID WOLPE. The Japanese Man Who Saved 6,000 Jews With His Handwriting.
What the astonishing Chiune Sugihara teaches us about moral heroism. Continue reading »
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PETER VARGHESE. Australian Universities and China. Part 1 of 2
My remarks today are very much a personal perspective, drawing on my past engagement with China as a foreign policy practitioner and informed by my current role, but it is not an official University of Queensland position. Today I wish to talk about what China means to Australian universities: what are the issues we face, Continue reading »
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GAY ALCORN. ‘Australia is in trouble’: majority media and lobbying destroy trust in politics, Garnaut says.
Economist Ross Garnaut tells conference the independent centre is being drowned out by business interests,main stream media and lobbyists. Continue reading »
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JIM RUTENBERG. Reality Breaks Up a Saudi Prince Charming’s Media Narrative.
Just six months ago, American media outlets presented a sunny-side-up portrait of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as he made a good-will tour of New York, Hollywood and Silicon Valley and dining with Rupert Murdoch. Continue reading »
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JIEH-YUNG LO. Morrison attempts his own Australia-China reset.
When you see a Prime Minister wonder into a marginal seat, you know a federal election is on the horizon. Scott Morrison did just that at the start of this month when he joined local member David Coleman in the ultra marginal seat of Banks. The purpose: to reconnect with the electorate’s large Chinese-Australian population Continue reading »
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RICHARD DENNISS. Trump’s tax cuts will increase inequality. Australia shouldn’t follow his lead.
The fiscal policies of conservatives like Trump and Scott Morrison are eating away at the fabric of society. Continue reading »
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JULIE INGERSOLL. Why Trump’s evangelical supporters welcome his move on Jerusalem (the Conversation, 08.12.17)
President Trump’s announcement on Wednesday, Dec. 6 that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel received widespread criticism. Observers quickly recognized the decision as related not so much to national security concerns as to domestic U.S. politics and promises candidate Trump made to his evangelical supporters, who welcomed the announcement.. Continue reading »
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Trudeau refuses to let ‘politics slip into’ decision on Huawei (Globe & Mail, 16.10.18)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa refuses to let “politics slip into” the decision to allow Huawei equipment into Canada’s next-generation mobile networks even as the U.S. and Australia have barred the Chinese telecom giant on grounds of national security. The Prime Minister’s comments come just days after two U.S. senators took the unusual step Continue reading »
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BERTIL LINTER. China’s shifting view on the Korean Peninsula (Asian Times, 10.10.18)
As US-China relations deteriorate on various fronts, the last thing Beijing wants is for North Korea to fall into Washington’s sphere of influence Continue reading »
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‘Divisive’: Former RBA governor Bernie Fraser turns on neoliberalism (the New Daily, 17.10.18)
Former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has called for a radical rethink to policy-making, saying the way to a fairer, more equal society is with a pragmatic approach. Continue reading »
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SOPHIE VORRATH. Coalition backing “big coal” over climate, says Sachs: “Unbelievably irresponsible”.
US economics professor Jeffrey Sachs has slammed the Australian federal government as “unbelievably irresponsible” for its inaction on climate change, and suggested that policy progress in the Coalition – alongside the current US Trump administration – has been held hostage by major fossil fuel interests. Continue reading »
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MEDIA WATCH TRANSCRIPT (Paul Barry). News Corp’s contempt for climate science revealed in its coverage of last week’s IPCC report
Hello, I’m Paul Barry, welcome to Media Watch. And last week’s dramatic report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change really sounded the alarm on the future of our planet, with scientists predicting the Great Barrier Reef could be wiped out by 2050 if we don’t act to slow down global warming.. Why does Continue reading »
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WILLIAM PESEK. In Asia, ghosts of crises past return amid Trumpian trade war.
In a region where traces of the 2008 and 1997-98 carnage linger, Washington’s assault on Asia’s biggest growth engine could ignite another disaster. Continue reading »
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SHIRO ARMSTRONG. Japan’s high stakes diplomacy with the US and China. (East Asia Forum 14.10.2018)
Japan is now fully embarked on navigating a course through the economic and national security minefield that lies between the United States and China. Continue reading »
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GRAEME STEWART. Growing inequality in access to health care is curable.
It has been sad to observe the growth in out-of-pocket expenses for patients seeking expert medical consultation and the resultant rising inequality in access to timely care and in health outcomes (“Specialists charging extreme fees”, March 6. These twin inequities are deeply felt in western Sydney. Continue reading »
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VINCENT BEVINS. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s Would-be Dictator.
For most of his twenty-seven-year career in national politics, Jair Bolsonaro has been a fringe figure on the far right of Brazilian politics, hopping among nine different political parties and yelling his support for Brazil’s bygone military dictatorship into empty congressional chambers. All that has changed. Last weekend, the former army captain won over 46 Continue reading »
