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P&I Guest Writers
This post kindly provided to us by one of our many occasional contributors.
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CHRISTOPHER BROWNING. The Suffocation of Democracy (New York Review of Books, 25.10.18)
As a historian specializing in the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and Europe in the era of the world wars, I have been repeatedly asked about the degree to which the current situation in the United States resembles the interwar period and the rise of fascism in Europe. I would note several troubling similarities and one important Continue reading »
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SALVATORE BABONES. Australia -the world’s first immigration economy.
Australia’s economy is addicted to immigration, requiring ever-increasing infusions of new people to stave off an inevitable collapse. Continue reading »
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PETER RYAN. ‘Big four’ accounting firms should face banking royal commission to prove independence, former ASIC investigator says (ABC News)
A former forensic investigator at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has called for the major accounting firms hired to audit and approve sensitive company reports to be brought before the financial services royal commission to prove their independence. Continue reading »
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RON GARDINER. Brisbane City Council’s Metro Madness
To address busway-congestion problems in central Brisbane, City Council plans to introduce, in 2023, a new and ‘distinctive’ form of public transport. Priced at approximately $1 billion, the project has the inappropriate name Brisbane Metro (common definition: a railway system, usually underground). Three aspects of Brisbane Metro are cause for urgent concern – choice of vehicle, proposed river-crossing Continue reading »
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MICK PALMER. The drug trade has just kept getting bigger,more dangerous and more prosperous.
The facts are clear. For over half a century our governments have relied heavily on law enforcement to curb the drug trade and reduce drug use. However, despite huge funding, ever increasing levels of police effectiveness and genuine effort, and the imposition of very lengthy prison terms for serious drug offences, the drug trade has Continue reading »
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TIM COSTELLO. The Alan Jones-Opera House row proves Sydney is in thrall to the gambling industry (the Guardian, 07.10.18)
Is this the tipping point? Will we one day look back and thank Alan Jones for drawing attention to the disgrace that is Sydney’s capture by the gambling industry with his nasty hectoring of Opera House CEO Louise Herron? Continue reading »
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JONATHAN PAGE. How Buddhism helped this cancer doctor care for his dying patients (ABC Science interview)
Medical oncologist Jonathan Page says being more in the moment helps him to be a better doctor. His relationships with his patients were once characterised by “coldness…. and a lack of grieving”. But a mental health crisis that led him to Buddhist meditation helped change that. Continue reading »
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SAM BATEMAN. Understanding American Freedom of Navigation Operation(FONOP) in the South China Sea
The recent encounter between American and Chinese warships in the South China Sea could be the fore-runner of more serious incidents unless both parties show more restraint. Continue reading »
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GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. 80 years after Munich.
The 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement passed without significant comment, although it was a pivotal event of the 20h Century. Perhaps it’s time for me to commit the ultimate political incorrectness and confess that I am a Municheer. I mean that if I had been there instead of a four year old in Brisbane, Continue reading »
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GRAHAM ALLISON. The Myth of the Liberal Order: From Historical Accident to Conventional Wisdom.
Among the debates that have swept the U.S. foreign policy community since the beginning of the Trump administration, alarm about the fate of the liberal international rules-based order has emerged as one of the few fixed points. From the international relations scholar G. John Ikenberry’s claim that “for seven decades the world has been dominated Continue reading »
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NILE BOWIE. The world according to Mahathir.
Malaysian premier is re-emerging as a strident yet pacifist spokesman for the non-aligned interests of the developing world. Continue reading »
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH. Morrison’s willingness to tell brazen untruths proves he is just like Donald Trump (the New Daily, 03.09.18)
Australia’s new prime minister Scott Morrison showed this week he has mastered one of US President Donald Trump’s most amazing tricks: the ability to make claims he and every one else knows are complete nonsense – and to make them with total impunity. Continue reading »
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Overreaction in the South China Sea when US influence is waning and Chinese influence is rising
The present and recent Australian Governments seem to have become victims of their own China and Russia phobias. Continue reading »
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MARTIN WOLF. Donald Trump is wrong: China is not Mexico (Financial Times)
“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.” This tweet of March 2 set out the aims and means of Donald Trump’s trade policy. Continue reading »
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Susan Reid reviews ‘Adani and the War Over Coal’ by Quentin Beresford and ‘The Coal Truth’ by David Ritter (Australian Book Review, October 2018
Who can forget the image of Scott Morrison, as federal treasurer, juggling a lump of lacquered coal in parliament on 9 February 2017? Appearing pretty chuffed with his own antics, Morrison urged people not to be afraid. Eighteen months later, the jester is now prime minister. His ascension results from one of the most undignified Continue reading »
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NICK BRYANT. How right-wing Scott Morrison became Australia’s sixth prime minister in 11 years.
It’s a measure of how far Australian conservatism has turned towards the Trumpian that Morrison was considered the mainstream candidate. Continue reading »
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH Scott Morrison is either lying about carbon emissions, or just plain ignorant (the New Daily, 02.10.18)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia is on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target “in a canter”. But it’s not, and Mr Morrison is either being blindly optimistic or he is an outright liar. More fake news from Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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PETER WHITEFORD. Relax. The divide between the taxed and the ‘taxed-nots’ isn’t new and doesn’t buy elections.
Might government benefits, and government employment, be a self sustaining machine – one in which those who benefit from government payments deliver the votes needed to ensure they continue? Continue reading »
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STEPHEN LONG. Tesla battery proves a leading source of dispatchable power, AEMO says .
Scott Morrison said it would be about as useful for the electricity system as the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour or the Big Prawn at Ballina in NSW. He has a habit with fake news. Continue reading »
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CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. Keeping the mates at arm’s length in the gambling industry.
The Grattan Institute’s report on access and influence in Australian politics, ‘Who’s in the room?’, comes at a time when the reputation of politicians and the political system seems to be plumbing new depths. Continue reading »
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DAVID ISAACS. Pervasive refusal syndrome and Nauru
Fatima was a happy child who loved school and was a top student. She was 11 years old when she took to her bed, stopped eating and drinking, covered her head with the sheet, stopped washing and started wetting the bed. For months she would not or could not get out of bed and had Continue reading »
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REG LITTLE. Rethinking Australian Strategic Thinking on China.
Disarray and confusion amongst the values, ideals, narratives and mythologies of the English-speaking peoples will increasingly press Australia to choose between a familiar past tending to decline and disarray and a challenging and daunting China-focused future. Continue reading »
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GERALDINE DOOGUE, AMY DONALDSON. Bill Hayden explains why he decided to be baptised.
Apart from being Australia’s second longest-serving governor-general and introducing the first version of Medicare, Bill Hayden is probably best known for being a vocal and even hostile atheist. Continue reading »
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JOHN ELDER. Gas leak: Government tries to release its greenhouse news on the quiet.
The Morrison government stands accused of trying to sneak-release the latest greenhouse gas emission figures – they’ve gone up, again – by making them public on the eve of the footy grand finals. Continue reading »
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PAUL BONGIORNO. No Friend But The Mountains
When John Minns asked me to help launch No Friend But The Mountains in Canberra I was honoured, because I was aware of Behrouz Boochani’s journalistic work in The Saturday Paper. Now that I have read the book I am humiliated. Continue reading »
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JOHN GOSS. Health care is getting cheaper (unless you need a specialist, or a dentist) (the Conversation, 28.09.18)
Public and private health expenditure amounted to 10.3% of gross domestic product in 2016-17, almost exactly the same percentage as in 2015-16, according to figures released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Continue reading »
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NICK BISLEY. The risks of a new Cold War between the US and China are real: here’s why (the Conversation, 26.08.18)
Donald Trump is making good on his trade war rhetoric with China, announcing tariffs on a further US$200 billion worth of goods from the PRC. As China promises retaliation, the warmth of the Mar-a-Lago summit of April 2017 is a thing of the past. When this is added to the wide-ranging tensions such as the Continue reading »
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JOHN THOMPSON. Private schools don’t pay rates and taxes.
While most attention is focussed on the level and distribution of funds paid directly to non-government schools by the Commonwealth Government, little attention is given to the very substantial financial concessions and benefits that the private school system obtains from all levels of government in Australia. The millions of dollars of revenue foregone by local, Continue reading »
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KERRY GOULSTON. A personal view on our current treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
There is growing concern across Australia about the current policy for Asylum Seekers and Refugees, particularly those on Nauru and Manus Island. Continue reading »
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DOUG TAYLOR. Uniting Church launches new decriminalisation campaign.
Australia’s first pill testing trial took place earlier this year in Canberra at a music festival. 128 people attending the festival provided pills for testing and two of these pills were found to contain potentially deadly substances. These pills were then disposed of and the event was fatality-free. Continue reading »
