Writer
P&I Guest Archive
-
Deconstructing the election result. Guest Blogger: Walter Hamilton
1. Labor lost the election before the Coalition won it. 2. There was a narrowing in the state-by-state differences in the two-party preferred voting ratios of Labor and the Coalition, which partly accounts for the bigger swings against the ALP in Victoria, SA and Tasmania. That is, where Labor did well in 2010 to hold Continue reading »
-
The election – punishing bad behaviour. John Menadue
One thing the election did was to explode the perceived wisdom that if the economy was doing well, governments are seldom voted out. But the Rudd Government was. As I have written in earlier blogs. The Australian economy, by almost any measure is one of the best performing and managed in the world. Our material Continue reading »
-
Asylum seekers are blocking the M4 freeway and clogging up our hospitals! John Menadue
On Monday night on 4 Corners, the Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott, said that asylum seekers’ cars were blocking the M4 highway. For readers outside Sydney, the M4 is a 40 km expressway connecting Concord and Penrith. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry that such ignorance could be expressed by a candidate Continue reading »
-
Chemical warfare and Syria. Guest blogger: Marcus Einfeld
I never thought I would ever agree with Glenn Beck, the US shock jock from the extreme right of the political spectrum. I think he is right about the US not intervening in the Middle East again. Difficult as it is to say, President Putin is also right even if his reasons are not pure. Continue reading »
-
Boat arrivals are down. John Menadue
You would hardly know it if you read the Murdoch papers or listened to the Canberra bureau of the ABC but boat arrivals are dramatically down in recent weeks. How ironic it would be if even before Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister, that asylum seekers arriving by boat have been reduced to a trickle. It Continue reading »
-
From one Catholic to another. Guest blogger: Bishop Hurley, Darwin.
The Catholic Bishop of Darwin has expressed concern to Tony Abbott about the Coalition’s policies towards asylum-seekers and people in detention. His letter to Tony Abbott follows: Bishop Hurley letter to Tony Abbott The Leader of the Opposition The Hon. Tony Abbott MHR Parliament House RG109 CANBERRA ACT 2600 16 August 2013 Dear Mr. Continue reading »
-
Excluding the ABC. John Menadue
It is disappointing, at least to me that the ABC has not been the host of the election debates between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott. Instead it is has been left to Fox News, 50% owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is keen to buy the other 50% from Telstra. When will the Murdoch monopoly end? Continue reading »
-
We have never had it so good. John Menadue
The election campaign by the Murdoch media and the Coalition suggests that the Australian economy is in a mess. But almost all the facts suggest that we have one of the best performing economies in the world whether we measure it by economic growth, debt, inflation or employment. Now a survey just released by the Continue reading »
-
Japan’s war memory. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Japan’s struggle with the issue of war memory has been brought into sharp relief again amid a controversy over what children should be taught about the past. Last week the Matsue city board of education confirmed a ban placed on a famous comic book (manga) series called Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen). The board’s decision Continue reading »
-
The phoney war over deficits and debt. John Menadue
For almost five years, Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey, Andrew Robb and Barnaby Joyce, have been giving us dire warnings about deficits and debt. You would think the Australian economy was a smoking ruin. But the politicking over deficits and debt has changed remarkably in the last few weeks. Early this year Tony Abbott told us Continue reading »
-
Japanese amnesia and the contrast with Germany. Guest blogger: Susan Menadue Chun
Our four Australian/Korean children were educated in Japanese primary schools. Every summer holiday we struggled through the prescribed homework text- Natsu no Tomo (Summer’s friend). In the early August segment, there were assignments regarding WWII. They stated, “talk to your parents about WWII and write a composition about the importance of peace”. So, we talked Continue reading »
-
Returning home can be the hard part. John Menadue
In my August 1 blog I referred to the failure of many Australian companies to integrate their business and human resource strategies. Too many send executives overseas on an ad hoc basis without planning how that experience gained overseas can be used when they return as a catalyst to change the business culture of the Continue reading »
-
Jesuit students rebuke Tony Abbott and other old boys. John Menadue
For many years, I have been concerned that the Jesuits at St Ignatius College Sydney seem to be producing mainly conservative politicians and merchant bankers. I don’t think St Ignatius would have expected that. My confidence in the Jesuits at St Ignatius has been at least partially restored by action by senior students at St Continue reading »
-
Government failure in health care. John Menadue and guest blogger Ian McAuley
We have little to see for six years of “reform” under the Rudd/Gillard Governments. What was that about ending the blame game in health? It has been mainly muddling through with hopes dashed for significant reform in many key areas Health costs are rising rapidly, through lack of coordination and waste. Doctors provide too many Continue reading »
-
Hitting rock-bottom! John Menadue
Today Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison have announced draconian measures that will inflict enormous punishment on over 30,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia over recent years by boat. These draconian policies will apply not just to future boat arrivals but will be applied retrospectively to over 30,000 asylum seekers who are already legally Continue reading »
-
Minimizing PNG and Nauru. John Menadue
Before I outline what I suggest we should do after the federal election let me first raise a few important background issues. The Indo China program In working with Malcolm Fraser and Ian Macphee I was actively involved in the Indochina refugee program under which Australia took 240,000 people, including family reunion. It was a Continue reading »
-
Foxing with the News, Japan style. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
On Wednesday 7 August 2013, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged that the clean up of the devastated Fukushima nuclear power reactors was beyond the capacity of the operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). It followed the revelation that heavily contaminated groundwater is flowing into the Pacific Ocean at an estimated rate of 300 Continue reading »
-
Is something significant happening in our alignment to our region? John Menadue
It may be early days, but I sense that some significant change might be afoot. So much of our political dialogue historically has been about Australia’s relationship with the UK and then the US. John Howard spoke of Australia being the deputy sheriff for the Americans in our region. Tony Abbott talks about an Anglo Continue reading »
-
One Minus One Equals Nothing – Also True in Journalism. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
As an executive journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation I was concerned on a daily basis with balance and fairness in news and current affairs coverage. I often heard it said, ‘if both sides of politics are criticising us, we’re probably doing a good job’, though I never embraced this mantra. In journalism, as Continue reading »
-
Encouraging words from Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Rio. John Menadue
On Copacabana beach in Rio, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with three million people, more than the Rolling Stones or Carnivale could ever attract. With his obvious modesty he showed himself a great communicator with the young and the poor. He appealed for the rich to share with the poor and solidarity between all people. He Continue reading »
-
The election: economy and deficits. John Menadue
In the run-up to the September 7 elections, we will hear a lot of misleading stories about the economy and deficits. My contention is that with the good luck of the China boom, the government has managed the Australian economy well. Our economic performance is amongst the best in the world. But the public debate Continue reading »
-
Japan’s Deputy PM: ‘Let’s learn from the Nazis’. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Taro Aso, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Japan, has a clumsy tongue; it’s always getting him into trouble. He’s so malapropic (remember the one about people becoming so affluent ‘even the homeless are getting diabetes’), we can only shake our heads and say, ‘Japan’s a funny place,’ before changing the channel on our Continue reading »
-
Our business failure in Asia. John Menadue
In my blog of March 14 on Productivity and Skills I drew attention to the failure of Australian business to equip itself for Asia. PM Rudd in his address to the National Press Club on 16 July this year put it very clearly. ‘I am concerned that if you went through our business elites, you Continue reading »
-
A regional refugee instrument. John Menadue
Forgive me for repeating myself, but you might be interested in a presentation I gave on this subject in February 2012 (see below). We have talked a lot about the need for regional arrangements, but progress has been extremely slow. Our political system based on ministerial and departmental responsibility has failed us badly on refugee issues. Continue reading »
-
Least-worst option and minimising PNG. John Menadue
In my blog of July 20, I referred to the Regional Settlement Agreement with PNG. With some reservations I described it as the least-worst option. Some were surprised at my comments. I wish it were otherwise, but in the toxic and poisonous political debate over refugees since John Howard’s time, we have had to face Continue reading »
-
Iranians – refugees or migrants? John Menadue
In my blog of July 5, I compared the March quarter 2013 primary refugee protection visa rate for various nationalities and the finally determined grant rate. In the case of Iranian nationals the grant rate rose from 55% at the primary stage to 86% on appeal. That is 86% of Iranian boat arrivals were finally Continue reading »
-
Asylum seeker saga continues. Guest Blogger: Marcus Einfeld
The saga proceeds in relation to people seeking refugee asylum in our country. The latest contribution in these last few days is that we should seek changes in the UN Refugee Convention because circumstances have changed since it was introduced after WWII. The label “economic migrants” is being resurrected as a reason for refusing refugee Continue reading »
-
Galahs and princes. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
What was that about Australia and the Asian Century? The umbilical cords still tie us to the past. John Menadue From Walter Hamilton: I had a choice today on the ABC Online News website of reading a story about a galah plague in a Queensland outback town or viewing the ‘first pictures’ (breathless pause) of Continue reading »
-
Regional Settlement Agreement with Papua New Guinea – a post-script. John Menadue
With the dust settling a little I thought it might be safe to return to this issue! I said in my blog of July 20 that I supported the general thrust of the RSA with PNG, although a lot remained to be sorted out and the implementation is already showing signs of problems. Without repeating Continue reading »
-
Japan: Where to now? Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a resounding victory in last weekend’s Upper House election. It now has sufficient seats in both houses of parliament to dominate the important Diet committees and ensure passage of key legislation. The LDP, however, has fallen short of obtaining enough votes to push through constitutional change on its Continue reading »
