John Menadue
Publisher and Editor
Callum Foote
Associate Editor
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Author Archives: John Menadue
The perils of outsourcing (privatisation) – a repost
In Pearls and Irritations last year we posted articles about the serious erosion in the quality of care and services in many fields – disability care, vocational education and training, child care and particularly aged care, where more than 650 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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How Murdoch extracts concessions from governments. Consider how he got control of Foxtel!
Rupert Murdoch claims, falsely, that he has never asked a Prime Minister for anything. Yet his whole business career in three countries has been founded on threatening or seducing politicians for privileged commercial access or opportunities.
Posted in Politics
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Things you learn along the way
Occasionally friends suggest to me that I should write my autobiography. Ruefully I explain that I wrote ‘Things you learn along the way’ 20 years ago. The book sold about 8,000 copies but as far as I know is no … Continue reading
Lobby Land. The power of the health lobby. Health ministers may be in office but they are not in power
The major barrier to health reform is the power of providers- the health lobby. A succession of Australian health ministers Liberal and Labor for three decades have failed in any serious health reform. Any Minister, Liberal or Labor who wants … Continue reading
Posted in Lobbyland, Politics
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We need a standing Royal Commission to supervise our intelligence agencies (REPOST Aug 31, 2020)
We need intelligence agencies that are accountable to the community.. We do not have that at the moment. They duchess ministers and their parliamentary ‘supervisors’ . We have witnessed the failure of bank regulators. Regulatory failure in the intelligence sector is … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
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John Menadue talks with Friendlyjordies
Jordan chats with Pearls and Irritations publisher and editor John Menadue about his time working for Rupert Murdoch and Gough Whitlam. The topics of China and the Palace Papers also gets a run.
Posted in Politics, Top 5
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China must obey international rules in the South China Sea but the US ignores them in Diego Garcia (Repost 3 July 2020)
China is rightly criticised for building islands for military purposes in the South China Sea whilst ignoring an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by the Philippines. But what of the US in Diego Garcia?
Posted in Defence and Security, Politics
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The Australian Government advice on travel to Hong Kong is ‘one sided, misleading, fanciful and absurd’
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade(DFAT) seems to have joined the anti China push with misleading advice on what the new security laws mean in Hong Kong.
Posted in China
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Domestic violence in the pandemic. Anti terrorism is a tried and successful diversion
The above is the headline in a story in the SMH on 13 July 2020. It illustrates once again how vested interests supported by our media give lip service about the tragedy of domestic violence but quickly forget it.But the … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Media
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‘The Eleventh’, ABC’s podcast on the dismissal (A repost)
An edited transcript of an interview I conducted with the ABC for a podcast series The Eleventh.
Posted in Politics
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China must obey international rules in the South China Sea but the US can ignore them in Diego Garcia.
China is rightly criticised for building islands for military purposes in the South China Sea whilst ignoring an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by the Philippines. But what of the US in Diego Garcia?
Posted in China, Politics
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The strange case of Shaoquett Moselmane and the AFP and ASIO raid.
I was struck by these letters in the S.M.H. regarding Shaoquett Moselmane . Are we seeing a new McCarthyist wave of anti China paranoia?
Posted in Human Rights, Politics
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