3 April 2025

The importance of excellent Independent MPs

I joined the Liberal Party when it was liberal. After Malcolm Fraser lost the 1983 election, the head office of the Victorian Division was dominated by a few men with strong business interests and a conviction that government should not interfere with the way business operates. Social issues did not seem to be important.

6 January 2024

Malcolm Fraser would have agreed with Paul Keating on AUKUS

Like so many Australians, I am very worried by our commitment to AUKUS. I agree strongly with many other critics that we have been placed in peril by our governments submarine agreement with the US and the UK.

18 April 2023

Malcolm Fraser would have agreed with Paul Keating on AUKUS

Like so many Australians, I am very worried by our commitment to AUKUS. I agree strongly with many other critics that we have been placed in peril by our governments submarine agreement with the US and the UK.

3 December 2021

Our democracy is damaged only progressive independents can repair it

Voter trust in the major political parties is virtually non-existent independent candidates can restore the grassroots values that have been abandoned.

9 August 2021

We need more independents to check "power hungry" political parties

Ian Macphee, speaking to the Voices of Goldstein in a meeting to plan the ousting of Tim Wilson MP the current Goldstein representative, expressed the need for more independents in the Australian Senate and House of Representatives to check the implementation of dodgy policies by power-hungry government MPs.

29 September 2019

IAN MACPHEE. Manus Island

As a defence lawyer in criminal cases in New South Wales and Papua New Guinea I saw many prisons, including on Manus Island. Most had a harsh reality that one might expect in jails for convicted criminals. Yet I will never forget some of the cruelty inflicted on prisoners who had misbehaved in NSW jails.

30 October 2018

IAN MACPHEE. I plead with the Labor Party to adopt a humane policy regarding asylum.A repost

I plead with the Labor Party to adopt a humane policy regarding asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island. I have no doubt that the majority of Australians feel humiliated by the disgusting treatment that recent governments have given to asylum seekers and especially to those on neighbouring islands. Parts of Queensland might support Hansons racism but most Australians will not. Labor must realise that and adopt our belief in a fair go.

15 October 2018

IAN MACPHEE. I plead with the Labor Party to adopt a humane policy regarding asylum.

I plead with the Labor Party to adopt a humane policy regarding asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island. I have no doubt that the majority of Australians feel humiliated by the disgusting treatment that recent governments have given to asylum seekers and especially to those on neighbouring islands. Parts of Queensland might support Hansons racism but most Australians will not. Labor must realise that and adopt our belief in a fair go.

21 March 2018

IAN MACPHEE on Peter Dutton (repost from December 2016)

The attack by Peter Dutton on Malcolm Fraser's refugee policies is outrageous. We have had a succession on inadequate Immigration Ministers in recent years but Dutton is setting the standard even lower Yet Turnbull recently declare him to be an 'outstanding immigration minister'. The Liberal Party has long ceased to be liberal.

22 November 2017

IAN MACPHEE. A deeper view of the Rohingya crisis than media provide.

Since writing my blog on 13 October in defence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (whom I will now only term Daw Suu) external media has continued its criticism of her for not condemning the military for its brutal attacks on Rohingya people in Rakhine state on the border of Bangladesh. As I stressed then, I have no doubt that Daw Suu would be as appalled as most people about the rapid military action of which she would have had no knowledge until it occurred. But, had she condemned the brutality she would have risked being displaced by the military...

12 October 2017

IAN MACPHEE. In Defence of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state in Myanmar (formerly Burma), one of the most unknown situations in the world, is now dominating daily news worldwide. Many commentators have rushed to judgment about the leadership of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi without understanding the challenges she faces.

20 November 2016

IAN MACPHEE. Peter Dutton has it wrong on Malcolm Fraser.

The attack by Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, on Malcolm Fraser's refugee policies is outrageous. We have had a succession of inadequate immigration ministers in recent years but Dutton is setting the standards even lower. Yet, Turnbull recently declared him to be an outstanding immigration minister. The Liberal Party has long ceased to be liberal. Dutton's attack on Fraser's refugee policies grabbed headlines he had hoped for. The SMH headline was Peter Dutton attacks Malcolm Fraser's refugee legacy. The Australian's was: Peter Dutton says Malcolm Fraser's immigration policy to blame for crime gangs. These were the headlines that Dutton must...

29 June 2015

Ian Macphee. Celebrating the arrival 40 years ago of Vietnamese refugees and their contribution to Australia.

Current Affairs. Throughout Australia the Vietnamese community in Australia has been holding meetings to commemorate the arrival of the first Vietnamese refugees forty years ago. Sadly but appropriately these functions are also commemorating the wonderful leadership of Malcolm Fraser in welcoming the Vietnamese and consolidating the end of the White Australia policy. In this he was supported by the Labor Party and this bi-partisan policy continued until 1993 when mandatory detention was established by the Keating government. This worsened under the Howard government from 1996 onwards and the bi-partisan policy since has been inhumane. Underlying the deep bond that...

21 March 2015

Ian Macphee. Personal memories of Malcolm Fraser.

I first met Malcolm in 1973 when he was shadow minister for Industrial Relations in the Coalition opposition. I was Director of the Victorian Chamber of Manufactures and intensely involved in industrial relations. Malcolm had just been given that responsibility and wished to explore issues seriously. We did so for over two hours. I told him that I would always be happy to advise him and that I felt sure that he would form a harmonious working relationship with Clyde Cameron, Minister for Industrial Relations in the Whitlam government. He soon did. And Malcolm and I continued contact. With the...