John Menadue

John Menadue is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations. He was formerly Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, Ambassador to Japan, Secretary of the Department of Immigration and CEO of Qantas.

John's recent articles

STEPHEN S. ROACH. Japan Then, China Now. (Project Syndicate 27.5.2019)

Back in the 1980s, Japan was portrayed as the greatest economic threat to the United States, and allegations of intellectual property theft were only part of Americans' vilification. Thirty years later, Americans have made China the villain, when, just like three decades ago, they should be looking squarely in the mirror.

TONY WALKER. Australia has a China problem and we can't leave it to faceless spooks (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 June 2019)

Australia has a China problem. Its not in Beijing. Its not on the streets of Hong Kong. Its in Canberra. China policy is in flux, under stress and confused.Australias meek response to the pro-democracy mass demonstrations in Hong Kong contrasts with attitudes in its own security establishment that are redolent of a Cold War era.

TREVOR WATSON. Hong Kong and Beijing - two cities, one fearful regime.

Millions of students, blue collar workers and professionals poured into the streets of Hong Kong in protest over proposed legislation that would allow people to be extradited for trial in China.

BERNARD KEANE. Corporations start to question Business Council's climate denialism (Crikey)

With Westpac joining the growing list of corporations that are questioning the climate policy stance of the Business Council of Australia (BCA), it seems that major companies that take climate change seriously have sussed out the strategy of one of Australias most toxic denialist lobby groups.

ROBIN SMIT, JAKE WHITEHEAD, NIC SURAWSKI. Australians could have saved over $1 billion in fuel if car emissions standards were introduced 3 years ago (The Conversation)

When it comes to road transport, Australia is at risk of becoming a climate villain as we lag behind international best practice on fuel efficiency.

NIALL McLAREN IT'S TIME.... TO QUESTION THE US ALLIANCE.

Before entering any alliance, it's better to be certain you have worked out what you hope to gain from it.

BERNARD MACLEOD Youth Suicide

Our new government is making the elimination of youth suicide a focus of health policy under Minister Greg Hunt. However, billions of dollars of investment over the years has failed to reduce the numbers of those taking their own lives. Business as usual is not an option and radical ideas are required for treating suicidality in both in-patient and out-patient settings.

MICHELLE PINI: AFP raids journalists: We need to talk about our Government

There is no doubt the AFP raids are an affront to our democracy. One in which the hand of a secretive and ruthless Government can be felt, if not seen or heard.

CHRISTIAN DOWNIE. It's time for Australia to scale up its energy diplomacy

A huge transformation of global energy production and consumption is underway but sorely needs international governance.

MICHAEL JOHNSTON. Taming the beast - a challenging new initiative.

Corporations unbridled pursuit of self interest (aka shareholder interest) has plunged the planet into an existential crisis. It is no longer a radical proposition to suggest that the community should expect its corporations to pursue stakeholder interest on an equal footing with shareholder interest. The law locks up the man or woman who steals the goose from off the common but lets the greater villain loose who steals the common off the goose. Anon

PETER SINGER. Rugby Australias Own Goal (Project Syndicate 11.6.2019)

If Rugby Australia had existed in the first century of the Christian era, and Paul had had enough talent to be a contracted player, the sport's national governing body presumably would have ripped up his contract once his first letter to the Corinthians, with its injunction against homosexuality, became public. Just ask star fullback and born-again Christian Israel Folau.

C.J. POLYCHRONIOU. Noam Chomsky: Trumps Economic Boom Is a Sham (Truthout)

Donald Trump ran a campaign and won the 2016 presidential election based on unorthodox tactics, whereby he used irrational provocation to defy traditional political norms and make a mockery of established beliefs on both domestic and international issues confronting the United States. Amazingly enough, Trump has continued his instinctual political posturing even as president, dividing the nation and causing severe friction with the traditional allies of the U.S. Yet, his unorthodox tactics and irrational leadership style appear to remain a winning formula as current polls indicate that, unless something dramatic happens, Trump may very well be re-elected in...

RICHARD KINGSFORD. Current economic modelling dudding the environment and future generations

With the Federal election verdict widely attributed to quiet Australians favouring the economy over the environment, one key point has been missed in the wash-up analysis. Rather than supposedly avoiding a gaping economic hole required to fix the environment through the public purse, the modelling incorrectly assessed the impacts, costs and benefits of the environment. Current economic modelling predominantly relies on a confined definition of economy: one focused so narrowly that it fails to measure long-term environmental benefits or costs.

JANE McADAM An evidence based refugee policy agenda

Summary A successful refugee policy not only manages national borders but also protects people who need safety, and demonstrates leadership in meeting the global challenge of displacement. Thats why the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has set out an independent, nonpartisan, evidence-based refugee policy agenda, challenging policymakers and the public to reimagine Australias current approach so that both refugees and the nation can prosper amid todays real challenges.

KISHORE MAHBUBANI. A yellow peril revival fuelling Western fears of Chinas rise (East Asia Forum)

Do we arrive at geopolitical judgements from only cool, hard-headed, rational analysis? If emotions influence our judgements, are these conscious emotions or do they operate at the level of our subterranean subconscious? Any honest answer to these questions would admit that non-rational factors always play a role. This is why it was wrong for Western media to vilify Kiron Skinner, the director of policy planning at the US State Department, for naming racial discomfort as a factor at play in the emerging geopolitical contest between the United States and China.

GREG JERICHO. Coalition's lies, damned lies and election-winning strategies (The Guardian)

No, the government doesnt care about reducing carbon emissions and no, the economy is not strong.

BEN GRUBB. The CIA's investment fund is stalking Australian tech startups and has opened a local office (Sydney Morning Herald, 11 June 2019)

A technology investment fund bankrolled by America's foreign spy agency, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is stalking Australian companies for future investment opportunities.

BEVAN RAMSDEN. The Anti-Terrorism Act and other Acts strip us of many civil liberties we thought we had.

The recent intimidatory police raids on the ABC and a journalists home for making public, matters of community concern, is a wake-up call that press freedoms can no longer be taken for granted. But looking wider, personal freedoms we thought we enjoyed are also fast disappearing thanks to the anti-terrorism act and other laws passed last year.

PAUL MASON. Donald Trumps embrace is a death grip for the Conservative Party (New Statesman, 5 June 2019)

Mainstream conservatism has lost its ideological defences against the far right. All over the world, mainstream conservatism has reached the moment of its psychological surrender to the authoritarian right. In the US, the Republican Party is using control of state legislatures to roll back 50 years of abortion liberalisation. In Austria, the conservative Peoples Party pinned the countrys future on a coalition with the pro-Putin, far-right Freedom Party, and stands bereft now that coalition is in ruins.

PAULINA GUZIK. Polish bishops hope 'knight of Malta' will help Church battle abuse. Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, the Vatican's chief expert on clerical sex abuse, will visit Poland on Friday.

When the people of Poland think of Malta and the Catholic Church, they usually think of the Knights of Malta, the fraternal order which is active throughout the country. Next week, a different kind of Maltese knight will be arriving: Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta - the island country in the Mediterranean - is coming to Poland on June 14.Scicluna is also the Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and considered Pope Franciss most trusted expert on clerical sexual abuse, having previously served as the Vaticans chief prosecutor in abuse cases.

WILLIAM PESEK Abe-Trump smiles mask the coming anger. (Nikkei Asian Review 30.5.2019)

Donald Trump visited Tokyo for four days (25-28 May) intending to cement his unshakable bond with Shinzo Abe. Instead, the visit showcased why their unlikely bromance is headed for trouble.

LINDSAY HUGHES. Saudi Arabias Nuclear Plans: The Regional Danger (Future Directions International)

Saudi Arabia remains one of the largest oil producers (it produced 9.8 million barrels of oil a day in April this year) and the largest oil exporter in the world, despite the fact that Venezuela has larger proven oil reserves of around 300 billion barrels. Saudi Arabias oil exports account for around 42 per cent of its overall GDP, 90 per cent of its export earnings and over 85 per cent of its budget revenues, which, in 2017, totalled approximately 691.5 billion Saudi riyals ($266 billion).

MARTIN WOLF. The looming 100-year US-China conflict (The Financial Times)

Donald Trumps unnecessary fight for domination is increasingly being framed as a zero-sum game.

ERNST WILLHEIM. Cover up of Illegal government activities continue with the AFP raids. They follow the Witness K and Bernard Collaery travesty.

This is a talk (on 27 February 2019 at Manning ClarkHouse, ANU )about some shameful events in Australias recent history.And I very much fear the shameful saga is about to continue.It is about Australian commercial espionage, bugging of the cabinet office of a friendly neighbour by an Australian intelligence agency, a raid by another Australian intelligence agency and fears of a secret trial.It is also about Australias failure to abide by a rules based-order, the rule of law.

BRETT McGURK. American Foreign Policy Adrift (Foreign Affairs)

Pompeo Is Calling for RealismTrump Isnt Delivering

MURRAY SAYLE. On Tiananmen Square - June 1989

On May 13, with Gorbachev's visit imminent, the students began a hunger strike in seven-day relays. How did the regime react? The People's Liberation Army sent one thousand quilts; the Chinese Red Cross brought water, salt, and sugar for the hunger-strikers; and Mayor Chen's own Beijing municipality set up portable toilets. Students were taken to state- owned hospitals for treatment, unhindered by the authorities, and none died.

HAJO DUKEN. High time for Australia to understand and embrace the EU

It has been said that in the world order of the 21st century, countries will end up as a colony of either the US or China or be a member of the EU. This may sound overly simplistic but one thing appears to be clear: whilst the US and China are headed for a new cold war, the Brexit saga and the recent European elections have strengthened the EU. For Australia, who is dangerously exposed not only by the US/China conflict but also by losing the UK as its gateway to Europe, it would be inexcusable to not give top...

NIALL McLAREN Broadening the Base.

Allan Patience argued cogently for a substantial change in left-wing political economy: Labor has been trying hitherto to interpret the neoliberal world in various ways; the point however is to change it. A robust public sector is urgently needed to compete against a rapacious private sector. He suggested a number of ways this could be done but we need to make sure we have the financial means to do it. ..The whole art of Conservative politics in the 20th century is being deployed to enable wealth to persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power.

ROBERT FISK. The final punishment of Julian Assange. (Counterpunch 3.6.2019)

Shame and the fear of accountability for what has been done by our security authorities, not the law-breaking of leakers, is what this is all about.

EVA COX. Feminist options: revive the Social Contract and fix the trust deficit.

So the ALP lost the election and everyone has a post mortem explanation of what went wrong (egIan Macaulay: it's the economy)or what needs to be the future focus (Albo: It's jobs, we are here for the workers).Yet the big story should be how voters reflected increasing distrust of the current 'democratic processes' because of policy omissions. The low turnout, reported high levels of really undecided voters, and the failure of the accuracy of poll sampling to reflect the results are all indicators that too many voters were not engaged because of not trusting their decisions.

JOHN QUIGGIN. Explaining Adani: why would a billionaire persist with a mine that will probably lose money? (The Conversation)

The road to Adani. There are more hurdles to overcome, and Gautam Adani might have to put up his own money.

KOICHI NAKANO. The Leader Who Was Trump Before Trump (The New York Times)

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan has taken a decidedly authoritarian turn.

RICHARD FLANAGAN. The AFP media raids aim to suppress the truth. Without it we head into the darkness of oppression. (The Guardian 6.6.2019)

In March of this year police union leaders warned that theAustralian federal police was losing its independence and integrity and must be separated from Peter Duttons home affairs portfolio.

JOSEPH STIGLITZ. After Neoliberalism (Project Syndicate, 30 May 2019)

For the past 40 years, the United States and other advanced economies have been pursuing a free-market agenda of low taxes, deregulation, and cuts to social programs. There can no longer be any doubt that this approach has failed spectacularly; the only question is what will and should come next.

ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ and CHRISTINA HO. Was there an ethnic vote in the 2019 election and did it make adifference? (The Conversation, 4 June 2019)

Many factors appear to have contributed to the unexpected victory of the Coalition in the May 18 election. Two factors were predictable and had a devastating impact on the ALP vote where they were activated ethno-religious prejudices around sexuality and gay culture, and fears about perceived threats to economic stability in some ethnic communities.

JOSH RUEBNER. Kushner's plan to sugarcoat the occupation of Palestine (The New Arab)

In 2018, prosecutors in Brooklyn subpoenaed information from the family-run real estate development business Kushner Companies to investigate how it routinely filed false paperwork that resulted in the company netting millions during a three-year period when presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner was its CEO.

ANDREW HAMILTON. Revisiting Iola Mathews' feminist battlegrounds. (Eureka Street, 28.5.2019)

When people describe their part in events of our own life time, they often awaken in us recognition mixed with self-reproach. We recognise how greatly our attitudes have changed, but also that our images of significant people and movements are still tinged with our earlier prejudices.

DIRK VAN DER KLEY. What should Australia do about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)?

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has grown so large that it has become difficult to separate from the international economic and technology policies of the Peoples Republic of Chinas (PRC). Policies crafted in the name of BRI are reshaping the economic order and technological landscape in Australias neighbourhood Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands (PI). The BRI also contributes to escalating tensions between the PRC and the United States.

ANTHONY MILNER. Australia does face a foreign relations crisis.

There may have been advantages in keeping the recent election campaign away from foreign policy. Statements made to win domestic votes can be damaging to a countrys international relations. It is now time, however, for some serious thinking.

KATE FINLAYSON and TIM BUCKLEY. Queensland government about to make poor economic decision on Adani mine.

Following the Labor partys defeat in Mays general election, the Queensland Labor government seems keen to approve the development of the Adani thermal coal mine as quickly as possible. However, a report released this week by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) exposes the Queensland governments poor economic analysis and failure to recognise the accelerating global trend from coal to renewables in energy generation, and the difference between thermal and coking coal.

IAN BURUMA. Deng Xiaopings victory. (Asia Times 3.6.2019)

Chinas massive protest movement in the spring of 1989, centered in (but not confined to) Beijings Tiananmen Square, seems to have been the anti-Communist revolt that failed. As the brutal crackdown on and following June 3-4 played out, political freedom was being won in Central Europe first in Poland and Hungary, and then, beginning that autumn, in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and, albeit violently and rather undemocratically, Romania. Within the next two years, the Soviet Union, cracked open by Mikhail Gorbachevs reforms, finally imploded.

JONATHON MANTHORPE. Trumps shambolic Japan visit and Americas decline (Asia Times)

The age of the United States dominating in Asia is drawing to a close, and the president is leading the way

DAVID MARR. The George Pell story is a long way from ending even if he wins his appeal. The high court has often backed trial juries in child abuse cases, and looms over the verdict of the Melbourne judges

G eorge Pell stands a good chance of winning his appeal next week. Not that that would be the end of the matter. Lately the Victorian court of appeal has overturned a number of jury verdicts in child abuse cases, only to see those verdicts restored by the high court. Child abuse cases are hard. The rules of evidence are complex. Witnesses are few. These assaults are inherently outlandish. Victims are frequently damaged. Often at stake is the ruin of old men who have never before been accused of crimes.

PAUP KARP. Coalition delayed religious freedom reform and 'exploited' fear, Labor senator says. Deborah ONeill points to mischievous misinformation about Labors position on religious issues

Labor senator Deborah ONeill has accused the Coalition of botching religious freedom reform while profiting from faith-based communities fears about Labor. With Coalition MPs calling for greater protection for religious freedom in the 46th parliament, Labor MPs are debating whether to embrace the idea as a means to reconnect with religious voters or reject it as a form of divisive identity politics.

GAIA VINCE. The consequences of 4 degree warming. Only radical measures will work (The Guardian)

Experts agree that global heating of 4C by 2100 is a real possibility. The effects of such a rise will be extreme and require a drastic shift in the way we live

IAN JOHNSON. Chinas Black Week-end (New York Review of Books, 27 June 2019)

The Last Secret: The Final Documents from the June Fourth Crackdown edited by Bao Pu Hong Kong: New Century Press, 362 pp., HK$158.00 When Chinese law professor Xu Zhangrun began publishing articles last year criticizing the governments turn toward a harsher variety of authoritarianism, it seemed inevitable that he would be swiftly silenced. Sure enough, Xu was suspended from his teaching duties at Tsinghua University and placed under investigation. But then, remarkably, dozens of prominent citizens began speaking up. Some signed a petition, others wrote essays and poems in Xus support, and one wrote a song:

RICHARD DENNISS. What's 'left' and 'right' in Australian politics today? The lines are shifting (The Guardian)

Remember when the right was accused of obsessing over market forces and the left of not understanding economics?

ELENIE POULOS. Winners and losers in the politics of religious freedom

There should be no winners and losers when it comes to the protection of human rights in Australia. The international human rights framework was developed as a language and a set of tools to help us do better at upholding the human dignity of every person, and especially those who are marginalised and excluded in society. But right now, we are seeing an emotionally charged and politicised campaign to declare a limited notion of religious freedom the human rights winner.

DANNY SJURSEN. Key US Allies in the Middle East Are the Real Tyrants (Truthout, 01.06.19)

American foreign policy can be so retro, not to mention absurd. Despite being bogged down in more military interventions than it can reasonably handle, the Trump team recently picked a new fight in Latin America. Thats right! Uncle Sam kicked off a sequel to the Cold War with some of our southern neighbors, while resuscitating the boogeyman of socialism. In the process, National Security Advisor John Bolton treated us all to a new phrase, no less laughable than Bush the youngers 2002 axis of evil (Iran, Iraq, and North Korea). He labeled Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua a troika of...

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