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

JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for? Values and principles. Part 3 of 3.

In Part 2 I focussed on particular issues the ALP faces. In this part I will focus on the way that Labor policies and programs need to be grounded in values and principles.

SR MONICA CAVANAGH RSJ. Letter to PM Scott Morrison from CRA President Catholic Religious Australia

Josephite Sister Monica Cavanagh writes on behalf of the members of Australian Religious Institutes to the newly elected Prime Minister, Mr Scott Morrison. He is reminded of his moral and legal obligation to all the people of Australia and to abide by the treaties, conventions and other international agreements Australia has ratified.

NATHAN GARDELS. The Digital Curtain Descends (The World Post)

While Chinas last few decades of opening up and reform welcomed foreign investment and the global integration of supply chains for manufacturing and export, it followed an import substitution strategy in the digital realm. This kept out the likes of Google and Facebook and cleared the way for indigenous giants such as Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent to capture the worlds largest wired consumer market. Chinas authorities were the first to invoke Internet sovereignty and build the Great Firewall of censorship.

REG LITTLE: Confucian thought: pervasive, unstoppable but largely invisible

China is taking over the world is a cry not uncommonly heard these days. Reasons expressed for this takeover are often Chinese wealth and the many Chinese spreading their influence across the globe, and the uncertainty of the US and Europes futures. While these are reasons on one level, they fail to capture the fact that thought cultures of the Chinese and the West are fundamentally different, and this is driving the shift in global dynamics.

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. No child in poverty

At the risk of repetition I must put the record straight on By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty, Bob Hawkes promise made in Labors policy speech in 1987.

JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for? Some key issues. Part 2 of 3.

At the same time as addressing overarching Labor principles that could guide Labor policies and programs that I will return to in Part 3, there are five immediate issues which must be given priority.

PETER DRYSDALE. Getting the AustraliaChina relationship right (East Asia Forum)

Theres no more important issue for Australia at this time in the history of its international economic and foreign affairs than to get the relationship with China right. Its an issue that went through to the keeper during the election. But for the new Morrison government, forging a viable, credible strategy in its dealings with China will be a priority that plays into all its foreign relations strategies, prominently also with the United States.

SANDI KEANE. The bank cat is out of the bag.

The cat is out of the bag. Bank shares have shot up since the surprise election result as new investors pile onto the great franking credits bandwagon.

TIM BUCKLEY. The Global Energy Transformation is Well Underway

Improved technology and economies of scale are driving rapidly falling costs of renewable energy. As a result financial institutions and energy corporates are fleeing coal and coal facilities are becoming stranded assets. Government policies in China and India and other Asian nations are reinforcing this trend. Australia must prepare for the inevitable technology driven disruption.

JOAN STAPLES. Hawkes environmental legacy - a personal reflection.

There has been much written on Bob Hawkes legacy following his death. None has fully celebrated his monumental environmental record nor touched on his unique relationship with the environment movement.

MILES LITTLE. Democracy?

'We have two Australias': Election results show a growing divide within the nation. So read a headline in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, May 25th, to an article by Matt Wade.

JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for as the blue collar base declines? Part 1of 3.

A concern expressed to me by many voters was that the recent ALP campaign lacked an over-riding narrative or framework and that, being very detailed, it was vulnerable to lies and scare tactics. There were many attractive big-ticket policies but was there a vision of where Labor wanted to take Australia?

ROBERT FISK. The Evidence we were never meant to see about the Douma Gas Attack. (Counterpunch, 27 May 2019)

We like to take the Big Boys on trust. No longer do we believe in our meretricious little leaders with their easy lies and twitters: the Trumps and Mays and now all the nationalists of Europe. We certainly dont put any credit in Arab dictators.

STEPHEN ROACH. What comes next in the USChina trade war? (East Asia Forum)

The escalation of tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China is now in the danger zone. Surely, reason will ultimately prevail. At least that is the common refrain in the echo chamber, especially in light of the dark history of earlier trade wars.

MIKE KELLY. A smile.

A man may smile, and smile, and be a villain. - Shakespeare, Hamlet

TED EGAN. Semantics.

Any person who can establish genetic link to Australia in 1787 may be acknowledged, honoured and respected, by official recognition as a First Australian.

CHRIS WALLACE. How might Labor win in 2022? The answers can all be found in the lessons of2019. (The Conversation 27.5.2019)

The high tide of analysis concerning the Australian Labor Partys shock 2019 federal election loss has been reached. It looks like so much flotsam and jetsam with the odd big log leadership popularity, Queensland prominent among the debris. Sorting through it, making sense of it, and weighting the factors driving the result really matters. It matters because decisions influencing the outcome of the next federal election will flow from it. The learners error is to grasp onto a couple of factors without considering the full suite, weighting them and seeing the connections between them. What does...

DAVID MACILWAIN. Of Miracles, Mice and Men.

Following the disastrous failure to change the Australian government to one offering effective action on climate change, I take a scientific and personal look at just what lies ahead.

BILL MOYERS. Telling the truth. What if we covered the climate crisis like we did the start of the second world war? (The Guardian 22 May 2019)

In the war, the purpose of journalism was to awaken the world to the catastrophe looming ahead of it. We must approach our climate crisis the same way.

ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT. Revolution in Poland as nation confronts priestly abuse.

Poland thought it had started confronting the problem of clerical abuse and its cover-up by church authorities. Then a bombshell came: A documentary with victim testimony so harrowing it has forced an unprecedented reckoning with pedophile priests in one of Europe's most deeply Catholic societies.

JEFF WATERS. Authenticity sells - Albanese would be foolish to overlook Kearney.

A leader devoid of what the public regards as authenticity appears to have cost Labor the election. Anthony Albanese should keep this in mind when appointing his shadow cabinet and should look no further than one of his most prominent and altogether successful backbenchers - the former ACTU President, Ged Kearney.

PHILIP ALMOND. Five aspects of Pentecostalism that shed light on Scott Morrisons politics

Prime Minister Scott Morrison began his victory speech on Saturday with the words, I have always believed in miracles. This was no mere hyperbole. Morrison appeared to be declaring his belief that God had actively intervened in the political process to bring about his re-election.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN AUSTRALIA. May 21, 2019 Media release on Manus and Nauru asylum seekers.

Marking this time of new beginning, we urge the newly elected Federal Government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison to resolve the plight of the 1000+ refugees in Manus and Nauru, some of whom are now in Australia. Let them settle here.

JONATHAN LUXMOORE. 'No words to express our shame': Polish bishops apologize for abuse

The Polish bishops' administrative council met in emergency session May 22 and later admitted the church failed to act against clerical sexual abuse. The meeting came amid outrage over a two-hour documentary, Just Don't Tell Anyone, that included drastic accounts of cover-up of clerical sex abuse in Poland. The film had more than 19 million views within six days of its May 11 YouTube posting.

JOHN MENADUE. Spare us the details!

In the last election campaign I agreed with almost all of the ALP program, but clearly not enough of the public did. There was just too much to explain and communicate. The ALP did not succeed in telling it's story or a narrative as it is often called. As a result the program was prone to exaggeration and exploitation by the Coalition , predatory vested interests like the property spivs and many in the media who did not ask hard questions of the Government with its policy vacuum. With that policy vacuum Scott Morrison set about to scare the electorate...

MARIAN SAWER. After Clive Palmers $60 million campaign, limits on political advertising are more important than ever (The Conversation)

Can billionaires buy elections in Australia? In the 2019 election, Clive Palmer demonstrated they can certainly flood the print media, airwaves, social media and billboards with advertising and have an impact on the results through their preferences and negative advertising.

SCOTT BURCHILL: Class and the onus of proof after the 2019 election

If he had been voted in as prime minister on 18 May 2019, Bill Shorten proposed to pay for increased government spending with a crackdown on franking credits, future limitations on negatively geared property assets (that were grandfathered) and new measures to limit multinational company tax avoidance. Amongst other significant campaign shortcomings, Shorten failed to convince Australian about the fairness of these polices.

MARILYN HATTON. Will the Australian Catholic Church face "the elephant in the room"?

Australia could lead the way on reform of Church governance. The scrutiny of the Royal Commission and work arising from the 2020 Plenary Council has equipped the Australian Catholic Church like no other in the world at this time.

JOAN CHITTESTER St Benedicts Rule offers fresh insight into age-old problem

A new series written by Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister OSB is exploring the question of institutional breakdown through the Rule of St Benedict.

TRACEY WEST. 3 lessons from behavioural economics Bill Shortens Labor Party forgot about (The Conversation)

The Australian Labor Partys 2019 election campaign showed a depth and breadth of economic policies rare for an opposition party to present. Its policy agenda was boldly extensive. But in developing these policies over the past five years, it seems Labors economic minds overlooked some fundamental principles of behavioural economics.

PAUL BARRY. With pollsters and pundits getting the election result so wrong, how fair and balanced was Australias media this election? (Media Watch ABC 20.5.2019)

So how did the Coalition make it happen? And what effect if any did a partisan media have on the result?News Corps army of right-wing commentators barracked tirelessly for the Coalition throughout the campaign, warning the nation would be destroyed if Labor won.News Corps news, meanwhile meant to be opinion free was often as one-sided. (ABC Transcript)

MILES LITTLE - Israel Folau. Free speech and its limits?

The skilled and charismatic Rugby player Israel Folau has caused a stir at many levels by posting the unambiguous message that certain categories of sinner will go to Hell. His attitudes to gay people have surfaced before and since, but this time the response has been sharp and censorious at official levels. His contract with Rugby Australia has been cancelled. Why were such strong responses provoked in a supposedly pluralist society?

BERNARD MOYLAN A bold but courageous platform.

I have been wondering why last weekend's election result has affected me so deeply. I suppose that the many polls led me to think that the Coalition Government had been so discredited after three prime ministers in six years , constant internal bickering , inaction over energy policy and climate change and an almost policy-free agenda , save for tax cuts directed mainly towards the rich, that a Labor victory was an almost lay down misere. Labor had been working on its own visionary agenda for the future over the past six years and had deliberately put it out early...

NEIL IRWIN. Australia and the US are old allies. China's rise changes the equation. (New York Times 11.5.2019)

Economic geography is proving more significant than historical alliances.

CHARLOTTE PALMER. Is the Australian War Memorial a place of healing?

Dr Brendan Nelson, director of the Australian War Memorial, has defended the expansion of the Memorialas a way to provide a therapeutic milieu for veterans and their families. Critics say the obscenely large amount of $498 million is needed, not for a big expansion, but to address the unmet needs of veterans mental health.

NICK HALLETT. Christian persecution near genocide levels

The worldwide persecution of Christians is at near genocide level, a report for the British government has said. The review, led by the Anglican Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, said Christianity is set to be wiped out from parts of the Middle East as people are killed or forced to flee.

WALEED ALY. Australia Isnt Right-Wing. Its Cautious. (New York Times 21.5.2019)

Ahead of Australias general election on Saturday, one party had campaigned on the idea that politics and the economy were rigged in favor of the elites. It attacked its opponent relentlessly for siding with the top end of town. It insisted that things needed to be shaken up to stop serving multinational corporations and vested interests. That party lost.

BRIAN HOWE. Vale Bob Hawke

It was my great honour to serve as a cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister under R J Hawke. He was a courageous, compassionateand disciplined leader who had thegreatpoliticalgift of wanting to be engaged with people, and for Bob, it was always a two-way conversation.

NATHAN GARDELS. "Huawei to Hell"recalls Toshiba threat. (The World Post 11.5.2019)

The US was able to coerce Japan on trade, but China will be much harder to coerce.

JOHN FITZGERALD. Reply to Bob Carr

Writing on this blog on 13 May, Bob Carr took me to task for not saying and not writing a good many things, particularly about Chinese Australians. This debating technique is new to me. As a rule, debaters rebut what people do say, not what they dont. So let me say this.

JOHN MENADUE. Negativity and a policy vacuum win the day.

On Saturday, the quiet Australians that Scott Morrison spoke of so fondly voted for self-interest and in fear of change. All the democracies are suffering from a disgruntled working class that wants to blame outsiders and has thrown in its lot with the extreme Right . That is why they chose Brexit and Trump and now Morrison without thinking through the dire consequences.

JOHN MENADUE. Housing for use value or exchange value

In this election the Coalition and the property industry with the help of the media have obsessed on the financial value of property,property as a commodity and property for wealth creation. Surely housing policy should be about housing as a human right where in homes we raise families, entertain friends and where we can close off from markets and business. My grand children's generation is unlikely to have fair access to the housing market unless my generation is prepared to accept, indeed welcome, a steady and substantial reduction in property prices.My wife and I have done nothing to earn...

KOBI MAGLEN. Improving the outcomes for older women at risk of homelessness

Older single women are the fastest growing cohort of people experiencing homelessness in Australia, though their plight remains for various reasons invisible to many. Designing solutions to this problem involves first understanding the root causes of the problem, including structural gender inequality, and then identifying the drivers of better outomes for such women. Not least amongst these is the need for more social and affordable housing, appropriate to their needs.

MARK SWIVEL. To be without a home. Like a complete unknown. Just like a rolling stone. - Bob Dylan.

Having a home one of the most basic human needs. We talk about housing or shelter as a human right - as we should. But that is not what we want. Not just the bricks and mortar but the sense of place and belonging. Its why homeless people gather. Sure theres safety in numbers when sleeping rough but we need each other and want to be together with others.

TANYA PLIBERSEK. Education in an election year

As we approach the election, Im thinking carefully about how a Shorten Labor Government will be remembered for our reform of education. It feels like every week, I meet someone in their 60s or 70s who reminds me about how Gough Whitlam was responsible for them going to university. Im struck by the way they passionately talk about this even after so many decades. They tell me how the opportunity of a university education transformed not just their life, but the course of their familys life.

ANNIKA DEAN. We cannot afford inaction on climate change

There has been a lot of recent speculation in the media about the economic costs of each partys climate policies. But so far, there has been little talk of the costs of inaction.

BRENDAN COATES AND JOHN DALEY. Someone has to lose for first homebuyers to win: This is who it should be. (ABC 14.5.2109)

The one thing that would actually help home buyers the most: letting housing prices fall.

ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ. Election 2019: finally, the beginning of the end of White Australia?

Somewhere along the road to May 18, the Australian media discovered multicultural Australia, and began to sense its import and influence. Journalists who could speak Putonghua or track threads through WeChat, or tap away on one of the many desi social media, suddenly found they were in demand. Names never before seen on by-lines suddenly were paired with the old guard Euro-Australian reporters.

MICHAEL MAZENGARB. Global fossil fuel subsidies reach $5.2 trillion, and $29 billion in Australia (Renew Economy)

New analysis commissioned by the International Monetary Fund has shown that global fossil fuel subsidies continue to grow, despite the growing urgency of the need to decarbonise the global economy.

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