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

CHARLES M. BLOW. What Happens If ... (New York Times, 02.12.18)

I no longer think that anyone in America, including Donald Trumps most loyal supporters, can afford to put off the consideration of the central question of this administration: What if Donald Trump or those closest to him were compromised by the Russians or colluded with them?

LESLEY HUGHES. The Best of 2018: Cognitive Dissonance in the Big Dry.

Climate change is worsening the drought now affecting huge swathes of the continent, bringing gut-wrenching misery for farmers and the communities they support. And what have some of the parliamentary representatives of those regions been up to? They have been trying to convince the Japanese to invest in more coal-fired power generation in Australia.

ANNETTE GORDON-REED : What We Lost. Martin Luther King

Well, they killed King. The matter-of-fact statement hung in the air of the kitchen where a roomful of womenincluding my mother (I was the lone child)had gathered on that April day in 1968 to learn to make hot tamales for sale at church fund-raisers. Our herald, the adult son of the kitchens owner, delivered the news after pushing through the swinging door from the living room where the men had settled to watch television while we worked. His facedowncast eyes, furrowed brow, pursed lipsshowed the resignation of one who had long suspected this would happena painful but near-inevitable outcome. ...

SYLVAIN CYPEL. From Sans Culottes to Gilets Jaunes: Macron's Marie Antoinette moment.

In Soviet times, Russias Jews told a joke about a man named Rabinovitch who was distributing pamphlets in Red Square. In a matter of minutes, the KGB had found him and taken him to headquarters. Only there did the agents realize that the sheets of paper were completely blank. But theres nothing written here, one of them said. Rabinovitch said: They know quite well what I mean. For two months, the French government has been unable to make head or tail of the blank sheets of paper handed out by thegilets jaunes, or Yellow Vests, this decentralized, leaderless movement...

PETER RODGERS. Israel-Palestine - the fallacy of the two-state solution.

I posted the following on Pearls and Irritations mid-year. I have been involved in Middle Eastern affairs for more than 30 years and, like many others, have clung to the notion of two states like a life-line. Letting go is painful, it creates even greater uncertainty. But to suggest that there is the slightest chance of two states happening ignores the realities both of today and the past 70 years. For our Prime Minister to use the two-state solution as cover for his foolish and pointless decision on Jerusalem is nothing more than a cheap marketing trick.

TONY BOYD. 'Trump's evidence-free trade war', Australian Financial Review, 22 Dec 2018, p.56

Rarely has there been a more comprehensive dissection and damnation of a government policy founded on misinformation than economist Stephen Roach's analysis of President Donald Trump's trade war with China.Roach, who traded his job as chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia for faculty membership at Yale University in 2012, was masterful in his use of humour, satire, irony and hard facts to tear apart the arguments put by Trump and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to justify US protectionism.

KATHERINE FRANKE. The pro-Israel push to purge US campus critics.

There are signs that weve reached a tipping point in US public recognition of Israels suppression of the rights of Palestinians as a legitimate human rights concern. Increasingly,students on campuses across the countryare calling on their universities to divest from companies that do business in Israel. Newly elected members of Congress aresaying what was once unsayable: that perhaps the US should question its unqualified diplomatic and financial support for Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, and hold it to the same human rights scrutiny we apply to other nations around the globe. Global companiessuch as Airbnbhave recognized that...

GABRIELLE CHAN. Nationals face their biggest threat yet after an annus horribilis (The Guardian).

Traditional party of the bush wracked by personal scandals, leadership instability and a raft of new competitors on their turf.

TONY DOHERTY. Do we really know the Christmas Story?

In a year in which the Church we cherish has been shaken to the core, what has the Christmas story have to offer our understanding of faith?

LISA NANDY. Let the people take back control of Brexit.

With 100 days to go until the United Kingdom officially leaves the European Union, the British government is in crisis, political parties are riven by deep divisions and Parliament is gridlocked. Without something to break the deadlock, caused by politicians who hold such different views on Brexit that we are unable to agree on any of the options available, we will leave the EU with no deal at all on 29 March 2019, and the economic consequences will be severe.

TIM CAREY. Its despair, not depression, thats responsible for Indigenous suicide (The Conversation, 14.12.18)

Last year, 165 Indigenous Australians died as a result of suicide. Despite continued efforts to improve suicide prevention programs, there has been no no appreciable reduction in the suicide rate in ten years.

JOHN MENADUE. Seasons' greetings.

John and Susie wish you a peaceful Christmas and a meaningful new year. We do appreciate the help that we have received from contributors, readers and supporters. There will be no posts on 24, 25 and 26 December.

JAMES BUTTON. The ALP Federal Conference.

It looks like the times will suit Bill Shorten. Voters dont love him, yet in a year in which the feral rump of the Liberal Party hopelessly botched a coup that felled a Prime Minister but failed to install his self-anointed successor, by-election after by-election and poll after poll showed Shortens party poised to take power.

JOHN MENADUE. The Best of 2018: Scott Morrison did not stop the boats.

With the appointment of Scott Morrison as Prime Minister we will witness again the repetition of the myth that the Coalition and Operation Sovereign Borders stopped the boats. They did not. I expect that many in the media will also climb aboard again to continue the myth about the stopping of the boats. Perhaps being careless in the first place the media finds it embarrassing to admit error.

SATYAJIT DAS. Australia's flip-flop policies put off Asia. (Nikkei Asian Review 19.12.2018)

If the opinion polls are correct, Australia will have a new federal government around May 2019. A new prime minister will likely take charge, which would make seven in the past decade, compared to four in the previous 32 years. This instability has long prevented consistent domestic decision making. Now it is starting to change Australia's relationship with Asia.

COLIN HESELTINE. In a war against Huawei, we are the likely losers. (AFR 20.12.18)

Lets call a spade a spade. The efforts by western powers, Australia included, to cut Huawei out of major telecommunications projects such as 5G, where Huawei is arguably the worlds leader, are aimed at containment of China (of course, we dont officially call it this we call it push-back). Much has been reported recently about the so-called technology war between China and the west (Huawei: Australia fears the Canadian Club, AFR, 16 December 2018). Huawei is clearly at the centre of this battle. The recent arrest in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huaweis founder, is the latest...

CSIRO and BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY. Climate report 2018 shows continued warming of climate and oceans.

More frequent extreme heat events and marine heatwaves, an increase in extreme fire weather, and declining rainfall in the southeast and southwest of the continent are some of the key observations showing Australia's changing climate, as detailed in the latest State of the Climate report released today by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology.

BRAD CHILCOTT. Refugees and the ALP Conference.

On Monday night, late in the evening after Labors national conference had debated asylum seeker and refugee policy, I sat at a bar with a mix of refugee advocates, conference delegates like myself, people seeking asylum and refugees.

PETER RODGERS: Morrison and Jerusalem a special sort of dunce

We have to hand it to Scott Morrison. He has been at the heart of two major shifts in Australian political life. One made him Prime Minister, the other overturned a sensible long-standing approach on Jerusalem. Yet the new PM struggles to offer a coherent explanation how either development benefits Australia. His approach on Jerusalem exhibits a rare talent to combine the stupid with the pointless.

AMANDA MEADE. Positive finding on ABC and SBS a bitter pill for News Corp (The Guardian).

Rejection of competition complaints wasnt what the Australian was hoping for. Plus: Ray Hadley sees the light.

MICHELLE GRATTAN. Rudd says Murdoch media is a political party (The Conversation, 18.12.2018)

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has used an address to the Labor national conference to deliver a fresh swingeing attack on the Murdoch media, declaring it is not a news organisation, it is a political party.

PETER DAY. From Classical Christianity to Quantum Christianity.

Christmas time is both very predictable and inexhaustibly mysterious.

HAL PAWSON. Shorten places housing at the centre of the 2019 election

With his weekend announcement of a $6.6 billion affordable rental construction program, Bill Shorten has dramatically reinforced Labors emphasis on housing as central to the Partys 2019 election policy pitch. The initiative, Labors first significant housing investment pledge in four federal elections, aims to help qualifying low-to-moderate income earners increasingly squeezed out of urban housing markets. It builds on Chris Bowens vow, ahead of the last federal contest, to restrict landlord investor negative gearing tax handouts to those helping to expand supply through newly-built housing acquisition.

MARIANA MAZZUCATO. Can the STATE deliver?

Visitors to Australia are drawn to this countrys iconic coastline. After landing in Sydney early in the morning I went straight Bondis famous Icebergs ocean pool to do a few laps. It was spectacular. A gorgeous pool in the depths of the sea, a symbol that its not just infrastructure, but well-designed infrastructure that makes a difference: public value that public and private actors can create when they get the mix right. Icebergs is one of around 150 ocean baths in the state of New South Wales. Some are licenced to private operators, others are run by local government. If...

NILE BOWIE. 1MDB dragnet closes in on Najib, Goldman Sachs (Asian Times, 14.12.18)

Legal wheels are turning fast in Malaysia and US to jail the ex-premier and hold the American investment bank responsible for money laundering and fraud worth billions of dollars

TIM COSTELLO. World Vision Australia Chief Advocate on our ODA failing

On a recent trip to Stockholm, when Swedish politicians complained that aid had slipped from one per cent of Gross National Income to 0.8 per cent, I cringed with shame then changed the subject.

JOHN MENADUE. The Transition of Pearls & Irritations

To readers and supporters With good content and only word of mouth promotion we have over 6500 subscribers and about 5000 daily readers. There is steady growth.P and I helps set the agenda on important public issues.It will not come as a surprise to you that we are looking to migrate P & I to a safe home, either an individual(s) or an organisation that shares our values and beliefs. P & I doesn't attempt balance. It has a point of view.

Peter Drake- Vale FRANK HAMBLY AM.

Francis Sutherland Hambly, the doyen of university education in Australia, died in Canberra on 21 November 2018, aged 83. Frank served the universities as Director and Secretary of the Australian Vice-Chancellor's Committee (AVCC) from 1966 to 1996; indeed he personified the AVCC.

BILL EDEBOHLS. Advent Pulling no punches

Christians know that Advent is about preparing - getting ready - for the coming of Christ. Getting ready for his second coming at the end of time and also getting ready for the celebration of his birth at Christmas.

JEFFREY D. SACHS. The War on Huawei (Project Syndicate, 11.12.18)

The Trump administration's conflict with China has little to do with US external imbalances, closed Chinese markets, or even Chinas alleged theft of intellectual property. It has everything to do with containing China by limiting its access to foreign markets, advanced technologies, global banking services, and perhaps even US universities.

JOHN MENADUE. Fake news, spin and media complicity on border protection and boat arrivals.

In his desperate political situation, Scott Morrison last week became even more shrill in telling us Bill Shorten is a clear and present threat to Australian security and Ill fight them [the ALP] using whatever tools or tactics I have available to me to ensure that we do not weaken border protection laws. His tools and tactics are designed to appeal to fear and are based on deception and misrepresentation. The Coalition sees boat arrivals or the threat of boat arrivals as a means to advance its political interests. It is as sordid as that. As a...

LYNDSAY CONNORS, JIM McMORROW. Gonski Will Still Feature on the Federal Election Menu.

Labor and the Coalition both appear to be poised to go to next years federal election brandishing their contrasting versions of Gonski. Key features of the original 2011 Gonski model for funding the nations schools generated broad consensus. Given that it relates to an issue that has been persistently fraught in Australian politics, this should not be dismissed lightly.

JACOB GREBER. Why Former Australian Leader Believes China is About to Outflank Trump on Trade (CAIXIN GLOBAL/AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW)

(AFR) China could be preparing to spring a global compact to drive tariffs to zero, and approach Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) members including Australia for access to the grouping, positioning Beijing as a champion for free trade. Thats the view of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who believes Chinas President Xi Jinping may even use next months World Economic Forum summit in Switzerland to launch across-the-board liberalization that would take the world by storm. That indeed could represent a serious new challenge to American leadership, Rudd warned in a speech in New York on Wednesday

PATTY FAWKNER. Honouring the stranger-guest-host relationship (The Good Oil).

Something insidious is happening throughout our world that is threatening the intrinsic human nexus between stranger, guest and host, writes Sister Patty Fawkner.

JOHN MENADUE. A way out of the politicking on refugees- A repost from 20 August 2018

We can be proud of what we have done for refugees in the past but like many others I am ashamed that we have now had a succession of 'leaders' who have appealed to our most selfish instincts. When I feel discouraged about our national failure, I am reminded of Graham Greenes challenge that the only unforgivable sin is despair.

JOHN MENADUE. Newcastle Port - another botched privatisation -A repost from 5 September 2016

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has taken legal action over the terms on which the NSW Coalition Government in 2013 privatised Port Botany and Port Kembla and imposed severe restrictions on Newcastle Port. Our mainstream media has shown scant interest in this episode of 'crony capitalism' which lessened competition, disadvantaged the Hunter region and put more trucks on our roads. It was done to boost the sale price of Port Botany and Port Kembla so the Coalition could claim a successful privatisation. The public interest was ignored. Over two years ago John Austen, in P & I,...

CHRIS BROOKS. Swept Up in Frances Yellow Vest Protests (Truthout).

Ive never been tear gassed before. The smell is similar to fireworks and the effect is explosiveand effective. I immediately wanted to get as far away as I could from the noxious source of burning eyes and throat.

PAUL DALEY. The moment that forever changed my perspective on Anzac mythology (The Guardian).

The Surafend massacre shows that the core business of good history must always be the preservation of memory.

SAMANTHA MAIDEN. Tanya Plibersek backs Shortens boat turn-back policy in major backflip (The New Daily, 11.12.18)

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has backed boat turn backs but pledged a Shorten governmentwould get people off Manus and Nauru and boost Australias refugee intake.

JENNIFER RANKIN. Group led by Thomas Piketty presents plan for a fairer Europe (The Guardian 10.12.18)

A group of progressive Europeans led by the economist and author Thomas Piketty has drawn up a bold new blueprint for a fairer Europe to address the division, disenchantment, inequality and rightwing populism sweeping the continent.

CECILIA MERRIGAN.Is That an Advent Wreath?

An Advent tale about a small father-less family from South West Africa that has been granted asylum in Australia. This is their first Advent in a new country.

HELEN DAVIDSON. Gareth Evans and Bob Carr join call for Labor to increase Australia's foreign aid. (The Guardian 7.12.2018)

Former ministers want partys national conference to commit to target of 0.7% of gross national income.

HAMISH MCDONALD. Christian Missionaries and Their Mistaken Message from God (AsianSentinel, 05.12.18)

As fans of the old The Phantom comic strip will recall, an island in the Bay of Bengal is the location of the Skull Cave, home base of The Ghost Who Walks, established by an ancestor washed ashore in a half-drowned state after an attack by Singh pirates and nurtured back to life by the islands devoted natives.

CHRIS BURGESS. Genuine immigration reform still alien to Japan.

On 14 October 2018, a number of marches were held across Japan to mark what the organiser the Japan First Party labelled anti-migrant day. The target of the protestors wrath was the governments proposal to revise the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act to introduce two new types of residence status for foreign workers in industries currently undergoing labour shortages.

RICHARD ECKERSLEY. The demise of the official future

Americans are more likely to think the US is heading in the right direction since Donald Trumps election. Why?

JOHN ELDER. Coulda been a contender: Why Tony Abbott keeps on punching (The New Daily).

Two significant events happened this weekend: Boxer Anthony Mundine was knocked out in 96 seconds by Jeff Horn, ending a career that was never wholly satisfying for the man or his followers. Meanwhile, Tony Abbott put his gloves up once more, telling The Australiannewspaper on Saturday that hes ready and able to join the front bench, perhaps even to be prime minister again.

JORGE HEINE. The BRICS, their bank and beyond (India Inc.)

A strategic expert traces the origins of what brought Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together and what the future holds for these emerging economies of the world.

BEVAN RAMSDEN. Caught in the middle of US-China contention, Australia sides with the US in their efforts to contain and keep China out of the Western Pacific.

Australia is currently facing a major change in strategic circumstances and the argument for pursuing a truly independent foreign policy, for the economic benefit and security of the Australian people, has never been so great.

EAST ASIA FORUM-Preparing for the Next US Recession

One thing was clear from this weekends G20 summit. Asia and the world face many risks, and most of them emanate from the United States of America.

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