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

GRAEME STEWART. Growing inequality in access to health care is curable.

It has been sad to observe the growth in out-of-pocket expenses for patients seeking expert medical consultation and the resultant rising inequality in access to timely care and in health outcomes (Specialists charging extreme fees, March 6. These twin inequities are deeply felt in western Sydney.

VINCENT BEVINS. Jair Bolsonaro, Brazils Would-be Dictator.

For most of his twenty-seven-year career in national politics, Jair Bolsonaro has been a fringe figure on the far right of Brazilian politics, hopping among nine different political parties and yelling his support for Brazils bygone military dictatorship into empty congressional chambers. All that has changed. Last weekend, the former army captain won over 46 percent of the vote in Brazils presidential raceclose to an outright win in the first round. He goes forward to the run-off election on October 28 as the clear favorite.

DOROTHY HORSFIELD. The St Petersburg International Economic Forum. A New World Order?

One of the most interesting aspects of this years St Petersburg International Economic Forum wasthe way it undermined commonplaces about a post-Soviet Russia with an economy is on the skids asa result of sanctions, international vilification, and its overdependence on energy sector revenues.How plausible were the Forums optimistic evocation of a new world economic order, shaped bya Fourth Industrial Revolution, in which Russia can play an integral role?

RICHARD ECKERSLY. Getting to the heart of democracys decline.

The crisis in democracy is much discussed these days, but almost entirely in political terms that ignore its deeper causes. In this sense, the mainstream news media can be considered enemies of the people, peddling fake news.

GREG JERICHO. Australia's climate idiocracy must end and there's no time to waste.

The Liberal partys biggest con was the idea that reducing emissions could be done without pain and at little cost.

CATHERINE STUBBERFIELD. UNHCR urges Australia to evacuate off-shore facilities as health situation deteriorates.

The followingis a transcript of the remarks by Spokesperson for the UNHCR Regional Representation inCanberra, Catherine Stubberfield at today's press briefing(12 October 2018) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

LOGAN PAULEY. China stakes out a role for itself in post-war Syria.

As Syria's civil war winds down, China is looking to establish itself as an economic, and possibly military, partner for the post-war period.

A welcome statement on Australian relations with China by Prime Minister Morrison

At a Chinese community luncheon event at Hurstville on 4 October 2018, Prime Minister Morrison spelt out clearly the importance of a mutual beneficial relationship between Australia and China. This speech received wide coverage in the Chinese media in Australia, but minimal coverage in our mainstream English language media. This was very strange. A group of former Australian diplomats and those closely involved in our relations with China decided that we should publicly record and support Prime Minister Morrisons statement. See below. (John Menadue)

ALAN FINKEL. The science is clear: we have to start creating our low-carbon future today.

This weeks release of the special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has put scientific evidence on the front page of the worlds newspapers.

IPCC -The various risks from global warming.

This a graph from the new IPCC report that the Coalition tried to sabotage. The below graph depicts a range of impacts to a variety of systems of different global temperature outcomes, from white (undetectable) to yellow (detectable) to red (severe impacts) to purple (severe and irreversible impacts with little adaptability): It suggests we should book that trip to the Great Barrier Reef soon.

MARGARET O'CONNOR. Changing the culture of the church.

What is the good of drawing up, on paper, rules for good behaviour, if we know that, in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean for a moment that we ought not to think, and think hard, about improvements to our social and economic system. What I do mean is that all the thinking will be mere moonshine unless we realise that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make any system work properly. It is easy enough to remove the particular...

JOHN MENADUE Vale John Deeble - an architect of Medicare

Every Australian owes a great debt to John Deeble who died this week in Canberra, aged 87. Together with Dick Scotton he provided Gough Whitlam from 1967 onwards with the essential advice on how to establish a compulsory public insurance health program Medicare. The result was Gough Whitlams triumph in government on 7 August 1974, in a joint sitting of the parliament, to establish Medicare. The scheme started on 1 July 1975 when Medicare cards were issued to all Australians. We now have one of the best health schemes in the world, although it clearly needs renovation. Without...

SARAH ANN WHEELER, CLINE NAUGES. Farmers climate denial begins to wane as reality bites.

Australia has been described as the front line of the battle for climate change adaptation, and our farmers are the ones who have to lead the charge. Farmers will have to cope, among other pressures, with longer droughts, more erratic rainfall, higher temperatures, and changes to the timing of seasons.

JOHN INVERARITY. Do we have a higher priority as a society than the raising our children: We must end alcohol advertising in sport.

As responsible adults we need to do all we can to ensure that our young are provided with the best opportunities to live purposeful, fulfilling lives and are encouraged to partake of these opportunities.We need to strive to provide them with an optimum set of values and attitudes, and an environment in which they will make lifestyle choices that will enhance their physical, mental and social wellbeing.There is the question of alcohol and its place in our society.

PERCY ALLAN. Process, not Policy is where Left/Right can Agree.

The End of Hegemony The battle between Left and Right is intensifying. Major parties thinks they will win this contest at the ballot box.

PETER RYAN. 'Big four' accounting firms should face banking royal commission to prove independence, former ASIC investigator says.

A former forensic investigator at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has called for the major accounting firms hired to audit and approve sensitive company reports to be brought before the financial services royal commission to prove their independence.

CHENGXIN PAN. Pence on China: reviving a neo-conservative Dream (Lowy Institute, 08.10.18)

Ever wonderedwho is now the culprit for many of the woes of the United States? Then look no further thana major speechdelivered by US Vice President Mike Pence last week.

JIM COOMBS: Whats good for General Bullmoose.... The Everest Affair and the Banking Royal Commission show the highly limited (I am attracted by the old term purblind)thinking which is driving the nation.

Prime Minister Morrison, for such, alas, he is, sees the Opera House as a billboard for promoting whoever can pay for it. Thats BUSINESS, isnt it ? Anything that turns a quid is, for them, Business, and thats good enough. Indeed this government seems to think its job is done if it looks after business, and devil take the hindmost. And then sell off government functions so that some entrepreneur (French for middleman) can squeeze a profit out of the citizens. The sale of NSW Land Titles Office ( which one would think was a key function of government :...

JOHN HANNON. Complexities of Catholic marriage.

As Brendan Byrne SJ, scripture scholar, comments on todays Gospel( 7 October 2018): Any pastor would be aware that no Sunday Gospel read throughout the year will require more careful handling than this one To simply read out the rulings of Jesus in the Gospel without comment or nuance would be to turn Gospel into Law, and simply add to a burden of guilt that may already be oppressive So, here goes, for my take!

JOHN MENADUE. Immigration is not the problem in NSW- it is Premier Berejiklian infrastructure mess

Premier Gladys Berejiklian wants to halve Australias immigration intake. It is a diversionary tactic to disguise her infrastructure policy failures. Road and rail policies are in melt down Immigration does present challenges but it is Australias great success story. Some of the problems that immigration faces are the result of policy failure in other areas like housing and particularly transport.

TONY COADY. The Synod, the Celibacy Rule, the Wider Problem of Radical Change in the Catholic Church

The current meeting of the worlds Synod of Catholic Bishops in Rome to discuss Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment will clearly have an eye to the vast decline in vocations to the priesthood, particularly in the Western world. Its deliberations come shortly after the recent appeal by the Australian National Council of Priests (ANCP) for Pope Francis to call an end to compulsory priestly celibacy.

ALISON ELLIOTT. Making the preschool promise a reality

The recently announced promise of preschool education funding for 3 year olds has the potential to improve developmental and education outcomes for young children, but with chronic teacher shortages in early learning centres, delivering new preschool programs will be a major challenge.

DENISE FISHER. New Caledonias independence referendum

On 4 November, indigenous and some other longstanding New Caledonian residents will vote on the question Do you want New Caledonia to accede to full sovereignty and become independent? The referendum process will re-shape the role of France in the South Pacific at a time of geostrategic change, and yet is passing relatively unmarked in our media and our region.

KATE MALTBY. What to Expect When a Woman Accuses a Man in Power.

Last week, the world gazed on as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified against a man backed by the strongest political forces in America. I couldnt watch.

WILLIAM PESEK. Great Depression ahead? IMF sounds dire warning.

Massive government debts and eroded fiscal buffers since 2008 suggest global dominos await a single market crash.

USHA M RODRIGUES. New research shows how Australias newsrooms are failing minority communities.

Australians from culturally diverse backgrounds often feel frustrated about media coverage of news events and issues that portray them in a negative light. A new study analysing media coverage of issues related to multicultural Australia found that more than a third of stories reflected a negative view of minority communities.

ADAM MORTON. In a canter? Climate experts say Australia will not meet emissions targets. (Guardian 11.10.2108)

Guardian Australia spoke to 12 economists and scientists almost all reject governments claim to be on track. Leading climate researchers have overwhelmingly rejected the federal governments claim it is on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions as promised under the 2015 Paris agreement.

JOHN MENADUE. Ignore the planet and our grand children at our peril.

The government has thrown in its lot with climate sceptics, the loony right which includes the Murdoch media and the coal miners. We have a government with no policy on climate change at all. The responses by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers for the Environment and Energy to the latest IPCC report are a disgrace.

MARK BUTLER. There is only one energy future: firmed renewables. (AFR 10.10.2018)

Australia is in the deep throes of the most severe energy crisis in living memory. Power and gas prices have skyrocketed in recent years and are continuing to go up in spite of claims from the Liberal government that they have solved the energy crisis and prices are coming down.

SCOTT MORRISON. Speech at Chinese-Australian Community Event

This speech by Scott Morrison on 4 October 2018 does not seem to have been run anywhere in the mainstream media. It is the most constructive statement from the government in a long time. Interestingly, the speech was posted on the Australian Embassy website in Beijing six days ago! (John Menadue)

SUSAN CHENERY. The Scribe: portrait of Freudenberg, author of the speech that changed Australia (The Guardian 9.10.2018)

Legendary Labor speechwriter Graham Freudenberg was at the centre of power for more than 40 years. A new film sheds light on the man who wrote the script.

ANDREW TILLETT. Deputy PM Michael McCormack shelves inquiry into road pricing

A raft of economists have called for a road-user charge, including former Treasury Secretary, Ken Henry, in his tax review, and former Productivity Chair, Peter Harris. [We continue to waste billions of dollars on more and more roads, but refuse to face the political hot potato of road congestion charges. John Menadue]

MAX HASTINGS. Smoke and Mirrors (New York Review of Books, 27 September, 2018)

The United States spends more than $70 billion a year on the gathering and assessment of information about its enemiesand friends. Other nations lavish proportionate amounts, which can only increase now that cyberwarfare and information games have become inextricably entangled with intelligence and counterterrorism. China is estimated to employ some two million people on electronic data collection and surveillance, much of this directed at its own people.

ROGER COHEN. Confirmed: an insidious presidency (the New York Times)

Trump believes that judges should be agents of those who appoint them. That would be the end of the rule of law.

PAUL BONGIORNO. Political climate uncomfortably hot for Scott Morrison (New Daily 9.10.2018)

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison found himself in a very awkward spot on the day the worlds most authoritative climate science body released its latest report.

STEPHEN COSTELLO. Who controls US policy on the Korean peninsula? (East Asia Forum, 5 October 2018)

Much has been made of the theatrical stand-off between North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. But most signs show that the two could quickly reach a deal on how to move forward with DPRK denuclearisation and economic development. The real tension is between Trump, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on one side, and White House figures, department secretaries and the US Congress on the other.

JANE PERLEZ. Pences China Speech Seen as Portent of a New Cold War (New York Times, 05.10.18)

BEIJING Vice President Mike Pences accusations in a stinging speech Thursday warning of a tougher approach toward Beijing may have been familiar to Chinas leaders. But until now, such remarks were delivered in private, in fairly decorous terms, and rarely threatened direct action. In Australia,another important ally, the government has been saying many of the same things as Mr. Pence,though in more muted tones. In some ways,Australia has been viewed in Washington as a test case of what China could get away with in a country with a strong economy and Western values The American and Australian intelligence agencies...

WAYNE MCMILLAN. Insecure work by another name

The NSW Business Chamber and the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) are leading the charge on behalf of employer business interests. Its obvious that both their main concerns are to create a new class of insecure workers that can be dismissed at the whim of employers under the guise of better pay. Flexibility without security will only create a new underclass of workers who will be disadvantaged.

CHRISTOPHER BROWNING. The Suffocation of Democracy (New York Review of Books, 25.10.18)

As a historian specializing in the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and Europe in the era of the world wars, I have been repeatedly asked about the degree to which the current situation in the United States resembles the interwar period and the rise of fascism in Europe. I would note several troubling similarities and one important but equally troubling difference.

SALVATORE BABONES. Australia -the world's first immigration economy.

Australia's economy is addicted to immigration, requiring ever-increasing infusions of new people to stave off an inevitable collapse.

JOHN MENADUE. The failings of our corporate sector- and not just the banks and insurance companies.

Our politicians are rightly receiving a hammering for their failures . We really do need to restore public trust in our political system. I have suggested a national summit after the next election on democratic renewal, different in subject but similar to the economic summit that Bob Hawke called in 1983. But to restore public trust our business sector must also clean up its act . There are too many second rate business executives doing a third rate job. They should 'stick to their knitting' instead of running to the government for help or blaming the trade unions. ...

PETER RYAN. 'Big four' accounting firms should face banking royal commission to prove independence, former ASIC investigator says (ABC News)

A former forensic investigator at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has called for the major accounting firms hired to audit and approve sensitive company reports to be brought before the financial services royal commission to prove their independence.

RON GARDINER. Brisbane City Councils Metro Madness

To address busway-congestion problems in central Brisbane, City Council plans tointroduce, in 2023, a newand distinctive form ofpublic transport. Priced at approximately $1 billion, the project has the inappropriate name Brisbane Metro (common definition: a railway system, usually underground). Three aspects of Brisbane Metro are cause for urgent concern choice of vehicle, proposed river-crossing route, and pervasive use of deception in promoting the project. The first two stem directly from Councils aborted 2016 light rail project.

MICK PALMER. The drug trade has just kept getting bigger,more dangerous and more prosperous.

The facts are clear. For over half a century our governments have relied heavily on law enforcement to curb the drug trade and reduce drug use. However, despite huge funding, ever increasing levels of police effectiveness and genuine effort, and the imposition of very lengthy prison terms for serious drug offences, the drug trade has just kept getting bigger, more dangerous and more prosperous.The simple over-riding fact is that, with the best intentions in the world, as former Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said when head of then PM Tony Abbotts Ice Task Force, we cannot arrest and imprison our way...

TIM COSTELLO. The Alan Jones-Opera House row proves Sydney is in thrall to the gambling industry (the Guardian, 07.10.18)

Is this the tipping point? Will we one day look back and thank Alan Jones for drawing attention to the disgrace that is Sydneys capture by the gambling industry with his nasty hectoring of Opera House CEO Louise Herron?

JONATHAN PAGE. How Buddhism helped this cancer doctor care for his dying patients (ABC Science interview)

Medical oncologist Jonathan Page says being more in the moment helps him to be a better doctor. His relationships with his patients were once characterised by coldness.... and a lack of grieving. But a mental health crisis that led him to Buddhist meditation helped change that.

SAM BATEMAN. Understanding American Freedom of Navigation Operation(FONOP) in the South China Sea

The recent encounter between American and Chinese warships in the South China Sea could be the fore-runner of more serious incidents unless both parties show more restraint.

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. 80 years after Munich.

The 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement passed without significant comment, although it was a pivotal event of the 20h Century. Perhaps its time for me to commit the ultimate political incorrectness and confess that I am a Municheer. I mean that if I had been there instead of a four year old in Brisbane, I would have cheered to the echo in the House of Commons as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that Hitler had invited him for the fateful meeting in Munich on 27-28 September 1938. When Chamberlain brought home the Munich Agreement which ceded the Sudentenland from...

GRAHAM ALLISON. The Myth of the Liberal Order: From Historical Accident to Conventional Wisdom.

Among the debates that have swept the U.S. foreign policy community since the beginning of the Trump administration, alarm about the fate of the liberal international rules-based order has emerged as one of the few fixed points. From the international relations scholar G. John Ikenberrys claim that for seven decades the world has been dominated by a western liberal order to U.S. Vice President Joe Bidens call in the final days of the Obama administration to act urgently to defend the liberal international order, this banner waves atop most discussions of the United States role in the world.

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