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

PEPE ESCOBAR. Chinas silky charming of Arabia (Asian Times, 11.07.18)

President Xi Jinping has promised more than $23 billion in loans and aid to Arab states, as Beijing ramps up ties with the Middle East; this includes aid for Palestine; Beijing foresees importing a whopping $8 trillion from Arab states up to 2025.

JOHN QUIGGIN. Australia's failed energy policy needs more than just a Band-Aid (the Guardian 13.07.18)

The ACCC report is a mishmash of cognitive dissonance and half-baked suggestions for fixing the unfixable.

PETER DAY: The Endarkenment

God is dead, God is Dead! A new Enlightenment has dawned. Bow to its three pillars: Reason, Science, Humanism.

KATHRYN KELLY. Armed Neutrality for Australia?

The talks between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un give some reason for a glimmer of hope for the Korean Peninsula, but given Donald Trumps predilection for middle of the night tweets, that could come unstuck at any moment. The international situation continues to be uncertain, with China and the US still facing off over the South China Sea and war in Syria continuing. US power is waning and there is an urgent need for Australia to rethink our security strategy for the future. I think its timely to revisit the concept of armed neutrality.

HANKYOREH EDITORIAL. President Moons vision for peace and prosperity after denuclearization

In a Singapore Lecture during the final day of his state visit to Singapore on July 13, President Moon Jae-in outlined his vision for an inter-Korean economic community and peace on the Korean Peninsula. It could be seen as his second vision for peace, after the one he presented in the German capital of Berlin in July of last year. It is deeply significant that he shared this vision for a future of Korean peace and prosperity in the same place as the historic North Korea-US summit one month ago.

JOHN HANNON. Where and who are the prophetic voices today? (a homily)

The old adage is that familiarity breeds contempt; alternatively, absence makes the heart grow fonder! But the the truest of all relating to todays Gospel is that a prophet is not accepted in his own country, perhaps less so because he seen as just familiar and ordinary. Moreover, human nature seems to be naturally prone as resistant to change or challenge. Just this last week, it was reported that Frank Brennan SJ, the well-known Jesuit, was prevented from speaking at a Catholic conference in Hobart, apparently because he had expressed certain views about the separation of Church and State, specifically...

GAURAB SHUMSHER THAPA. China and Nepal reach across the Himalayan divide (Asia Times 6/7/2018)

Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis visit to China last month was closely watched by both domestic and international observers.

RAE WALKER. Is the Banking Royal Commission Australias Canary?

Falling levels of trust in Australian institutions is frequently raised in the media and other public discussions as a serious concern. Reports from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry is providing an astonishing insight into the experiences of citizen and business customers of these institutions and the corporate values and management that facilitates the untrustworthiness commentators are concerned about.

ELIZABETH HLAVINKA. High Opioid-Use Counties Voted Trump in 2016 (Medpage Today 22/6/2018)

Opioids are symptom, symbol of 'larger social and economic problems'.Counties with the highest rates of chronic prescription opioid use were far more likely to back Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, a new study of Medicare claims data found.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

JEAN-MARIE COLLIN. The Nuclear Illusion Strikes Again (La Tribune, 08/06/2018)

The issue of NW's, everyone's, is riddled with hypocrisy. This is a great example; from France, an ardent defender of the Iran agreement and, a country which played a major role in Israel's acquisition of nuclear weapons.

JOHN MENADUE. The litany of anti social and failed privatisations. ( Edited repost from 21 July 2017)

Coalition politicians, bankers, accountants and lawyers still persist with their fixation with privatisation despite the fact that it is failing in one area after another and the electorate shows very clearly that it does not want it.

Being Muslim lifestyle sweeps Indonesia (La Croix International, 07/07/18)

Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp is claiming a first in Indonesia halalrefrigerators after the IndonesianUlemaCouncil (MUI) granted the manufacturerhalalstatus. It's the latest indication that Islam is beingcommoditizedin the world's most populous Muslim nation.

PETER DRYSALE AND SHIRO ARMONSTRONG. Getting Australias geopolitical and economic strategies aligned (Australian Financial Review, 08/07/18)

Australia, it has been said, is faced with hard choices in strategic policy because its principal security partner is the United States and its major trading partner, China. By dening Australia's national interest comprehensively where both China and the United States matter and where security and economics are integrated into strategic decision making from the outset Australia would be better placed to deal with the ongoing challenges from both countries (and others) in a complex world.

TERRY BARNES. Pharmacy power is a paper tiger (AFR 4/7/2018)

If something looks, walks and acts like a duck, it's a duck. In the case ofpharmacy giant Chemist Warehouse, however, it's anything but.

TOM HUSSAIN. In Pakistan's currency crisis, China is the problem and the solution. (South China Morning Post 7/7/2018)

Having racked up unsustainable bills in supporting Beijings infrastructure master plan, Islamabad is bailed out by China to the tune of US$1 billion leaving it more dependent than ever on its all-weather ally.

BERTIL LINTNER. As Trump turns away, China gains in Myanmar (Asia Times 4/7/2018)

US leader has left predecessor Obama's engagement policy to wilt on the vine, giving Beijing an opening to renew its trade and security agendas Does US President Donald Trump have a distinct policy towards Myanmar, and if so how does it differ from the engagement gambit championed by his predecessor Barack Obama?

BHIM BHURTEL. Indias myopic muscular neighborhood policy (Asia Times 2/7/2018)

Despite one muscular diplomatic debacle after another, India has been unrelenting in its bullying attitude toward its small and weak neighbors. India is imposinganother economic blockadeon a third South Asian country, Maldives.

TILMAN RUFF. The treaty banning nuclear weapons one year on: history made, a solid start, here to stay, and miles to go before we sleep

One year ago, on 7 July 2017 at the United Nations in New York, 122 nations took a historic step when they voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty filled a gaping hole in international law, providing a comprehensive prohibition on the last weapons of mass destruction to be declared illegal; the only weapons that could not only end all of us, but deny future generations of our kind and many others a right to be born. So in the race to end nuclear weapons before they end us, how is the Treaty faring...

JULIE SONNERMANN. Kids of migrant families do better at school and we should think about why

Children of migrant families in Australia consistently outperform their more established peers at school. And new analysis using NAPLAN data shows schools with lots of migrant-background students not only achieve at higher levels, but they have higher growth over time on average too.

ANDREW SALMON. South Korea unveils plan for N Korean economic enrichment (Asia Times 3/7/2018)

Ideas for the North's development and regional integration, while ripe with promise, face obstacles and remain dependent on the US and denuclearization South Korea presented its master plan for North Korean economic cooperation to the public last week, laying forth a roadmap not only for economic development north of the Demilitarized Zone, but also for regional economic integration in Northeast Asia and beyond.

DANIEL OBERHAUS. 30 Years of Data Shows Asylum Seekers Are Not an Economic Burden (Motherboard)

A new study shows that giving migrants pathways to citizenship in European countries actually results in positive economic impacts, while asylum seekers dont have a negative impact.

PAUL KRUGMAN. Big business reaps Trumps whirlwind (New York Times)

The bill for decades of cynical politics is coming due.

JOHN QUIGGIN. Westward, look, the land is bright (Inside Story)

Amid more bad news from Washington come signs that attitudes are hardening against much of what the Trump presidency stands for.

KATHARINE MURPHY. 'We've turned a corner': farmers shift on climate change and want a say on energy.

National Farmers Federation head Fiona Simson says people on the land cant ignore what is right before their eyes.

RICHARD A. BITZINGER. US, China cash in on Asias growing appetite for arms.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has just released its data on the global arms trade for 2017, and it is big news for Asia as a whole, and for China and the United States in particular.

JOHN MENADUE. Bugging a Cabinet room, keeping sweet with News Corp and a pointless Australian Federal Police investigation of a leak

Andrew Wilkie MP has asked the AFP to investigate the improper disclosure of protected information disclosed by News Corp. journalist Niki Savva on the ABC Insiders program on 1 July 2018. She said that Attorney General Christian Porter had been given a very strong recommendation to prosecute Bernard Collaery and Witness K. How Savva knew this and who told her is the subject of an AFP investigation requested by Andrew Wilkie. On the basis of previous AFP form this will go nowhere.

ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ. A Rose by Any Other Name: Reflections on the future of race discrimination and vilification in Australia

In a penultimate spate of inter-personal hostility between the current Race Discrimination Commissioner and his opponents in government and the media, the future of a Commissioner (RDC) and the enabling Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) have been flagged by Attorney General Porter as being high on his to do list.

KERRY OBRIEN. Speech to ABC Friends rally Sydney 8 July 2018

Let me start with a quote: The ABC is a vital part of our nations polity. It is one of the great foundations of journalism and news gathering and broadcasting in the country. It has a very special place in Australia. That was Malcolm Turnbull in January 2014 when he announced a cut to the ABCs budget of $254 million.

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. Trump and Putin - One last word

My unfulfilled ambition was to put a new word into the English vocabulary. May I make a last attempt with an ugly word for an ugly thing? It is neo-victimism. It defines the dominant element into todays great power relations.

RANALD MACDONALD. A wonderfully Sydney-style rally was held on Sunday to galvanise support for the ABC

It was emotional, noisy, sweaty, energetic and organised chaos, as 1000 public broadcasting enthusiasts scrambled and fought their way into the 400 seat NSW Teachers Federation auditorium in Surry Hills.

JOHN MENADUE. Domestic violence is a greater threat than terrorism

JOHN MENADUE. Domestic violence is a greater threat than terrorism

Last week in Sydney we saw the tragic death of two teenagers as a result of domestic violence. We know that over 12 months on average one woman is killed every week in Australia by a current or former partner. Yet national effort and resources are directed overwhelmingly to counter terrorism where in the last decade only three people in Australia have been killed.

GREG AUSTIN: Counter-terrorism lessons for family murders

It is time to police family violence perpetrators as rigorously as we police terrorists. We can learn from the countrys successes in counter-terrorism work and perhaps apply some lessons to the family violence challenges.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular connection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

Kevin Rudd on Xi Jinping, China and the Global Order (Asia Society Policy Institute 26/6/2018))

(On Tuesday, June 26, 2018, Asia Society Policy Institute PresidentKevin Rudddelivered an address to the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore for The Significance of China's 2018 Central Foreign Policy Work Conference. Below is the transcript of the speech. ) On 22-23 June 2018, the Chinese Communist Party concluded its Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs, the second since Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission in November 2012. The last one was held in November 2014. These are not everyday affairs...

GREG HAMILTON. The New Art Of Looking The Other Way.

We have a Law Reform Commission thats impotent, as well as a Commission for Human Rights that has no impact on the lack of rights of Australians. Is that accidentalor intended? Is there a chance for any sort of reform in this country before it slips up its own shirt-tails into eternal darkness and intestinal rumblings?

BOB BIRRELL AND EARNEST HEALY. The Housing Affordability Crisis in Sydney and Melbourne

The housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne is close to the worst in the developed world. As of 2017, the ratio of median house prices to median household income in Sydney was 12.9 and in Melbourne 9.9. Only Vancouver and Hong Kong were as bad or worse on this metric.

EVATT FOUNDATION EDITORIAL. Aspiration & Inequality

Many Australians no doubt winced last week when the Turnbull government claimed to represent aspirational voters. In case anyone didnt recognise the ghost of former Labor leader Mark Latham, this week Treasurer Scott Morrison recalled his signature image: the ladder of opportunity.

CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. The Melbourne casino, and irresponsible gambling

Allegations by whistleblowers about the way poker machines are operated at the casino in Melbourne have underlined how Victorias Casino Control Act allows pokies to operate in ways that encourage harmful gambling.

DAVID KANG. Reasons to be optimistic about North Korea (East Asia Forum)

There has been a torrent of whining about the TrumpKim summit. Critics are calling it little more than a photo opportunity for a dictator, and claim that nothing was agreed while North Koreas horrific human rights abuses were overlooked. Sceptics claim that the agreement is the same as previous agreements between the United States and North Korea, that Kim will never change and North Korea will never denuclearise, and that stopping USROK war games will reduce US military readiness in the event of conflict.

LIZZIE O'SHEA. Witness K and foreign interference hypocrisy (Eureka Street 2/7/2018)

'This Parliament will not allow interference in our elections or in our democratic processes,' Senator Penny Wongdeclaredrecently. 'We will not allow these to be subject to foreign interference, and we will not allow the covert subversion of our politics by foreign interests.' It sounds like a perfectly reasonable aspiration, but not if you happen to be East Timor. Over this last week, tworemarkably contradictory thingshappened in Canberra. The Australian Attorney-GeneralChristian Porter shepherded through Parliament some of the mostsignificant changesto foreign interference laws in recent times (the subject of Senator Wong's speech). It was also reported that hesigned offon charges laid...

JOHN MENADUE. The dumbed- down tax debate and the Canberra Press Gallery.

In the debate over tax and the attacks on Bill Shorten, not one member of the Canberra Press Gallery could be bothered to explain to us that with dividend imputation the difference between a 25% and a 27% tax rate for a small company is infinitesimal.

WILIAM J PERRY. Why Im Still Hopeful About Trumps North Korea Deal (Politico)

For a euphoric moment, it seemed everything was about to change on the Korean Peninsula. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Untwo leaders with a flair for the dramatic and a willingness to shatter precedentsfanned expectations of a diplomatic breakthrough that would end a nuclear standoff and open a pathway to peace between the two Koreas.

LYNDON MEGARRITY. The Politics of Northern Development in Australia

Northern Australia is popularly defined as consisting of all Australian land north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The north has long struggled to secure the investment and development which the south-east of Australia has taken for granted, because it is far away from the Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra parliamentary triangle and its key policy-makers and politicians. The norths economic and social development has thus been incremental rather than spectacular. But every now and then, a political saviour will emerge who will insist that their political party truly understands the norths national significance and will transform it if elected to power. But northern development...

WILLIAM GRIMM. Japanese fans shocking behavior at World Cup games.

Fans cleaning the stadium after matches they attend is an example of how one must be conscious of the convenience of those around.

Australian laws should avoid hurting China.(Global Times China)

Australia has benefitted greatly from its relations with China, but has since begun to censor almost all the factors that have contributed to the benefits, and has interpreted its relations with China in the most negative way. Such actions by Australia are beyond the Chinese public's imagination of a country they once respected, and will bitterly disappoint them. Now that the laws have been approved, Australia should reduce their negative impact on the Chinese diaspora and on relations with China.

DOUG TAYLOR. Kicking goals in the fight against drugs

The heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup puts Portugal on the world stage.But behind the bright lights of the soccer World Cup, Portugal is leading the world in another arena: its efforts to curb drug abuse.

IAN CRAWFORD. Korea: the forgotten war and Australians still missing

Understandably, the agreement of the Singapore Summit on the recovery of the bodies of US military from sites in North Korea has attracted less public interest than the denuclearisation issue. Ian Crawford, National President of National Korea Veterans Association, points to the significant losses Australia suffered in the harsh conditions of the Korean War and particularly attention to the 44 Australians killed in the war in its various phases whose bodies have still to be located. Some could well be discovered in the process of implementing the Singapore agreement. Ian has been actively engaged in the long running working groups...

BEPPE SEVERGNINI. In Italy, Immigrants Evoke Fear, Not Racism.

CREMA, Italy As I was walking home, a man in his 70s, wearing a youthful shirt and sporting fiercely dark hair, stopped me in the main square, under the spire of the ancient Duomo. He introduced himself, then said hed had a tough life, working as a cow milker on a farm since he was a child. He didnt understand why I was so soft on migrants, in my writing and on television.

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