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

TIM LINDSEY. Post-Reformasi Indonesia: The Age of Uncertainty.

Twenty years ago, the Soeharto era ended with reformation. Todays post-Reformasi Indonesia is full of uncertainty, with profound implications for its foreign relations.

RANALD MACDONALD. ABC cuts - the gloves are off.

The Coalition's latest budget aimed at ensuring the voters return it to the government benches has dropped any pretence of supporting a vibrant, independent and properly funded ABC.

The Afghan War Isnt Being Won, Says New Pentagon Audit

A new summary of the countrys troubles by a special inspector general doesnt paint an optimistic picture.

JIM COOMBS. APRA gone mad?

What on earth were APRA thinking when they let off the CBA with a stern reprimand ? What were AMP thinking appointing David Murray to chair their Board? It looks like telling the fox that next time youll shoot him, and in the other case appointing the fox to guard the chicken coop.

MICHELLE SOWEY. The NAPLAN persuasive writing test subverts critical thinking

The capacity to persuade is a vital currency: it fosters active civic participation and affords access to power in a democracy. Developing persuasiveness therefore has an important place in education. Yet not all forms of persuasion are equally commendable. Reasoned argument promotes integrity in a way that manipulative tactics like cajolery or disparagement do not. The NAPLAN persuasive writing test fails to give due weight to cogent argument, critical engagement with ideas or even meaningful use of language. In this regard, the NAPLAN persuasive writing test is gravely misaligned with worthy educational goals.

MARIAM MOKHTAR. Mahathirs Last Hurrah.

Critics of Malaysias longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, used to joke that he would like to be prime minister for life. Today, that prediction may have a ring of truth, although others believe the incumbent PM, Najib Abdul Razak, would like to stake the same claim.

SHERENE SMITH. Company boards are stacked with friends of friends so how can we expect change?

Social connections drive board appointments and more than two-thirds of directors in the 200 largest public companies are on the board of multiple companies. So whoever replaces ex-AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner will likely be drawn from a small pool of people.

GEORGE EATON. The local elections in the UK were not a bad night for Labour - but Jeremy Corbyn needs another great leap forward

Britain has entered a new era of ultra-hung politics. Were last nights local election results replicated on a national level, Labour would win 283 seats (up 21), the Conservatives 280 (down 38) and the resurgent Liberal Democrats 22 (up 10).

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

I know its not true but it could be true. In the New York Times Daniel Effron of the London Business School explains Why Trump Supporters dont Mind his Lies. Even if we know that a story is untrue, if it aligns with our prejudices, and if we can imagine a situation where a similar story might be true, the story tends to confirm our prejudices. Writing in Fairfax media Jessica Irvine presents two views one from the economic right, one from the economic centre, about the likely effect of the budget on young people. Tony Shepherd, who...

JIM KABLE. Learning from a Mid-19th Century Japanese Warrior - Lessons for 21st Century Australian Education.

Australia seems to have spiralled over the past 20 or so years into some kind of nightmarish US-like exam-driven educational hell. Directed by those well-known educational experts - politicians. Overseen by test-creator so-called Think Tanks of Expertise akaInstitutes - unrelated to any respectable university. Think of the acronyms and other terms bandied about - NAPLAN (Smoke-and-Mirrors might be a far better term). STEM. Phonics. Discipline. Uniforms. State versus Private. IQ (still a a most imprecise term in common use). Gonski. How can Australia get back its once proudly-assumed reputation for excellent education - for all. What can be gained by...

SCOTT BURCHILL. The China Syndrome

The deceitful exaggeration of the threat that Chinas rise allegedly poses for countries in the Asia-Pacific has been exposed by a number of analysts in Australia, including Brian Toohey. There is no need to reprise their arguments here, other than to say that in what passes for scholarship in the West, it is has become routine to portray China as being aggressively expansionist with much less discussion about its legitimate historical claims in the Asia-Pacific.

Malaysia Calls On Authoritarian Regimes To Monitor Its Democratic Elections!

The Malaysian Election Commission has just issued a staggering list of seven countries which they say have taken up its offer to come and monitor the up-coming elections to ensure they are free and fair and free from fraud. The list includes three of the worlds most authoritarian regimes; two countries described as Hybrid (part-authoritarian) by The Economist Democracy Index and two Flawed Democracies under the same index. One of the countries has just come out of a state of emergency following a blatant coup against the rule of law and is not even rated on the index....

BRIDGET WELSH. This Malaysian election is different.

Malaysias government has dissolved the Parliament to make way for the 14th General Election (GE14). The country will go to the polls on 9 May. From afar, this election seems like a repeat of the last election in 2013, when a polarised electorate was divided over the governance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak. Questions of leadership, ethnic inclusion, economic management and democratic reform were at the heart of the earlier polls. These issues remain important. But now there is greater electoral competitiveness, a reformulated opposition and international intervention in an election that...

BEN GRAHAM Australia must warm to China or face economic punishment, expert claims

CHINA is not a rising power, it has already risen - and we can either embrace it now or face punishment, an expert says.

MARK KULASINGHAM. 'Malay tsunami' to decide Malaysian election.

MALAY TSUNAMI TO DECIDE MALAYSIAN ELECTION Next Wednesday 9 May, Malaysias fourteenth general election will take place.I think its going to be a cracker.After speaking to Malaysians across the country I sense there is something different about this election. In previous polls, there was always a sense of resignation that the ruling coalition would cruise to victory until the stunning Opposition gains in 2008 and 2013 reduced the Governments majority to just 22 seats.

BEVAN RAMSDEN. Glimmer of hope for peace on Korean Peninsula glows more brightly.

Technically North and South Korea are still in a state of war. The cessation of hostilities in 1953 ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Now South Korea says it is considering how to change a decades-old armistice with North Korea into a peace agreement. So the eyes of the world are currently on the Peace House in the village of Panmunjom, located in the heart of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating North and South Korea. A neutral, so-called truce town, Panmunjom was the location of the armistice signing that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War.Here a summit...

JAMES FERNYHOUGH. Revealed: Australias richest professionals and the suburbs they live in.

If youre a surgeon living in one of the opulent suburbs on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, then congratulations: you are a member of the highest paid group in Australia. This will come as no surprise for people who have experienced fee gouging by surgeons and anaeshetists

CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. Crown Casino -Too big to regulate?

Last week, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation imposed a record fine, of $300,000, on Crown Casino. The fine, and a letter of censure, were imposed following revelations that Crown employees had tampered with electronic gambling machines (EGMs, also known as pokies) by removing buttons from some of them. The effect of this was to reduce the available betting options, encouraging gamblers to bet more than they may have intended. Crown denied this was deliberate, blaming the unauthorized actions of a group of employees; and disputed whether it breached regulations. Nonetheless, in a statement, they copped the penalty.

JOHN MENADUE. The international press at Panmunjom for the KIm-Moon Summit were much more impressed than the Australian press.

I was struck by the response, amazement and obvious excitement of the international press at Panmunjom, near Seoul last Friday. See link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw8mROuQs44 But the media interest in Australia seemed remarkably low key and almost disinterested. At least our media was not as sulky and cynical as the Japanese media,

GARRY EVERETT. Consultation as seduction.

The Catholic Church in Australia is about to engage in a major consultation of its members. This is the first such consultation in almost 70 years. Why now? There could be any of a number of reasons. Nationally, Mass attendance has dropped from over 50% in the 1950s to about 10% today. Many parishes are struggling financially. The Royal Commission into institutional responses to the sexual abuse of minors in the Australian Catholic Church, delivered a caustic report revealing that the very culture of the Church is now toxic.

DAVID JAMES. Governments have stopped governing and financiers have become our de facto rulers.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about the reaction to the Royal Commission into the banks is that anyone is surprised. Banks are by their nature parasitic, and the discovery that they are treating their customers as prey to be exploited whenever possible should shock no-one. It is the institutional position of power that financial institutions enjoy and we put them there.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

The ABCs Spirit of Things has woven together several ANZAC stories, including the revelation that the puggaree on our slouch hat is a variant of the Sikhs turban. The program starts with presenter Noel Debien interviewing Marist Brother John Lutterll, who has written a biography of an Australian who served in the Gallipoli campaign as a radio operator on the troopship Hessen Norman Thomas Gilroy. The interview is about the life, politics and theology of Australias first cardinal. It also provides insight into the enduring differences between the NSW and Victorian branches of the Labor Party. The most...

PETER MARTIN. How the Coalition ran interference for the banks.

The Coalition wasn't merely asleep at the wheel when it came to the practices being exposed at the banking royal commission: it pulled out all stops to allow some of them to continue, including attempting to circumvent the will of parliament, in an extraordinary 12-month burst of activity that began within weeks of its election. It had inherited Labors Future of Financial Advice Act, legislated in 2012 but not due to take full effect until mid-2014, 10 months after the election that swept it to power.

EMIRZA ADI SYAILENDRA. Indonesias elite divided on China

The diffuse nature of policymaking in Indonesia discourages its leaders from departing from the countrys status quo policy towards Beijing. The status quo aims to allow Jakarta to have its cake and eat it too that is, enjoy close relations with Beijing while preserving its strategic autonomy in ASEAN.

ROGER COHEN. The insanity along the Gaza fence

Israel has the right to defend its borders, but not use lethal force against unarmed protesters.

JUSTIN GILLIS and HAL HARVEY- Cars are ruining our cities

We give up our public space, our neighbor-to -neighbor conversations and ultimately our personal mobility for the next car, and the next one. More and more countries and cities are turning to congestion taxes.

JOHN MENADUE. The bank's PR gloss and descent from heaven.

The banks project their image by employing a large number of business economists that we see and hear regularly in our media. A few do but seldom do these economists venture into any comment that would politically embarrass their employers let alone tell us what is really going on in the organisations that employ them. It is mostly all PR. And some of the 'regulators' or supervisors on retirement from Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia, take very senior governance and executive positions with the very same banks that they formerly 'regulated.' That regulation was with a very...

SAM BATEMAN. South China Sea Encounters

Australian and Chinese warships recently had what has been called a robust but polite encounter in the South China Sea. This was always likely and the Australian Government has been correct in not over-reacting. Rather than unnecessarily confronting China, Australia should be sensitive to the views of its Southeast Asian neighbours.

LINDSAY MURDOCH. Former Islamic cleric could be Malaysia's kingmaker.

Unlikely election alliance between PAS and UMNO could result in the country taking a stronger Islamic direction.

VIC ROWLANDS. Reclaiming Democracy

Liberty and Equality are simple characterisations of the right and left in politics and Fraternity is what enables the two to co-exist productively. A substantial moderate centre still represents the best chance of resolving difficult and contentious issues, and achieving a consensus.

TIM COLEBATCH. Why is unemployment still so high?

In the first three months of this year, the official jobs figures tell us, 400,000 more people were in work in Australia than a ear earlier. And roughly 300,000 of them were in full-time work.

MARGARET OCONNOR. Institutional reform following the Royal Commission on child sex abuse is womens work.

Women from those who quietly brought pressure on parliamentarians through to the Prime Minister and Governor General brought about the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Yet the response to the Commission is being handled as if it is all blokes business.

ELIZA BERLAGE. Our flailing aid created a Pacific problem.

The report by Fairfax's David Wroe of a potential Chinese military presence on Vanuatu sent alarm bells ringing for many. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said a Chinese military base in the region would be 'of great concern' and Australian diplomats met with Vanuatu officials last week to find out more details.

Media Watch. How News Corp and The Australian mislead us on climate change.

Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching The Australian and Cairns Post highlight a dissenting view on whether global warming is the cause of mass coral bleaching.

PETER MARTIN. We need to stop spending billions on things we don't really need.

I am going to say it. We are spending too much on infrastructure on roads, railways, bridges and the like. We dont try the cheap things first. And we are spending too much on the NBN. You probably disagree, especially if you are waiting for a train, or in a car with a driver who is stuck in traffic. If you go to the footy you would prefer a better stadium, if you use the internet, you would like it faster.

Anzacs fought and died at Gallipoli for Britain, not Australia

Conservatives and militarists want us to cling to a disastrous imperial war. Such a war could never be 'nation building' as the apologists for empire suggest. It was quite the reverse.The Anzac myth makers encourage us to focus on how our soldiers fought in order to avoid the central issue of why we fought. We do the same today, highlighting the valour of our military and avoiding the much more important question of why we were in Turkey and Vietnam and now in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

DAVID JAMES. The big, bad business of America's war industry.

The spread of militarism does not just involve creating the specific apparatus of war. As the Western allies flirt with starting World War III in Syria, it is worth examining some of the financial and business dynamics behind the United States' 'military industrial complex.'

JULIE P SMITH. Live sheep exports are not worth the moral cost.

Growing up near Midland on the outskirts of Perth during the 1960s and 1970s, I endured the weekly stench from the local abattoir. It was the price we paid to get meat to population centres. My first job was in the local meat processing plant, working with people described as salt of the earth, working class, who had historically toiled in appalling conditions because they had no choice. Pressured by unions over postwar decades, Australian governments eventually stepped in to enforce decent standards for work and wages. Compelled by those who saw the immense cruelty involved, animal welfare laws were...

RICHARD FLANAGAN. Freedom means Australia facing up to the truth of its past. (Part 2 of 2)

We should, of course, question these things more. We could ask why if we were actually genuine about remembering patriots who have died for this country why would we not first spend $100m on a museum honouring the at least 65,000 estimated Indigenous dead who so tragically lost their lives defending their country here in Australia in the frontier wars of the 1800s? Why is there nowhere in Australia telling the stories of the massacres, the dispossession, and the courageous resistance of these patriots? (Second Extract from a speech by Richard Flanagan to the National Press Club...

JIM COOMBS. Crime and Punishment: Who do we do first, the Banks (and financial advisers) or dole bludgers?

I was horrified today to hear that the coalition government this week wants to step up its pursuit of welfare cheats, a few millions of dollars chasing the poor, disabled and ignorant. Then Treasurer Scott Morrison is impelled to say, the government might gaol the execs who defrauded bank customers of what may well prove to be billions, not due to impoverishment (quite the reverse), disability (lets grab the loot) and we know its illegal (but thats business, isnt it ?) A further Memo to Kenneth Hayne: Proportionate punishment, enshrined in law, should mean that if a dole cheat manages...

JOHN MENADUE. The banking royal commission confirms our worst fears about many business executives and crony capitalism

There was a revealing heading in an article a while back by Ross Gittins, the economics editor of the SMH, Faster growth demands better chief executives. He concluded his article by pointing to the need for business leadership to seize the economic opportunities - Our overpaid and underperforming chief executive officers are getting (it) wrong. But it is all much worse than we thought as the incompetence and greed of some of our senior business executives has been revealed in the banking royal commission. We also now know why the Liberal Party resisted for so long a...

RICHARD FLANAGAN. Australians in WWI didn't die for Australia. They died for Britain. (Part 1 of 2)

And so, the Monash Centre, for all its good intentions, for all the honour it does the dead, is at heart a centre for forgetting. It leads us to forget that the 62,000 young men who died in world war one died far from their country in service of one distant empire fighting other distant empires. It leads us to forget that not one of those deaths it commemorates was necessary. Not 62,000. Not even one. (The following are extracts from Richard Flanagan's address to the National Press Club on 18 April 2018. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow.)

ERIC WALSH. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un.

The highly- important upcoming meeting between North Koreas Kim Jong-Un and Americas Donald Trump could hopefully settle one of the worlds red-hot trouble spots.

ROBERT MANNE. How we came to be so cruel to asylum seekers.

This is an edited extract of a talk delivered to the Integrity 20 Conference at Griffith University on October 25, 2016 If you had been told 30 years ago that Australia would create the least asylum seeker friendly institutional arrangements in the world, you would not have been believed.

GARRY EVERETT. Importance of seeing the big picture.

Failing to see or accept the big picture is a condition that is currently affecting many organisations in our world, says Garry Everett, and four particular organisations stand out as having significant problems in this regard.

EMMA CARMODY. Lack of transparency in irrigation efficiency programs

An article by Kerry Brewsterin the Guardian this week reports on a significant fraud investigation by Queensland's Major and Organised Crime Squad (Rural) into subsidies granted to a landholder under theHealthy HeadwatersWater Use Efficiency Program.

GREG HAMILTON. Not much ado about a helluva lot.

A stage play that wouldnt make it into an Australian theatre today caused a helluva stink back in 1962 and said some wise and courageous (aka shocking) things about the most sacred day in our national calendar. The reasons it wouldnt make it today say something tragic about us as a society of people.

GREG HAMILTON. Dying for nothing, a-la-Australienne.

According to the oldest surviving veteran of The Great War, Sgt Ted Smout, dead at 106, our war dead died in vain. In his words, they died for nothing. He must have known something most of us dont know for him to make such a terrible claim. What could he possibly have known?

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

Australia gets a mention in The Atlantic, but probably not the kind we wanted. Its a review of the work of Terry Hughes (of James Cook University) and others who have had a paper published in Nature on the effect of global warning on the Great Barrier Reef. Atlantic staff writer Robinson Meyer writes: The Great Barrier Reef will continue to collapse and die until humanity stabilizes the amount of greenhouse-gas pollution in the air. But fixing that problem will require remaking the energy system, moving away from oil and gas and to solar, wind, and other renewable sources. ...

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