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

Tamie Fraser, Patron of the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre delivers a message to Peter Dutton

From twitter:

RICHARD TANTER. The nuclear ban treaty, Pine Gap and the Nobel Peace Prize.

The world is worrying about nuclear weapons more than at any time since the frightening days of Reagan and Brezhnev, and with good reason. We are all hoping that Kim Jong-un is rational with no ambition for suicide. And at the same time, we are reduced to hoping that the American military will constrain Donald Trumps impulses to reach for the nuclear launch button. Leading politicians in South Korea and Japan are talking up the need for their own nuclear weapons, and Donald Trump is not saying no. So, its hardly surprising that 122 countries voted at the United Nations...

PAUL FRIJTERS. Advance Australia Fair: ignore the other national histories on offer.

National history is the story that binds us who make up the nation into a single entity with a collective memory. It has a purpose and as such we can choose what historical events and realities to put into that story, whilst forgetting the rest. Of the four main current contenders for our national history, I think we should pick Advance Australia Fair as the only truly useful one.

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ. America has a monopoly problem - and it's huge. (from 'Nation')

We have become a rent-seeking society, dominated by market power of large corporations, unchecked by countervailing powers. And the power of workers has been weakened, if not eviscerated. What is required is a panoply of reformsrewriting the rules of the American economy to make it more competitive and dynamic, fairer and more equal.

PAUL FRIJTERS. Why Blockchain has no economic future.

When Bitcoin went public in 2009 it introduced to the world of finance and economics the technology of blockchain. Even the many who thought Bitcoin would never make it as a major currency were intrigued by the Blockchain technology and a large set of new companies have tried to figure out how to offer new services based on blockchain technology. It is still fair to say that very few economists and social scientists understand blockchain, and governments are even further behind.

PETER YOUNG: Why Health Professionals in Immigration Detention should stop colluding and speak out

As the situation for hundreds of asylum seekers in the Manus Island continues to deteriorate the harmful consequences of Australia's punitive immigration detention policies are obvious. Despite the secrecy surrounding immigration detention it is only the wilfully blind who avoid this conclusion.

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG says Sorry

I want to apologise for a failure going back to the Bicentenary in 1988.The very fact that 26 January continues to cause controversy is possibly the best reason for keeping it as the national day. The ambiguity of its meaning obliges us constantly to re-examine our modern origins. The new round of debate drew from Malcolm Turnbull the wisdom that it stands for Australian values. He managed to say much the same thing at Beersheba of all places. So we are to seek Australian values from Botany Bay to Beersheba. All this took place in the middle of the self-imposed...

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

Sorry, but Medicare needs to change writes Ross Gittins. A fee-for-service model fitted with the nations needs in 1974 when the Whitlam Government introduced universal publicly-funded health insurance, but over a half-century our needs have changed. We should be putting more resources to preventing and managing chronic conditions and reducing the need to call on specialists and hospitals, with a policy focus on patients rather than the interests of service providers. Japan and North Korea may be arch foes but there's a school in the Japanese capital for Koreans that have remained loyal to the North's three Kim regimes...

Letter from concerned Australians to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on the Manus Island disaster

9 November 2017 Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern Prime Minister Private Bag 18888 Parliament Buildings Wellington 6160 New Zealand Dear Prime Minister Warm congratulations on your election as New Zealands new Prime Minister. We are writing to call upon the New Zealand Government to intervene in the entirely preventable humanitarian disaster unfolding on Manus Island.

JOHN MENADUE. The growing social divide.

There are ominous signs that Australia is breaking up into different social tribes. Our claimed egalitarianism and social mobility are under serious challenge. A mixed society is the best guarantee of social cohesion and social improvement. That social cohesion arising from inclusive growth is also good for the economy. But social cohesion rather than economic growth is the key national building block.

EVA COX. The non-economic causes of political trust deficits - What is to be done. Part 2 of 2

It was not so long ago that the functions of more social democratic nation states were legitimated and visible because they represented wide public ownership of many physical resources and delivered many essential and community services. Whether that form has elements in it that would allay current problems and improve future governance needs to explored. What is clear is the need to reverse and reform the causes of deep distrust.

JOHN MENADUE How Murdoch and Abeles twisted the arm of the Hawke Government to help Ansett Airlines at the expense of Qantas.

In a blog last Friday I recalled that Rupert Murdoch had said that he had never asked a Prime Minister for anything. That is quite brazen. From my own personal experience I know that is just not true. One early example which I describe below is an example of the way that Rupert Murdoch operates, in this case in association with Peter Abeles, to extract concessions from governments. At the time in 1988 Murdoch and Abeles had a business partnership in Ansett Airlines. I was then CEO of Qantas.

EVA COX. The non-economic causes of political trust deficits - The function of trust Part 1 of 2

Good democratic governance requires those in power to both be seen as both trustworthy and representing voters , effectively and fairly. Those ostensibly in control need to provide evidence that they are delivering, or ensuring access to those services and resources that are seen as public responsibilities. The disappearing common wealth and rising focus on individualised self-interest benefits need to be seen as causing the rising anti-elite, populist politics that undermine social cohesion, rather than just blaming the changes on limited economic flaws, e.g. the GFC. If we are to restore trust in good democratic processes, we need to recognise...

ROBERT MANNE. A Symbol of Inhumanity: Australia's Uniquely Harsh Asylum Seeker Policy - How Did It Come to This?

Robert Manne is Emeritus Professor and Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at La Trobe University. An earlier version of this analysis was published a year ago, but Professor Manne has written a new postscript in light of some disturbing recent events on Manus Island. If you had been told thirty years ago that Australia would create the least asylum seeker friendly institutional arrangements in the world, you would not have been believed. In 1992 we introduced a system of indefinite mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat.

RODNEY TIFFEN. The age of the mega-leak

The Panama Papers looked like the culmination of a new era for leakers and then the Paradise Papers came along. But can we expect action to follow?

BOB SORBY. Of Pipes and Pipedreams

Life is an equation in hydrocarbons was a favourite aphorism of the late RFX Connor, Minister for Minerals and Energy in the Whitlam Labor governments of 1972-1975. The phrase belied a deep understanding by Connor of the Australian petroleum and natural gas industry at the time together with a suggestion of big ideas waiting to be explained. One big idea that Connor had was the need to develop Australias natural gas deposits to maximise their economic return in the international market and secure sufficient gas reserves to satisfy Australias domestic requirements, both domestic and industrial, for the foreseeable future.

MICHAEL LIFFMAN. Asylum seekers: what now?

In the face of the paralysing - and with the closure of the centre in Manus, accelerating - crisis in Australia's asylum seeker policy, I propose the revival of an initiative I first suggested ten years ago, but which remains relevant and arguably adds further moral integrity to the call by Brennan/Costello/Manne/Menadue for the admission of those still in detention or banned entry to Australia....

MARTY NATALEGAWA. The Menadue Oration-Can Democracy Deliver?

Inaugural Menadue Oration of the Centre for Policy Development (CPD), delivered in Melbourne on 2 November 2017,the tenth anniversary of the establishment of CPD. John Menadue was the founding Chair. Can democracy deliver? As one who has traversed Indonesias now more than a decade-long transformative democratic journey - such that today it constitutes the worlds third largest democracy the reply to such question can only be resoundingly in the affirmative: yes!

MARTIN TAYLOR. How weak laws and weak enforcement are failing our wildlife.

How weakened laws in Qld and NSW are failing our wildlife and how the Australian Government is doing little to prevent it.

PETER ARNOLD. Ethics and the AMA

Interestingly, the committee appointed by the Victorian government to report on assisted dying was headed by the immediate past-president of the AMA, neurosurgeon Brian Owler. Neurosurgeons have a close connection with this problem when patients with severe head injuries have been on life-support for days or weeks with no apparent chance of meaningful survival.

The Manus Island agreement is a failure; Turnbull and Shorten need to accept that: Robert Manne, Tim Costello, Frank Brennan and John Menadue.

There is now a humanitarian disaster on Australia's doorstep.And it's our responsibility.The refugees on Manus Island must beresettledpromptly.After four years, all options other than Australia have come to nothing or have been rejected by our government.There is now no option but to resettle them in Australia. There are 600 persons, most of them proven refugees, who are at risk on Manus Island.They were taken there under an agreement between the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea.They have been there more than four years.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

In 1974 Rex Connor, Minister for Minerals and Energy in the Whitlam Government, had a vision of a national pipeline linking the gas fields in WA to the gas markets in the nations southeast. His attempt to raise funds for that project led to the so-called Loans Affair, which was central in the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam Government. Come forward 43 years and Fairfax journalist Cole Latimer reports that ACIL Allen, in partnership with engineering firm GHD, has been contracted by the federal government to carry out a pre-feasibility study on a west-east gas pipeline to link the gas...

PETER MARTIN. It's Time (to take Labor seriously)

The shape of the next Labor government is becoming clearer. This week we learntthat it will end the practice of signing Australiaup to trade agreements that haven't survived a benefit-cost analysis.

JOHN MENADUE. We need to curb rent-seekers and lobbyists.

In the series Fairness, Opportunity and Security last year I drew attention to the pervasive loss of trust in institutions. Essential Research revealed that the six least trusted institutions were: the news media, state parliaments, trade unions, business groups, religious organisations and political parties. The three most trusted institutions were all public: the ABC, High Court and Reserve Bank. In light of Jacquie Lambies proposals to curb the lobbying racket in Canberra I decided to repost an earlier blog on the collapse of trust with the growth in rent seeking and lobbying, with some up dating.

JIM COOMBS. Doing right by our First Peoples needs a little understanding but a LOT MORE RESPECT.

As my Dad, Nugget Coombs, said in his Boyer Lectures years ago, though still ringing true, we are all demeaned by our treatment of our aboriginal people. Even back then, he implored our leaders to consult with, listen to and empower our first peoples to have not just some say, but some control over their destiny.

TRAVERS McLEOD. Patient policy-making for a region on the move.

There are no quick fixes for a crisis like the forced displacement of Myanmars Rohingya, but a new collaboration has been preparing the way for an effective regional approach.

KEVIN PEOPLES. The Dangers of a Feminine Touch

The Catholic Churchs misogyny is one of the cultural causes for its sexual abuse scandal. It is impossible to believe that any female bishop, or any woman assisting her bishop as a consultor, on hearing rumours or allegations of the raping of young children by priests, would have readily accepted priestly denials or agreed to move the accused to anther parish. Could a woman admit publically she was not particularly interested in the issue?

JOAN STAPLES. Civil Society Highs and Lows

Australian civil society has seen the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) win the Nobel Peace Prize, the High Court uphold Bob Browns challenge to Tasmanian protest laws, and the Coalition extend its attacks on NGO advocacy, targeting GetUp.

GRAEME WORBOYS. About Snowy water, catchment restoration, Snowy 2.0 and jobs

The Snowy 2.0 project, if it is to realise its contribution to lowering carbon emissions, should proceed hand in hand with a program of environmental restoration of alpine ecosystems which have not recovered from past and present alpine grazing and which, as a result of global warming, will have less water yield for downstream users, including Snowy 2.0.

BRUCE MOUNTAIN. Energy prices are high because consumers are paying for useless, profit-boosting infrastructure

The preliminary report on energy prices released last week by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) suggests that the consumer watchdog is concerned about almost every aspect of Australias electricity industry. It quotes customer groups who say electricity is the biggest issue in their surveys, and cites several case studies of outrageous price increases experienced by various customers.

AMBER CARVAN. The health impacts of climate change in rural and remote Australia

Without swift action climate change stands to further cement the health deficit experienced in rural and remote populations. Conversely, taking action to build the climate-resilience of rural and remote communities, and the health care services that support them, could lead to a seismic shift in health outcomes for the seven million people living in rural and remote Australia.

MARGARET BEAVIS. US militarism: what are the costs to Australia?

When it comes to the defence of Australia, much is made of the ANZUS treaty. Compared to other treaties, for example the NATO treaty, where an attack on one is explicitly regarded as an attack on all and consultation, assistance and the use of armed force all are clearly referred to, the ANZUS treaty is rather pallid. It promises consultation and the rather vague act to meet the common danger in accordance with constitutional processes.

An open letter to the Prime Minister on climate and nuclear perils

This open letter was initiated by Dr AndrewGlikson (Earth and Paleo-climate science, ANU School of Anthropology and Archeology) and signed by over 200 Australian scientists, including those in the medical, environmental and physical disciplines, as well as scholars in the humanities. It clearly shows the immense perils we now face due to climate change and nuclear proliferation. OPEN LETTER TO THE AUSTRALIAN PM

JOHN MENADUE. How a rogue organization operates.

This week Crikey has been running a series, the Holy Wars on How The Australian targets and attacks its enemies This prompted me to recall my own experiences and earlier writing on how News Corp intimidates its critics and threatens and seduces governments. The way News Corp operates must be traced to Murdoch himself for he has told us that for better or worse (News Corp) is a reflection of my own thinking, my character and my values.

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

GEORGE RENNIE. Senate crossbenchers take the first steps on lobbying reform - now to ensure it succeeds.

The suite of codes, statements and laws governing lobbying are failing Australian voters. Yet, for decades, the two major parties have been unwilling to meaningfully improve them. But, having recognised the seriousness of the problems with lobbying and corruption in Australia, the Senate crossbenchers along with lower house independents have finally begun the process of deciding how lobbying reform should occur. Into this space, the Jacqui Lambie Network has released a policy that has become the starting point for negotiations on one of Australias most important policy challenges.

MICHAEL WOODS. Why reforming health care is integral for our economy

Australias productivity growth has been stagnant for over a decade and, according to a new report, our health policies and programs could be partly to blame. Released today, the Productivity Commission report also highlights how the health-care sector (among others) could play a starring role in improving productivity.

OISIN SWEENEY. Let's take the opportunity to put the wellbeing of people at the heart of forest protection.

Any Australian under the age of 30 is unlikely to have heard of Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). The RFAs, signed in the late 1990s and lasting for 20 years, were designed to facilitate multiple uses of public native forests including timber extraction, nature conservation and recreation. They havent worked as planned, and logging now threatens multiple values of forests, including fundamentals for human well-being like water. We should heed the evidence and use the end of the RFAs to put forests at the heart of regional communities. We have a plan that can help us do that.

JIM COOMBS. An energy crisis? My Hat!

The present energy crisis is symptomatic of our nations leaders to obfuscate the truth to avoid doing what should be done.

NAISHAD KAIN-REN. Saudi Arabias Footprints in Southeast Asia

Saudi Arabias increased influence in Muslim-majority countries will have wider ramifications for ASEAN.

LEANNE WELLS. Who benefits from health insurance reforms? Check the sharemarket.

The notable feature of Australias heavy investment in health insurance is the lack of hard evidence to support the cost and performance of subsidised private health insurance.For health fund members baffled about the real impact of the Governments private insurance reform plan, there was one indicator immediately available.

EVAN WILLIAMS. Mobile addiction: the new scourge of our time

That stupid woman! my wife exclaimed, looking out through the front window of our house onto the street below. We were listening to the news, and at first I thought my beloved was referring to some blunder by Julie Bishop or Theresa May. But the object of her scorn was a woman wheeling a baby in a pram down the centre of the street and studying her mobile phone while cars edged past on either side.

JOHN MENADUE. The NBN and the wholesale/network arm of Telstra that should never have been sold.

Yesterday Malcolm Turnbull , perhaps unwittingly,sheeted home the real responsibility for the NBN debacle to the privatisation of Telstra by the Howard Government. In his attempt to blame the Rudd government for the current problems, he really let the cat out of the bag. He said If you want to look at a country that did this exercise much better, it was New Zealand. What they did was they basically ensured the incumbent telco - the Telstra equivalent - split its network operations from its retail operations and then that network company, called Chorus, became in effect the NBN.'

WALTER HAMILTON. When Nothing Happened in Japan

After Sundays election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be entitled to quote Mark Twain: 'Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Political death, that is. His ruling coalition threw back all challengers and retained the crucial two-thirds majority in the lower house required for a constitutional amendment.

STUART HARRIS. The US and North Korea: the importance of history.

North Koreas belligerent missile tests have given rise to fears that the hardening rhetoric on both sides will lead to military conflict involving nuclear weapons. These fears have resulted in moves to moderate this tension by some of the players, with US Secretary of State Tillerson seeking to communicate with the North, and South Koreas President Moon seeking dialogue with the North.

PETER ARNOLD. Calling for medical help at night

Obtaining first-line medical attention at night, especially if the patient is house-bound, has become increasingly difficult. Proposals to improve affordable access to such services need to take account of changing urban structures, medical culture and community expectations.

MICHAEL LAMBERT. The National Energy Guarantee - what do we make of it?

After a progression of schemes, such as the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), The Carbon Pollution Tax (CPT), Direct Action, including the Renewable Energy Target (RET) as well as dabbling with the Emissions Intensity Scheme (EIS) and the Clean Energy Target (CET) we have now being presented by those proud parents, Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg, with the latest addition to the energy policy family, the NEG, the National Energy Guarantee. Will it work and how; is it better or worse than its alternatives; and what are the key issues to address if it proceeds?

WE ARE ALSO READING AND LISTENING TO ...

Pearls and Irritations provides the following links for weekend reading and listening:

JOHN MENADUE. Rent-seekers and corruption risks in the Australian mining industry and elsewhere.

In this blog Gigi Foster and Paul Frijters said: The vast majority of the richest Australians work in property, mining and banking/finance. ... Tellingly, the highest earning workers in these industries do not invent or use advanced production or distribution technology... People in these highly regulated industries are handsomely rewarded when they can negotiate special favours, such as property rezonings, planning law exemptions, mining concessions, labour law exemptions or money creation powers.

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