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

DAVID PEETZ. Why everybody knows CEOs are overpaid, but nothing happens.

That CEOs are overpaid is something, as Leonard Cohen would say, everybody knows; including the directors and shareholders who ultimately decide their pay. Yet firms are unwilling to do anything about it, because to do so would damage internal relations, undermine status and run against the norms of the system. (This is a repost from an article first posted on October 24, 2015.)

MICHAEL LESTER. Draining the swamp : the Businessman President

Donald J Trump is called the businessman President. The ethics and practices of private business, and the nature and business models of activities undertaken, are arguably, neither consistent with the established accountabilities of corporate governance nor with the innovative future of the digital economy.

STEVE GEORGAKIS. Gilchrist and Australias national sport, Cricket?

Until recently cricket is a sport that has rarely engaged other minority cultures, such as Indigenous Australians or newly arrived migrants. In fact, unlike other sports such as Australian Rules football, cricket has been resistant to broaden its base. ...The more multicultural Australia became, the more insular cricket became. ...The integrity stops with the baggy green and the sport sells its soul to the junk food and alcohol industry.

DENNIS ALTMAN. Bringing Nauru and Manus refugees to Australia is a win-win win. If the PM is bold enough.

Ultimately this argument is about a small number of people who risked their lives in the belief that Australia would provide sanctuary and a better life. In admitting them, Australia could demonstrate basic humanity, close the camps and remove an irritation from its alliance with the United States. Its a win-win for a PM bold enough to challenge the dominant rhetoric of both major parties.

RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Why is the government still pushing the Trans Pacific Partnership.

An important matter facing Australia is how to find a sound balance between China's relations with neighbouring countries and with the United States. This has become a strategic issue in the region. So far China seems to be handling it more effectively than the United States.

JOHN MENADUE. We are losing our sense of community

Markets are displacing society and community. Exclusion is winning out over inclusion.

RICHARD ECKERSLEY. The Trump imbroglio: confusion and contradiction everywhere

Global consumer capitalism, is reducing quality of life: stripping our lives of intrinsic worth and meaning; weakening communities; undermining health and wellbeing; creating grotesque inequities; destroying the natural environment; and undermining our faith in humanitys future.

TONY KEVIN. Trump, Putin and the priming of the impeachment trigger.

A game plan is now evident for the possible expulsion of Donald Trump from the US presidency by impeachment, unless he toes the line of Washingtons established bipartisan national security agenda. Putinophobia is central to this dark Shakespearean drama. Trump is increasingly friendless and bereft of the respect normally due to a US President. Recent polling suggests that 40% of Americans favour Trumps impeachment: so far missing is sufficient Republican and Democrat votes in both houses of Congress to translate this mounting public antipathy into political action. If present trends continue, he will be either impeached, or politically neutered by...

PETER DAY. Catholic Archbishops to front Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

This week the Catholic archbishops of Australia will be called to give evidence at the full panel of Royal Commission in Sydney.

FRANK JOTZO. New coal plants wouldn't be clean, and would cost billions in taxpayer subsidies.

Following a campaign by the coal industry, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has argued for new coal-fired power stations in Australia. But these plants would be more expensive than renewables and carry a huge liability through the carbon emissions they produce.

PETER DAY. Trumps Tower of Babel

Indeed, May God well bless America, because what it needs now appears to be well beyond the scope of mere mortals.

RICHARD WOOLCOTT. A foreign policy for Australia.

Our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister often refer to the rulesbasedworld order. This order, of course, was established primarily by the United States after the end of World War 2. The rules have beendisregarded by the US itself when it has suited it to do so. As a result It is not accepted by some major countries, especially China, which would want to be involved in the development of any new rules based order. In this context,the dominant influence of the defence and intelligence communities in Australia and in the US must be restrained.

ROBERT MANNE. The Muscovian candidate? Donald Trump and Russia.

This article was first published by The Monthly in December 2016. To uncover the truth about the relations between Trump and Russia, therefore now requires not only painstaking investigation but, even more, political courage from members of the Republican Party in the Senate, the US intelligence services and the American mainstream media. The future of the Trump Presidency now rests in their hands.

WALTER HAMILTON. Bad hombres.

Donald J. Trump likes to sound off about bad hombres sneaking into the United States to spread terror and crime. Bad hombres come in many shapes and disguises, not only as bad people but also bad ideas.

Welcoming the Stranger

In solidarity with refugees, young Catholics joined in a Mass in Lafayette Square outside the White House. See link below to article in 'America, The Jesuit Review'.

GEOFF HISCOCK. Key Indian states go to the polls in February

While most of Asia-Pacific focuses on the beginning of the Trump presidency and Chinas prickly response so far, a substantial slice of the worlds biggest democracy, India, is about to enter a crucial round of state elections that will also have an impact on regional stability and economic growth. ... in Indias most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, where 140 million of its 200 million people are on the electoral roll -- more than the 130 million American citizens who cast votes in the US presidential election.

GREG WOOD. The TPP is dead - so scotch ISDS

With the Trans Pacific Partnerships (TPP) demise, Australia should take the chance to reconsider its approach to international trade negotiations. Certainly we should never again sign an agreement with wide ranging Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions (ISDS) which are definitely not in the interests of our society, democracy or economy.

JOHN FALZON. The housing crisis in Australia is not an economic inevitability

The government is actually intervening in the market, especially through such levers as negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount, to ramp up housing inequality!

TIM LINDSEY. Indonesia's inconvenient truths.

Concerns regarding Australian military teaching materials and remarks uncovered late last year have placedstrain on relations with Indonesia. The strange affair of our on-again-off-again defence cooperation arrangements with Indonesia continues to confuse most observers.

ROBERT BROWN. Financial advice reform - when will the journey end?

The financial advice industry is on a journey towards professionalism. While I cant say exactly what this tired assertion means, I can say that it is invariably offered as an impatient response to pesky commentators who dare to suggest that the latest round of reforms (responding to the latest round of financial services industry scandals) may not achieve the results that consumers deserve.

THOMAS BABOR, DAVID JERNIGAN, CHRIS BROOKES. Alcohol marketing: the simple truth

According to the World Health Organization, there are 3.3 million deaths attributable to alcohol use worldwide each year. Alcohol marketing, promotion and sponsorship are widespread in most of the world today and marketers are moving increasingly to digital and social media, where efforts at regulation have fallen far behind industry innovations in producing audience engagement and brand ambassadorship.

WALTER HAMILTON. Rush for the exits

When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month stood alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull near The Gaponce Sydneys favourite suicide spotthey presented themselves as brothers-in-arms for multilateral free trade. How quickly things can change.

John Menadue. What does it mean to be an Australian? Are we still the land of the second chance?

The Macquarie legacy is still with us. It underpins our best instincts togive all residents in this country, whether Australian born, migrants or refugees an equal opportunity in life, a second chance. That ethos of redemption is a core part of our history.

John Menadue. Should we re-think Australia Day?

The Australia of today is vastly different to the Australia of my childhood with its widespread racism and sectarianism. It was socially suffocating. For those changes I am very grateful. There is a lot that we can be proud of. No country has integrated newcomers as well as we have. But there have been failures and remedial action yet to be taken. We are yet to be reconciled to our indigenous brothers and sisters who watched the European boat arrivals in 1788. We are yet to take our share of responsibility for the displaced and persecuted people of the world.

John Menadue. Australia Day - the Queen and the Asian Century

This is a repost from 26/1/2013 A major barrier to our future in the region is our dependence on foreign institutions and powers. First it was the British and now the Americans. We cling to others.

JOHN MENADUE. Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Ports

As a former Minister for Transport, Gladys Berejiklian leaves a very dubious record in port privatization. The Chair of ACCC, Rod Sims has said Privatisation (of NSW ports) is costing consumers and damaging economic reform.

Karl Rove's Prophecy.

The neocons stayed put in the State Department and other positions closely linked to the Obama White House, where they became allies with the liberal hawks in continuing spreading democracy by overthrowing regimes. Americas mainstream news and opinion purveyors, without demurring, accommodated the architects of reality production overseen by Dick Cheney. This did not end when Obama became president, but in fact with seemingly ever greater eagerness they gradually made the CIA/neocon-neoliberal created reality appear unshakably substantial in the minds of most newspaper readers and among TV audiences in the Atlantic basin.

BERNARD KEANE. Good riddance to the trade deal from hell.

The bigger problem with the TPP was that it simply had virtually no benefits for Australia.

John Menadue. Democratic Renewal; Vested interests and the subversion of the public interest?

This is a repost from May 13, 2015. There are many key public issues that we must address such as climate change, growing inequality, tax avoidance, budget repair, an ageing population, lifting our productivity and our treatment of asylum seekers. But our capacity to address these and other important issues is becoming very difficult because of the power of vested interests with their lobbying power to influence governments in a quite disproportionate way.

RONALD MACKINNON. Do we as doctors always put our patients first?

After his retirement, Dr Chris McCaffrey requested that his gravestone be inscribed: 'I was always on the side of the patient'.

AHMAD RIZKY M. UMAR. ASEAN countries should find a solution to end the persecution of Rohingya.

ASEANs non-intervention is aggravating the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslims suffering widespread abuse by the Burmese military in Myanmars Rakhine State. The Rohingya are one of the worlds most persecuted ethnic minorities.

PHILIP CLARKE & PETER SIVEY. Why don't we know how many people die in our hospitals?

Unfortunately no one yet has been able to overcome the federal/state divide in order to combine Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data held in Canberra with hospital and mortality data from each state. Making this type of data available would facilitate research to improve the quality and safety, as well as the efficiency of our health system. Better health data and statistics should be a priority of politicians across Australia.

JIM CHALMERS. We can't let go of the fair go.

New unreported data shows Australias proud tradition of inclusive economic growth is at risk, writes Shadow Finance Minister Jim Chalmers.

STEVE GEORGAKIS. How professional sport handicaps youth sporting culture.

The recent spate of incidents and reports of doping, match-fixing and wall-to-wall TV coverage of betting, alcohol and junk food advertisements has stimulated considerable debate about the impact of commercialised sport on Australian youth.

MICHAEL GARCIA BOCHENEK. EU cannot copy Australia's offshore asylum model

Casting about for ways to manage refugee flows, some European policymakers speak of emulating Australias use of offshore processing centres. But Australias approach to asylum seekers is fiscally irresponsible, morally bankrupt, and increasingly unsustainable politically. Its no model for Europe.

WALTER HAMILTON. Thank you, Mr. Trump

Friend or foe, ally or rival, it no longer seems to matter: hey, world, make way for the guy who pushes in at the checkout, double parks at the school gate, dumps his garbage in the park, talks through the movie, and calls in sick every Monday. The idea of American Exceptionalism was bad enough, but now comes American Entitlement.

FRANCIS MARKHAM & MARTIN YOUNG. When it comes to election campaigns, is the gambling lobby all bark and no bite?

The gambling lobbys influence in overriding popular opinion and the public interest in Australia is well-known. But is its electoral power exaggerated? A look at this years ACT election suggests that perhaps the gambling industry is less influential than it appears to be.

PETER DAY. Kyrgios: the anti-hero

Like the rest of us, Nick needs time: time to mature; time to know himself; and time to sort out the wheat from the chaff as regards the latter, I think hes already worked out that the media is mostly full of chaff and dont the media hate it, love it, know it, resent it, milk it.

MARIAN SAWER. What can be done about political trust? The 2016 federal election inquiry

The major political parties largely control the process of electoral reform and judge any proposal by its possible partisan effects. Considerations of partisan advantage almost always take precedence over the restoration of public trust in the political system.

JOHN MENADUE. Private Health Insurance vs dental care.

Australian health would be much improved if the $11 billion subsidy for private health insurance was abolished and part of those funds allocated to universal dental care within Medicare.

GETHIN DAVISON & EDGAR LIU. Neighbours' fears about affordable housing are worse than any impacts.

Housing affordability is a hot topic in Australia. Governments are increasingly recognising that more needs to be done to provide a greater range of affordable housing options, especially in the major cities. It is well documented, however, that proposals for affordable housing development often encounter opposition from host community members.

ALAN MORRIS. Why secure and affordable housing is an increasing worry for age pensioners.

There is no doubt that an increasing proportion of older Australians on the age pension will be dependent on the private rental sector in coming decades. This is because of the housing affordability crisis and increasing divorce in later life, combined with the virtual stagnation of the social housing sector.

JOHN MENADUE. The new squatters on public land.

The new squatters on public land are being given a leg-up as they were in the 19th Century to seize and occupy public land.

DAVID JAMES.Wage inequality is a bigger threat to workers than robots

he issue of jobs cannot be seen as separate from wealth distribution. The problem is as Henry Ford understood when he paid his workers well so they could buy his cars that too much social inequality means insufficient demand for products and low economic growth. The issue is not whether or not there will be jobs it is most likely that there will be but how fair the wages system will be.

BRUCE ARNOLD. The Hanson Card is unworkable rather than just very nasty

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has reportedly proposed that every Australian be required to carry a national identity card. The rationale? The card will supposedly significantly reduce fraud by non-citizens who are resident in Australia. The proposal may be good politics a timely diversion from Hansons very public tendency to lose candidates but it is unviable.

TONY KEVIN. Obama's years of promise and frustration.

For eight years I have delighted in Barack Obama's words - even richer and more inspiring to see and hear in his ringing tones , than to read in cold print. . Those days are, sadly, about to depart. The Chicago valedictory address was his last, magnificent, gift to us.

WALTER HAMILTON. Rex Tillerson and Australias national interest

President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet picks are being cross-examined in public for the first time. Here begins the real business of assessing how a Trump administration might behavein more than 140 characters. The indications so far suggest the need for an early reappraisal.

TONY KEVIN. The Rex Tillerson confirmation hearings, and wider issues

Rex Tillerson, Donald Trumps nominee for Secretary of State and Trumps best Cabinet choice so far, will probably survive his gruelling full day of confirmation hearings by the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee last Wednesday 11 January (Washington time).

The strange career of American exceptionalism.

In this article in The Nation, George Grandin of New York University comments 'Obamas recomposition of American exceptionalism was tactically successful, at least as measured by his 2012 reelection, which expanded the multiracial and cross-class coalition that had given him the White House four years earlier.

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