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

JOHN KEANE. Money, Capitalism and the Slow Death of Social Democracy.

In this article, John Keane speaks of the slow death of social democracy but suggests that there may be possibilities that social democracy could embrace Green movements, intellectuals and parties that have common interests. See extracts from article below and link to the full article in The Conversation.

MICHELE KOSASIH. Seven years on and still itching for change on the negative impacts of alcohol.

2016 marks seven years for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Educations (FARE) Annual Alcohol Poll (conducted by Galaxy Research), and we continue to see Australias concern about the negative impacts alcohol has on the community.

EVAN WILLIAMS. 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'. Film Review 4.5 stars.

Here is that rarest of cinematic pleasures a fine story, beautifully told, acted to perfection by a first-rate cast, with a screenplay consisting mainly of intelligent conversation between adults of mature years, and with no recourse to car chases, explosions or gratuitous four-letter words. And with all of coming in at a little over an hour-and-a-half, it isnt a moment too long. I can recommend The Man Who Knew Infinity, a British film written and directed by Matthew Brown, to cinemagoers of all ages as a necessary antidote to the likes of X-Men: Apocalypse and Captain America: Civil War...

JOHN MENADUE. Our White Mans Media. It is so derivative and relies heavily on news and entertainment sources in New York and London.

Mark Scott the outgoing Managing Director on the ABC regretted his failure to ensure that the ABC reflected the ethnic diversity of Australia. He should also have added that the ABC has failed to help us equip ourselves for our future in Asia. It is therefore welcome that the new MD Michelle Guthrie has said she is going to change this. The problem is so obvious with the ABCs main TV Channels across Australia dominated by Anglos. Less than 12% of ABC employees are from non English speaking backgrounds and the story is getting worse each year. I am...

BOB KINNAIRD. Like earlier Free Trade Agreements, the new FTA with Singapore continues to waive labour market testing which has been designed to protect Australian workers and students.

Prime Minister Turnbull announced the Australia-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) on 6 May last, just a few days before he called the 2 July election. Cynics will suspect the timing and also see the Singapore announcement as something of a consolation prize. The much bigger FTA fish for the Turnbull government was the elusive agreement with India. This was originally promised by the end of 2015 but Special Trade Envoy Mr Robb this week said only that a deal is now possible around mid-2016.

WAYNE McMILLAN. Is there any difference between Labor or Liberal coalition governments when it comes to economic management?

There is much political rhetoric spouted by both sides of Australian politics when it comes to economic management and the truth generally lies somewhere in between the myths and the half-truths. To make matters even worse, so-called economic experts from the financial and business sectors, shock jocks and news media outlets tend to centre discussion narrowly on surpluses, deficits and government debt taken out of any meaningful, economic context. The language or terms used in the news and in political debate, often gives an inaccurate or incorrect picture of what is really happening. The political pundits and the commentariat tend...

JOHN MENADUE. Bamboo ceiling and the old boys club. Our business sector is not equiping itself for our future in Asia.

For three decade James Ruse High School in NSW and similar high schools around Australia have been dominating Higher School Certificate results. And according to the NSW Education Department 80% of these top students come from a background other than English with most coming from Asian Backgrounds But despite this remarkable record few of these students make it to the top in business, political or academic life. They may be regarded as intelligent and hardworking but what is holding them back in mainstream organizations in Australia?

GEOFF HISCOCK. Asias easy opportunities overshadow Indian business ties. Australian businesses lack enthusiasm for Indian opportunities.

At the Australia India Business Council forum in Sydney earlier this week, Indian diplomats wondered why Australian businesses lacked enthusiasm about engaging with an economy that is destined to become the worlds third largest within the next two decades.

CARMEN LAWRENCE. When in doubt, rewind to the politics of fear.

Peter Dutton now makes no distinction between asylum seekers and refugees who come through regular or irregular channels. He now demonises all refugees. John Menadue. It has been an article of faith for the Coalition that real refugees from UNHCR camps dotted around the globe deserve our compassionate support while the illegal asylum seekers who try to arrive by boat are little more than cashed up opportunists who deserve to be exiled in remote camps; object lessons to other would-be intruders.

JOHN MENADUE. Never underestimate a survivor, but Peter Dutton obviously under estimates refugees. They may be 'takers' in the early years, but they become great contributors.

The following are extracts from a blog I posted on 27 June 2013. John Menadue As responsible members of the human family, we have a strong moral case to provide protection for refugees who are the victims of persecution and violence. There is also a strong case in our own self-interest Refugees are almost by definition risk-takers and entrepreneurial. It can be argued that refugees are amongst the most highly motivated and determined in the Australian community.

ARJA KESKI-NUMMI. Peter Dutton should know better - rather than demonise refugees we should stand tall and proud of what we have achieved over the past 70 years.

The problem with refugees and asylum seekers is that they are not us so it is OK to demonise them. Dutton is not dog whistling when he puts people into boxes describing them as these people, asserts that they are barely literate or numerate in their own languages, cant speak English and at the same time says they would take Australian jobs and at the same time assert that they will languish on the dole andMedicare! You cant have it both ways Mr. Dutton.

CAROLINE RYAN. Women deacons or women cardinals?

While I welcome anything authentic that promotes the capacity of women to be truly influential in the church, I am not really keen on the diaconate idea of female deacons. Essentially this is because I think it is unnecessary. That is to say, if the theology of the laity was allowed to mature, the diaconal ministry could be effectively offered by lay people - men and women.

Brexit and possible consequences.

In the London Review of Books, Ferdinand Mount, describes the gaggle of opponents of the EU and the possible consequences if the UK votes to brexit (exit from the EU). He highlights some of the risks: a risk of recession or at worst a slump; capital flight; impact on employment; a rumpus in Scotland and knock-on effect on the morale of the rump EU. For full article, see link: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n10/ferdinand-mount/nigels-against-the-world

IAN MARSH. Our political system is in gridlock.

Longer term policy making in Australia. Longer term policy making in Australia is in a parlous state. The scale and significance of this problem is totally unrecognised. For example, since 1996 almost no contested measure that required legislative approval has past the Australian parliament. Change to the Senate voting system was one but it is hardly likely to weaken the influence of minor parties. The GST was another. As a result John Howard nearly lost the 1998 election.

TONY DOHERTY. Women deacons.

Three feet of ice, the Chinese say, are not frozen in one day. Nor does it thaw in one year. Large institutions are famous for sometimes moving with all of the speed of an inert glacier. The ancient institution of the Vatican is no exception to this rule.

JAMES MORLEY. The idea that conservatives are better economic managers simply does not stand up.

Conventional wisdom holds that conservative politicians are more prudent stewards of the economy. These politicians are often happy to reinforce this view by citing their business acumen and denigrating the experience or lack thereof of their opponents. Think of Mitt Romney as multi-millionaire businessman versus Barack Obama, former community leader. Donald Trump also highlights his business experience, although his track record suggests hes done far worse at managing his fathers wealth than a monkey throwing darts at The Wall Street Journal. In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has positioned himself as a successful manager of economic...

JOHN MENADUE. Refugees and Asylum seekers-The only unforgivable sin is despair

JOHN MENADUE. People have been rude to the Queen - again.

According to press reports, the Queen believes that some Chinese were rude during President Xi Jinpings visit to Britain last year. Apparently the Queen told Metropolitan Police Commander, Lucy dOrsi that she had bad luck in being responsible for security for the visit and that they were very rude to the (UK) ambassador. Rude seems to be a frequent part of palace vocabulary. In 1974 in Kingston, Jamaica, aboard her yacht The Britannia, the Queen told me that your Prime Minister had been rude to my family. I was the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and...

EVAN WILLIAMS. Who do you trust to speak plain English?

Who do you trust to keep the economy strong and protect family living standards? Who do you trust to keep interest rates low? Who do you trust in the fight against international terrorism? Familiar words? Malcolm Turnbulls opening pitch for the July 2 election? Actually, no. These were John Howards words, launching his campaign against the hapless Mark Latham in 2004. By my count, Howard used the mantra Who do you trust? more than a dozen times. (An old-fashioned pedant like me might have asked: Whom do you trust to use good English grammar? But lets not quibble over trifles.)

National Foundation for Australian Women. Budget 2016-17: A gender lens.

The National Foundation for Australian Women has prepared an analysis of the Budget 2016-17 with what it calls a 'gender lens'. An executive summary of this analysis follows. A link to the full document can be found on 'the budget' button:www.nfaw.org. Budget 2016-17 fails to bring Australian women into the centre of the economy and pushes many further into poverty. Cuts to overseas aid hurt vulnerable women in our region. The budget is far from fair, with just a touch of the white picket fence. It provides tax breaks for the wealthy, while low to middle income...

JOHN MENADUE. Health principles and policies for the next parliament.

Thanks to Medicare introduced over 40 years ago, despite bitter conservative opposition, we have one of the best health systems in the world. It is sustainable but we waste over $20 b per annum. There are threats and problems that we must face. What are they?

Bruce Wearne. Political questions that can't be answered by our publicly funded public relations firms.

Last week, four days before the election was called, I received a pre-election letterfrom my Parliamentary representative. It began with the following disclaimer: Dear Fellow Corangamite Resident: Soon there will be another election and I write to apologise for the fact that your letter boxes will be swamped with election material. However, it will be an opportunity for you to choose your representative - and yes, I will be standing and asking for your vote. The sitting member obviously thinks we know what electioneering is all about. For the past two elections she, or rather her campaign team, have swamped...

Richard Farmer. Controlling the Senate.

There a couple of reasons to take little notice of what Labor, Liberals, Nationals, Greens and other assorted politicians say between now and 2 July. The first is that election politics is rarely about telling the truth. Normally it is about telling people things that they think people want to hear. The skilful politician monitors public opinion, determines what people believe, packages the publics best lines and sells them back to them. It will always be thus as the primary concern of a politician is winning. The second reason is that even a political leader clearly winning the House of...

Warwick Elsche. If words were deeds.

If words were deeds or even credible policies Malcolm Turnbull might already have joined the company of Australias pre-eminent Prime Ministers. All three of Malcolms pre-politics callings, journalism, law and banking, have involved the extensive used of the words medium. But none of these also involved the commitment, the enduring exposure, or the threat of damaging public refutation as mere words do, coming at a critical political time, from the countrys most senior political figure. However, in the short journey Turnbulls eight-week election campaign has travelled so far, it seems that, from his side at least,...

Are conservatives better economic managers?

Are conservatives better economic managers? Part 1 In my blog of 3 May 2016, I queried the claim by Malcolm Turnbull and apparently supported by many media commentators and also by the public, that conservatives are better economic managers. The evidence and the record do not show that. In last weeks budget and in the public relations selling afterwards, Scott Morrison fell back on slogans again. In this case the slogans were jobs and growth, jobs and growth. This was quickly followed by we have a plan, we have a plan. But as Ross Gittins in the SMH...

Julianne Schultz. Australia must act now to preserve its culture in the face of global tech giants. Brian Johns Annual Lecture

At the first Brian Johns Annual Lecture, Julianne Schultz spoke of the challenge to Australian culture by the global tech giants. In the summary of 'what can be done' she said: So what can be done to join the dots in the Age of Fang? We need to become better advocates of the value of cultural investment. We need to find new ways to put the case so we can win political and bureaucratic supporters with hard headed and sustainable arguments. We need to find ways to embrace the particularity of being Australian in a global context...

Our better angels.

Wasim Buka was sentenced recently on two charges of people-smuggling. He came to Australia as a boat person and has settled in Australia. Unfortunately, two of his brothers were executed in Iraq and one sister, following in his footsteps to Australia, drowned along with her husband and five children in the waters between Australia and Indonesia. Her Honour Judge Hampel decided to release him upon a recognizance release order to be of good behaviour for a period of two years. He was released on a $1,000 bond. See the link below for the full transcript of Judge Hampel's...

'Refugees don't self-harm because of me, Peter Dutton, they self-harm because of you.'

One of the many disappointments of Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministership is that he reappointed Peter Dutton as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. This disappointment is reinforced by his attempt to blame refugee advocates rather than his own policies for the self-harm of asylum seekers. Sarah Smith, a supporter of refugees, tells of the heartbreak she feels at the pain inflicted by Peter Dutton. But he blames others. See link to article by Sarah Smith in The Guardian of 5 May 2016. John Menadue. http://gu.com/p/4tqv5/sbl

Evan Williams. Will the real Malcolm Turnbull please stand up?

My friend Evan Hughes, art historian and former law student is standing for Parliament at the next election. And in many ways hes the model of a modern Labor candidate clean-cut good looks, easy charm, natural speaking skills and a first-rate mind vouchsafed by a Cambridge University degree. At a fund-raising dinner in Sydney the other night he was doing the rounds of the room with his baby son cradled in his arms. Great photo ops for the local paper. In any marginal seat youd have to say Evan was a shoo-in. But theres a problem: his opponent in...

Kerry Murphy. Blaming refugees.

Blaming instances of self-harm by refugees and asylum seekers on refugee advocates or the undeserving asylum seekers is not a new political tactic. Back in 2001 then Minister Ruddock was interviewed by Four Corners about the problems of self-harm by asylum seekers in detention, especially in Curtain, Woomera and Port Hedland detention centres. Journalist Debbie Whitmont asked the Minister Philip Ruddock how he explained the number of cases of self-mutilation in Australian detention centres. PHILIP RUDDOCK: I think there are a variety of explanations, and I think the principle explanation is that there are some people who do not...

John Zaw. No end in sight to Rohingya suppression in Myanmar.

The hardline Buddhist Arakan National Party (ANP) that holds a majority of seats in Myanmars religiously divided Rakhine State has promised to fight any attempts to grant up to 1 million stateless ethic Rohingya citizenship. For the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government in Myanmar, the first civilian administration in the country in more than five decades, the issue of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine poses one of its most formidable challenge. While the NLD's landslide win in the November 2015 election has brought optimism to the Rohingya community, its leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent...

John Thompson. Surgeons report shows the ineffectiveness of private health insurers to control health costs

Private health insurer Medibank has worked with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to produce a report that shows enormous variation in fees charged by surgeons for similar procedures. The Surgical Variance Report for General Surgery reviewed thousands of procedures performed on Medibank members in eight common operations gallbladder removal, gastric band procedures, bowel resection procedures, hernia procedures, gastroscopy and colonoscopy. The data shows that some surgeons working in private hospitals are charging 15 times the amount charged by their peers for the same procedure. For example, surgeons performing gastric sleeve operations for weight loss charged average...

Greg Wilesmith. Guantanomo Bay: Obama's big failure.

Good news on Gitmo. There are just 80 prisoners left in their cramped, high security cells in a small, far off, scrubby peninsula on Cuba. Thats about 160 fewer than when Barack Obama became president in early 2009 promising to close Guantanomo within a year. So not exactly Mission Accomplished! as President Bush trumpeted after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Obamas presidential promise wont be fulfilled and amounts to another big political failure. Having filmed at Guantanomo two years ago, under strict military censorship, for the ABCs Foreign Correspondent program, reported by Lisa Millar, www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2014/s3991385.htm Ive...

Kim Williams. Fair use does not mean free: Copyright recommendations would crush Australian content

As someone who has spent my life running organisations that take risks, invest billions and innovate to provide the best of local and international content to Australian consumers, reading the Productivity Commission's draft report into our intellectual property arrangements was profoundly dispiriting. I cannot think of another recent report that so seriously misses the main drivers of its area of inquiry namely innovation and the incentives to produce new work. At the same time, the report treats Australian creative content and its production with a disdain bordering on contempt, and that is surprising for any economic statement. ...

John Menadue. Are Conservatives better economic managers?

According to opinion polls the public clearly believe that Conservatives are better economic managers. Like other Conservative leaders, Malcolm Turnbull keeps asserting that this is so. Tonight in the budget, Scott Morrison will probably tell us about the importance of growth and jobs and that the Coalition can deliver in this area but Labor cannot. But the evidence does not support the view that the Conservatives are better economic managers. In this blog on 20 April 2016, Ian McAuley discussed this issue in 'Are Conservatives better economic managers?' Amongst other things, Ian McAuley pointed out that over the...

Peter Gibilisco. A Synergistic Approach to Disability

Here is my proposal for a Dictionary definition of Synergy: the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. the synergy between artist and record company or disability support workers and people with disabilities with high support needs. In some of my writings I have referred to what I call the synergistic outcomes that result from the interaction of people with disabilities and their support workers. These effective working relationships should be given the respect that is their due since...

Richard Woolcott. Australia/China and Barracuda submarines.

It seems that one of the important roles for the new Barracuda submarines that we are to purchase from the French is for the submarines to be able to operate at long-range in the South China Sea. Quite apart from the cost of the submarine purchase, is this a wise strategy for Australia to pursue. I have reposted extracts below from an earlier article by Richard Woolcott in which he warns of an adversarial attitude towards China based mainly on Japanese policies and US support. John Menadue. Extract from earlier article by Richard Woolcott 'The Burning question - should...

Evan Williams. 'A Month of Sundays'. Film Review

I went to see A Month of Sundays, Mathew Savilles new Australian film, expecting a comedy about real-estate agents. It was the impression Id gained from a careless reading of publicity handouts and other usually unreliable sources. And sure enough, the film has some witty lines and one or two moments of gentle satire at the expense of the real-estate profession. But Savilles film isnt really a comedy unless you get your laughs watching lonely old widows coping on their own, grieving teenage boys pining for parental love, divorced husbands pining for lost wives, and other unhappy souls.

Jon Stanford and Michael Keating. the mistaken decision on submarines.

The government has made a bad decision on acquiring the future submarines (FSMs). Its bad for the Navy, bad for the taxpayer and it represents a major regression in terms of industry policy. Its bad for the Navy because in terms of capability the decision fails to deliver on the objectives set out in the latest Defence White Paper. DCNS conventional Barracuda class boats will not be regionally superior submarines in terms of their technology. By the 2030s, if operating in the South China Sea, they will be confronted by nuclear attack submarines (SSNs), of greatly improved performance compared...

Arja Keski-Nummi. Manus - The Worst Angels of Our Nature

The PNG Supreme Court decision has again thrown into stark relief the bankrupt nature of Australias asylum policy and the disingenuous way that both sides use trite slogans such as saving lives and not starting up the people smuggling business as justification for their cynical and inhumane policies. People working with asylum seekers and who have processed and resettled refuges from within and outside of Australia have all urged Australian political parties to find a way to return to a bipartisan policy based on treating all people with dignity and common human decency, even if in the end...

Richard Eckersley. Wellbeing and sustainability: irreconcilable differences?

Better concepts and measures of quality of life and wellbeing make sustainable development more achievable. The debate about progress and development is converging and merging with that about sustainable development. My analysis of the flaws in equating progress with modernisation, discussed in my previous article, contributes to this debate because it shows the equation counts modernitys benefits to wellbeing but not all its costs. Modernitys dominant narrative of material progress gives priority to economic growth and a rising standard of living. It is being increasingly challenged by the alternative narrative of sustainability, which seeks to balance social, environmental...

Ray Cassin. No moral mystery to 60 Minutes child snatch disaster.

The mystery of the 60 Minutes child snatch that went so disastrously wrong is that there is no mystery, although some people want to contrive one. Ethically there are no shades of grey here. We know what happened, and we know that what 60 Minutes and TCN Nine agreed to do by helping Sally Faulkner abduct her children in Beirut violated a fundamental tenet of journalism. That tenet can be simply expressed: don't make yourself a player in the story, especially not by paying other players in the story. Because if you do, your audience has no reason to...

John Menadue. Slogans or advocacy.

At the last election, Tony Abbott gave us a long list of slogans. One of them was to axe the tax. And he did axe the carbon tax. But it was a serious mistake. With the continuing strong evidence of global warming, we badly need a carbon tax or an ETS to reduce carbon pollution. In addition to reducing our capacity to reduce carbon emissions, axing the tax meant that the Commonwealth Budget lost $7.6 b. p.a. in revenue. The slogan won the day. The losers were the planet and the budget. Tony Abbott said that he would...

John Menadue. Defence White Paper. US, China and Barracuda class submarines.

Rather than acquiring military off-the-shelf (MOTS) submarines, the Australian government has committed us to the French submarine that will be built to Australian specifications. It will be a unique build, non-nuclear and very expensive The Defence Minister says that the Barracuda submarine will meet Australian Government requirements for a submarine with considerable range and the capacity to remain undisturbed and undetected for extended periods. The government hopes that this submarine will be able to operate in the South China Sea without running unacceptable risks for the crews lives, Notwithstanding that by the time these submarines are actually...

Evan Williams. What Bill Shorten should say but wont

With Australias longest-ever election campaign now underway, politicians face a problem. How long can they go on repeating the same promises and slogans? According to usually reliable sources, Bill Shorten drafted a speech for his campaign launch which was immediately shredded by his close advisers. Leaked extracts are reproduced here by Evan Williams, who accepts no responsibility for their accuracy. Men and women of Australia! We all remember the words of my great predecessor Gough Whitlam when he launched his election campaign in 1972. Tonight, as we approach the centenary of his birth, I hope to draw some...

Rob Nicholls. NBN - election issue or fizzer?

Cable competition NBN Co has let a contract worth $1.6 billion for Telstra to construct the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network in the mainland state capital cities. The deal has the ACCC on edge with Rod Sims expressing concern that Telstra will get a retail edge. As he said in a media release: It is important that Telstra doesnt get a head-start selling retail services over the NBN just because its technical expertise is being used in the construction and maintenance of the NBN. Although the ACCC is signalling a potential concern, other than Telstras current ring-fencing, its...

Richard Eckersley. The mismeasure of progress: Is the West really the best?

Western liberal democracies dominate the top rankings of progress indices. But are they the best models of development when their quality of life is, arguably, declining and unsustainable. The measures of human progress and development that we employ matter. Good measures are a prerequisite for good governance because they are how we judge its success. They also influence how we evaluate our own lives because they affect our values, perceptions and goals. Measures both reflect and reinforce what we understand development to be: if we believe the wrong thing, we will measure the wrong thing, and if we measure...

Adrian Bauman & William Bellew. Does a spoonful of sugar help the medicine go down?

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, according to Mary Poppins. Many more spoonfuls of sugar currently pervade our lifestyles and unconscious food choices. The recent media focus on sugar has been remarkable, but the media frenzy has sought a single solution, a quick fix, to what is in reality a complex problem: childhood and adult obesity. Rapid increases in obesity rates have occurred since the late 1980s in Australia and in many other countries, and even if starting to plateau, still leaves 63% of adult Australians overweight or obese. Sugar is pervasive, not only (as we...

Geoffrey Harcourt and Peter Kriesler . The case for taxation.

We were happy to sign the Australian Institute letter on taxation cuts in the Sydney Morning Herald (12/04/2016).We now would like to set out the general philosophy that lay behind our support. We have always argued that taxes have two main functions: first, the relative structure of taxation types and rates should reflect philosophical views on equity as between different groups in society. Secondly, the total tax take should impact on the need to achieve high levels of employment and activity, after taking into account the other main sources of overall demand at any moment of time -- expected...

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