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 Menadue. The Dismissal Forty years on. A smoking gun

Repost from 27/10/2015 The evidence continues to mount against those who collaborated in the dismissal of the Whitlam government. To obfuscate and cover their tracks, those who collaborated in the dismissal and their establishment friends spare no effort to criticize the performance of the Whitlam government. Those attacks are becoming quite threadbare. It is amazing what people with guilty consciences do to try and justify outrageous behavior or avoid responsibility or change the subject! The fact is that they collaborated in the dismissal of a democratically elected government. In contrast Gough Whitlam, after forty years, is more...

John Menadue. What has the government done for us?

Repost from 25/02/2015 Many will recall in the Monty Python film, the Life of Brian, an anti-Roman revolutionary played by John Cleese, but who reminds me of Joe Hockey, asks rhetorically about the Romans, What have they ever given us? Expecting the answer Nothing, he is irritated when he is told that they provided aqueducts. Cleeses character slowly concedes further points, until he asks Apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, fresh water system and public health what have the Romans ever done for us? And still someone chips in with another suggestion of...

John Menadue. Cricket and the sound of summer.

For me, the most memorable comment of the cricket season so far has been by Steve Smith, the Australian captain, explaining that the VB logo on their jackets wasn't really advertising alcohol. It was only 'branding'. I notice that he is now promoting Kentucky Fried Chicken. I am waiting for his explanation of how that helps combat obesity. A sad feature of the current season was the untimely death of Phillip Hughes. There was much public sympathy from the players. It was surprising that they did not fund a memorial foundation. They could afford to. In 2014 out...

John Menadue and Peter Hughes. Slogans vs Facts on Boat Arrivals, Part 2

Reposted from 23/09/2015 Tony Abbott did not stop the boats In this blog yesterday (22 September2015) we pointed out that Tony Abbott kept the door open for tens of thousands of boat arrivals by opposing legislation that would have enabled implementation of the Malaysia Arrangement in September 2011. By this action, he helped turn on the green light for people smugglers. Moreover, the data just does not support the claim that, after coming to power in September 2013, Tony Abbott stopped the boats. The media uncritically accepted the Coalitions line in the confused period of the changeover...

John Menadue and Peter Hughes. Slogans versus facts on boat arrivals. Part 1

Reposted from 22/09/2015 How Tony Abbott helped to keep the door open for people smugglers. The ABC provided us with excellent coverage of the Turnbull-Abbott shoot out, but the various commentators still swallowed the myth that Tony Abbott stopped the boats. That is a great piece of spin, but the reality is different. This blog on 26 July 2015argued that Tony Abbott did not stop the boats. The game changer was the announcement by Kevin Rudd on 19 July 2013, two months before the election, that any persons arriving irregularly by boat would not be settled in...

What is the driving force behind Jihadist terrorism?

In this article, (link below) Olivier Roy identifies the patterns of radicalism which have led to terrorism. He describes these patterns Frustration and resentment against society seems to be the only psychological trait they share. The majority of the radicals come from second generation Muslims born in Europe Many have histories of petty delinquency and drug-dealing. It is clearly a youth movement. Very few of them have a history of militancy, either political or religious. There is an unusually high proportion of converts. The more recent pattern is the recruitment of young women to marry jihadists. The main motivation...

ISIL is really a revolt by young Muslims against their parents' generation.

In Quartz on 7 December 2015, Australian journalist, Emma-Kate Symons, shines a particular light on young Muslim terrorists. She argues that ISIL is really a revolt by young Muslims against their parents' generation. We have seen that many times on numerous issues - younger people who reject the values and materialism of earlier generations. See link to article below. http://qz.com/562128/isil-is-a-revolt-by-young-disaffected-muslims-against-their-parents-generation/

Magical thinking about ISIS.

Adam Shatz is the contributing editor at the London Review of Books. He lives in New York. In this article he says 'The attacks in Paris don't reflect a clash of civilisations, but rather the fact that we really do live in a single, if unequal world, where the torments in one region inevitably spill over into another, where everything connects, somethings with lethal consequences. ... For all its medieval airs, the caliphate holds up a mirror to the world we have made, not only in Raqqa and Mosul, but in Paris, Moscow and Washington.' See link to article below....

John Menadue. Drownings at sea.

Repost from 22/04/2015 The recent tragic loss of 800 Libyans in the Mediterranean has given once again an opportunity for the Government to infer that Australias refugee policies are designed particularly to stop people drowning at sea. It is self-deception or worse for the Government to suggest that its policies towards refugees have been motivated by humanitarian concerns and not political advantage. Perhaps with guilty consciences self-deception is necessary. In Opposition the Coalition was not interested in stopping the boats to save people drowning at sea. Its political objective was to stop the Labor Government stopping the...

Barney Zwartz. Christianity is dying out? Don't count on it.

Repost from 10/10/2015 Recent predictions (and perhaps hopes) about Christianity's demise in the West have been greatly exaggerated. But to the extent that the faith does disappear, it will be greatly missed, writes Barney Zwartz. Predicting social trends is usually an inexact science, but England's influential Spectator magazine has boldly put a precise date on the disappearance of Christianity from Britain: 2067. If the number of UK-born Christians keeps sinking at the rate it has for the past decade, by 2067 they will be statistically invisible, Damian Thompson wrote. British Anglicans have fallen from 40 per...

Richard Woolcott. Australia's role is in our region.

There is no doubt that Malcolm Turnbulls visit to Indonesia and his and Lucys contacts with President Jakowi and his wife have very substantially improved the situation between Indonesia and Australia that existed before Malcolms visit. The most recent and important meeting was between the Indonesian Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence with our Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence. This meeting of the two plus two, as it is called and the press conference which followed underlined how the situation between Australia and Indonesia has changed and substantially improved. This does not mean however that there are no...

Ray Markey. The myths surrounding penalty rates.

The article below by Professor Ray Markey was posted before the release of the recent Productivity Commission Report on penalty rates. Following the release of the report, Professor Markey commented as follows: 'The Productivity Commission report presents no new evidence for increased employment from reduced penalty rates. Mainly there are theoretical economic arguments and modelling based on it. Time use survey data is very selectively cited and dated anyway since the last survey was in 2006. It clearly shows that people prefer weekends for being with family and friends and does not refer to studies showing it is...

Moira Rayner. Corrupt churches need women leaders

Lord Actonsaid that 'Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' It was in correspondence about the then pope's proposed new doctrine of papal infallibility.It is often overlooked that he added, 'Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.' When I was a child, the greatest misuse of priestly power imputed to the 'RCs' was the sometimes brutal violence used in the 'care' of disobedient pupils, unmarried mothers, illegitimate and 'removed' children and orphans in institutions run...

John Menadue. Our innovation-averse business culture

Malcolm Turnbulls Innovation statement sounded new, but was it? So much of what he said used to be called industry policy-technology parks, offsets, defense technology, support for inventors, and quality assurance. But Malcolm Turnbull dwelt particularly on the need for cultural change in business. I think that was new. He said that Australian businesses should be more willing to take risks and less fearful of failure. Many times he said that cultural change in business is essential. He is right. We do have a risk-averse business culture. And our society is much the same. We want to be...

Ranald Macdonald. Meet Mark Scott's heir apparent, a businesswoman with close ties to the Murdochs.

The announcement of Michelle Guthrie as the new ABC supremo by ABC Board Chairman Jim Spigelman is shrewd and just maybe a winner. Of course, one cannot judge the performance of a driver until she is actually behind the wheel and showing her stuff. An A for innovation, though, for the Board on its decision - and (perhaps) it is an appointment which will not be slammed by the News Empire (after all, M's Guthrie worked for the Murdochs for some 13 years). To that I would add, at least a potential B-plus for her performance as...

Caroline Coggins. Christmas and weed mats

Weed mats are used to grow a garden. A weed mat lets us relax and focus on what we want to grow. Theres no need to labour over all the weeds that need pulling, make neat rows and certainly not break up the top soil, destroying the nature of the soil. What we actually want to grow/love/know gets us up each day, like Marys Yes. December the month of Advent, waiting on the coming of our God, can be overwhelmed by the glitter of the Christmas tree. Yet there is a pulsing of hope that is palpable. Most...

To solve the Syrian Crisis, we need to overcome these three obstacles.

In the Huffington Post on 9 December, Seyed Hossein Mousavian describes the three issues that need to be addressed in order to solve the Syrian crisis. For link to this article, see below. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seyed-hossein-mousavian/syria-crisis-obstacles_b_8740514.html?ir=World?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Peter Burdon. Why is the business world suddenly clamouring for a global carbon tax?

Among the various interests at the Paris climate talks, it is arguably the voice of business that has emerged most clearly. Many business leaders are now saying that if the world is intent on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there must be a worldwide price on carbonand a framework for linking the 55 schemes that exist in areas such as China, the European Union, and California. Momentum has been building since May, when six of Europes largest oil and gas companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and BP, issued a letter calling for global carbon pricing system. That month, leaders from...

Peter Day. The Cupboard.

There you go, Peter, todays pay. Dont waste it. Thank you, Mr Boss; I can now buy some paint for my cupboard. Have a good night, Mr Boss, Im going home now. Okay, Peter, see you tomorrow same time? Yes, Mr Boss, same time, same time: fifty-five past 8 oclock in the morning. It usually took Peter an hour to get home as he navigated the bustling alleys and back streets of Kolkata, passing fruit vendors, beggars, monks, sewerage drains, smoking meats, motorbikes, street kids, temples, magicians, orphaned dogs-cats-and-rats; not to mention the myriad friendly...

Tony Doherty. Removing the wrapping and ribbons from Christmas.

Do you know the story of the birth of Jesus? What a silly question! At this time of year, it is impossible to escape it. Children remind us in their charming Christmas plays. Shopping centres play carols until we could scream. Television programmers dust off their 1950s biblical dramas. Churches decorate cribs the odd donkey even appears in more adventurous parish churches. But how much of this story comes from the four gospels? Lets unwrap some of the shiny paper and see whats really inside. Mark, the writer of the first gospel, doesnt...

How a photographer of refugees finds the stories that get left behind.

'I feel an obligation to give something back to the people I photograph.' See link to stories and photos from the Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/alessandro-penso-interview_5672f66fe4b0648fe3028939?ir=World%253Fncid%253Dnewsltushpmg00000003

Andrew Leigh. Putting the spotlight on company tax dodgers

Every year, the International Tax Review nominates its Global Tax 50 the people and organisations who are most influential in improving tax systems around the world. Two years ago, David Bradbury made the list, for being a vocal and proactive voice on a variety of tax issues. One of Bradburys award-winning reforms was tax transparency laws that required the tax office to report the tax paid by firms with total income above $100 million. The Liberals didnt like the change, and voted against it at the time. After winning government, they set about trying to repeal it...

John Duggan. The effect of healthcare privatisation on patient outcomes

Recent actions by the Federal Minister of Health and her predecessors indicate the government's aim to shift hospital care from the public to the private sector. Associated with this is the developing perception that private hospitals are superior just as private schooling is increasingly held to be superior to publicly funded schooling. However, while there are massive data available comparing standards and outcomes in the school system, public, private and Catholic, there are virtually no Australian data comparing the two hospital systems; the only study found is a Productivity Commission report outlining the equal inefficiency of both systems. ...

Walter Hamilton. The Great Wall in the South China Sea

As Australians enter the end-of-year doze zone they would do well to take time to watch a report, available online, prepared by the BBCs Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, which lifts the curtain on Chinas bid to permanently militarise the South China Sea. Wingfield-Hayes and his crew defied threats from the Chinese Navy in order to video construction activity at several disputed coral reefs currently being turned into military airfields and bases through massive dredging and construction operations. The BBC report shows scores of ships moored around what previously were largely submerged atolls. This is the modern equivalent of the Great...

The Refugees and the New War.

In the New York Review of Books, Michael Ignatieff draws a link between failure of Western policy in the Middle East, it's failure to counter ISIS and the resulting refugee flow into Europe. He says 'ISIS wants to convince the world of the world's indifference to the suffering of Muslims; so we should demonstrate the opposite. ISIS wants to drag Syria even further into the inferno. ... The US needs to use its refugee policy to help stabilise its allies in the region. ... If Europe and the US show them a way out, refugees won't take their chances by...

Rod Tiffen. Chris Mitchell at The Australian.

Chris Mitchells place in Australian journalism history is secure. The newspaper he edited lost more money during his tenure than any other paper ever has or will be allowed to again. Mitchell was editor in chief of TheAustralian for 13 years, and while News Corp is studiously coy about how much profit or loss the paper has made each year, it has certainly been losing money in recent years and probably on a grand scale. News Corps star columnist Andrew Bolt said recently TheAustralian was losing $20 million a year. The parade of tributes from News Corp personnel about...

Gabrielle Appleby. What say do our elected representatives have in going to war?

The authorisation of military force is one of the most serious and consequential powers that governments possess. This power should be exercised with appropriate caution and, where circumstances allow, considered deliberation. Governments should be publicly accountable for its exercise. Across the world, debates have emerged around the extent to which the legislative branch should be involved in and even have the final say on authorisation of military deployment. So what are the debates, and current practice in, three key Western nations grappling with the threat posed by Islamic State (IS) the UK, the US and Australia?...

Andrew Ailes. Does Charity Begin At Home?

Christmas comes but once a year, When in the northern hemisphere, The cold winds blow, the sun goes down, Now every day some children drown. The Christmas storys full of hope, Yet life and death hang by a rope. Its not the sword of Damocles, Its shipwreck in the angry seas. The icy waves show no remorse. But terror is the driving force. Ten million people, maybe more, Are out there knocking at our door, For years weve boasted of our wealth, Yet cannot fund the nations health. We cannot house our countrys poor, And so we guard the...

The end of the NBN - missed opportunity for the innovation agenda?

In BuddeBlog, Paul Budde again outlines the major problems that the NBN faces. In this article he draws attention to reports that the government may be considering selling the NBN. He points out that it was remarkable that the NBN did not feature in Malcolm Turnbull's Innovation Statement. See link to BuddeBlog below. http://www.buddeblog.com.au/frompaulsdesk/the-end-of-the-nbn-missed-opportunity-for-the-innovation-agenda/

Peter Day. God: tiny, unassuming; lying at our feet

To some of us its a time to pause, to reflect, to stand in awe. But to the vast majority of us its the silly season: a time of over-eating, drinking, buying, selling, worrying, partying, beaching, and pressured family gatherings. And dont the silly season preachers love it; out of hibernation they come to herald their version of the good news - news that is best delivered away from pulpits and outside of Sundays. And what a persuasive, well-packaged homily it is: a seductive narrative that draws so many in: CHRISTMAS IS A TIME FOR GIVING. ...

Andrew Willcocks. The multi-billion dollar trade agreement you've never heard of.

In less than a week trade ministers from across the globe will come together at the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting follows more than a decade of stalled global trade negotiations since the WTOs Doha Round of talks in 2001. Dominating the Nairobi discussion is the expectation that an impasse will continue over thescope and future of the multilateral Doha trade agenda, particularly given the influence of large newly-minted regional trade agreements. Given the slow movement of the WTO talks since the Doha Round in 2001, many country...

John Menadue. The claytons NBN

In his statement on innovation, Malcolm Turnbull said the internet and the technology it enables means we are now part of the truly global market place. It means there are few barriers to entry for Australian businesses, no matter where they are located, right across Australia and they can sell their products and services to just about every corner of the globe. The internet is the bedrock for innovation today. But unfortunately, Malcolm Turnbull, as our former Minister for Commerce, damaged the internet. He introduced an internet censorship scheme at the instigation of the copyright cartel. He presided over...

David Charles. The National Innovation and Science Agenda Will it be different this time?

The Prime Minister and his government are welcoming us to the ideas boom. Showing a great sense of timing the innovation statement was made almost at the same time that Atlassian was listing on the NASDAQ. The Statement points to Atlassian as being valued at over US$3 billion. Today the company is valued at close to US$6 billion making billionaires out of its founders Mike Cannon-Brooks and Scott Farquhar and millionaires out of many of their co-workers. Perhaps it is true that there has never been a more exciting time to be an innovator in Australia. But as the...

John Menadue. More on second-hand car rent-seekers.

In my recent blog 'Rent-seekers in the motor industry' I drew attention to the successful lobbying by the motor industry to retain the $12,000 excise duty on used-car imports into Australia and the restriction that imports must be limited to a single second-hand vehicle. To defend its position, the Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has said that there have been instances in New Zealand where used-car imports were linked to the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, and instances where radioactive cars from the Fukushima nuclear disaster found their way to Russia. This type of scare-mongering...

Turkey and Daesh

In this blog on 6 December 2015 'Turkey's new neighbour - Daesh (Islamic State)' John Tulloh referred to an article by David Graeber in The Guardian on how Turkey is obstructing Kurdish forces that are the most effective opponents of Daesh. In that article, David Graeber asserts that 'Western leaders could destroy Islamic State by calling on [President] Erdogan to end his attacks on Kurdish forces in Syria and Turkey and allow them to fight ISIS on the ground'. David Graeber is an American anthropologist, political activist and author. He is currently a Professor at the London School...

Robyn Eckersley. Australia's climate diplomacy is like a doughnut: empty in the middle.

There is a profound disconnect between Australias international climate diplomacy and its national climate and energy policies. The diplomacy could be cast in positive terms, on the surface at least. During the first week of the climate negotiations in Paris, Australia displayed a preparedness to be flexible and serve as a broker of compromises in the negotiations over the draft Paris Agreement. Australia has also agreed to support the inclusion of a temperature goal to limit global warming to 1.5, which is a matter very dear to the hearts of Pacific Island nations for whom climate change...

John Menadue. Malcolm Turnbull on climate change.

Since he became Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull has committed himself to Tony Abbotts policies on climate change. He supports Direct Action. He supports the Abbott governments carbon reduction targets. At the Paris Conference, the Turnbull government reaffirmed its commitment to the fuel rebate subsidy for miners. It plans to double coal exports. In his blog on 7 December 2009, after he was dumped as Leader of the Liberal Party, Malcolm Turnbull said: So, as a humble back-bencher I am sure he [Tony Abbott] wont complain if I tell a few home truths about the farce that the Coalitions...

Peter Gibilisco. The standardisation of services for people with disabilities.

WHAT IS MEANT BY EFFICIENCY IN THE PROVISION OF SERVICES FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES? IS IT JUST A COVER FOR GREATER STANDARDISATION? The State Disability Plan is not the only endorsement of the need to emphasize the individualising of care for people with disabilities. We now hear of a profound development person-centred planning is said to be the world-wide benchmarked best practice. This involves a highly individualised vision of the person with disabilities and the result is that care needs multiply into a kaleidoscopic variety of individually generated special needs and concerns. This attempt to generate a...

Walkley Award for refugee advocate, Safdar Ahmed.

All the 2015 Walkley Award Winners announced on Thursday evening came from mainstream media organisations except one, Safdar Ahmed. Safdar, who won in the 'Artwork' category for his documentary web-comic Villawood: Notes From An Immigration Detention Centre, is a Sydney-based artist and academic in the field of Islamic studies. The work depicts the stories of asylum seekers and refugees inside Sydneys Villawood detention centre. It includes the testimony of people from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, including men, women and teenagers. Some of those included are long-term detainees who have been detained for up to five...

NBN and the high cost of copper.

Lauraine McDonald in 'itwire' has just reported that 'An NBN cost scandal has erupted with a new document revealing that copper for the Turnbull government's hybrid MTM broadband network is going to cost ten times as much as the original estimate.' John Menadue See link to full article below. http://www.itwire.com/it-industry-news/telecoms-and-nbn/70623-nbn-copper-cost-blowout-exposes-government-short-sightedness

Travers McLeod. Relaxing airstrike rules is a recipe for disaster.

Tony Abbott has argued Australia and her allies should relax targeting rules for airstrikes to destroy the Islamic State. At best, he is ignorant of the lessons of the military campaigns waged in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. At worst, he is willing to repeat mistakes to differentiate himself on national security and open a pathway to take his job back. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Abbott isn't as narcissistic as the latter reading suggests. Let's assume he was insufficiently briefed on recent military campaigns or has forgotten the lessons of our longest wars. The...

John Menadue. Australias Comparative Advantage and Policy Reform

In May and June of this year, Michael Keating and I edited a policy series Fairness, Opportunity and Security. This policy series has now been published in book form. We were and remain concerned about the policy vacuum in Australia. We are anxious that the debate on policy reform continue. An important contribution to this debate has now been made by a report Australias Comparative Advantage. This report was sponsored by the Australian Academy of the Humanities, The Australian Academy of Science, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering....

John Menadue. Rent-seekers in the motor industry.

We see it almost every day in the media; rent-seekers extracting benefits for themselves through political influence and lobbying at the expense of a broader community. It has very little to do with markets. It is about political favours for the powerful. We have just learned that the Australian Motor Industry Federation and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have successfully lobbied the Australian government to continue restrictions on the imports of second-hand vehicles. The Turnbull government accepted many of the recommendations of the Harper Review into competition policy, but it decided to continue Australias archaic system where...

Rod Tucker. What will the NBN really cost?

Cost is a central issue in the ongoing debate about the best approach to building Australias National Broadband Network (NBN). In 2013, the Coalition argued that Labors original all-fibre to the premises (FTTP) network could cost as much as A$94 billion. In the 2016 NBN Corporate plan the figure was revised down to A$74 billion to A$84 billion, while NBN Cos multi technology mix (MTM), incorporating fibre to the node (FTTN) and upgraded hybrid fibre coax (HFC) was less costly, with a price tag of A$46 billion to A$56 billion. Since the Coalition announced these numbers, Labor has...

Sebastian Rosenberg. Mental health changes.

Announcing the federal governments response to the National Mental Health Commissions review of mental health services today, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull emphasised the concept of patient choice. The commissions review was the latest in a long line of reports showing that for many Australians needing mental health care, their current choice is between getting no care or getting poor care. The reforms announced today have the potential to change this appalling situation. But ultimately they should be judged on the outcomes they achieve for patients. Poor access to care Mental health is the third-biggest chronic disease in Australia...

Travers McLeod. Unusual suspects challenging usual thinking on climate change.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. Twenty years ago Kevin Spacey uttered this famous line about his alter ego, Keyser Sz, in The Usual Suspects. Keyser Sz isn't climate change, but he might as well be. Since the film was released an inordinate amount of money has been spent to trick the world that human-induced climate change doesn't exist. Recent data from the CSIRO suggests the 'trick' is yet to be completely foiled in Australia. Although almost 80 percent of people believe climate change is occurring, every second person...

Bullying and bugging in East Timor.

The bugging by Australian Security Intelligence Service (ASIS) of an East Timorese cabinet meeting in 2004 will not go away. The event was so outrageous it is not surprising that it continues to resurface. Only a Royal Commission or a Judicial Review can redress some of the damage that has been done to Australia's reputation, our intelligence agencies and most importantly of all, in our relations with our near neighbour, East Timor. There have been new revelations and continual cover-ups. As Senator Nick Xenophon has said on the ABC 'This is a massive scandal. I continue to be...

Joanna Thyer. When we are not sure, we are alive.

What do Pope Francis, Thomas Merton and Graham Greene have in common? Like Pope Francis, Thomas Merton and Graham Greene were individuals whose sheer complexity equipped them to address the often contradictory world we live in, in order to find God in it. The writer and Trappist monk Thomas Merton, the famous British writer, Graham Greene, and our current pope, Pope Francis, have a lot in common. Merton died in 1968 from accidental electrocution whilst touring in Thailand, and Greene died peacefully in 1991. Both men were converts to Catholicism. Like Pope Francis, Merton engaged in interfaith...

John Thompson. The costly abolition of Medicare Locals

Despite promising to keep Medicare Locals, the Abbott government abolished the fledgling organisations after it took office. Even when it had no clear policies or plans to replace them, the Abbott government seemed determined to undo many of the initiatives of the previous Labor government. This was certainly the case in relation to primary health care. In 2008, the then Labor government established the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission(link is external) (NHHRC) to conduct a comprehensive review of Australias health system. The review provided the basis for the National Health Reform...

<