Community
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The AFL, racism and neoliberal corporatist sporting cultures
In the last days of September around the biggest event on the sporting calendar for most Australians, the AFL Grand Final, a leaked report raised the harrowing, but hidden, history of racism at the Hawthorn Football Club. Continue reading »
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“Sixty percent of all claims sent to Medicare for payment are fraudulent”!
Is $8 billion dollars a year being rorted from Medicare? This claim for almost universal fraudulent behaviour is a nonsense. The entire bill for Medicare funded GP services is only $12 billion. Continue reading »
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The Murray Darling Basin Plan has fundamental problems and needs replacing
After nearly ten years of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, implemented to ensure the river remains viable, there is overwhelming evidence that the Plan is ineffective and should be replaced. Continue reading »
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Classrooms of hope and inspiration: Why is Sky News so angry about them?
The usual suspects in their regular appearances on Sky News After Dark or on the hustings are horrified by what they think is going on in our schools. Yet seeing what is actually going on is heartening for the rest of us. Continue reading »
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Technological revolutions and the need for human interaction
Vast technological revolutions have improved people’s lives to a phenomenal degree. Do I dare to think about what my life would be like without these positive developments? Continue reading »
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News Corp tied into extreme right wing CPAC
Last week a group of Neo Nazis performed their salute while protesting a youth Queer event in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds. The police stood by, allowing the intimidation as an exercise in free speech, despite the fact that Victoria has made displaying the swastika illegal. Continue reading »
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Aysheh’s story: A victory for victim-survivors of domestic violence against NSW police
Policing practices collude with and perpetuate the cycle of domestic and family abuse and violence against women. Continue reading »
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War Memorial pressured into recognition of Frontier Wars
A watershed moment for Australia as the War Memorial, caught in a confluence of events, is pressured to announce its plans for recognition of Australia’s brutal Frontier Wars. Continue reading »
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Optus must be prosecuted for Privacy Act breach
Late September data privacy muscled its way onto the centre stage courtesy of Optus and some as yet unnamed hacker. Continue reading »
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A century of humiliation left profound legacies of trauma
Grenville Cross’s “Britain’s opium era strategy to deal with China” (Pearls and Irritation, 28/09/2022) touched a cord in many Chinese, regardless of where they come from. It explains why many of us described as “Overseas Chinese” feel the need to explain when we are affronted by unjust comments about China and the Chinese people. Continue reading »
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Here comes the catastrophocene…
The good news is that the Anthropocene is almost over. It will have been the shortest geological epoch in all of Earth history. Continue reading »
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Frankel: Australia’s housing affordability and homelessness crisis
1 in 28 indigenous people homeless, Australian rental market “hurtling toward disaster”, and $575 million committed to affordable housing in this month’s report on Australia’s housing affordability and homelessness crisis. Continue reading »
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To all who care about humanity’s and the planet’s future
Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. Continue reading »
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Global university rankings: what function do they serve?
Under the influence of New Public Management, Australia’s public universities have increasingly engaged in ‘management by numbers’ for ’performance measurement’. The accompanying proliferation of metrics has been used to discipline academics, bolster the ranks of senior managers and build tens of billions of dollars in assets. One of the more prominent metrics to which universities Continue reading »
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The origin of monarchy is violence: Can Australia choose a new path?
The concept of monarchy began as an antidote to human violence. Continue reading »
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Crafting a Republic: “Aprés Moi Le Deluge” an Elizabeth II legacy?
King Louis XV of France and Madame de Pompadour are reputed to have warned that across France after their deaths there would be life destroying floods of various kinds. By implication, these distant on-a pedestal characters were predicting that life after them could be far worse than when they reigned, so look back a little Continue reading »
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Learning from people who are homeless
A homeless person’s life, burdened, as it often is, by physical and mental illness, addiction, and social disadvantage, can lead us to think their life is meaningless and of no value; but we can be so wrong, they have much to teach us. Continue reading »
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The Sabra and Shatila massacre is personal
These last few days, as they do every year, weigh heavy on every Palestinian’s heart. For me, and my family, the heaviness is also personal. Continue reading »
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Beetaloo gas field: Resurrect health impact assessments to save lives
Our new government walks both sides of the street on fossil fuels. Continue reading »
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A feast of new reading outside the grip of corporate western media
John Menadue has drawn attention to how our views of the world are dominated by ‘white man’s media’. Continue reading »
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Personality and power in Brazil’s elections
Brazil has the largest population and economy in South America and is a member of BRICS. It is as important to the continent as Indonesia is to South-East Asia. Brazil’s national elections will be on 2 October. Elections will select the President, the Congress, a third of the Senate, State Governors and State Legislatures. If Continue reading »
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The need for a social contract to create voter trust
What happened to sustainable democracy’s social contract? Continue reading »
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Immigration Inquiry – A new beginning?
At last, a government that recognises where immigration and the contribution of immigration sits in our national life. For some ten years we have endured the demonisation of migration, the systematic downgrading of immigration policies and procedures that has left us worse off. Continue reading »
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Saving the planet invites police crackdown
There’s no question about it that policing has changed over the years. But it doesn’t make sense that non-violent civil disturbance is suddenly being treated by the NSW government as something so sinister that it warrants a potential 2 years imprisonment and/or a $25K fine. Continue reading »
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Chinese Australians still have hopes for the Federal Labor Albanese Government
The Government needs to keep in mind that Labor won office significantly due to the ‘Chinese Australian’ vote in 5 to 6 key electorates. The government’s inaction on China could see those ALP votes disappear. Continue reading »
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The private school dilemma – are toxic cultures of misogyny and racism inevitable?
Knox Grammar School, one of Sydney’s top private schools, has hit the headlines this week with several boys suspended or withdrawn after posting “misogynistic, racist and anti-Semitic comments” in an online private chatroom. Continue reading »
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Oliver Frankel’s Monthly digest – Housing is a human right, not a commodity
This is the latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness. Continue reading »
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Memories of my brother – John Tulloh
Friends and fellow journalists are paying tributes to my brother, John Tulloh, who died at the age of 82 on the 20th August. I’d like to share the reasons why I believe he became the person he was; a loyal brother and friend, as well as a journalist who loved his job. Continue reading »
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Shinzo Abe, his wife and North Korea
Giving tribute to the deceased former Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister Albanese described him as a ’true patriot.’ Continue reading »
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Vale: Stephen Darley
Stephen Darley passed away on 15th April, 2022 aged 66. He is of great loss to his family, friends and comrades and the organisations which he served with such commitment. Continue reading »
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