World Affairs
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Japan’s Deputy PM: ‘Let’s learn from the Nazis’. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Taro Aso, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Japan, has a clumsy tongue; it’s always getting him into trouble. He’s so malapropic (remember the one about people becoming so affluent ‘even the homeless are getting diabetes’), we can only shake our heads and say, ‘Japan’s a funny place,’ before changing the channel on our… Continue reading »
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Our business failure in Asia. John Menadue
In my blog of March 14 on Productivity and Skills I drew attention to the failure of Australian business to equip itself for Asia. PM Rudd in his address to the National Press Club on 16 July this year put it very clearly. ‘I am concerned that if you went through our business elites, you… Continue reading »
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Least-worst option and minimising PNG. John Menadue
In my blog of July 20, I referred to the Regional Settlement Agreement with PNG. With some reservations I described it as the least-worst option. Some were surprised at my comments. I wish it were otherwise, but in the toxic and poisonous political debate over refugees since John Howard’s time, we have had to face… Continue reading »
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Regional Settlement Agreement with Papua New Guinea – a post-script. John Menadue
With the dust settling a little I thought it might be safe to return to this issue! I said in my blog of July 20 that I supported the general thrust of the RSA with PNG, although a lot remained to be sorted out and the implementation is already showing signs of problems. Without repeating… Continue reading »
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Zimmerman – race or gender? Guest blogger: Marcus Einfeld
Following their counterparts in the US, the attention of the international media has been attracted by the acquittal last Saturday by a Miami jury of 6 women of neighbourhood watch monitor George Zimmerman for shooting dead a young black teenager Trayvon Martin. My knowledge of the matter comes only from media reports but I have… Continue reading »
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Japanese whaling – bad faith, bad science. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Australia and Japan are at loggerheads before the International Court of Justice not because they disagree over whaling but because they disagree and are both members of the International Whaling Commission. What may at first seem a fussy distinction is fundamental and important. It is only because of their mutual commitments under an international convention… Continue reading »
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The Regional Settlement Arrangement with Papua New Guinea. John Menadue
With some reservations I support the general thrust of the RSA with PNG. I do that largely for the same reasons that I supported the earlier proposed agreement with Malaysia. The RSA is in PM Rudd’s words ‘a hard line’ but I see it as the least worst option given the present intractable political impasse… Continue reading »
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Don’t race to the bottom on asylum seekers!
Kevin Rudd, in your review of asylum seeker policy please don’t let Foreign Minister Carr lead you to a race to the bottom with Tony Abbott. The media is clearly being briefed that in a revision of asylum policy, the Government is considering tougher new country assessments by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade…. Continue reading »
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Joining the dots on Asia. John Menadue
The advocates of stronger ties with Asia spend a great deal of time with seminars and press statements about the importance of the region to our future. They are correct but they refuse to join the dots and advocate the changes on the really important issues impeding our relations with our region. Some of those… Continue reading »
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Japanese language learning in Australia – declining and mainly for beginners. Guest blogger: Professor Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson
Japanese has been Australia’s most studied foreign language in schools for a number of years. Japanese is neither a traditional school language subject such as French and Latin, nor a community language such as Italian and Greek. Japanese is distant from English linguistically and culturally. Thus it is remarkable that Australia is fourth place on… Continue reading »
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Asylum seekers – good news at last. John Menadue
The joint communique issued yesterday by President Yudhoyono and PM Rudd is the best news that I have read on asylum seekers for many years. A regional framework is the only viable policy for the future. Individual countries cannot do it alone. The communique said ‘As co-chairs of the Bali Process, the two Leaders reaffirmed… Continue reading »
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The dispute over the islands – leaving well alone. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
Which of China or Japan has the stronger claim to the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea, the dispute that has driven their relations to the lowest point in 40 years? China’s case is that the islands, having been appropriated by imperial Japan, were forfeit when it surrendered to the Allies… Continue reading »
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What should Prime Minister Kevin Rudd do about boat arrivals? John Menadue
The new government has indicated that it will be reviewing current policies on such issues as carbon reduction and boat arrivals. I have written extensively about asylum seekers and refugees. I suggest that in the short term, the PM should consider the following on boat arrivals. We need some perspective in the political debate. We… Continue reading »
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Stopping the boats decently – can it be done? Guest blogger: Frank Brennan SJ
In this last financial year, “25,145 people have arrived on 394 boats – an average of over 70 people and more than a boat a day” as Scott Morrison, Tony Abbott’s Shadow Minister never tires of telling us. Except for Sri Lankans, most of those arriving by boat come not directly from their country of… Continue reading »
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Japanese Pacifist Constitution in Danger. Guest blogger: John Woodward
The Japanese pacifist constitution prohibits Japan from waging war. This restriction will be removed if the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his way. And he is likely to succeed come the 21 July national election for the Upper House of the Japanese Diet (parliament). Abe’s government is riding high in polls since his… Continue reading »
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What is powering Japan’s foreign policy? Guest blogger Walter Hamilton
Could it be they are handing out “macho pills” at the Japanese Foreign Ministry? Has it become de rigueur for the country’s diplomats to browbeat international forums? Are internal divisions within the ministry about to break out into open policy warfare? There are at present enough straws in the wind to invite these questions…. Continue reading »
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Are we serious about Asia? Guest blogger: Steve FitzGerald
In my blog ‘On smoko’ of 2 April 2013 I again raised the issue of Australia’s continuing failure to equip itself for our future in Asia. I asked whether we would go on smoko again, as we had following the Garnaut Report of 1989. Professor Steve FitzGerald responded to this blog with some comments. I… Continue reading »
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How about it Gina and Twiggy? John Menadue
Since 1904 the brightest and best of young Australians have been winning Rhodes Scholarships to study at Oxford. Winners have included prime ministers, political leaders, a governor general, a Nobel Prize winner and high court judges. How about funding a substantial foundation to provide for the brightest and best of young Australians to study at… Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Australia – still a colonial relic in Japan.
The two greatest calamities to befall the people of Tokyo in modern times were the September 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and the March 1945 firebombing by American B-29s. In each case, many tens of thousands perished within a matter of hours. In Sumida ward, a working class area in the east of the city… Continue reading »
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Japan: Renaissance? Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton
After two decades mired in largely self-made problems (post-bubble depreciation; political instability; aging population; nuclear meltdown), Japan is suddenly feeling much better about itself. Anyone observing events could not fail to register the shift in the national mood. Are we witnessing a Japanese renaissance, a return to economic expansion? Will economic recovery ease the way… Continue reading »
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Malaysian Elections Hangover.-How 51% of votes secured only 40 % of the seats. Guest blogger El Tee Kay
As a guest blogger on May 2 I described the intense interest in the General Election to be held on May 5. This was shown on election day with a voter turnout of more than 84%, the highest in Malaysian history. The Opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won the popular vote but lost the elections. It… Continue reading »
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Euthanasia – A denial of human dignity. Guest blogger Dr Joanne Wright
It is concerning that The Greens and organisations such as GetUp have seen fit to re-ignite the debate about the legalisation of euthanasia. I am a doctor. I worked in palliative care and now work with the elderly. I have seen first hand the complexity of the issues at the end of life. In reality,… Continue reading »
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Malaysian General Elections – Change or Chaos? Guest blogger: El Tee Kay in Kuala Lumpur
The run up to the 13th General Election on Sunday May 5 has been described as the dirtiest in Malaysian history. For the first time in 54 years the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government led by Prime Minister Najib Razak fears it may lose its grip on power. For the first time the Malaysian… Continue reading »
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Where has the Business Council of Australia been? John Menadue
The BCA President, Tony Shepherd, was at it again on Wednesday 17 April at the National Press Club attacking the Government for many failures – a lack of focus, the need for politicians to sacrifice their jobs for the national interest and that old perennial of his, reform of the labour market. His comments were… Continue reading »
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Post card from Kyoto
Kyoto is both an historic and beautiful city. Fortunately it was spared allied bombing during the last war. When our family first visited Kyoto and other parts of Japan in the 1960’s the exchange rate was about 400yen to the Australian dollar. It made for not only wonderful holidays, but cheap holidays as well. We… Continue reading »
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Reviving Malaysia. John Menadue
As I pointed out in an earlier blog (27 March 2013), the Nauru/Manus ‘solution’ is not working to deter asylum seekers. The government foolishly adopted Tony Abbott’s proposal. With the failure of Nauru/Manus, the Minister for Immigration, Brendan O’Connor has spoken about the need to revive the earlier proposal on Malaysia. Last weekend the SMH… Continue reading »
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Fear of Asia. John Menadue
This fear has been with us since European settlement – a small, relatively wealthy white community living on the rim of the large populations of Asia. This fear stunts our own human growth and is an obstacle to trusting relations with our own region. Although we have broken the back of ‘white Australia’, fear of… Continue reading »
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Child sexual abuse: who are the abusers? Guest blogger, Professor Kim Oates
The awareness of the existence of child sex abuse, particularly its frequency, has only occurred in relatively recent times. Now, we read or view daily stories about it. Whether this widespread public awareness of the problem has done much to prevent it and to help the victims is questionable, but it is better than our… Continue reading »
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Tokyo postcard. John Menadue
It is great to be back in Japan for cherry blossom. I first came to Japan almost 45 years ago and have been visiting regularly ever since. On our visits and residence in Japan, we stayed at scores of minshuku – Japanese B & B – across the country. It was a wonderful experience. Cherry… Continue reading »
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The Asian Century – another smoko? John Menadue
Chaired by Ken Henry, the White Paper, ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ was released five months ago, in October 2012. We have heard precious little about it since. Prime Minister Gillard appointed Craig Emerson, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy. I have not seen or heard anything from him that gives… Continue reading »
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