World Affairs
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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 to give 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. Continue reading »
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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. Continue reading »
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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’. Continue reading »
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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. America’s mainstream news and opinion purveyors, without demurring, accommodated the architects of reality production overseen by Dick Cheney. This did not end Continue reading »
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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. Continue reading »
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AHMAD RIZKY M. UMAR. ASEAN countries should find a solution to end the persecution of Rohingya.
ASEAN’s non-intervention is aggravating the plight of ethnic Rohingya Muslims suffering widespread abuse by the Burmese military in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The Rohingya are one of the world’s most persecuted ethnic minorities. Continue reading »
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IAN WEBSTER. A tribute to Anne Deveson – understanding the homeless mentally ill
Anne Deveson’ s media presence spearheaded the media’s involvement in public health and mental health. She contributed at so many levels – social commentaries and documentaries -which challenged our sensibilities. Continue reading »
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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, Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN SJ. Timorese have had a win but could still lose big-time
Without any media fanfare, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop published a statement on 9 January 2017 announcing that Australia and Timor Leste had agreed to terminate the 2006 Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS). Continue reading »
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DUNCAN MacLAREN. Scotland, Brexit and the EU.
Brexit: the Constitutional Angle I hate to boast of my prescience but my article in this blog in April 2016 warned, in the case of a successful Brexit vote, of the birth of a “Little England searching for a greatness that is delusional in the current world of alliances”. That nightmare has become true. With Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. South China Sea: China taps in the last nail!
It is now clear for all to see that the only potential US “ally” for any US confrontation in the region could be Australia. China has successfully wedged the ASEAN’s in through their common concern that it would be them that would suffer most from any military confrontation in the South China Sea. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Trump and Nuclear Weapons
Trump’s stance on nuclear weapons is ignorant, inconsistent, confused. What he has proposed on nuclear arms control and proliferation will not be accepted. His latest offer to the Russians has no chance of serious consideration. Continue reading »
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GEOFF MILLER. Foreign policy in our own interests.
We need to take decisions based on our own national interests. But we should take those decisions based on a knowledge of what regional countries think. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. More alarm bells ring for Australia in the South China Sea.
President-elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of state had his confirmation hearings in Washington last week. A number of his reported statements should have raised alarm among Australian politicians and foreign affairs bureaucrats. With the exception of former Prime Minister Paul Keating however, the response was largely asinine. Continue reading »
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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 Hanson’s very public tendency to lose candidates – but Continue reading »
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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. Continue reading »
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WALTER HAMILTON. Rex Tillerson and Australia’s national interest
President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are being cross-examined in public for the first time. Here begins the real business of assessing how a Trump administration might behave––in more than 140 characters. The indications so far suggest the need for an early reappraisal. Continue reading »
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TONY KEVIN. The Rex Tillerson confirmation hearings, and wider issues
Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State and Trump’s 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). Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. Molan v. Woolcott: The rough and the smooth in regional diplomacy
Molan writes that this sensitive touch in relations with Indonesia is reflected in a long tradition of Australian diplomats putting Indonesia’s interests and the views of Indonesians ahead of our own. Indeed he implies that but for geography Indonesia would be of little or no importance to us at all. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Australia’s gulag of shame
As someone born after World War II who grew up in India, I have always wondered how it was possible for a highly civilized society like Germany to have been complicit through silence in the horror of the Holocaust. It simply wasn’t possible for people not to have known what was being done to the Continue reading »
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The strange career of American exceptionalism.
In this article in The Nation, George Grandin of New York University comments ‘Obama’s 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. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. Syria and the Hippocratic principle: first do no harm
Western interference has worsened the pathology of broken, corrupt and dysfunctional politics across the region from Afghanistan to North Africa. Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN SJ. The cost of Alexander Downer cutting corners on Timor Leste a decade ago.
If only the government and their supporters like News Ltd had been prepared to listen to the parliamentary committee a decade ago. Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. Robert Manne v Ramesh Thakur v Gillian Triggs: What on Earth is Going On?
If one were ever in this situation, who would one wish to speak for them: George Brandis or Gillian Triggs? That’s the choice. Continue reading »
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CHRIS SIDOTI. 30th Anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Part 2 of 2.
Human rights work has a cost, and we need to remember the cost and the toll that it takes on the people who are doing it. Those who are paying the price need the support of those who are not paying so much. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Indonesia – Complexities, restraints, and opportunities for Australia
The importance of our relations with Indonesia in the future and in the wider context of the Asian century cannot be overstated. It is essential that each country acts to know more about its neighbour. Continue reading »
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CHRIS SIDOTI. 30th Anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Part 1 of 2.
Chris Sidoti recounts the context for the establishing of the AHRC, (formerly called the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) and records the frequent conflicts over the years between the AHRC and the government of the day. This is an edited first half of the speech. The second half will appear in the next P&I. Continue reading »
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RICHARD TANTER. Fifty years on, Pine Gap should reform to better serve Australia.
Pine Gap has capabilities that could genuinely contribute to the defence of Australia. This would depend on the will and resolution of an Australian government capable of identifying these. Continue reading »
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BRUCE THOM. Agonies of an American scientist under Trump.
A truly great nation must be compassionate, loving, kind, rational and celebrate diversity. Continue reading »
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PETER DAY. Homelessness v houselessness
We need to change the way we do charity and welfare; we’re out of kilter: lots of giving and receiving of things, but too little giving of ourselves – we just don’t have the time. It hardly needs saying, “People need people.” Continue reading »