World Affairs
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All at sea again.
Lt Gen Angus Campbell, the Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders is at it again highlighting the policy and political achievements of the Coalition government on asylum seekers rather than sticking to his last, and ensuring that Australian naval vessels don’t stray into Indonesian waters. Gen. Campbell says that as a government employee, he doesn’t comment Continue reading »
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Bill Van Esveld. Dispatches: What’s in a Name? A lot, in the West Bank.
Is it occupied, disputed, or contested? Some are finding it hard to find the right words to describe the West Bank. In a move widely seen as an effort to demonstrate its pro-Israel bona fides, Australia’s attorney general said on June 5 that the Australian government would stop referring to East Jerusalem – which is Continue reading »
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Emily Howie. Australia’s dangerously close relationship with Sri Lanka..
In March 2014 the United Nations Human Rights Council established an historic and long-awaited international investigation into war crimes and human rights abuses committed during the final phases of Sri Lanka’s civil war. The resolution is widely regarded as an important step towards reconciliation and peace. In addition to establishing a mechanism for examining past Continue reading »
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Richard Butler. The Dissolution of Iraq?
On June 10th, some 1,500 fighters from the Jihadist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria) seized Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. Half a million citizens fled to the Kurdish areas. ISIS then moved further south, towards Baghdad, and took the cities of Tikrit and Samarra, a sacred Shia site. On June 13th, Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell. Canon Law and the Truth, Justice and Healing Council.
In his more than 40 blogs posted on the Truth Justice and Healing Council’s web site, Francis Sullivan, its CEO, has never, until last week, mentioned any difficulties that canon law might have posed for bishops in reporting sexual abuse by clergy to the police or in dismissing them through the Church’s own internal disciplinary Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Misery accomplished in Iraq as disintegration threatens.
Perhaps dictators have their place after all. Saddam Hussein presided over Iraq for 24 years. While he was cruel and vainglorious, he generally succeeded in ensuring Iraqis stayed in line and kept the peace. He was toppled in 2003 when the U.S., with the support of Australia and other allies, invaded the country with the Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan SJ. Why I am not just “getting over” the boats stopping.
Some people keep saying, “The people have spoken. The Abbott government is right. The boats have stopped. So just get over it.” I am getting a little weary of this populist refrain. I am quite prepared to accept that the majority of Australians want the boats stopped. Then arise the questions: how can this be Continue reading »
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Nicholas Carney. Advancing the Australia-India relationship under Prime Minister Modi
Narendra Modi’s ascension to the prime ministership of India has sparked interest around the globe, including here in Australia. The world is right to pay attention to Mr Modi’s rise. In the recent Lok Sahba (‘House of the People’) election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he leads took 282 of the 543 seats in Continue reading »
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Persecution of Tamils.
Last weekend Tamil asylum seeker Leo Seemanpillai committed suicide in Geelong. His colleagues are bereft as a result. They believe that he feared deportation back to Sri Lanka and would suffer persecution. Tamil refugee advocate Aran Mylvaganam said ‘the particular area where Leo is from you are automatically branded as a Tamil Tiger sympathasiser if Continue reading »
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Mark Isaacs. The Salvos on Nauru.
Judging the Salvation Army’s role in Nauru is difficult. Their job was to provide humanitarian support to asylum seekers in a detention centre that was established to deter desperate people from seeking protection by subjecting them to cruel conditions. The contradictory nature of the Salvation Army’s position meant they were damned by the government if Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Postcard from Poland and Auschwitz
Poland this month is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its rebirth as a democratic state. It is also marking 10 years since it became a member of the European Union. The country thus provides an interesting vantage point from which to observe Europe’s schizophrenic politics. To the west––notably in the UK, France and Germany––so-called Eurosceptic Continue reading »
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Hugh Mackay. Immoral acts – that’s one way to stop the boats.
“No boats have arrived for 36 days!” That was the recent proud claim of our immigration minister, Scott Morrison, delivered in a tone that suggested we should all cheer such a wonderful accomplishment. In fact, given the strategies employed to achieve this result, we should hang our heads in shame. We are living through a Continue reading »
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Richard Butler. The Invasion of Iraq,the decision and it’s consequences
It was reported on May 29th, that Sir John Chilcot, the head of the UK inquiry into the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, had reached a “breakthrough” on the issue of how much of the official records of the decision to invade can be published. The publication of the Chilcot report is some two Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Egypt’s new would-be Pharaoh.
The headline in The Australian was stark and brutal: SISI VOWS TO ERADICATE BROTHERHOOD. Eradicate? This is a word you associate with efforts to get rid of a disease or an agricultural pest. But in this case it was meant as a kind of cleansing of religious adherents and caused barely a ripple of protest Continue reading »
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Geoff Hiscock. Onus on Abbott to forge closer ties with India
As a young man, Tony Abbott backpacked across India in 1981, and spent six weeks at the Australian Jesuit mission in Bihar state. He was fascinated by the country’s many contrasts, from its bullock carts to its nuclear power stations. His Indian exposure since then has been limited, but the Australian Prime Minister says he Continue reading »
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Michiya Matsuoka. Japanese collective ‘atmosphere’ and the power of the media.
In John Menadue’s blog of 31 March, 2014, he expressed strong concern for recent events concerning Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and warned that Japan was fast approaching a nationalistic agenda and revisionist view of history. (See re-post today) I have these same misgivings about Japan and fully agree with John Menadue’s concern, including the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Australia-Japan – friends should be frank.
Tony Abbott is shortly to visit Japan. He should be aware of the serious ultra-nationalist trend in Japan. That ultra-nationalism in the past has brought tragedy to the Japanese people and our region. The chief exponent of this ultra-nationalism in Japan is Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe,who will be his host. I believe that Japan is Continue reading »
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John Menadue.The vendetta against the ABC and the cost to Australia
Tony Abbott’s vendetta against the ABC is prejudicing Australia’s regional diplomacy. The ABC is the most trusted media organisation in the country but Tony Abbott wants to bring it to heel. He has grown used to the fawning Murdoch media. According to Essential Research, 70% of Australians have a lot of or some trust in Continue reading »
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Gavan Hogue. Quo Vadis Thailand?
Thaksin undoubtedly engaged in some corrupt activities. Whether he was more corrupt than the other mob is hard to say but he did get the numbers by actually doing something for the poor peasants especially in the depressed areas of the north and northeast. His critics accuse him of pork barreling but that is a Continue reading »
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Elaine Pearson. Cambodia: A poor choice for Australia’s refugee resettlement
“It’s not about whether they are poor, it’s about whether they can be safe,” Australia’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in defence of Australia’s plan to resettle refugees currently housed on Nauru to Cambodia. It appears Cambodia and Australia are in the final stages of signing such an agreement. But is Cambodia a safe place for Continue reading »
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Geoff Hiscock. Economic time is right in India for Modi and his mandate
Narendra Modi comes to office in India with two big advantages: the economic cycle is starting to turn up at last, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a clear majority in parliament that frees him from the coalition-style shackles that plagued his predecessor, Manmohan Singh. The timing is right for Modi. After two years Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. Part 2. The Budget and our Values
The Budget is always the clearest guide to a government’s priorities and values. In the present instance, the Coalition Government wants to define this budget as being all about “contribution”. Their rhetoric is that we should all make a contribution towards restoring the nation’s finances. Spreading the burden would be fair and therefore consistent with Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. A powerful minority or an elected majority!
In a process that shows no sign of ending soon, Thailand’s unstable governance has reached another crisis. The Acting Prime Minister has been tipped out only to be replaced by an Acting Acting Prime Minister who is himself to face judgment for his part in the failed scheme to stabilize the price of rice. These Continue reading »
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Michael Kelly SJ. Why Protestants are more popular than Catholics in China
Questions abound over the recent vicious actions of the Chinese government towards Christians in the prosperous Zhejiang Province just south of Shanghai. The actions of the government during the fortnight after Easter against both Protestants and Catholics are unprecedented in recent decades and, justifiably, have received world attention. As with all actions in a country Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Yasukuni Shrine and why it matters.
Yasukuni–Japan’s Patriotic Lightning Rod The Shinto shrine known as Yasukuni sprawls over ten hectares in the centre of Tokyo near the northern edge of the Imperial Palace grounds. Here are enshrined 2.47 million ‘deities’––the spirits of Japanese military personnel and civilians on war service from conflicts going back to 1853, including around 1,000 convicted war Continue reading »
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Refugees to Cambodia
The Australian government appears to have struck a deal with Cambodia to house 100 refugees in exchange for a massive increase in foreign aid. But Cambodia is far from a safe place to settle. Continue reading »
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Penne Mathew and Tristan Harley…Regional Cooperation on refugees
In November last year Penne Mathew and Tristan Harley of the Australian National University undertook field work in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to examine the treatment of refugees in those countries and to discuss the possibilities of improved regional cooperation amongst themselves and also with resettlement countries such as Australia. I am strongly of the Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Anti-climax in Tokyo
Three words for Shinzo Abe––and for history. Three words: ‘…including Senkaku islands’ (was Obama’s omission of the definite article ‘the’, one wonders, part of a subconscious hesitation?). Thus a US president for the first time explicitly committed his country to defend Japan if it should come to blows with China in their territorial dispute. Barack Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Anzac and hiding behind the valour of our military.
For those who may have missed this. I have reposted this earlier piece about Anzac and hiding behind our heroes. John Menadue There is an unfortunate and continuing pattern in our history of going to war- that the more disastrous the war the more politicians and the media hide behind the valour of service men Continue reading »
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Kieran Tapsell. The war on drugs.
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, El Espectador, Colombia, 20 December 2013, http://www.elespectador.com/opinion/esta-babilonia-nuestra-columna-465199 Summary: The so called “War on Drugs” is an American invention from the time of Nixon. It has been a spectacular and costly failure. But the Puritans in the Americas do not want to even discuss the subject. A year and a half ago, President Continue reading »
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