Government
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On election day, accountability takes centre stage
If the government and Opposition think they will not be held accountable, they should think again. Continue reading »
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Gaza one year on: lessons for Australia
A few days after the Hamas breakout from Gaza last October 7, I raised the question of how far Israel might be permitted to advance along the road to moral turpitude. After almost a year now, there is no doubt that the answer is: a very long way indeed. Continue reading »
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Australia’s unfinished multiculturalism
Large-scale immigration programs have contributed substantially to Australia since 1947, bringing much needed skills and demand into the economy. They have also helped make Australia a more culturally sophisticated country. In the 1970s, the oppressive policies of assimilation and integration were replaced by the policy idea of multiculturalism. Today, Australian politicians boast that Australia is Continue reading »
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Lebanese and Palestinian lives mean nothing to Western politicians
The deaths of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians killed by Israel can be ignored, so too the misery of millions. Small wonder that protesters want to register disgust and despair. Continue reading »
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Interest rates, inflation and unemployment: Are there better ways to manage the economy?
As the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) attempts to keep both inflation and unemployment rates low, it faces a tricky challenge. But are there better ways of managing demand in the economy? Continue reading »
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Alice in the Australian Wonderland as government demonises victims of terrorism
The context to my article below is today’s extreme media, and Dutton’s and the Albanese government’s hysteria regarding the appearance of the Hezbollah flag at this week’s protest against the Gazan genocide and bombing of Beirut in Melbourne. Continue reading »
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Dutton is unacceptable, but Labor under Albanese doesn’t deserve to be re-elected
Increasing numbers of political observers are arriving at the view that Anthony Albanese appears to be doing everything possible to assist Peter Dutton to look strong and visionary compared to his own hesitancy and timidity. Lost for an explanation, Jack Waterford wondered on these pages whether the Albanese strategy might be “part of some divinely Continue reading »
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Federal seat redistribution implications of bias to small tweaks
The Australian Electoral Commission has announced proposed redistributions of the boundaries of federal election seats with NSW losing a seat (North Sydney), while Victoria and Western Australia each gained a seat with the average number in a NSW seat, increased from the current 118,000 to 121,000 and expected to grow to about 130,000 by 2028. Continue reading »
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Will the QUAD go the same way as SEATO – another lame duck?
Almost the first thing Anthony Albanese did after becoming PM was to jump on a plane for a QUAD meeting in Tokyo. He was accompanied by Andrew Shearer, the head of the Office of National Intelligence. Ever since, Albanese has been in the grip of our intelligence services which have been effectively colonised by the Continue reading »
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Australian politicians are playing NatCon politics
Peter Dutton’s campaign to make Palestinian refugees into figures of fear mirrors the provocations to the recent UK Islamophobic riots. These were inspired by politicians such as Nigel Farage as much as by far-right influencers. Both examples are connected to Donald Trump’s debate amplification of the far-right American lie that Haitian immigrants are eating the Continue reading »
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Albanese’s social media gesture confirms the primacy of bipartisanship
The New York Times published an article last week by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and pollster Will Johnson. Haidt has spent many years researching how smartphones and social media affect the lives and mental health of the generation which has been using them since the cradle; i.e. American Gen Z-ers. Continue reading »
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The APSC’s Robodebt code of conduct inquiry: too little, too late and not convincing
Those thousands of Australians so terribly damaged by Robodebt are unlikely to be satisfied by the Robodebt Centralised Code of Conduct Inquiry Report or the associated statement last Friday by the APS Commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer. Nor should the public service or the general public. Nor even those who were investigated. Continue reading »
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Watch football on commercial television and take your chances
So the Australian Government has decided that one way to curb the disastrous level of gambling is to impose restrictions on television advertising during sporting programs. While we might all wish it luck, the saturation advertising of games of chance during football coverage suggests that it is being out-manoeuvred. Continue reading »
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The AUKUS project is being submerged in twaddle
Cameron Stewart recently attempted to vaunt the virtues, so to speak, of the AUKUS nuclear submarines via an article in The Australian newspaper. In part, it’s threaded together with tufts of intellectual fluff from Kim Beazley, his one-time offsider, Paul Dibb, Peter Dean from the United States Study Centre in Sydney, Mike Pezzullo formerly of Continue reading »
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Melbourne weapons expo protests
I’m guessing that anyone who reads Pearls and Irritations knows that Land Forces, Australia’s largest weapons expo, was held in Melbourne from 11 to 13 September in the face of strong opposition. Given the blanket coverage, it’s likely the great majority of those in the city also knew this was happening, as well as a Continue reading »
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Why voters are deserting traditional parties
The changes to, and challenges confronting, representative government as we know it have been canvassed by a number of journalists, most recently Niki Savva in the Nine Entertainment newspapers. Like others, Savva correctly identifies the “drift” away from major parties and the “repudiation” of politics as we know it. Continue reading »
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Australia: a very fine example of the ultimate vassal state
Australia currently has a Labor-Coalition political class which is committed to serving the interests of the United States as its highest priority, and within that frame the most significant conflicts that exist internally between the main factions of that class, Labor and Liberal — party labels which bear no relationship to the meaning of “labour” Continue reading »
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Universities: dead, buried and cremated?
Adelaide University’s move to eliminate face-to-face lectures removes another essential component of a proper university. On top of corporatisation and with AI rapidly intruding there will be very little of the essence of a university left. Continue reading »
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Damned lies and school statistics… again
The Australian Education Union has compared public funding going to private schools with amounts going to similar government schools. Its revelations are alarming and should be game-changing. One private school peak group has cried foul, but the union is on the money. So what should happen next? Continue reading »
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Was the housing crisis caused by government policy?
A crisis in house prices and availability has been raging for years, particularly the dearth of low cost housing to rent, or buy. Is this housing crisis really a result of market forces, or is it created by previous government tax policies? [read more] Continue reading »
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Collaboration across government levels is essential to progress
John Menadue’s suggestion that Greens and Independents need to start thinking about their “bottom line” in preparation for a minority Labor Government is excellent. A key area for progress is collaboration across government levels. Despite talk for years and federal/state meetings, not much progress has occurred. In order to do better we need to look Continue reading »
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The defence of self-defence
The self-defence trope used to characterise Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza Continue reading »
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When should we expect interest rates to fall?
The Reserve Bank has explicitly warned against any expectation that interest rates will start to fall soon. On the other hand, the Treasurer recently claimed that the Reserve Bank is smashing the economy, implying that interest rates should fall soon. Who is right? Continue reading »
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Young people no longer see Labor as the party of protest
The response to a piece I wrote for the SMH/Age recently has been very interesting in a number of ways. It has also been very revealing. I have been called a “dog”, been accused of rewriting history and of “letting the side down”. Every one of the responses had ignored the basic premise of my Continue reading »
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Sanctioning universities for failing to address antisemitism
Julian Leeser’s Bill to establish a Commission of Inquiry into antisemitism at universities constitutes a major assault on academic freedom, critical inquiry and the independence of universities. Continue reading »
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Australia’s colonised universities: in partibus infidelium*
A recent article on The Citizen by James Costa carries the welcome news that certain students, professional staff, and faculty have, for some eight years, been disturbing the academic brothel-keepers at the University of Melbourne by urging them to sever the links it has to weapons manufacturers and Continue reading »
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Australia’s collaboration with Israel’s genocide
Republished from DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA, September 03, 2024 FOI document releases show that behind the press releases and statements of concern, lie the facts of the Australian Government’s knowing support for some of the gravest human rights crimes of the century. Continue reading »
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Why I support state intervention in the CFMEU
The Haydon Royal Commission in 2014 revealed evidence that corrupt elements were infiltrating the CFMEU, NSW Branch. This grew steadily in the 10 years since and the branch is now rotten. In Victoria, the “strongman” leadership of John Setka and his close friendship with a “colourful identity” and building industry fixer, together with an influx Continue reading »
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It’s now too late for Labor to fix its re-election problems
This week I was practising my argument about a feeling that Albanese Labor has by now left it too late to retrieve its position before the next federal election is due. This was after it was revealed that the economy is on life support and that Labor’s best argument about being a superior economic manager Continue reading »
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The contested politics of housing reform
While most Australians remain well-housed, few public policy experts would argue that our housing system is today in good shape. Homelessness continues to increase and both rental and mortgage affordability stress are widespread. Continue reading »
