Government
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No joy in ‘I told you so’: the Productivity Commission’s 2023 Closing the Gap Report
Last week the Productivity Commission released its draft Review of the National Closing the Gap Agreement. The National Agreement on Closing the Gap was launched with a lot of fanfare in July 2020, promising a new era of reform and a ‘genuine’ commitment of governments to work in partnership with First Nations peak organisations. Continue reading »
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Just Transition? Fossil fuel industries must pay the entire cost
For a transition to a low carbon economy to be just, the Australian government should force the fossil fuel industries to pay the entire cost. Continue reading »
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Australia should forge closer relations with China
Under the Labor party governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard between 2007 and 2013, Australia succeeded in anchoring its relations with China on mutually beneficial grounds. Continue reading »
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Making the best of the Ben Roberts-Smith fiasco
There may be an upside to the Ben Roberts-Smith case. Not for the family of Ali Jan or the people of Afghanistan. Not particularly for Roberts-Smith and the men of the SAS, past and present, or their commanders, only some of whom deserve an upside. No, an upside for the rest of us, Australians all. Continue reading »
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Kits for killing: AUKUS goes to school
While Australians pride themselves, for the most part, in having stricter gun laws than most and not being warlike in disposition, their governing officials have increasingly thought otherwise. War drums are beating. The chatter about acquiring and building armaments is getting more frenzied. As a client state of the US imperium, firmly enmeshed in the Continue reading »
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Government is failing our most vulnerable children
Australia urgently needs a national plan to effectively address child and youth homelessness. Continue reading »
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Are we on a path to war with China? An interview with David Shoebridge
“One of the most extraordinary moments in politics in the last five years has been watching Anthony Albanese, notionally from the left of Labour, adopt, without any internal democracy within the Labor Party, without any public investigation of it, adopt wholeheartedly Scott Morrison’s AUKUS plans… It’s perhaps one of the most extraordinary betrayals of the Continue reading »
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Is the Productivity Commission an institution beyond repair?
The appointment of Chris Barrett to head the Productivity Commission puts its Trade and Assistance Review under the spotlight. Continue reading »
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Campbell’s AUKUS appointment was probably justified
Criticism of Kathryn Campbell’s appointment a year ago to a $900,000 a year job to assist with implementation of the AUKUS agreement is mostly based on hindsight following the adverse comments about her performance in DHS and DSS by the Robodebt Royal Commission. To be fair to those who made that decision, it is important Continue reading »
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Timor-Leste: Gusmão government reverts to Tasi Mane petroleum project
Despite the adoption in early May this year of a new development plan by the last Timorese government, incoming Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão has declared that his government will implement the Strategic Development Plan adopted when he was Prime Minister in 2011. His calls for unity ring very hollow when he ignores the serious work Continue reading »
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A descent into violence? Political polarisation in the US – Part 4
Can the United States avoid a descent into political violence? Of the 52 cases where countries reached the levels of polarisation which now exist in the US, half had their status as democracies downgraded. The US is the only Western democracy to have sustained such intense polarisation over such an extended period. It really is Continue reading »
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Bowen: “It’s too late to avoid the climate emergency”
Australia’s climate and energy minister Chris Bowen says the extreme weather events of recent years, and the heatwaves sweeping the globe in this northern summer, show that the world has already failed to prevent a climate emergency. Continue reading »
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400 years and counting: Your social status is determined by class
Due to the entrenched English class system, research has shown that the strong familial persistence of social status across generations has not changed in the UK across 400 years of accumulated data. With growing inequality and the emergence of ultra-wealthy and privileged classes in Australia – are we following the same path? Continue reading »
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Stop dissembling: International Climate Emergency Mobilisation is essential – now
Whilst some incremental progress has been made following the 2022 change of Federal government, evidence confirms that both main political parties lack the imagination, courage and leadership to adequately address climate change. Continue reading »
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The RBA is on a knife-edge between recession and inflation
Monetary policy operates with a lag. The pain from increased interest rates is only now starting to really bite. However, the substantial increase in interest rates is reducing demand and thus bringing inflation down. While on the other hand, further interest rate increases add to the risk of a recession. It is time therefore to Continue reading »
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No action from Federal Government on Aged Care review
In Canberra, Friday is the traditional day for taking out the trash. It is thus not surprising that Aged Care Minister Anika Wells chose Friday 21 July as the day to release the capability review of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Continue reading »
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Iron ore wealth – inequity through reversible governmental failure
It is time for the Australian citizenry and First Nations to resume their rightful ownership and custodianship of the land’s eco-geology. Continue reading »
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Robodebt – it could all too easily happen again
Those Australians watching the findings of the Robodebt Royal Commission might take comfort from the evidence it provides that our justice system has shown itself to have at least some capacity to hold unjust governments to account – eventually. But a justice system is only as good as the laws it has to work with. Continue reading »
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Seven deadly sins in the Defence industry
If previous defence acquisitions are any guide, the enormous cost of nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy will almost certainly escalate well beyond the estimated but un-itemised initial price of $A368 billion. The record of corruption of the two US submarine builders suggests that the project will also probably suffer from mismanagement. The final Continue reading »
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The USS Canberra: A crass PR stunt
The commissioning of the new USS Canberra in Sydney amid accompanying fanfare and blanket Australian media coverage provided ample testimony to the extent that we are increasingly being taken for granted by the US civil and military leadership. Continue reading »
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AUKUS dissent won’t prevail at ALP conference
An attempt by a branch of the ACT Labor Party to protest the tripartite AUKUS security pact was blocked over the weekend in what members believe is a consequence of Anthony Albanese wanting to quell dissent on the issue, writes Phillip Coorey in the Australian Financial Review Continue reading »
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Are the Greens losing the renters’ vote?
One of the emerging political challenges of the 2020’s in Australia is the contest for the votes of renters. Continue reading »
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Neither the US nor China seem intent on meaningful diplomacy
One side seems to prefer dealing with former leaders rather than current ones. The other likes to talk, while piling on coercive measures. Continue reading »
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Integrity is what they do, not what they pretend
Integrity, accountability and stewardship are, post the Robodebt royal commission, to be the watchwords of the hour. The cynic will note that the agencies to oversee changing the culture are those which did most, in word and deed, to create, foster and promote the old culture, and that not one of them has publicly examined Continue reading »
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Measuring what matters is an urgent and sensible foundation for better government
Australia’s first wellbeing framework, announced by the Treasurer under the Measuring What Matters banner, is important and can play a vital part in setting national direction and navigating significant challenges for Australia in the years to come. Continue reading »
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The cost of living crisis – so what would Dutton do?
Peter Dutton incessantly declaims about the cost of living crisis, blaming the government. But what would he do instead? Continue reading »
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How do Chinese Australians view Australia’s foreign policy?
Since the Lowy Institute’s first Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey was published in 2021, Australia’s relations with China have undergone significant upheaval. The COVID-19 pandemic, the rupture in Australia–China relations, the election of a Labor government and the turbulence in both countries accompanying their re-openings after their COVID-19 lockdowns has placed Chinese Continue reading »
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RBA lunacy rolls on
Increasing interest rates hasn’t quite done the job; now we are told we need to increase unemployment to curtail inflation! Roll on the lunacy of conventional central banking and treasury inflation policy. Can some lessons never be learned? Continue reading »
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Cancelling strange British Empire legacy event just Aussie common sense
Elite sport is something of a sacred cow. To criticise it is to risk being considered unAustralian. So while Premier Andrews’ announcement that Victoria would not host the 2026 Commonwealth Games was not a wholesale critique of elite sport, I am happy to take up the baton. Continue reading »
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Robo Debt shows we need an Independent Inquiry into AUKUS
The Royal Commission into Robo-debt has provided significant insights into how a cavalier government can ignore fundamental processes of good governance by ignoring accepted standards of decision making to pursue its ideological agenda. Continue reading »
