Government
-
China’s open source revolution: innovation through collaboration
While Western nations often celebrate private ownership as a driver of innovation, China’s traditional focus has been on how intellectual property can best serve the collective needs of the nation, particularly in economic development and technological self-reliance. In recent decades, however, China’s approach has undergone a significant transformation. It has shifted from imitation and adaptation Continue reading »
-
Politicians browbeaten and brainwashed by Zionism
Duly browbeaten by Zionists and Zionism, many Australian politicians fear to question Israeli terror. Evidence for that assertion has accumulated over years but was displayed last week in the lukewarm regrets expressed when an estimated 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombs dropped on a school in northern Gaza. Continue reading »
-
More support for the two-party system? High time for major electoral reform
The Government is planning to introduce a package of reforms to make it harder for Independent candidates to attract donations to win seats. This articles argues that it would be much better to concentrate on major electoral system reform: Introduce Proportional Representation – Party List. Continue reading »
-
A timid PM, frozen in the glare of the Keating headlights
When the former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, recently claimed that Australia was losing its “strategic autonomy” and turning into “the 51st State of the United States”, the current Prime Minister froze in the headlights. Continue reading »
-
Australia’s to-do list: stop supporting war, avoid becoming US satrap
Gathering in New York in September 2024, the world’s nations will be challenged to ‘end the scourge of war’, before it’s too late. All of them know that a nuclear cataclysm has never been so close. Continue reading »
-
Albo may struggle to enthuse his followers
I do not expect that there would be an outbreak of existential angst, despair, or deep public sullenness, even among committed Labor voters, if Anthony Albanese were to fail to win the next election. Continue reading »
-
Students count cost of epic fail
Successive federal governments have propelled a ‘backdoor privatisation’ of Australian universities. It’s shameful. Continue reading »
-
Raising awareness and shock tactics go hand in hand
The Council for the Human Future and the Club of Rome have stated clearly that solutions to the inter-related world problems mainly exist. The problem is the political will and business leadership is not there to implement them. This will not eventuate without strong demand from the general population. Continue reading »
-
On fairness, our futures seem grim under Albo
Has the ALP read the Voice referendum loss as indicating limited voter support for First Nations rights, with an election soon? Continue reading »
-
NT school funding agreement includes more accounting fiddles
The new school funding agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments brings a much needed boost to public schools funding. However, the claims by the Federal Education Minister, the NT Chief Minister and the NT Education Minister that Territory public schools will be fully funded by 2029 is a deliberate falsehood, that is, a Continue reading »
-
Political capitulation, moral failure
Anthony Albanese’s recent visit to the Gama Festival will certainly be memorable but not in ways that he will necessarily appreciate. It displayed, in a manner for all to see, his government’s final renunciation of the Uluru Statement From The Heart of 2017 and the attendant process of reconciliation. Continue reading »
-
ASIO, Burgess and the miasma of spookdom
Collecting, sifting and presenting information on national security is not the toughest job in the world although it can be tricky. Continue reading »
-
Escalation of national terrorism threat level misleads Australians
The announcement by ASIO Boss Mike Burgess that the National Terrorism Threat Level would be raised from ‘possible to probable’ has received massive mainstream publicity, a spike in talkback radio angst and widespread freelance interpretation about who presents the incipient threat. Continue reading »
-
The cost of living crisis is really a housing crisis
The evidence shows that the only households whose living costs have risen faster than their incomes are those homeowners with a mortgage. For the other two thirds of households, their incomes have risen faster than their living costs. Policy should therefore focus on why mortgage costs have risen so dramatically. Continue reading »
-
Better and fairer schools – in a sea of inequity?
The title of the new plan for school education, the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, might come back to haunt us well before it expires in 2034. As an agreement it doesn’t look any better, and it certainly won’t be fairer. It will lock Australia into a schooling framework which is worsening with each passing Continue reading »
-
Rape and genocide: the Israeli war machine we support
The headline above is outrageous and incendiary – it is also unquestionably true. We have a duty to bear witness to what the Palestinians must endure. Continue reading »
-
There’s no escaping the wrongs done to Indigenous people
Patricia Karvelas’s article reflecting on the Labor government’s ‘timid’, ‘pragmatic’, ‘realistic’ change of course in pursuit of bipartisanship on Indigenous affairs made for uber-depressing reading (ABC News, online, ‘Timidity reigns as Anthony Albanese backs away from Makarrata at Garma Festival’, 5th August). It confirmed that the institutional racism prosecuted by the No campaign, is alive Continue reading »
-
Do 84 percent of overseas students go home?
Much has been made by the International Education Industry of a 2013-14 Treasury estimate that 84 percent of overseas students go home. Apart from the accuracy of this estimate over ten years after the Knight Review recommendations were implemented, the Industry argues that because a large percentage of students go home, there is no need Continue reading »
-
Is the government fair dinkum? Response to the Royal Commission
I am not surprised by the disappointment felt by people with disability and their advocacy groups concerning what appears to be the Commonwealth Government’s limp-wristed and overly cautious response to the Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Continue reading »
-
Climate change – government and media failure
People trying to change Australia’s climate policies face a huge challenge. A fundamental problem is that in a democracy such as Australia’s, governments don’t make policy changes if they think this will damage them politically. The Albanese government will do everything it possibly can to tackle the climate crisis, except address the core problem, the Continue reading »
-
A complex, fluid dispute in South China Sea
Amidst the spat with Beijing over safety of its troops on Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, the Philippines is becoming increasingly stretched. Pooling all available resources to deal with one of the worst oil spills in many years in Manila Bay could mean playing down conflict with Beijing. Continue reading »
-
What’s the point of the Albanese Government?
The Albanese government is arguably the most timid Labor Government in our history. Continue reading »
-
When elected the Albanese Government inherited a federal public service rather like a semi-regurgitated dog’s breakfast
Attempts have been made to tidy things up but too much reliance has been place on administrative measures rather than the solidity of new or amended primary legislation. While some commendable things have been done, the overall program has been short on ambition and imagination, and progress has been oh so slow. Continue reading »
-
Did O’Neil and Giles fail to fix our immigration system?
The media and politicians are inevitably arguing Albanese’s decision to move Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles and replace them with Tony Burke at Home Affairs reflects their failure to fix our immigration system. The reality is much more complex as few Australians would be aware of the mess they inherited, particularly following the mis-management of Continue reading »
-
Productivity commission exposes private school funding defects
New analysis by the Productivity Commission of donations to school building and other funds highlights how antithetical private school funding is to the concept of needs-based funding. Continue reading »
-
Apartheid Israel
“(I)f pressed on legality … our position is that it is for competent judicial bodies to determine whether crimes against humanity have been committed” – (DFAT, 2022, FOI release). What then are DFAT and Australia’s obligations following the finding by the International Court of Justice that Israel has established an apartheid system in the Occupied Continue reading »
-
Anthony Albanese: the weak link in the Albanese Government
Following the federal Cabinet reshuffle announced by Anthony Albanese on Sunday, the media focus was on him moving Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Continue reading »
-
Social cohesion should not be used for political expediency
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s warning that the ballot box is ‘not a guide to Middle East policy’ (The Australian, 26 July 2024), coupled with her concerns about social cohesion, highlights federal Labor’s naivete and how out of touch it is with the electorate. Continue reading »
-
A to do list for the incoming immigration minister
Cabinet reshuffle – policy and outcomes matter, not who is in charge, say refugees. Here is the pressing to do list for the incoming immigration minister: Continue reading »
-
On Palestine, history shows the way: a comparison of Labor Foreign Policies
In handling the Israel-Palestine problem, the Albanese Government could learn much from how the Chifley Government navigated the Netherlands’ dispute with the Indonesian Republic in the 1940s. Continue reading »
