Government
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Exposing social cohesion’s innate racism
In the wake of the deliberately lit fire in a synagogue in Melbourne on Friday 6th of December much has happened. It’s been categorised as a terrorist act, the Commonwealth government has established an anti-Semitism task force, claims of anti-Semitism have increased and, at press conferences, senior lawmakers and enforcers have called for restraint. Continue reading »
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Dutton’s Economic Cons: household electricity bills to rise by $665 a year under Coalition
Like Trump, Dutton likes to portray himself as a strong man. But appearances are not everything, and Dutton is pretty much an economic policy vacuum. Continue reading »
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Canberra’s cowardice leaves Australian women and children stranded in Syria
US diplomat Peter Galbraith insists the Australian Government and Opposition are exaggerating the dangers of even trying to bring 10 Australian women and 30 children home from Syrian camps. In an affidavit to the Australian High Court, Galbraith explained he had made 20 visits to camps in north-east Syria and had helped to extract several Continue reading »
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A Trumpian Dutton will use Howard’s legacy to march into office, and Albanese will let him
The coming month of January 2025 is shaping up as Australia Day month. The Coalition has signalled it will be making heavy weather of the weeks leading up to and following Sunday, 26 January. The hubbub will likely focus on Australian flags and an intense determination to stand by the 26th as the day in Continue reading »
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To defeat Dutton, Labor needs inspiration and leadership from its ‘mortal enemy’ – the Greens
Dutton’s nuclear plans provide an opportunity for a campaign Labor could win. But it won’t be won without girding for war. The need for some political alliance is greater given that neither Albanese nor his senior ministers, and the party organisation, have shown themselves up to serious political struggle on climate change. Continue reading »
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Will Climate 200 be precocious and put out “Donfather’s” wildfire?
Simon Holmes a Court tries hard to be politically unaligned, but I wonder if it is time for his baby, Climate 200, to grow up overnight and banish the scourge of our Two- Party-Preferred electoral duopoly (2PP). Continue reading »
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Just say yes, Minister. It’s prison reform made simple
Many years ago, a number of lawyers lunching with an ACT judicial officer bemoaned their lot as a new Children’s Court Magistrate was rapidly filling the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre with their young clients. Continue reading »
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The National Environment Protection Agency and the integrity of Australia’s ecosystems
Some of us were not too surprised when the Prime Minister pulled the plug on the passage of legislation to establish an environmental protection agency (EPA). Along with colleagues from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists (WG) and other environmental organisations, we had been advocating for a strong independent authority that would meet the requirements Continue reading »
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The Australian Public Service and the perils of Trumpism
“The first thing we’ll do is sack those 36000 public servants in Canberra” – David Littleproud, leader of Australia’s National Party. Continue reading »
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A casualty of expectations
Everyone, it seems, is getting stuck into Anthony Albanese. Its not as though he has done much that is wrong. He hasn’t gone back on his promises, except, perhaps, in not delivering improved environmental legislation, and of course he failed to deliver on the Voice, though he tried. Continue reading »
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Why is youth radicalisation framed solely within an individualist lens?
At the same time as the finding of Amnesty International – over twelve months into the ongoing destruction of Gaza – that the state of Israel is indeed committing genocide, the Five-Eyes security and law enforcement agencies released a jointly authored report sounding the alarm on youth radicalisation. Continue reading »
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Why Australian politicians are flocking to ‘Little Red Book’ to engage with Chinese voters
Wen Li, a graduate student living in Brisbane, ran for the seat of Mansfield as a Greens candidate in the recent Queensland election. Li promoted his policies on Xiaohongshu, one of the most popular Chinese social media platforms. When he lost, he posted a message on the platform announcing his desire to run in the Continue reading »
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CSIRO patiently and methodically slaps down Peter Dutton’s nuclear nonsense
Australia’s premier scientific organisation, the CSIRO, has patiently and methodically slapped down the major nuclear talking points promoted by Coalition leader Peter Dutton in its latest GenCost report, which confirms – yet again – that integrated wind and solar are easily the cheapest option. Continue reading »
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We’ve entered the era of gutless government
Sorry to tell you that I’m finishing this year most unimpressed by Anthony Albanese and his government. I’m still reeling from his last two weeks of parliament, pushing through 45 bills just to show how much he’d achieved and give himself the option of calling an election early next year should he see a break Continue reading »
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Albo has to go
Anthony Albanese is not our best leader. He should go now. Continue reading »
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Syria falls
I have yet to fully understand how the collapse of the Syrian government could happened at the speed it did happen: Syrian government falls in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family -AP, Dec 8 2024 Continue reading »
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Offshore people dumping by a spooked government
The Albanese Labor Government has been spooked by recent High Court decisions which protect the human rights of non-citizens who cannot be returned to their home country because they are owed protection obligations. Continue reading »
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Albo’s pre-emptive kowtow to an imagined Westminster
The Labor Party would like it to be understood that they would prefer that voters give their second preference to the Liberal Party or the National Party, ahead of any Greens, Independents or members of loose groupings such as the Teals. Elders of the party believe that the two-party system – which they consider to Continue reading »
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“Barn of Broken Doors”: Nauru poet deplores offshore detention
Mohammed Salamat delivered this anguished poem about his detention on Nauru outside Federal Parliament last Tuesday November 19, 2024. The reality of ‘offshore processing’ by the Australian government is still very much a fact, in legislation and the news. Continue reading »
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The Electoral Reform Bill is stalled but the party is far from over
The Australian Uniparty— also known as the cosy ALP/LNP coalition of self-interest—is jockeying for electoral reform. Talks between Labor and the LNP have broken down so those reforms are not coming in any time soon but, as former New South Wales Labor premier Jack Lang was fond of saying, “Always back the horse named ‘self-interest’, Continue reading »
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Decency and dignity generate and earn respect
While Bob Menzies pumped the political scare campaign to the max, to help ensure his newly formed Liberal Party’s ongoing popularity between 1949-66, locals were often more relaxed about sharing community life with those they battled on election day. Continue reading »
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Can Australian political leaders enjoy their holiday season while Palestinians starve?
How much longer can the Australian Government hide from the horrific atrocities that continue in Gaza? Continue reading »
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Survival of a people: Threats to Palestine’s existence as Israel kills 45,000
Israeli leaders insist that all the people of Gaza are Hamas. In the same breath, Prime Minister Netanyahu boasts that victory in his war depends on the complete annihilation of Hamas, by which he presumably means a whole people? Continue reading »
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If you want peace, don’t prepare for war
In a series of baby but not blindfolded steps, our Government is making Australia ready for war. The latest of these appeared in the small print of a memorandum on 27 November. Continue reading »
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Why the Productivity Commission is kidding itself on childcare
A more robust analysis by the commission might have yielded different priorities or recommendations for childcare. Continue reading »
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Absent justice: Australia’s Afghanistan war crimes investigations thin out
Small to middle-sized states often crow at undertaking what are vulgarly described as “world firsts”. Australia is certainly one of them, with governments and news outlets keen to announce on a weekly basis that something never previously done has been initiated, implemented, or discovered. A closer inspection shows such declarations to be premature. Continue reading »
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Politicking wins, vulnerable people lose out
Isn’t it better to hold on to integrity, uplift the lives of the most vulnerable in our society and risk losing an election, rather than win an election through the brutal treatment of society’s most vulnerable people? Continue reading »
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Dógè Vu: Deregulation on a massive scale. What could go wrong?
The selection of Elon Musk as a government efficiency bureaucrat (in DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency) is heralded as an innovative disruption to improve public service. Continue reading »
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Are you better off? If not, why not? Productivity, income distribution and the cost of living crisis
While lifting the rate of productivity growth is the obvious solution to the cost of living crisis, judging by the experience of most developed economies, it is not obvious how to restore productivity growth. Continue reading »
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The Future Fund must be a fund for the future
Like all policy instruments, the Future Fund was created to manage the challenges the country was facing at the time. The government has every right and reason to adjust and adapt the mandate to manage very different political and economic challenges today. Continue reading »