Government
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Ethiopian Civil War and its manufactured humanitarian crisis
The brutal internal conflict between Ethiopian national forces under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has inflicted untold suffering on millions of innocent people. Continue reading »
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Pointless, petty regulations are a handbrake on Australia’s truck fleet
We all rely on trucks: they carry our fuel, tools, construction materials – and of course, food and parcels. While trains specialise in carrying bulk goods such as coal and grain, trucks carry nearly 80 per cent of the non-bulk items we use at work and home. But unfortunately, trucks also create carbon emissions, and Continue reading »
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Labor brings Israel-Palestine policy back to the middle: will it matter?
The announcement of the Albanese Government’s decision to reverse Australia’s recognition of “West” Jerusalem was sloppily handled. That was the only surprise in it. Continue reading »
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NSW police ‘Strike Force Guard III’ formed to silence threats to fossil fuel driven political order
In NSW a special task force, Strike Force Guard III, has been established to target environmental groups in a concerted state attempt to silence anyone they view as a threat to the prevailing fossil-fuel driven political order. Conditions imposed on activists are now more severe than those meted out to some perpetrators of domestic violence Continue reading »
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The ACT legislated to decriminalise possession of personal quantities of illicit drugs
By the time the ACT Legislative Assembly passed legislation on 20 October 2022 to commence the decriminalisation of personal quantities of all illicit drugs in October 2023, drug law reform was already well on its way around the world. Continue reading »
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An opportunity to clarify parliamentary roles and responsibilities
The Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Standards has been charged with developing a code or codes of conduct for people working in the Parliament. While the context is to address the bullying and harassment behaviour revealed by the Jenkins Report, the Committee also has the opportunity to articulate through values statements and codes of conduct Continue reading »
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Australia’s frontier economy culture threatens opportunity and growth
John Menadue has written two insightful articles on the $530 billion infrastructure scandal. The documented account of waste and misallocation is deeply concerning not only on its own terms but also as the root cause of an even bigger problem in public sector resource allocation. It is a story of a missed opportunity and commitment Continue reading »
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Labor will struggle with deficit and debt until it raises taxes
There’s something strange about the recent federal budget. It reveals remarkably quick progress in getting the budget deficit down to nearly nothing. But then it sees the deficit going back up again. Which shows that, as my former fellow economics editor Tim Colebatch has put it, Rome wasn’t built in one budget. Continue reading »
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Marles has a bob each way, backing PNG on Bougainville but not China on Taiwan
The angry reaction to Richard Marles’ comments should be a warning to Canberra about the need to settle past grievances. Continue reading »
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Why Labor can’t be trusted with Australia’s security. It started with US Marines in Darwin
Basing nuclear capable B52 bombers at the Tindal airbase is an abrupt, unambiguous sign that our government believes it is Australia’s interest for China to feel threatened with American nuclear strike from our soil. At America’s pleasure. Continue reading »
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War with China looms: Questions that need answers
We now have a clearer picture of how deeply entangled with US strategic priorities and war preparations Australia has become. We also know that China is viewed as the principal adversary, and that US military planners and their Australian counterparts are busily planning for a major military confrontation with China, most likely over Taiwan. Continue reading »
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Budget Repair: Tax increases or expenditure cuts?
The Treasurer wants a national conversation about how best to repair the Budget. But that conversation will only help if it is based on a realistic analysis of the difficulties involved in achieving lower spending and therefore why tax increases must be on the agenda. Continue reading »
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TOMBS – Off-market buybacks: time to end regulatory capture
The budget announcement of plans to align the treatment of off-market buy backs with on-market buybacks, despite virtually no details being given, has provoked squeals of complaint from vested interests. Tax-driven off-market buybacks (TOMBS as we have called them) have been around since 1997, and the rationale for the allowance of this unfair tax rort Continue reading »
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What’s next for Xi’s China?
The Western media have done Xi a great favour: they have bestowed upon him low expectations. Many Western observers, including thoughtful ones, believe that the great China growth story is over, because China is now ruled by an incompetent and isolated leader. Xi will shatter their expectations. Continue reading »
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The Budget and the APS
The budget papers reveal considerable action to progress the Albanese Government’s APS reforms recently set out by Katy Gallagher. However, not all of the budget measures are clear yet, some are questionable and there remain important measures still to be pursued. Continue reading »
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Secrecy and empire
Under the guise of protecting the national interest, Australia’s security establishment acts in secret to uphold the global US-led imperial order. Continue reading »
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Federal Budget: TAFE at the heart of Labor’s economic plan?
To understand the complete picture of what the Federal Labor Government has promised for TAFE and vocational education and training, you need to look at Labor’s election Plan for the Future, the outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit and now the Federal Budget. Continue reading »
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Sex, drugs and confusion: Sharia law in Bali?
Bali tourism is slowly picking up as Covid apparently retreats. The new threats are laws on drugs, religion and sex. Continue reading »
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Is the Pacific Engagement Visa Australia’s first climate change humanitarian visa?
The new Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) has more similarities to a humanitarian visa than a labour supplementation visa – at 3,000 permanent resident places per annum, it could be Australia’s first climate change humanitarian visa. Continue reading »
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With nuke-capable B-52s coming, Albanese is now the new Deputy Sheriff for the US
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard used to be often contemptuously referred to as the deputy sheriff for the US in the Pacific region when George W. Bush was in power. Continue reading »
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NDIS: What do soaring costs tell us?
The budget has seen shock headlines about the increase in NDIS costs. The AFR screamed in its headline “…the NDIS will blow out to $50 billion”. It didn’t mention that this was in nominal terms – but the real increase of 17% over the next four years is serious enough. Continue reading »
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Employers say Labor’s new industrial relations bill threatens the economy. Denmark tells a different story
Labor’s proposed amendment to the Fair Work Act (subtitled its Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill) has drawn fire from Australia’s three leading employer groups: Continue reading »
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Australia must clarify Israel’s status as an Apartheid state
I refer to my earlier article on Israel and Apartheid. The article made the clear assertion that Israel is an apartheid state and has been found to be such by internationally respected bodies, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International. Continue reading »
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Voters need collateral on the new Labor social contract
Even those who understand very well the whys and the wherefores of the bargain on offer from Treasurer Jim Chalmers would be wise to demand some collateral before they sign up to the bargain. Continue reading »
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The Strengthening Medicare Taskforce: Making everyone equal at the front door of the health system
Following the outcome of this year’s Federal Election, Health Minister Mark Butler convened the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce (SMT). Continue reading »
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The Storm is Here: can Australia prevent the conspiracy sphere metastasising into fatal disease?
Sometimes it takes a war correspondent to cast light on what is happening at home. Continue reading »
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On immigration integrity, the Labor government must not fail
The Australian Border Force was not created from a platform of honesty and transparency, quite the opposite. Double talk and trickery underlie the political slurs used to dehumanise and criminalise boat people resulting in needless deaths, agony and brokenness. Labor must return to truth. Continue reading »
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The Albanese Government’s first budget: so far so good
As best can be judged at this point of time, this Budget gets the balance right between the need to bring inflation down while avoiding a recession. But many difficult decisions lie ahead. Continue reading »
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Will the NACC expose corruption in major defence contracts?
If Australia is serious about detecting and exposing corruption in arms deals and other defence contracts, the National Anti-Corruption Commission bill needs to be significantly strengthened. Continue reading »
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Australia’s problem with torture
Casting a keen eye over the human rights obligations of a state is tantamount to rummaging through untended, mouldering laundry. Often, the promise to wash such neglected items has been delayed or postponed. The reasons are often many, and not always insensible. And whose right is it to go through such things anyway? Continue reading »
