Government
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Restricting onshore student visa hopping – harder than it looks
Onshore student visa policy gets relatively little attention as it deals with people who are already in Australia, but it is critical to how the overseas student program operates. Continue reading »
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Trust governments with AI? Perhaps not, when there is a revenue stream involved
International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, was recently quoted in the Guardian (Tuesday 16/1/24) saying that “in most scenarios artificial intelligence (AI) would probably worsen overall inequality across the global economy and could stoke social tensions without political intervention”. Continue reading »
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Indonesians likely to vote for change
Indonesia, Australia’s largest neighbour, will go to the polls on 14 February 2024 to elect a new President. Some 160 million eligible voters are expected to turn out in the largest single-day contest. Continue reading »
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Letter from Damascus: The impact of sanctions
A Syrian friend in Damascus was commissioned to translate Bridge of Clay, a tender, beautiful novel by Australian author Markus Zusak. As it is not an easy novel for a Syrian who has never lived in Australia to translate, my friend and I have had quite a few WhatsApp calls to discuss tricky bits in Continue reading »
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The Empire is in free fall
By 2021 it was apparent that we were witnessing the accelerating but creeping collapse of the American Empire. That collapse has passed an inflection point – the Empire is now in free fall. Continue reading »
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Medicare turns 40: since 1984 our health needs have changed but the system hasn’t. 3 reforms to update it
Forty years ago, Medicare as we know it today was born. It was the reincarnation of the Whitlam government’s Medibank, introduced in 1975 but dismantled in stages by the Fraser Liberal government. Continue reading »
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Time running out for Albanese Government to fix asylum system
Despite its $160 million package to better manage asylum seekers, time is running out for the Albanese Government to get on top of the asylum seeker issue prior to the 2025 election. Continue reading »
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Labor’s tax plan fails low paid workers
The Albanese Government was right to change its previous position on the already legislated Stage 3 tax cuts and to seek a fairer and more equitable taxation system for all Australians. However, its proposed changes fail to deal sufficiently with the increasing tax bites into the incomes of low paid working Australians. The focus on Continue reading »
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Are Asian Americans moving to the Republican Party?
For some years Asian Americans have strongly favoured the Democratic Party with their votes. The main reasons for this were that when they came to America, they settled mostly in large cities run by the Democratic Party in Democrat states. The Democratic Party claimed them as minority people that were part of the Democratic coalition Continue reading »
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Albanese government must apply lessons from UK post office scandal
Albanese government must apply lessons from UK post office scandal to save Australia Post and licensees. Continue reading »
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Navigating towards a fair and equitable society
The ideologies of capitalism and socialism are perceived to be irreconcilable. Individual freedom and the desire to accumulate wealth without government hinderance is pitted against the recognition of the necessity of the State to provide a humane, fair and sustainable society; one in which we all can flourish. Continue reading »
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For all the talk, public and social housing just got worse
The Productivity Commission has released a damning report on Australia’s worsening public and community housing disaster. Continue reading »
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Australia Day 2024 poses more than the usual challenges
January 26 poses more than the usual challenges in 2024. Barely 100 days since the failed referendum there is the real prospect of the respective advocates and supporters reigniting a process, the only real outcome of which was community division. There is the risk of stirring more pain for some and a sense of triumphalism Continue reading »
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Modi set to remake India as a Hindu nation
One of the sure bets this year is for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to win a third term in federal elections which are scheduled to take place in the first half of 2024. Continue reading »
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As Australia joins the US war on Yemen, Labor is a house divided
Not since the DLP split in 1955 has Labor been so divided on foreign and defence policy. And always for the same reason. Continue reading »
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It’s on PM to make tax cuts fair
Anthony Albanese risks being the man who did what Scott Morrison couldn’t – easing the tax burden of the rich. Continue reading »
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Politics of division: a Democracy under siege this Australia Day
In recent years the approach of Australia Day has been seen by the mainstream media as a time for reporting on the antics of those politicians who are intent on dividing the nation, splitting us into patriots and non-patriots, Indigenous and non-Indigenous – to which this year they have added a new divisive line between Continue reading »
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‘A frightening precedent’: New Zealand to send military personnel to target Houthis
Bombing one of the most impoverished nations on Earth over its sea blockade to stop genocide in Gaza reflects Kiwi values, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. Continue reading »
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Reviving Australian Citizenship: What the government needs to do
Australian Citizenship should be revived as a positive unifying element in a cohesive multicultural society. The Australia Day citizenship ceremony controversy is just a sideshow. The real issue is the completely unacceptable waiting times for processing Australian citizenship applications. The Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison government trashed the good work of previous Coalition and Labor governments by pursuing regressive Continue reading »
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Does the Australian public want a republic?
One reason why the Republic referendum failed and why the result of another one is uncertain was confusion over just what the issues are. Like the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, our lot spent so much time fighting among themselves they had no time left to face their opponents. We need to identify the Continue reading »
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Can Dutton wage culture wars and chew gum at the same time?
As Australia Day looms it’s not surprising that Peter Dutton has yet again found another culture war to prosecute – this time against Woolworths’ decision not to stock Australia Day themed goods. Continue reading »
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Tide turning on boat people bastardry
A day I have long prophesied, and for which I have been yearning may be at hand. It’s a pity that the Albanese government does not really deserve a place at any celebrations, and may indeed, try to frustrate them. Continue reading »
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As earth records hottest year, Coalition digs in against climate action and renewables
The science is in. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has overnight confirmed that 2023 was the earth’s warmest year on record: 0.16°C warmer than the previous record year (2016); 0.6°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average; 1.48°C warmer than the pre-industrial period. Continue reading »
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Push to get superannuation invested in defence is despicable
In a recent speech, the Federal Treasurer hastily bundled together three things that he felt superannuation funds ought to invest in: renewable energy, defence and housing. It was a classic ‘sandwich’ communication: bracket the unpleasant item between two that sound good. Continue reading »
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Australia: A ‘rogue state’?
To initiate a war of aggression has been described as the supreme international crime. If a regional war breaks out in the Middle East, triggered by the illegal recent strikes by the USA and UK against the Houthis, Australia could well be complicit in the commission of the supreme international crime. Continue reading »
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If immigration must stay in Home Affairs, here’s how to fix the agency
The founding secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo, was dismissed late last year for egregiously breaching the public service code of conduct. The man who lectured public servants they should live by that code, broke it in a manner no previous secretary in living memory had done. Continue reading »
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The Search for the Palace Letters – a remarkable documentary
The Search for the Palace Letters is a remarkable documentary that follows the story of Professor Jenny Hocking, the historian who took on an epic legal battle against the Australian Government and HM Queen Elizabeth II in a landmark legal battle – and won. Aired on ABC earlier this week, you can view the documentary Continue reading »
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Release the full report on Mike Pezzullo’s misdeeds
It is time for Albanese to take the public into his confidence. He has an instinct for secretiveness that almost matches that of Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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Covert forces and the overthrow of Edward Gough Whitlam: The series
The dismissal of Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by Queen Elizabeth’s Vice-Regal representative, Sir John Kerr, was an extraordinary event. For almost fifty years a debate has raged about why the Governor-General took the unprecedented action he did on 11 November 1975. This five-part series puts a spotlight on the on the external events that Continue reading »
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The Trias Politica and Australian governance
In recent years a growing number of Australians have lost confidence in their system of governance, but few journalists and political theory academics have suggested alternatives. If Australia is to improve its governance system and its democracy, it should look to European alternatives. Continue reading »