Government
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Our better angels: Should we include or segregate students?
I am an advocate for inclusion across the board. I find all forms of segregation offensive, students with disabilities should be part of their local school. By taking this stance I am comfortable I would be accepted as a member of the ‘better angels’. However, I wonder if my membership would survive when the ‘angels’ Continue reading »
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On equality, business needs to get its own house in order
Business is always telling governments, and the rest of us, that Australia would perform much better if we and our rulers took their advice. Continue reading »
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Department of Home Affairs contradicts every sensible principle of organisation design
What a fabulous trove The Pezzullo Papers are. The hundreds of recently disclosed text messages sent by the Home Affairs Secretary Mr Michael Pezzullo to a person described as a “Liberal Party powerbroker” are morbidly fascinating. Poor Pezzullo – in a few days he attracted as much public commentary, most of it unflattering, as platoons Continue reading »
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A Yes Vote just as important to Chinese-Australians as for our Indigenous brothers and sisters
With a population of 1.4 million, Chinese-Australians are the largest ethnic minority community in Australia and our say has weight. From the perspective of that community, an important objective must be playing our part in seeing Australia lift its game to match world standards of acceptance of minorities and particularly of its indigenous peoples. Continue reading »
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Labour market roadmap needs greater skills accuracy
Any roadmap to Australia’s future labour market must be based on an accurate analysis of skills. Sadly, the employment white paper reflects the slant imposed by the ‘tech is tops’ narrative. Continue reading »
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This land cries out in final warning
We need an Indigenous Voice to parliament. We need any other voice that will offset the disastrous self-serving notions of the present fools that govern this country. We are all living under the shadows of the illusions of the colonised mind. Continue reading »
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Pezzullo’s casualties
If stress has its own Richter scale, the people standing outside political offices of late seem to be under massive pressure. Continue reading »
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Getting the facts right on departmental tenure
Commentary on the tenure of Secretaries of Commonwealth Government departments is becoming perilous territory as those wading into it continue to make basic errors of fact. Continue reading »
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Australia-China relations are stabilising
After three years’ pause, the Australia-China High-Level Dialogue held its 7th meeting in Beijing on 7 September. This continues the process of stabilisation in bilateral relations since the Albanese government came to power 16 months ago. A closed-door meeting where no extensive media coverage was possible, it was nonetheless understood that the two sides considered Continue reading »
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The referendum: So little asked, so graciously, but seemingly too much
Why do so many of my fellow non-Indigenous Australians seemingly have such a deep aversion towards the Aboriginal peoples of this land? Sadly, I am compelled to ask that question as we approach a referendum asking for constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Nations and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament. Continue reading »
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Why China is not a threat: Sinophobia Unites Americans
Hatred of China is now the single issue that unites Democrats and Republicans. Having a perceived foe helps unite a deeply divided America internally, unless, of course, it becomes a losing cause. This three-part series explores how US narratives on the ‘China threat’ have become entrenched in the West, and why China is not a Continue reading »
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Assange extradition: “something you might expect from a totalitarian regime”
Julian Assange may be only weeks away from being extradited to the US where he will face prosecution under the US Espionage Act that could see him imprisoned for 175 years, even though he is an Australian citizen, not a US citizen! With extradition so near, the campaign to save Assange has reached its highest Continue reading »
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Pezzullo departure should end the Home Affairs experiment
Creation of the Department of Home Affairs was a disaster for Australia’s immigration policy and administration. The impending departure of its architect, Secretary Mike Pezzullo, enables the Albanese Government to bring that experiment to an end. Continue reading »
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If you are proud of the Constitution, vote ‘Yes’
In 1996 I was fortunate enough to be involved in the Centenary of the 1895 Bathurst Peoples Constitutional Convention. Continue reading »
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Mission to free Assange: Australian Parliamentarians in Washington
It was a short stint, involving a six-member delegation of Australian parliamentarians lobbying members of the US Congress and various relevant officials on one issue: the release of Julian Assange. If extradited to the US from the United Kingdom to face 18 charges, 17 framed with reference to the oppressive, extinguishing Espionage Act of 1917, Continue reading »
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The despotism of Mike Pezzullo
Journalists from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Sixty Minutes have at last exposed the efforts by Mike Pezzullo, Secretary of Home Affairs, to influence government in favour of conservative politicians and by insisting that press freedom be stifled. Continue reading »
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What the forthcoming migration strategy won’t address
The Government has foreshadowed that it will soon release its new migration strategy. Most of what has been leaked to date is sensible fine tuning of employer sponsored visas which will have little impact on net migration levels. But I fear the migration strategy will be largely silent on the big issue of net migration Continue reading »
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Absence of systematic compensation for wrongful convictions compounds the injustice
Commentators have sought to predict what level of compensation Kathleen Folbigg will receive for her twenty years of wrongful imprisonment. None have asked a more important question: is it possible to adequately compensate a wrongfully convicted person for all the harms that are now known to ensue from prolonged incarceration? Continue reading »
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The Voice reveals the urgent need for truth reforms
The knowledge that the official AEC Yes and No campaign pamphlet sent to every home in Australia was not obliged to be factual is shocking. Continue reading »
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Did Penny Wong really just suggest China is an ‘existential’ threat?
The Australian Government has a big problem with its security narrative. Preparing for a putative war with China is the nation’s top security priority, while the government’s knowledge of the growing existential threat of climate disruption and their security consequences remains a closely-guarded secret. Continue reading »
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Preparing for America’s Gleichschaltung
2025 America won’t be like 1933 Germany and they won’t be wearing brownshirts. But the program of the reactionary forces in America is as radical as that of the interwar fascists. And they have a plan for taking over. Continue reading »
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The Constitution, sovereignty and The Voice
One question relating to the upcoming referendum on ‘The Voice’ that has recently come to prominence concerns the question of sovereignty. Who or what is ‘sovereign’ as the term is applied to the governance of Australia? Is there any such thing as Indigenous sovereignty? Might it be said that in Australia sovereignty is or could Continue reading »
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Amidst the shattered remnants of an impartial public service
Will the Mike Pezzullo case be a line in the sand? Continue reading »
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Pezzullo, like Campbell, has brought shame on the Public Service
Mike Pezzullo must be removed to restore integrity and protect our democracy. Continue reading »
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Ukraine – last chance for a negotiated peace?
The next few weeks could be Ukraine’s last chance to grasp the flower of safety from the nettle of war by negotiating a compromise peace with Russia that would safeguard its future statehood and sovereignty. Continue reading »
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AUKUS consensus is collapsing under weight of Labor blunders
When Anthony Albanese addressed his federal electoral council on July 6 he rebutted criticism of AUKUS by saying Labor governments always have to prove themselves on national security. Continue reading »
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Let’s avoid more Covid disasters. The public already knows who to blame
During Australia’s Covid-19 pandemic response, some companies received billions in contracts made without tender, sometimes by ministerial intervention. It would be too much, of course, to hope that anything the inquiry into the pandemic response does to address this issue will be taken up with any enthusiasm by the Albanese government. It seems to have Continue reading »
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Health impacts of sanctions deleted from UN declaration on universal health coverage (with Australian support)
In the lead up to the high-level UN meeting on universal health coverage (UHC) Australia has joined the US, UK and the EU in blocking any acknowledgement that ‘unilateral coercive measures’ (sanctions) can have negative impacts on the achievement of universal health coverage. Continue reading »
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Okinawa disproves the US narrative about overseas bases
Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki has implored the UN for international backing in his opposition to the prefecture being overrun with US military bases. Continue reading »
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In the chorus of Yes, why aren’t the bishops joining in?
The official position of the church on the Voice referendum is curious, because, despite overwhelming support for a YES vote from an extraordinary range of Catholic agencies, religious orders and congregations, and voluntary Catholic organisations, the highest national church authority, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has not followed suit. This is surprising because the whole Continue reading »