History
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2024: a year of racism and lying to ourselves
Anthony Albanese appears to be strikingly lacking in ambition. I am convinced that making some bold decisions, and explaining them, would strengthen his prime ministership significantly. Some influential Australians now call for moderation and “centrism”. This would be a grave mistake. What is the “centrist” position on killing children in war zones, child sexual abuse, Continue reading »
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Staving off the collapse of Western civilisation: A personal introduction to the CAMS/CAN model
As a transsexual woman driven by a deep curiosity about the flow of events, the past few years have been especially challenging. Nonetheless, I rose to the task, guided by the principle that truth must be defended. During this time, I have written 30 essays that meet high editorial standards, along with at least as Continue reading »
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The remnants of war – lessons unlearnt
I’m walking around the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. I’ve looked at the military aircraft in the front courtyard which looms large but doesn’t yet give too much away of what the Vietnam War was all about. It feels very American with each piece of used equipment stamped with U.S. Army Continue reading »
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The forgotten war heroes of Borneo
Many Australians are aware of the assistance Papuan New Guinea locals and Timorese locals gave allied forces in World War II. But few know of the assistance Borneo locals provided to Australians during both the Japanese occupation of the island and in the Allied effort to retake it. This extract from the book, Forgotten Heroes: Continue reading »
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Submarines then and to come
The multi-billion dollar expenditure on nuclear powered submarines as part of the AUKUS pact has attracted some attention. Perhaps it helps to provide historical context if it is remembered that Australia’s first submarines were of limited use in the defence of our shorelines. Continue reading »
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Genocidal wars dominate US history
US politicians and others are always boasting about the US being the greatest in just about any category you can think of – from the record for eating hot dogs in a given time to their so-called democracy. Continue reading »
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Hong Kong and a tale of three museums
Three museums in Hong Kong help us understand the complexity of Hong Kong’s past and future and highlight the importance of Asia literacy in Australia. Continue reading »
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After the Voice: Beazley’s opportunity for truth-telling at War Memorial
Post-Referendum attention has turned to the need for Truth-telling about our history. As Chair of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, Kim Beazley has a unique opportunity to grasp Truth-telling about the Australian Frontier Wars as a central theme for the Memorial in future. Continue reading »
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Killing for Country: Another plank in truth-telling
At the heart of David Marr’s new book, Killing for Country, is a crucial question. How should we deal with old, ugly secrets within our own families? Should we ignore them as excesses of the past, when and where things were done differently, or should we examine them closely for clues and lessons that might Continue reading »
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Oppenheimer and the “forever” wars: Have we learnt nothing?
For the first time since the US achieved global domination economically and militarily after WWII, the military industrial complex and Biden administration fear the rise of China. They have decided that it must be crushed. The US, NATO and its compliant states have whipped up a frenzy of fear and loathing for the Chinese. This Continue reading »
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Hiroshima Day: do we really care about the serious possibility of another war?
Madrid, 6 August 1973––fifty years ago. The son of one of Franco’s generals has summoned us, a gang of rowdy friends, to his absent father’s luxurious home. Lounging on gold brocade sofas, merrily we smoke dope and drink booze till we’re high as larks and tight as owls. Continue reading »
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The trouble with telling history as it happens
In the Ukraine War, scholar Serhii Plokhy has his own biases, which can get in the way of his profession’s fidelity to evidence. Continue reading »
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Let’s not talk down to China, but remember its past civilisation
Tianxia, ‘under Heaven’, is a concept deriving from ancient China, but undergoing numerous interpretations over the ages. It refers to an idealised territorial/moral world order, equal but harmonious. Continue reading »
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How (hard) They Fought: sophistication of First Nations’ resistance
The push to recognise the Frontier Wars at the Australian War Memorial, the teaching of this history in many high schools, and growing commemoration of Frontier War incidents is seeing parallels being drawn between the heroism of First Nations’ warriors and that of the ANZACs. Continue reading »
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Commemorating ANZAC Day – a Chinese Australian perspective
ANZAC Day, 25th April, is perhaps one of the most important national days in the Australian Calendar. Initially it commemorated the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in World War One. In Australia now, on this day, it honours Australian men and women who served in all overseas conflicts and in peacekeeping. Continue reading »
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Integrity and complex systems: The rum rebellion or the shearers’ strike?
While we’re acutely aware that the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the underlying integrity of our current economic and financial models, our infinitely greater concern must be with the inexorable progression of climate change. As physicist Richard Feynman said: ‘For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.’ The Continue reading »
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The lessons from America are stark
From his stronghold at Princeton University, Sheldon Wolin watched his political system collapse. In the latter days of his life, Wolin erupted into utter despair. His final testimony was heartbreaking: America had become ‘the showcase of how democracy can be managed without appearing to be suppressed.’ No opinion critical of the set-up is in any Continue reading »
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The geopolitics of peace in a post-Western world
We are in the midst of an extraordinarily dangerous and destructive hot war in Ukraine, and there is now daily talk about the prospects of a US-China war in Asia, perhaps over Taiwan. We cannot afford a continuation of the current war, and we cannot afford a war between the US and China. That would Continue reading »
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Reshaping Australia: the Whitlam government and telecommunications policy
One of the Whitlam government’s first major reform programs was focused on telecommunications. In January 1973, Whitlam announced a royal commission to investigate the Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) and provide recommendations on Australia’s ‘present and future needs’. Continue reading »
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Environment and the South Seas Bubble: “nature will demand payment”
Three hundred years ago, Britain narrowly escaped a disaster. Trapped inside a bubble, they needed radical changes to escape. There are parallels to our world today, where the logic of failure is woven into the very fabric of civilisation. We too, are trapped inside a bubble, but one is of far greater significance. The question Continue reading »
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Why history does not disqualify Japan as an ally: a reply to Richard Cullen
Richard Cullen’s article, ‘Why Japan is not an acceptable military ally’, published in Pearls and Irritations (5 Jan. 2023) is an unfortunate piece of historical muck-raking. Continue reading »
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War: truly the last resort for Australians?
If war is the last resort, why doesn’t our governance system enforce that condition? Will our War Powers be reformed in 2023? Continue reading »
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Australia’s racist Constitution and the Voice
Australia has a racist constitution. It gives the Federal Parliament power to make laws for ‘The people of any race, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws’. Deemed necessary, that is, by the Parliament itself. Continue reading »
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An Australia Day worth celebrating – how might we do it?
As is now usual around Australia Day, commentators from all sides of the argument weigh in to suggest new dates on which we might celebrate the founding of the nation. Henry Reynolds, for instance, has made a case for not celebrating on 26 January and in response in these pages David Havyatt has wondered whether Continue reading »
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Australia Day: a long perspective from 65,000 BCE
‘Australian history does not read like history but like the most beautiful lies.’ – Mark Twain, 1897 Continue reading »
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Truth telling and lamentation before celebration
When one group of people takes the land of another by military force, ‘invasion’ is the most accurate term. We would hardly speak of Germany ‘settling’ France in 1940. Continue reading »
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Don’t change the date, just the name
In noting that debate about Australia Day began early this year, Henry Reynolds has made a very strong case for not celebrating on that day. That case is well made, however, the simple problem remains that 26 January 1788 remains the single most significant day in Australian history. Continue reading »
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Japan is not the most warlike nation in history
Jimmy Carter called the US ‘the most warlike nation in the history of the world,’ and said that ‘peaceful’ China is ‘ahead of us in almost every way’. Continue reading »
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Historically, it’s Japan, not China, that invades other countries
With Japan just having taken over the presidency of the Group of 7 at the beginning of 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has wound up a six-day visit to Britain, France, Italy, Canada and the United States. Continue reading »
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Monument of shame
Anzac Parade in Canberra is Australia’s major ceremonial avenue, a grand boulevard commemorating (heroic) service and sacrifice. Yet at least one of its monuments represents war crimes, racism, torture and murder. Continue reading »
