Politics
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Will the Alaska meeting ease tensions or worsen relations between the US and China?
There is an important face to face meeting between the US and China on Thursday in Alaska. But our media seems disinterested. Continue reading »
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Can soft power contain China?
The Quad had its origins in efforts to deal collectively with the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, an effective use of soft power. Since then the Quad has grown haphazardly into a regional vehicle for the United States, Japan, India and Australia to make common cause against China. Continue reading »
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Liberal Party MPs line up to succeed Premier Gladys
Eight Cabinet Ministers are in the field of wannabees to become the 49th Premier of NSW. Continue reading »
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Feminism needs to oppose neoliberal economics to move forward
Women, particularly feminists, have spent the last four decades seeking equality with men, but have failed to change inequitable male-driven values. We started well in the 1970s and into the 1980s but as neoliberalism took over our progress stopped. We had gained laws for equality in some areas but without the necessary value and attitude Continue reading »
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How good is Scott Morrison? Or is it all marketing?
After a bad beginning with the bush fires, Scott Morrison has understandably claimed credit for Australia’s relatively strong performance in mitigating the health and economic consequences of the Covid pandemic in 2020. But looking to the future, how much substance is there, or is he just Scotty from marketing. So long as Morrison remains determined Continue reading »
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Ignorance and Prejudice on China is now entrenched in Australian media – Part 2
With a mainstream media climate like this on China and dissenting voices being discouraged, it is hard to see any early prospect of easing tensions. The Australian people have been badly let down on China by our policy elites. Continue reading »
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Why aren’t work health and safety laws used to confront Parliament’s ‘sexual abuse with impunity’ culture?
The review into parliament, following allegations of sexual assault, has not specifically highlighted the most important piece of legislation for ensuring the safety of Parliament workers, the Work Health and Safety Act. Without the act’s enforcement, Parliament will remain unsafe and its workers vulnerable. Continue reading »
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Western Australia, the One Party State
Western Australia’s tourism slogan was once The Wildflower State. Then it became The State of Excitement – to the amusement of Victorians. Now WA is the One Party State. After Saturday’s election there is a government in the West without an opposition. Continue reading »
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A week is a long time in politics and three weeks is even longer
Scott Morrison’s prime ministership began with a brazen betrayal, perfectly captured in the image of a beaming Morrison, arm slung around the shoulders of embattled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declaring ‘this is my leader. I’m ambitious for him!’. Like every step along the Prime Minister’s political path it was entirely contrived, a matey display of faux fealty, friendship and Continue reading »
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‘Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australian media’. Part 1
Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australia, fed by media repetition of false narratives; possibly encouraged by US and UK origin foreign influences; and enabled by stubborn and inept Australian political leadership. Continue reading »
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Angus Taylor has failed as a politician and energy minister. He should be moved on
Angus Taylor is a failure as a politician and as federal energy minister. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up.
Threats to human existence – not what you might expect. The lightly tapped potential of energy efficiency (turning off your computer camera helps) and the heavily exploited pangolins. Cormann’s Pauline conversion to climate action on the plane to Paris undermined by sceptics. Continue reading »
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Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison’s rule of law
Lawyers around the country are shaking their heads in trying to understand just what the Prime Minister means by the ‘Rule of Law’. Continue reading »
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Gladys Berejiklian continues to stumble
Watching life ebb from the premiership of Gladys Berejiklian requires a strong stomach because it is a most terrible experience, rather like seeing someone running out of breath. Continue reading »
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Chinese Australians, forever to be condemned as ‘fresh off the boat’
Our group wears the cloak of invisibility where everyone looks the same. And when you cannot hear us speak, we will be equally marginalized in your eyes. Continue reading »
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Gladitorial arena adds toxic element to politics. Part 1
Upper houses of parliament usually have a better gender balance. While often explained away by being a result of proportional representation, a better explanation is that the most ambitious men – the megalomaniacs – have no interest in being senators. They know the locus of power is in the lower house. Continue reading »
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Is Christian Porter fit to hold public office?
Any proper assessment of Christian Porter’s fitness for office would not only properly assess the sexual assault allegations but would his performance as a politician and as a minister. It would appear his personal failings mirror his abuse of political principle. Continue reading »
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The Iraq war, the Murdoch war and media culpability
The media here thought the terrorism in Australia fell from the deep blue sky and had no relationship to the help John Howard gave to George Bush in the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. The Australian media continue to fail us badly over its coverage of the Middle East wars, terrorism and the continuing Continue reading »
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Fairy Tales: Google Australia’s claims eclipse even News Corp and Nine
Google Australia pays pitifully tiny tax for its size – just $100 million last year despite booking $4.8 billion locally in advertising revenue. Yet now Google claims that its value to Australia is more than $50 billion and it is responsible for 280,000 jobs although it merely employs 1800 people. In an excoriating paper, a senior research Continue reading »
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James Packer and the dispossession of Barangaroo
There seems little difference between the NSW Government kicking out public housing tenants from Millers Point and the Rocks in the vicinity of the planned Crown casino and the ruthless clearance and demolition of Palestinian villages to make way for Israeli settlements. Continue reading »
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‘Courageous move, Minister’: WA Liberal leader’s honesty a smart political move
A weakened, wounded bleeding WA Liberal Party is asking voters on Saturday to remember a first principle of democracy – a government needs an opposition. Policy is irrelevant. The only issue is whether a dominant Labor government is going to wipe out what is left of the conservatives in West Perth’s Parliament House. Continue reading »
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The rules of the West dominate the ‘rules based order’. That has to change
We need to rethink the rules of international relations and the supporting institutions. However we need to make the rules more democratic, transparent and inclusive. Continue reading »
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Does Morrison need Porter more than the votes of 50% of the population?
An inquest is not usually well placed to settle matters in contest. In the case of an alleged suicide, for example, the Coroner’s remit is to find the cause of death, not to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry. One the other hand, in cases before professional tribunals, lawyers, doctors, nurses and others have been struck off Continue reading »
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It is way past time Attorney General Porter was dumped
The Political Right asserts that an investigation into the Porter allegation would mean the end of Western civilisation as we know it. It would trash the Rule of Law, the Presumption of Innocence, the Right to Silence, and many other rights – all individual rights that the Political Right so strongly resists putting in an Continue reading »
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ASPI, sycophancy and the deepening corruption of Australia’s strategic mindset
Last month, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute announced that its Executive Director, Peter Jennings, had warned another ostensibly independent think tank, the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, that China may trigger a major military crisis over Taiwan in the coming year. The catalysts are held to be twofold: the forthcoming centenary of the Continue reading »
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The WA election: the most one-sided contest in Australian history?
Next Saturday’s State Election in Western Australia will produce an unprecedented result if polling and anecdotal evidence are to be believed. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 7 March 2021
UK’s and Canada’s ‘Powering Past Coal’ promises look hollow, as do many companies’ ‘net zero’ commitments. Ecosystems already collapsing globally and in Australia. EVs and loose leaf tea are better for the environment. And a historical quiz. Continue reading »
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Sea of scandal ready to engulf NSW Premier
His language may be mangled but its essential truth isn’t. As Labor MP Kerry Hickey, now 60 and a former milkman, said: “It just keeps coming. Things get worser and worser.” Continue reading »
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Sunday essay: Sino American duet is turning into a Danse Macabre
Of late, the bilateral relationship has evolved into something akin to a Danse Macabre. Continue reading »