Politics
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A grubby and corrupting traffic in misery
Commissioner Bergin’s report did not devote a word to the sleazy and improper way James Packer was effectively given Barangaroo by a new Liberal Premier, Barry O’Farrell. And not a word about the slew of former Labor and Liberal Party apparatchiks who moved on to make their fortunes prostituting their inside knowledge and their access Continue reading »
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Preferential lobbying: no explicit deals, all unstated understandings. How it works behind the scenes. (Part 3 of 4)
Preferential lobbying is all about access to decision-makers, clandestine decision making, funding of political parties and the often limited subject knowledge of politicians and bureaucrats. It all conspires to subvert the democratic process. Continue reading »
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Forgive them for they know not what they do: stop putting kids in jail
There are more than 600 children aged 10 to 13 in prison in Australia, 65% of whom are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. A private members’ bill has been introduced to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14, yet it is opposed by Attorney-General Christian Porter. Surely Australia is ready to stop Continue reading »
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What are the casino regulators in Victoria and WA doing right now?
Underneath all the glitz and tizz of flashy casinos, many serious issues arise from former NSW Supreme Court Justice Patricia Bergin’s report into Crown Casinos. The common thread is the power of money, especially but not only in Sydney. Continue reading »
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Boyos banished when Barangaroo boomerangs back
But the fact is that a reformed Crown board will be sailing full steam ahead to take up the licence from an unresisting NSW government. Continue reading »
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Preferential lobbying: Money talks … loudly (Part 2 of 4)
Preferential lobbying drives powerlessness, environmental destruction and even in conventional economics is grossly inefficient. Parts 2 and 3 examine how it happens. If your electoral system is open to significant funding by the wealthy, then politicians get bought by lobbyists. And lobby firms are typically made up of former politicians and officials with substantial address Continue reading »
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Australian sovereignty: not in our hands, and not in safe hands
We hitch our wagon to a nation that is bereft of influence and respect, deploys its considerable military arsenal in a display of strength it vainly hopes will broker influence; naked power as a substitute for diplomacy. It has ever been thus. Continue reading »
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Preferential lobbying: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer (Part 1 of 4)
In this four-part series, we investigate preferential lobbying – what it is, why it matters, how and why it happens and how to stop it. Preferential lobbying is primarily wealth appropriation and rarely wealth creation. Every time a decision goes in favour of the wealthy it is to the cost of the less well off, Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 14 February 2021
Australian coal causes at least 320,000 premature deaths globally every year – six times more people than the industry employs. Coal from a fully operational Galilee Basin will cause approximately 200,000 premature deaths per year. Australia’s whole fossil fuel industry employs only 133,000 people. Electric vehicle prices falling. Sawfish severely threatened. Continue reading »
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Upturn: A better normal needs a focus on health, not just healthcare
Professor Paul Torzillo discusses the lessons for healthcare in Upturn: A Better Normal After Covid-19. The volume of essays would have benefitted from a more comprehensive analysis of what a “better normal” in health, rather than just healthcare, would look like. But the plea for ensuring the “humanity of medicine” will resound. 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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Unruly scenes as removalists arrive for Premier Gladys
Recent actions from NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet would suggest an imminent reshuffle aimed squarely at the Premier’s office. Despite asserting she is not leaving in March, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been elbowed out of the way by her current Treasurer, who is behaving as if he has been sworn in as the State’s 46th Continue reading »
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A royal abuse of political power
The revelations this week by The Guardian UK of the Queen’s secret intervention in political matters to protect her personal fortune are simply extraordinary. New documents from the UK Archives set out in excruciating detail the power of the monarch to vet legislation in her own interests. Under the guise of exercising the arcane ‘royal Continue reading »
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Media in the Asian Century: Defamation payout has Nine urging law reform
And Senator Eric Abetz does not back away from his much-criticised call at a hearing last October for three Chinese-Australian witnesses to publicly and unconditionally condemn “the Chinese Communist party dictatorship”. Continue reading »
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Quarantine: States also have powers to make laws
Commentators have repeatedly drawn attention to the section of the Commonwealth Constitution that apparently makes the Federal Government responsible for quarantine. However, this is not an exclusive Commonwealth power. Continue reading »
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Can we clean up gambling in Australia?
ClubsNSW has become a powerful political force, and along with the Australian Hotels Association is a major political donor. ClubsNSW has in fact signed an MoU with every NSW premier since Barry O’Farrell. Why this is necessary is a mystery. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison’s danger zone
Sovereignty isn’t going to be protected by everyone joining hands and singing Danger Zone in the face of an advancing enemy. But Morrison makes a mockery of reality. Continue reading »
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Tunnel vision: the media’s love affair with Craig Kelly and conflict
The media’s focus on divisive figures like Craig Kelly simply excuses the equally dangerous views of his less vocal, climate change denying colleagues. It is on these politicians that the media should focus. Continue reading »
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Without our dithering PM, Australia would be on top of Covid-19 leaderboard
Despite Scott Morrison’s failure on quarantine and aged care, we are still near top spot on responding to the pandemic. While the states have responded well in carrying the burden, imagine how many older people would still be with us if the PM had taken charge as required. Continue reading »
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Unaccountable leaders set the tone for all in public service
The decline of good government has not been an accident. Those in public service are probably of much the same calibre, idealism and intellectual capacity as ever. What they are not getting is leadership – by words or by deeds. Continue reading »
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Murdoch and his role in the Trump Presidency
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd dissects Rupert Murdoch’s role in creating the Trump presidency. “Donald Trump may have lit the match that detonated his country’s turmoil but it was Rupert Murdoch who diligently crammed the joint full of explosives.” Continue reading »
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The Morrison government: increasingly an ethical vacuum
Almost weekly, the person behind Anthony Albanese’s Twitter feed puts out a short statement, hanging off a recent event, calling for powerful corruption commission. A Labor Party seriously interested in winning government ought to be doing much more. Continue reading »
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The hidden corrosion of good intent: an inbuilt problem for Labor, as much as it is for the Coalition
Labor needs to confront its own contribution to undermining faith in politics. What does it have to fear, or lose, from claiming the moral high ground? Continue reading »
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Mr Murdoch goes to Hell
Even the Devil was impressed with the level of hypocrisy on display on the sin sheet of News Corp’s executive chairman. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up. The bells are tolling for coal. Is Fitzgibbon deaf?
Lots about Australia this week: sharks in greater peril from humans than vice versa; bells tolling, albeit still distantly, for coking coal and more loudly for thermal coal; gas industry captures the WA government; evidence that last year’s bushfires were linked to climate change. Continue reading »
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Bye bye Premier Gladys – it’s time to go
Premier Gladys Berejiklian needs to call time on her premiership by next month in the hope that her political legacy is in reasonable nick despite her personal reputation being in tatters. As to where it all began? Read on. Continue reading »
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Government still comes up short
Governments were once terrified when budget night came around. Any increase in the price of cigarettes or a pot of beer, a wave of popular disgust would likely follow. Australians are coming around to the fact that governments are different now. 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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Nine’s international editor’s demonising of a ‘genocidal China’ is downright dangerous
Using such a loaded term as “genocide” as a kind of throwaway is irresponsible, especially when it’s designed to sneer at nuance. Sneering at anybody wanting more nuance in analysing Australia-China relations is not only unwise but dangerous. Continue reading »
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‘You can set your political clock to it’: federal election looms
When the Murdoch media launch into its ritualistic ‘Labor leadership tensions’ routine it can only mean there’s an election on the horizon. But with a poll showing states rated ahead of the feds regarding administering the vaccine, it would appear trust is an issue that will continue to bedevil the Coalition. Continue reading »