Politics
-
Coalition outsources role of government to business, the US
The Coalition acts as an agent of the business sector in domestic affairs and an agent of the US in international affairs. Continue reading »
-
PR Spin on Our Alleged War Crimes and ‘Rogue SAS Squad’ in Afghanistan
Senior members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have been drip feeding us through the media with information about the alleged war crimes committed by the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) and other Special Forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. Continue reading »
-
On behalf of victim-survivors: the church has to own this worldwide scandal
Some of Jesus-men have turned from fishing to lives of crime. Continue reading »
-
Migrants: how can we make THEM more like US?
In a crisis, the Coalition government thinks that migrants need to jump through higher hoops. Continue reading »
-
Quad is built on wobbly foundations(Asia Times 5.10.2020)
With Australia, India, Japan and US set to meet in Tokyo to collectively counter China, it’s not clear Beijing represents a threat. Continue reading »
-
Private Schools: Blessed are the rich
Last year Shore’s income was $87.54 million. It is a rich school for kids of rich parents. It is also a charity. Yes, just like Habitat Australia, in Mount Street, North Sydney, just down the road from the school, Shore is a registered charity. Continue reading »
-
LobbyLand ‘Culture of cosiness’: colossal conflicts of interest in Defence spending blitz
In Part 1 of her three-part investigation, Michelle Fahy investigates the corporate influence on government policy and how weapons makers cultivate relationships with politicians and top officials in the public service. Continue reading »
-
Will Australia Seize back the China Crown?
While the outcome of the US elections remains unclear the future direction of US-China relations also remain uncertain. This presents a new opportunity for Canberra to mend some bridges with Beijing if it wishes to do so. Continue reading »
-
There’s one sure thing about Josh Frydenberg’s budget – it is shovel ready
Warehouses have been emptied to find the shovels (and the wheelbarrows, the backhoes, the bulldozers and the front-end loaders) needed to move the mountains of cash from the invisible lenders through the Treasury to the pockets of the punters. Continue reading »
-
Julian Assange and failure of mainstream media
On 18 September, a little over a year since Amal Clooney was appointed as the UK’s special envoy for media freedom, she resigned. Among Clooney’s barrister colleagues are Geoffrey Robertson, Jennifer Robinson, and Gareth Pierce, all of whom, at their Doughty Chambers human rights practice, are advocates for Julian Assange. Continue reading »
-
ACT Election: Tired and complacent versus hidebound and headstrong
The biggest argument in favour of showing the ACT Barr Labor government the door next Saturday is that it has become tired and corrupted by too many years of continuous power. Continue reading »
-
Dying in a Leadership Vacuum in the US. (The New England Journal of Medicine Oct 8, 2020)
Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the world. This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it Continue reading »
-
2020 Budget: a missed opportunity to prepare the economy for climate change
It is clear from this week’s budget that the Federal government will continue to delay the decarbonisation of our economy and appears determined to extend the life of declining fossil fuel industries. Continue reading »
-
LobbyLand. The politics of fossil fuels – the pits!
Fossil fuel lobbying is a cancer inflicting death, illness and misery on Australian society. How does it operate, what are its impacts and how can society allow this disabling condition to continue without treatment? Continue reading »
-
Aged Care: Human Right or a market opportunity
The overwhelming evidence is that, after more than two decades, the private-for-profit market model has not resulted in the improvements that were expected – more competition, more choice, improved efficiency, improved access and so on. It is time to conclude that aged care should no longer be framed as a private market. If it has Continue reading »
-
Lobby Land: A Corporate Giant’s Dream and a Regulatory Hot Mess
As Australia’s government has grown in size and scope, so too has the desire to gain its favour, or avoid its wrath. This task increasingly falls to lobbyists. For representative democracy to work, constituents, including corporations, must be able to lobby their government. However, due to a failed regulatory regime, it is clear that undue Continue reading »
-
Scott Morrison plans to launch Matthias Cormann on to the global stage.
Following the long and successful run in the provinces ScoMo believes his retiring Finance Minister is ready to take on the world and has nominated him to the prestigious role of Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.He will be remembered for his longevity, but not much else, not through a lack Continue reading »
-
Witness K and Bernard Collaery: An Unjust Prosecution Gets Even Worse
The prosecution of former ACT Attorney-General, Bernard Collaery, and his client, Witness K, continues to play itself out before the ACT Supreme Court. This is a legal fiasco of the first order. The prosecution should never have commenced. Continue reading »
-
Is the Foreign Interference Law just about China?
Having on the statute books a very serious crime, committed by dozens of people every day but which is only enforced selectively, is a grave breach of the Rule of Law. It gives the government the power to criminalise the actions of a few and not those of the majority. Continue reading »
-
US prison labour, foreign weapons-makers finance Australian government think tank ASPI
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a think tank owned by the Commonwealth and funded by the Defence Department, also receives millions from foreign governments, weapons manufacturers, and US corporations that have used or are using prison workers paid as little as 23 cents an hour. Continue reading »
-
Lobby Land. The retiree lobby, the poor dears
Lobbyists can be pretty shameless – from hyperbole about the ‘unintended consequences’ of some legislative or policy change they don’t like – to arguments which would shame a beginner debater. Continue reading »
-
The Federal Budget: Return to Normal or Reform?
The budget delivered this week by the Federal government aims to get the economy ‘back to normal’. Is this the right goal? What if the old ‘normal’ was deeply flawed, as its political economic critics have argued? Continue reading »
-
Uncivil society: women’s contributions grossly undervalued
Judging by last week’s budget, the federal government grossly undervalues the contributions made by female workers, both unpaid and paid. Given the huge contribution of women in care jobs during the worst of the pandemic, the absence of support is seen as deeply offensive. Continue reading »
-
Sunday environmental round up, 11 October 2020
A look at current figures to see if China going carbon-free will destroy Australia’s coal industry. COVID is bad enough but some people have had COVID and extreme weather events to deal with. Governments have an opportunity to use the COVID recovery to clean up international trade’s supply chains and emissions. How to buy sustainable Continue reading »
-
Biden at Gettysburg
Donald Trump thought about giving his campaign speech at Gettysburg but opted for the safety of the Rose Garden instead. Continue reading »
-
Is this the least meaningful crisis defence?-This is not who we are!
When a crisis strikes it’s very natural to try and hide behind some sort of a defensive statement. Yet that statement needs to be meaningful and not just a fashionable cliché posing as a moral fig-leaf. Continue reading »
-
Charity regulator is failing us.
Charity scams are on a rocket trajectory. Since 2019 they have risen by a massive 70%. There have been more than 1000 charity scam reports since the beginning of this year. Continue reading »
-
Olive branches dampens the sound of distant war drums
With the hospitalization of Trump, the world went into temporary recess from the Cold War and China sends an olive branch to Australia to dampen the sound of distant war drums. As the SCMP suggests, there is still hope for peace and mutual understanding. Continue reading »
-
Saturday’s good reading and listening for the weekend
What people in other forums are saying about public policy Continue reading »
-
Australian media in the Asian century
Pompeo and circumstance Our foreign minister, Marise Payne, flew off to Tokyo for a rare meeting of the “Quad” on Tuesday with counterparts including the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Continue reading »