Politics
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Megaphone Madness: how reckless media impeded Victoria’s Covid-19 recovery
The media we consume influences our compliance with Covid-19 recommendations. Poor media coverage in Victoria is impeding the state’s recovery. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 18 October 2020
Plastics: littering the ocean floor, not being recycled, not easily replaced, may or may not provide oil and gas producers with a prosperous future. Populations of vertebrates have declined by 68% in 50 years. Continue reading »
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There is only one solution to the Amy Coney Barrett debacle. Democrats must expand the courts (Nation Oct 13, 2020)
The benefits of court expansion are so manifest that I’d be willing, as a Democrat, to put additional Republican nominees on the court, too. Continue reading »
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James Murdoch, Rebellious Scion (NYTimes Oct 10, 2020)
Increasingly uncomfortable with News Corp’s politics and profit motives, Rupert’s younger son chose chickens and sheep over Fox, and insists he doesn’t watch ‘Succession.’ Continue reading »
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Get Well, Mr. President?
There are many who were being a touch hypocritical when they sent get well messages to Donald Trump. Like St. Augustine, who prayed “Oh Lord, make me chaste, but not yet,” they would prefer that he recovered but only after losing the election. Continue reading »
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Why the resistance to a national anti-corruption commission?
Scott Morrison and Christian Porter are insisting that a new federal integrity body could not look at old corruption. What is that about? Is it because there are skeletons in too many people’s closet? Is it the extent to which Alexander Downer and other senior officials benefitted financially from their activities during the Australian Government’s Continue reading »
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Misinformation about Covid-19. Don’t listen to Donald Trump or Alan Jones.
Here is the big so important question. As we prepare to ease some restrictions, will we, in contradistinction to many communities in other countries, embrace the long-term behaviours that must be normalised to allow us to live as safely and productively as is possible in a Covid-infected world? We need to look closely at the Continue reading »
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Morrison Government is running scared of a federal integrity body
This week’s trials of Gladys Berejiklian only confirm the Morrison Government’s largely unspoken fears that a federal ICAC would do the government a lot more harm than good. Continue reading »
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Why are the loyalties of Chinese- Australians questioned constantly in the public arena?
In my opening statement to the Senate Committee, I talked about the toxic environment for Chinese-Australians who engage in public policy debates right now. In particular, I mentioned that one of the reasons Chinese-Australians are choosing to remain silent is because they don’t want their loyalties to be questioned constantly in the public arena. Continue reading »
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Lobby Land. The power of the health lobby. Health ministers may be in office but they are not in power
The major barrier to health reform is the power of providers- the health lobby. A succession of Australian health ministers Liberal and Labor for three decades have failed in any serious health reform. Any Minister, Liberal or Labor who wants to reform health must be prepared to take on the providers and their lobbyists.They are Continue reading »
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Michael Pascoe: Forget the ‘Daz and Glad Show’, this is the real political scandal (The New Daily Oct 15, 2020)
It’s the secret sexual relationship that sells the ‘Daz and Glad Show’ and elevates it from being merely yet another corrupt NSW politician before the ICAC, but it also distracts punters from the much bigger scandal. Continue reading »
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Turkey’s Erdoğan is upsetting CIA’s plans in the Middle East
Turkey has been ‘belligerent’ with its destabilising influence in Central Asia and the Mediterranean. Since Erdoğan’s rise and consolidation of executive powers, he has been unashamedly outspoken about his desire to bring the Sunnis and Shiite together in a neo-Ottoman Empire or Caliphate. Continue reading »
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Gillard’s discrimination against people with a disability aged over 65 must be put right – Part 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged – our aged care system is in a tragic mess. It has become a badly regulated, provider-centric system focused more on limiting Commonwealth budget exposure than supporting the dignity and independence of older Australians. Continue reading »
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The aged care Royal Commission’s Covid-19 report is superficial, misleading and unhelpful
The report by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety on the impact of Covid-19 is superficial and adds little to what is already being done to prevent and manage Covid in aged care. The Commission’s conclusion regarding Australia’s performance on COVID-19 in residential aged care is misleading and obscures the truth. Continue reading »
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Australian Values for new citizens
Last month the acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Alan Tudge announced that from November, there will be an updated Australian Citizenship Test which for the first time will include a section on Australian values. Continue reading »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »