Politics
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Angus Taylor’s thought bubbles: from the second rate to the already discredited
Our current government has become inordinately keen on producing road maps, and its most recent cartographer is our constantly embarrassed and embarrassing energy minister, Angus Taylor. Continue reading »
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HAMISH MCDONALD. Journalists on the ramparts (Inside Story 20.5.20)
Another triumph for Canberra and the Morrison government’s deft and resolute diplomacy, it would seem. Support for an inquiry into Covid-19 from more than half of the 194 countries at the World Health Assembly in Geneva was “a major strategic victory for Australia.” Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Nev is never in doubt
Reflecting on when the Prime Minister rang to ask him head the Government’s COVID-19 Task Force Nev Power said he couldn’t refuse the PM – reacting as any responsible citizen would. Continue reading »
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ROY HARVEY. The Anzac spirit and the future of health policy
The policies adopted by the Australian governments to fight the Covid-19 crisis are the opposite of the policies that the Coalition Government has pursued for the past 70 years. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 24 May 2020
A guide to the Australian government’s plans for the post-COVID recovery and bureaucrats and scientists talk with feeling about Australia’s Climate Wars. Cyclone Amphan hits India and Bangladesh, providing a current example of the increasing frequency of strong tropical storms. Worldwide, animals big and small are going extinct, and Australia is working hard to fuel 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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DAVID SOLOMON. They should have said: No Minister
One of the worst aspects of the sports rorts affair is the way elements of the public service turned a deliberate blind eye to what was known, or assumed, to be a failure by the Minister to be bound by the requirements of the law governing the way the grants could be approved. Continue reading »
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PAUL PERVERSI. Understanding anti-China Bias and other prejudices
Recent articles in Pearls and Irritations, such as those by Paul Malone, James Curran, Ramesh Thakur and Mike Scrafton, have highlighted the nonsensical nature of much analysis, reporting and opinion, particularly in relation to a trenchant and sustained bias against China. A fascinating question is to ask what is behind this trend. Continue reading »
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Cowardice as a principle of foreign policy, what on earth are they thinking?
In relation to Israel’s decades of military occupation of Palestinian lands, a cowardice spreading pandemic has infected Australian politicians and public servants. Recent symptoms are evident in the Australian government’s submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that an investigation of Israeli war crimes in Palestine should not take place. Continue reading »
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ALEX MITCHELL. Don Harwin becomes cactus
In the halcyon days of the NSW Liberal Party’s ascendancy, Don Harwin was a fast-rising star. Then he hit a wall and fell from being one of State’s most powerful Liberal Ministers to the lowly status of an unloved backbencher. How and why? Continue reading »
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PETER DRYSDALE. Return to prosperity depends on mending China ties (AFR 20.5.20)
The global economy has taken a huge hit as the world’s major economies shut down economic activity in turn to fight the spread of Covid-19. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Economic reflections on the lockdown
Changes in behaviour during the lockdown reveal the limitations of economic indicators. Continue reading »
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ANDREW FARRAN. State border closures and Section 92
It is surprising that there has been little comment on, let alone challenge to, the extent of the States’ overreach with their Covid-19 border closures in the face of Section 92 of the Australian Constitution. This may be changing Continue reading »
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CHEK LING. Unleashing the White Australia virus
It is such a shame that the PM and our Foreign Minister felt the need to goad China. Continue reading »
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MACK WILLIAMS. Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Morrison Covid19 “proposal”
Assuming that the WHA will pass its “Covid Response A73/CONF./1” Resolution now that President Xi has declared his support in his surprise personal address, which will have influenced widespread endorsement from developing countries, Australia needs to take a very serious look at its own performance on this sensitive issue. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Dutton fights from the flank
The Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, was rarely to be found when the discussion was fixing on how a cruise liner entered our borders and spread Coronavirus and Covid-19 across the continent – perhaps the most serious breach of quarantine and biosecurity since federation. But that reticence has not stopped a non-stop barrage of Continue reading »
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JAI QINGGUO. China’s diplomatic response to COVID-19 (EAF 17.5.20)
The term ‘responsible power’ is finding its way into Chinese official lexicon more frequently — including in President Xi Jinping’s report to the 19th party congress. But being a responsible power is easier said than done. As China’s experience with the outside world since the outbreak of COVID-19 testifies, it can be difficult and even Continue reading »
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SANDI KEANE. Covert-19: Government stacks Covid Commission with oil and gas mates, cosy deals follow (MWM 13.5.20)
The Government is quietly blowing away years of environmental protections under cover of Covid. Its Covid Commission (NCCC) is stacked with executives from the gas and mining lobbies in what is turning out to be a bonanza for multinationals and yet another destructive blow to Australia’s efforts to curb global warming. Sandi Keane investigates. Continue reading »
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MAX HAYTON. New Zealand’s budget presses the reset button
Before the Covid-19 pandemic New Zealand’s unemployment and net Crown debt were low. That has all changed, but in the midst of the crisis the Labour Government sees opportunities. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The gruesome twosome’s crystal ball
In last week’s truncated edition of parliament, Scott Morrison declared stridently that he did not have a crystal ball. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. They’re not all knukcle-dragging proto fascists
It is often easy to imagine that all Americans are unhinged, gun-toting, Bible bashing, conspiracy believers, LBQT+ haters and Trump supporters. Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM. Blame – don’t shame
It’s warming to see Australians helping jobless Balinese felled by Covid-19 with tuckerbags as hotels shut and tourists flee. One donor called it her ‘moral obligation’, a commendable motive. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Good policy comes from loud debate, not good manners
It took only a question about some fresh developments with the Sports Rorts affair for the prime minister to note, sourly, that it was back to politics as usual. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. Covid-19: What we need to know.
An international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 virus misses the main point: what the world really needs is an inquiry into the effectiveness of the response. Continue reading »
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TONY SMITH. Time to abolish the spies?
Planned expansion of the powers of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) should alarm anyone who believes in democratic values and rule of law. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Vale Comrade Jack Mundey
It is impossible to overstate the legacy of Jack Mundey. Continue reading »
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JUSTIN O’CONNOR. The domestic agenda for Australia’s anti-China rhetoric
Australia’s anti-China rhetoric is not just about foreign policy. In demonising China as a malign communist power it distracts us from looking at what ails Western liberal democracies, presenting us with a stultifying either/or. Continue reading »
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SALLY GILLESPIE. Energising Climate Conversations
Good climate reporting informs us about the complex consequences of a heating planet. In order to also act as a catalyst for change, climate campaigners need to acknowledge the complex emotional responses their stories stir while highlighting avenues for personal and collective action. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 17 May 2020
In the absence of urgent climate action, rising temperatures over the next 50 years will render much of the globe uninhabitable for humans and trees. But global fossil fuel consumption is still rising and a NSW coal company has repeatedly and grossly underestimated the CO2 emissions when its coal is burnt. A pandemic caused by 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 »