Politics
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JUDITH WHITE. Whatever happened to Whitlam’s vision for the arts?
In 1972 Gough Whitlam’s election campaign promised “to promote a standard of excellence in the arts, to widen access to, and the understanding and application of, the arts in the community generally, to help establish and express an Australian identity through the arts and to promote an awareness of Australian culture abroad”. Continue reading »
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PATRICK COCKBURN.-The Real Modi: Do the Killings of Muslims Represent India’s Kristallnacht? (Counterpunch 3.3.2020)
President Trump said he was satisfied that Modi was working “really hard” to establish religious freedom. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Covid-19 no need to panic yet.
The risks are two-fold, First would be in neglecting an attack on the virus in our neighbourhood. The other is from an officious overreach of power by the department of Home Affairs and its armed Border Force officers. Continue reading »
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PAUL BARRATT.-War in Afghanistan: 18 years of lies and obfuscation.(War Powers Bulletin 68, 1.3.2020)
The real story behind the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 Continue reading »
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PETER EDWARDS.-Australia and the Vietnam War: 50 years on.(The Strategist 29.2.2020)
The period from the Tet offensive of early 1968 to the Moratorium demonstration of May 1970 was the turning point in the most important battlefield of the Vietnam War—the battle for American public opinion. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM.-Scott Morrison is not one to let a chance go by
Desperate for political rehabilitation after his negligence and mismanagement after the bushfires, our leader has taken full control of the situation. Continue reading »
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Afghanistan ‘is not a war without a purpose.’
The Washington Post has obtained formerly secret information about the Afghanistan\ war, collected from military leaders, diplomats and others. Their account strongly contradicts that of successive US administrations. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD.The big risk is this flu taking root in our neighbourhood, such as Indonesia, East Timor or PNG
Scott Morrison’s declaration of a coronavirus pandemic is premature, particularly for Australia, where the virus does not appear to have escaped quarantine and containment lines. Continue reading »
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GEOFF RABY COVID-19 is unlikely to be Xi’s Chernobyl moment(AFR 2.2.2020)
Cynicism is prevalent but is trumped by the CCP’s patriotic narrative and the government’s performance in delivering on people’s expectations. Continue reading »
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DOUGLAS LONDON.-Why the Taliban will never agree to a real peace deal (NYT29.2.2020)
They know they are winning. Why would they concede anything? Continue reading »
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HANAN ASHRAWI. Hollow international statements have enabled Israel to deal a final blow to the two -state formula.(PLO 25.2,2020)
The Trump Administration continues to undermine the international order, ignores the Israeli sledgehammer, and protects Israeli impunity. Continue reading »
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DARON ACEMOGLU. Social Democracy beats Democratic Socialism(Project Syndicate17.2.2020)
Now that US Senator Bernie Sanders has emerged as a leading contender for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, his brand of democratic socialism warrants closer scrutiny. Continue reading »
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KEN HENRY. A longer term look at the labour market.
The unemployment rate is relatively low and the participation rate relatively high. So the employment ratio is close to historically high levels. But that doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about the strength of the labour market. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. In the secret world, secrecy is always the default option.
The ASIO response was the same as all his predecessors,not to mention Oliver Twist: more, please. Continue reading »
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JOHN DWYER. American’s desperate thirst for affordable health care might just ensure they don’t get it!
In this Presidential election year, poll after poll report that American’s number one concern is affordable health care. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. COVID-19 communication in a pandemic
Most governments are hopeless at communicating risks – except for the imaginary ones they conjure up to attack their opponents. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up.
Without the ‘services’ provided by nature, humanity could not exist – so why do we keep destroying nature? Financial institutions have cold feet about investing in Alberta’s oil sands and the Premier directs a blow torch at their bellies. A follow up to last month’s Siemens story and hints for environmentally sustainable alcohol intake. Finally, 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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LAURIE PATTON. Telstra bells the broadband cat and spays NBN Co.
Telstra’s decision this week to only offer a maximum 50Mbps plan to more than half its NBN customers is another setback in the quest for #BetterBroadband. Continue reading »
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DAVID SOLOMON. Sports rorts – illegal, unconstitutional and shonky
Illegal, unconstitutional and shonky. The sports rorts affair, like climate change, is not fading away. Both raise major political challenges for the government, but in somewhat different ways. Continue reading »
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ALEX MITCHELL: Ex-NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell quits for India
When Barry O’Farrell became NSW Liberal Party leader in 2017 his mission was to turn the Liberals into “the natural party of government”. Continue reading »
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MARK BEESON. What’s at stake in the Coronavirus crisis?
The Coronavirus is causing a political crisis as well as the more obvious medical variety. Some governments may not recover. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Labor’s deadline is near. Do we have an Opposition?
The Senate Economics Legislation Committee is due to submit its report on the Currency (Restrictions on the Use of Cash) Bill 2019 on Friday 28 February. Labor Senators on the committee have led critical scrutiny of the proposed legislation. Continue reading »
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Barnaby will never be PM
Many outstanding politicians are remembered for doing something special for their country, or perhaps for a lifetime of sustained effort for the country’s benefit. Barnaby Joyce was named “Australia’s best retail politician” by another politician – one Tony Abbott. Now that endorsement does muddy the waters somewhat, but a reference is a reference. Continue reading »
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NOEL TURNBULL. Who is the world’s outstanding journalist?
Who is the world’s outstanding journalist? It’s a question which seems particularly important given the current status of journalism; the rise of fake news online; and, the need for journalists to be constantly posting to get their employers’ online media figures up. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. How good is the labour market?
The Australian economy has been stagnating for the last five years, with annual GDP growth averaging only 2½ per cent, and only 1¾ per cent for the last four quarters ending last September. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI. Why the Kiwis are not coming to OZ any more
For much of the last 30 years, New Zealand has been one of Australia’s top source countries for migrants. But since 2013-14 Australia seems to have lost its attraction to Kiwis. Continue reading »
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TESS HOGUE. Living in Hong Kong through SARS and Covid 19.
I have a rotten cold. My eyes are watering, my head is pounding and I can’t stop sneezing. Normally I would get plenty of rest and fluids and just wait it out. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Most sex abuse occurs in the home
WHY does Peter Dutton and the Home Affairs Department need more high -tech powers when the real problem of sex abuse is in the home? Continue reading »
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What should Australia do about its politics being too white? (China Matters 25.2.2020)
Australian politics is too white. It is less diverse than comparable countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada. This is embarrassing. Continue reading »