Politics
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Sunday environmental round up.
Plants and growth: where to plant 60 billion trees in the USA; climate change destroying kelp forests; burning biomass destroys native forests and fuels climate change; and forbs disappearing from Victoria’s basalt plains. Plus degrowth, of the economy rather than vegetation. Continue reading »
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Qui custodiet ipsos custodes? Counting down to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics
In April 1949 Chifley agreed to host the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, the first time they were held in the southern hemisphere. Six months later, within days of returning to office as Prime Minister, Menzies agreed in principle to UK atomic weapons testing in Australia. Thirty kilotons were detonated at Maralinga in the three months 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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The NSW ‘lockdown’ that isn’t while putting business before people.
A ‘lockdown’ strategy that does not involve lockdown, a vaccine distribution policy that is dangerously inconsistent and covid testing facilities that cannot meet the demand generated by public health orders, are but some of the problems responsible for the continuing explosion of COVID-19 cases in Sydney Continue reading »
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Boris sends naval fleet to revive British colonialism on the Chinese coast
Double standards: In the shipping war games it’s Freedom of Navigation for one side and an unwelcome intrusion into our waters for the other. Continue reading »
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It’s the vaccine rollout, stupid!
Bill Clinton certainly had a feel for what ‘worked’ in getting himself elected, and then re-elected. He knew that the electorate had one major concern, and all the other matters were just background noise. Cue Scott Morrison and his Government. The vaccine rollout, period. Fix that, and you are home. No more lockdowns, no more Continue reading »
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After many years the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’ listing shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Environment Minister Susan Ley says she was “blindsided” by UNESCO’s recommendation to declare the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’. Prime Minister Morrison was “appalled”. Their responses reflect a concern that the Reef’s political potency may be re-ignited. Then to top it off they blamed the Chinese. Continue reading »
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Afghanistan visa issue shows what Australia really is
The current debate about visas for Afghans poses questions about the sort of people we are. Continue reading »
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It’s time for Labor to capitalise on Morrison’s inadequacies
We are not yet in election mode and can assume that both parties are reserving their campaign strategies and tactics for the end. But at the moment, Morrison and the coalition will have defeated themselves. Continue reading »
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Malaysia: toxic ideology more dangerous.
Many people think we are in for a quick regime change given that UMNO, the biggest party in the ruling coalition withdrew its support last week. It could not be further from the truth. I will try to explain why Muhyiddin administration is likely to survive the UMNO challenge but will remain politically unstable for Continue reading »
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Dark Ostrich: the attack on Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu
Academics generally do not like outsiders trampling through their patch. Angry people are prone to missing irony. Semantics can be tricky when translating between very different cultures. These three factors seem to explain a fair bit of the vehement critique of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu in the new book Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate, by Peter Continue reading »
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We have seen Morrison’s best, and it wasn’t much
The prime minister Scott Morrison is in a lot of trouble again. He will probably get out of it, with just a few more bruises and scratches, but the clock is running down on his leadership. Continue reading »
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Labor deaf to Chinese ethnic stirrings in Stretton Electorate in Queensland
There are murmurs that the Chinese in Stretton have had enough. Continue reading »
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Respect for the APS did not last long
Praise of the Australian Public Service for its COVID 19 efforts last year, and appearances of respecting its policy contribution, seem now to have disappeared. The PM’s disdain of the public service as a key institution in our democracy, shown in his response to the Thodey Report in December 2019 and his earlier disparaging of 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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Sunday environmental round up.
Greta Thunberg accuses world leaders of pretending to tackle climate change. Ecocide gets a legal definition – President Bolsonaro beware! Economic viability of gas power plants justified on false assumptions and lots of reasons why nuclear isn’t the answer either. Australia’s emissions per person not as praiseworthy as the government would have us believe. Continue reading »
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B-minus for Australia’s threatened species recovery efforts
Australia’s unique wildlife is under increasing threat, with legislation failing to provide adequate protection for species in crisis. Release of the new Threatened Species Strategy provides an opportunity for Australia to lift its game but will the current legislative opportunity also be seized? Continue reading »
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What does it take to get sacked from the Morrison Cabinet?
Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away there was a concept called the Westminster principle of Ministerial responsibility – if you failed in your responsibility you resigned or got sacked. Continue reading »
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Su-Lin Tan-China-Australia relations: US coal continues to fill void left by ban on Australian exports, Canberra report says
The United States continued shipping more coal to China in May – supporting an upward trend seen in recent months and filling the gap left by Australian coal banned by Chinese authorities, newly released trade data and reports show. Continue reading »
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“Acting on health advice”
In the absence of corroborating evidence, I do not believe Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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Carbon Offsets are a Delusion
Any government, corporation, industry or nation, that is relying on carbon offsets to justify claims to be “Net Zero” is relying on bogus accounting – looking at the credits whilst sweeping the debits under the carpet. Continue reading »
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When should mandatory vaccination be on the agenda?
Back in August 2020, when announcing that Australia had negotiated a deal to procure supplies of coronavirus vaccines, the Prime Minister was quizzed by Melbourne radio commentator Neil Mitchell about whether vaccination should be compulsory. The PM hedged his bets – he would ‘expect it to be as mandatory as you can possibly make [it]’. Continue reading »
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Public service must learn from robodebt fiasco
Justice Murphy of the Federal Court castigated the Commonwealth in unprecedented terms in his judgment approving settlement of the class action on behalf of those affected by Robodebt. Continue reading »
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Controlling lobbyists is needed to increase trust in government
Good and bad government behaviour, the management of crises, lack of accountability, preferencing of mates, the favouring of powerful interests, undue influence and lobbying, they all impact on people’s trust in government. Continue reading »
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When is a secret meeting for lobbying not a secret meeting?
ICAC urges ban on secret meetings with lobbyists. In other words, ICAC practitioners imagine a new system for governing…or do they? What is ‘their system’s’ purpose and how might it work out in the long run? Some general features pertain. Continue reading »
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Afghanistan: An enterprise for the stupid
Viet Nam, Iraq and now Afghanistan demonstrate that our ally, the US, is flaky. Continue reading »
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National Party greed was once restrained by Liberals
We ought to be asking questions about the mysterious failure of public service systems to hold any senior public official to account for anything, let alone to punish or dismiss. Continue reading »
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Independent candidates are on the rise – and that may not be all bad
The reinstatement of Barnaby Joyce combined with demographic changes raises the possibility that more independents will be elected at the next federal election. A run-down of the most likely electorates. Continue reading »
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Coalition protects wealthy retirees’ investments under cover of Covid-19 pandemic
The Coalition moved to protect the superannuation of Australia’s wealthiest retirees at the same time it was encouraging the nation’s poorest to raid their retirement accounts. And they continue to protect the wealthiest even though the Australian share market is back at record highs. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up.
Marine algal blooms are increasing but not everywhere, while bottom trawling fishing releases vast amounts of CO2. Earth is trapping even more solar energy than expected: anthropogenic or meteorological? Whichever, every fraction of a degree of global warming wipes out another glacier. Lessons from wartime Canada. Continue reading »
