Politics
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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 Intergenerational Report: helpful, but so much less than it could be
Since the 2021 Intergenerational Report (IGR) was released the media has been bombarding us with its “predictions” and “forecasts”. Just take The Australian’s front-page headline ‘Economic snapshot warns of disaster if we don’t act now’, with the first line reading, “Australians’ average incomes will be $32,000 lower”. Or think of Paul Kelly’s header, ‘Australia sleeping Continue reading »
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Key Assange accuser backs away from what he told US prosecutors
Why the reluctance of the Australian media to report on a significant development in the Assange case? Continue reading »
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National Cabinet is not to blame, unless you ask the State Governments
There has been a subtle but nevertheless significant shift in the operation of the National Cabinet. It reflects the growing evidence that Prime Minister Scott Morrison recognises he is no longer in control of Australia’s response to the Covid pandemic and that many people are questioning his increasingly inept performance. Continue reading »
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The difference between fake and genuine apologies
These days there are frequent apologies, non-apologies, refusals to apologise and extended qualifications of apologies with weasel phrases such as “this is not who we are” – despite the behaviour of the organisation uttering the words obviously being exactly who and what they are. Continue reading »
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Grenville Cross-Closure of Apple Daily in Hong Kong and the political obsessions of one man .
It is always sad when people lose their jobs, and there is sympathy for the Apple Daily employees now facing redundancy. They include journalists from, for example, the entertainment, finance and sports desks, as well as engineers, printers and delivery workers. They have all fallen victim to the political obsessions of one man, the newspaper’s Continue reading »
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Why can’t we agree on the powers needed for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission?
Ministerial discretion under the Westminster system as it is applied in Australia is a useful but corruptible power. Continue reading »
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Fascism is alive in Australia
George Orwell wrote that almost any English person would accept bullying as a synonym for fascism. Political theorists refer to fascism as characterised by secrecy in government, by goals for national regeneration plus promotion of masculinity and derision of democracy. Continue reading »
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Australian Government silent on CSL, Red Cross contaminated blood scandal; UK government accepts ‘moral responsibility’
The Government still refuses to apologise and offer financial support to the up to 20,000 victims of the contaminated blood scandal as recommended 17 years ago by a Senate Committee. Labor has acknowledged the “historic injustice” but says it can’t do anything. Is it because CSL, the darling of Australia’s business community, lies at the Continue reading »
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After the pandemic war, no political point in refighting the battles
Anthony Albanese has become too fond of saying that Scott Morrison had two big jobs this year – to roll out the vaccine, and to fix quarantine, and that he’s failed with both. The next election will not be a report card on how the coalition managed the pandemic, but about the future. Continue reading »
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Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of the country.
About their forthcoming book, Enough is Enough, Kate Thwaites and Jenny Macklin state: “… the underlying problem of men’s attitudes towards women, of men believing it is their right to assault or harass women, remains. For this to change, men will have to give up some of the harmful ways in which they use power – in Continue reading »
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Enough with the hidden persuaders – we need a national integrity commission now
Australian politics smells and sanitation is long overdue. The establishment of a National Integrity Commission with teeth is long overdue. Continue reading »
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Whitlam confirmed ‘great man’ theory
If someone had said at the start of the year I would be going to China, Gough Whitlam’s aide Graham Freudenberg recalled, I would have said going to the moon would be more likely. Continue reading »
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What has Australia gained from the crisis the pandemic represented?
This time last year, I was arguing that Morrison would be judged at the next election not by his success in managing the pandemic, but by his success in reviving the economy. I think it is largely his fault that he is now about six months behind schedule in leading Australia out of the pandemic, Continue reading »
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Frances Adamson’s “graduation speech” – a conditional pass?
Frances Adamson, outgoing Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), gave a wide-ranging speech at the National Press Club (NPC) on 23 June, revealing that little if anything was achieved during the five years of her term as departmental head and that her leadership was lacking, or at least, seriously limited by other Continue reading »
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Respecting the distinct roles of the ADF and the APS
The ADF and the APS are institutions in their own right, and are not just subject to the Government’s directions. Their roles should be respected, recognising their commitment to serving the public and their focus on impartiality and the longer-term interests of Australians. Continue reading »
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The High Court’s surrender to the Morrison-Dutton immigration detention regime
For almost thirty years, there has been a tussle between the courts and government in Australia over immigration detention. Alas, the High Court called a truce on Wednesday with a 4-3 decision which is as unprincipled as it is harsh. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up.
Food farming is an important source of air pollution, no matter how much the industry denies it. Urgent measures needed to ensure that the energy transition has the metals it needs. Thirty years of climate change diplomacy doesn’t seem to have achieved much. Continue reading »
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The Senate’s nuclear waste dilemma
The Australian Senate is poised to vote on a controversial nuclear waste dump plan. It is an issue of national concern, but it has been pitched by the government as a matter only for the 824 eligible voters of the Kimba Shire. Continue reading »
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The Council on Foreign Relations, the Biden Team, and Key Policy Outcomes. Serving a corporate ruling class.
The U.S. working class, led by people of color, has, at least temporarily, defeated the criminal Trumpian regime and the specter of the consolidation of gangster neofascism. Continue reading »
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Letting the Liberals off the Barnaby Joyce hook
The return of Barnaby Joyce to the leadership of the National Party and the Deputy Prime Ministership has been somewhat awkward for the Liberal Party. It is puzzling however that the Labor Opposition has not managed to make the Coalition Government more uncomfortable. 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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ICAC wants real regulation of lobbying with its unfairness and the inherent risks of corruption.
ICAC tried 11 years ago to persuade the NSW Government to introduce a basic system to regulate lobbyists in the state, but only the bare bones of its proposals (essentially, just 5 out of 17 recommendations) were put into effect. It has now revisited the problem and determined a far more comprehensive scheme that would Continue reading »
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Breaking news: new leader for Labor for Coal
The Federal Member of Parliament for a coalmining seat in New South Wales has today been re-elected Leader of Labor for Coal (LfC). Asked what she thought was expected of her in the position, Ms Taken said that one of her first priorities will be to maintain the close political, philosophical and organisational relationship with Continue reading »
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The Great Barrier Reef in danger. But is there a China conspiracy afoot?
The Government deliberately fuelled a conspiracy theory that China must have been involved in the UNESCO report. It is alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office backgrounded journalists along these lines for the first 24 hours of the release. The Australian ran a story, China-led ‘ambush’ on health of the Reef. This was a complete fabrication Continue reading »
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Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout, Part 4. A good outcome by Christmas is possible
A move away from AstraZeneca is inevitable in Australia’s vaccine rollout, brought on by the need to reach herd immunity and to resolve the blood clot concerns. We forecast plenty of Pfizer arriving from after September, and the possibility of completing a high efficacy vaccine rollout by December. For the coming months, though, the rollout Continue reading »
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Morrison-Naked in Cornwall with ‘allies’ backfilling the markets we have lost in China
Far from being a vindication of the Government’s China policies, the G7 plus 4 meeting highlighted the abject failure of Australia’s reckless foreign policy towards China. Australia alone of the 11 nations present had no official contact with China and significant parts of its trade suspended, which others at the meeting are busily back filling. Continue reading »
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Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout, Part 3. In June 2021 we are at the crossroads
The first week of June will be significant in Australia’s Covid story. Victoria had entered lockdown on Thursday 27 May after a case of community infection arrived via Adelaide. Another more dangerous variant would also appear. Australians would react with more heading out to get a jab, but not in sufficiently large enough numbers. Pressures Continue reading »
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Old Canberra a model of cheap land and government housing
Canberra was once in a position to show how ordinary working Australians could get into the housing market at a fair price. That fair price, in today’s terms, was about a third of current prices. Continue reading »
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Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout, Part 2. What we’ve been delivered
At a press conference about the vaccine rollout in December, Health Minister Greg Hunt said, “our goal is to under-promise and over-deliver”. Over January and February, the rollout was mapped out for us. However, the problems that soon developed were not a case of ‘the best-laid plans’ going awry but more like a case of Continue reading »
