Politics
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RICHARD BUTLER Spaghetti Americana: US Middle east Policy
Trump’s agreement on the telephone with Erdogan that Turkey could go ahead and invade Kurdish Syria was a disaster; local and, geo-political. Continue reading »
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JAMES E. CONNELL. Clergy mandatory reporter laws to protect children from abuse or neglect in the USA
Many, but not all, of the fifty States of the USA have statutes that prevent members of the clergy (of whatever faith) from reporting to civil authorities information about child abuse or neglect that the clergy person acquires in a confidential setting. An effort to repeal or revise these statutes is underway and this effort Continue reading »
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JOHN CARLIN. The Catalan Argentinians
The treatment of the Catalans by the Spanish government over the last decade has meant that support for an independent Catalonia has tripled. If Madrid had agreed to a referendum years ago it is almost certain that the vote for independence would have been lost. Continue reading »
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Australia plummets below Greece
At last Scott Morrison’s torpid government realises that it is in danger of being mugged by reality. Continue reading »
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Clever politics is not the answer – nor is party politics
We live in a particracy – the party-room rules and we are run by clever politicians, not leaders with courage and the fortitude to make tough decisions. Or as Charlie Chaplin put it in The Great Dictator – “we are run by machine men, yet we need kindness more than cleverness”. Continue reading »
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LOUIS COOPER. It’s Monday, October 21 and Canadians are going to the polls and they are “highly likely” to elect a minority government.
The most recent poll, commissioned by Canada’s national broadcaster, the CBC, has the Conservatives, led by Andrew Scheer, at 31.7%. the Liberals, led by PrimeMinister, Justin Trudeau, are at 30.8%, the New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh is sitting at 8.5%. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 20 October 2019
Investments in renewables are increasing but not fast enough. Oil and gas companies continue investing to produce yet more greenhouse gases, including burning coal underground to produce gas in SA. On current trends Australia’s economy is going to take a big hit from climate change, particularly the property and agricultural sectors. Rising sea level is Continue reading »
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SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media Continue reading »
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STEPHANIE DOWRICK. It’s indifference to poverty – not refugees – that profoundly affects our “security”
We have a government led by a former Minister for Immigration that’s obsessed with playing power games around the idea of security: who has it, who threatens it, and – most especially – who should define and control it. But while those games grind on, true “insecurity” is being lived daily by hundreds of thousands Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. The failure of the National Party on rural poverty and rural health.
Country electorates have the most disadvantaged people, the poorest health and inferior health services. But the National Party does very little about it. Continue reading »
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GREG CLARK. The Day I met the Emperor in Waiting
The request came from out of the blue. A neighbor in rural Chiba whose wife had royal family connections had sent a message via her husband that the crown prince, Naruhito, want to talk with me. He was said to have had read an article I had written for a Nagano prefecture regional newspaper about Continue reading »
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ERIC SIDOTI. Morrison’s unsettling religiosity – Part 2
“God bless Australia.” Scott Morrison chose these three words to close his acceptance speech on winning the ‘miracle’ election’. In doing so he has taken Australia into unchartered territory. Continue reading »
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MARK BUCKLEY. Circling the Drain
At the risk of beating the same old drum, this current Government seems to be heading steadily down the ethical and moral drain, ever since the unexpected election win. So much of the country’s malaise, however, can be traced back to the ascension of one Tony Abbott, firstly as Opposition Leader, and then, unbelievably, as Continue reading »
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JUDITH IRELAND. Backstage in Canberra: who is lobbying our MPs? (SMH 12.10.2019)
Lobbying is big business and a part of life in Canberra, especially when Parliament is sitting. How does it work? Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Telstra should stop whinging and help fix our dud NBN
Earlier in the week Telstra chair, John Mullen, conceded that the company must accept some of the blame for our flawed National Broadband Network due to its ‘recalcitrance’ back in 2007/2008 when it submitted a bid that didn’t meet the requirements of the government tender to build a nationwide network. As Mr Mullen also observed, Continue reading »
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LUKE FRASER. A Repost: Congestion charging: – Stockholm, Melbourne and Turnbull’s legacy.
The Grattan Institute has just published a report on road congestion charging. It argues that congestion charging is a better way to manage busy urban roads. It is right but Ministers rejected the idea immediately. We waste far more money on pointless roads than we do on welfare. But the dollars we waste on roads Continue reading »
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International Alternatives to Morrison’s Crass Views on Sovereignty
While in Washington, the Prime Minister witnessed President Trump speaking about nationalism, patriotism, the treason of traitors and the irrelevance of international treaties, his latest flag waving endorsement of American sovereignty as the entitlement to do what it likes. Continue reading »
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ERIC SIDOTI. God Bless Scomo Part 1: The Pentecostals Are Coming?
Scott Morrison’s billing as Australia’s first Pentecostal PM has generated torrents of commentary. Much of the interest is driven by an assumption that the PM’s religious preferences herald the rise of this strange, big C conservative megachurch steamroller as a wielder of political influence. The first thing to say is that the attention to Morrison’s Continue reading »
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MARK BUCKLEY. Some Home Truths
There are some things which are true, and some which are not. There are many things which are debatable, or contentious, or even undecided. But the true things will always be true. Our media habitually believes that stupid, nonsensical, or just plain wrong opinions deserve to be treated with the same weight as those things Continue reading »
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NICK DEANE. The climate crisis and war
Groups like Extinction Rebellion (XR) focus on the physical impacts of the climate crisis. Message to XR – The pre-requisites for a comfortable, sustainable future include an end to militarism and, ultimately, the cessation of war. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Morrison kowtows to Trump
Even as Donald Trump announced he would cut and run from Syria, leaving his Kurdish allies to whatever bloody fate awaits them and opening a door for the resurgence of ISIS. our fearless prime minister was not ready to breathe a word of criticism of his friend, ally and protector. Continue reading »
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GREG BAILEY. For A New Enlightenment
It has been pointed out numerous times that neoliberalism, the prevailing orthodoxy of governance, grew off the carcass of neo-classical economics. That this intellectual paradigm has failed is obvious to most people except for politicians in the Anglo-Saxon world and the EU. A new paradigm that brings together rigorous rationalistic thinking based on empirical evidence Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Albanese risks making Rudd’s mistake.
As they sweat on the results of the long-drawn out post mortem over Labor’s loss in the unlosable election, the warlords are already staking out their own positions. The feeling seems to be that since a protracted series of blame games are inevitable, a least they can make a pretence of moving forward, even though Continue reading »
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MIKE WALLER. Restoring trust in our Westminster system: politicians heal yourselves
Politics in the US and the UK represent the death of shame in democratic government. To be caught lying in today’s populist, post truth world of tribal politics is seemingly, at worst, a peccadillo. Legitimacy is now based on the will of the people (as the leaders interpret it), not by the standards they hold Continue reading »
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DUNCAN GRAHAM How not to engage with Asia
Every decade or so a Western Australian politician on the cast-iron balconies of the State’s Parliament glances outwards. Looking away from the Darling Range rippling in the heat rising from the Swan Coastal Plain, the watcher wonders: What opportunities lie North West? Maybe adolescent markets hungry for the abundance of minerals and foods coming from Continue reading »
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JOHN CARLIN. The Universal Sin
The rich countries of the world sometimes go over the top about racism, and in doing so, cheapen examples of real racism. The latest example involves the Portuguese football player with Manchester City, Bernardo Silva. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 13 October 2019
This week’s articles all have visual cues. Climate change is already affecting people’s lives and it’s not always the environment itself that causes the harm. In various ways though people are resisting, as demonstrated in three short videos from around the world. And finally, rising water temperatures are devastating salmon breeding and stocks in the Continue reading »
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SATURDAY’s GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media Continue reading »
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PROFESSOR JENNY HOCKING ‘I never had any doubts about the Palace’s attitude’: Sir John Kerr’s Royal secrets exposed
Letters between Sir John Kerr and Buckingham Palace show that the Palace pressured Kerr to omit from his autobiography his secret exchanges with the Queen’s private secretary before his dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. This Royally sanctioned erasure is one of several crucial omissions from Kerr’s autobiography, which raise key questions about the ‘Palace Continue reading »
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SUE WAREHAM. Abbott – a natural fit for a war memorial sliding from commemoration to propaganda
People who have the power to set the direction of national cultural institutions need to reflect appropriate values. The appointment of Tony Abbott to the Council of the Australian War Memorial reminds us of just how much the Memorial has lost touch with the values of many Australians. A man whose public life has been Continue reading »