Politics
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HAJO DUKEN. No one is above the law
This sounds so obvious and innocent. However, in times of raids on journalists and the national broadcaster, moves to substantially curtail the liberty to protest, the prosecution of Witness K and his lawyer, and many other clashes between the law and our liberties, do we not have every reason to be suspicious and ask what Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. Retirement Incomes Review: Part 1
The Mercer Global Pension Index rates the Australian retirement income system as number three in the world. Nevertheless, the Government has commissioned an independent Review, and this article and another tomorrow discuss whether and how our retirement income system might be improved. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 1 December 2019
How much can we trust the certification system for palm oil? Not much according to two reports over the last 4 years. Air pollution kills 3,000 Australians each year – there’s an opportunity to put pressure on ministers to enact higher national air pollution standards. Bankers are increasingly recognising the need for urgent action to 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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LAURIE PATTON. The Assange dilemma updated. What is journalism in the online age?
It’s time for more humane treatment of Julian Assange. Guilt or innocence aside nobody should be treated the way he is allegedly being treated. More than 60 doctors have now written an open letter to the UK authorities saying he suffers from psychological problems including depression, dental issues and a serious shoulder ailment. They want Continue reading »
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MARK BUCKLEY. Seriously Under-achieving
The current Government seems to be, almost universally, staffed by a large group of impostors. Are they visitors from another planet, passing themselves off as movers and shakers, decision makers? Have they infiltrated the bodies of the incumbents, but are insufficiently programmed to carry off the deception? Are they all zombies, not alive, but not Continue reading »
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Sunup in Sawojajar
Expat blogs praise the joys of living in Bali. A low-cost paradise, they say. Sundowners with fellow retirees while a maid (‘a real treasure’) prepares dinner and ‘our’ gardener trims the lawn. Good time to bitch about deemed interest rates on pensions. Below the green paddy, the cheerful reapers. This is Indonesia. So is East Continue reading »
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RICHARD WHITINGTON. What started with Whitlam in Werriwa in 1952 remains a work in progress.
Tomorrow 29 November, is the 67th anniversary of Edward Gough Whitlam’s election to the Australian Parliament in 1952. Twenty years and three days later he became Prime Minister, after Labor’s longest exile in opposition, and nine straight election losses. Whitlam’s path to his 1972 victory had much of its foundation in the monumental task of Continue reading »
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JOHN TAN. Is this what a corporate state feels like?
Variously called classical economics, neoclassical economics, trickle-down economics, neoliberalism, a new wave of economic thinking swept Australia. Keynes was gone, Hayek and Friedman were the rage. We were told that free markets were the only way. Governments were a hindrance. Everyone should learn from the efficiency of corporations and markets. Planning was unnecessary because free Continue reading »
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ALAN AUSTIN. Which party runs the economy better and how do we know? Part two.
There are two ways to demonstrate that Australia’s Labor governments have managed the national economy better than the Coalition has. First, by comparing outcomes over time in Australia. Second, by comparing how Australia has ranked in the world under different administrations. The second accounts for global conditions which, as we saw in part one, are Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING-Trump’s Re-election Prospects and the Economy.
The secular stagnation of the American economy over this century helped propel Donald Trump into the White House. So far President Trump is popularly credited with achieving some improvement in the US economy, but the economic outlook may well have deteriorated by the time of the next US election. Continue reading »
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The Greens cruelled Australia’s last best chance for climate action 10 years ago
Ten years ago, on 23 November, PM Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull had worked together to draft a compromise environmental policy for Australia that both could live with. That fleeting moment of bipartisan unity was sabotaged by Andrew Robb and Tony Abbott from the Liberal Party and the Greens. Since then, the different Continue reading »
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ALAN AUSTIN. Which party runs the economy better and how do we know? Part one.
The claim that the Coalition manages the economy better than Labor has never been valid. Yet the myth endures. Bizarrely, it seems to become more firmly believed as the evidence disproving it accumulates. So what is the reality? And how did the falsehood become so widely accepted? Continue reading »
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Porter’s selective concern for fairness and justice
If integrity commissions shouldn’t ask nasty questions in public, why can, and do, royal commissions? Continue reading »
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Israelization of more than water in NSW
On November 21, the Zionist Federation of Australia awarded the Jerusalem Prize to the Prime Minister for his friendship and support of Israel. Scott Morrison used the occasion to praise the Israeli government and repeat his attacks on the deliberations of the United Nations. Israel is expert in stealing water from the Palestinians. Continue reading »
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Morrison fiddles while Australia burns
I had the privilege of serving closely all of the Prime Ministers from Whitlam to Howard. Each of them sought this office because they wanted to pursue a policy agenda they thought would make Australia better. However, the evidence suggests that Scott Morrison is different – his objective is seemingly limited to being there. Continue reading »
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It is secret government, not Chinese subversion, we have most to fear
Paul Barratt has put the country on notice that, as currently practiced by government, Australia could find itself at war before it knew it – see https://johnmenadue.com/paul-barratt-its-too-easy-to-take-us-to-war. Continue reading »
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JOHN WALLACE. Hong Kong research in 2013 warned of student violence
Research by social scientists at City University in Hong Kong in 2013 could help explain why in 2019 some young Hong Kong protesters have turned to violence in their anti-China campaign. This 2013 article by Dennis Chong of the South China Morning Post summarises the research findings. Continue reading »
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SAM JACOBS. Vaclav Havel: The Forgotten History of the Political Dissident Who Founded the Czech Republic
Our historical unsung heroes are generally impressive figures. But there are very few one might accurately call “cool.” This is an exception. Václav Havel, the founder of the modern-day Czech Republic (also known as Czechia) is undoubtedly cool by any definition of the word. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 24 November 2019
A very strong international flavour this week. Land degradation problems and encouragement to shift to renewables in India; Bangladesh planning to massively increase its coal-fired power generation; California fighting back against Trump and car makers on fuel efficiency standards; Germany legislating to achieve its Paris agreement targets; and large increases in nitrous oxide emissions globally. 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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DAVID SOLOMON. The climate strikes.
The political consensus on climate change is changing – has already changed. Prime Minister Scott Morrison knows it, but is in an awful, strangling bind. He knows he has to adopt policies that recognise climate change and will help alleviate its impact (all the while remaining reluctant to join those countries trying to reduce its Continue reading »
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MATTHEW FISHER. The Politics We Have – The Politics We Need.
Neoliberalism has been a catalyst for an abysmal state of politics characterised by political gamesmanship – played with issues of fundamental public interest – and the rise of populist authoritarianism. The many groups working for a better future in Australia need to come together around some shared principles for political change. Continue reading »
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ABUL RIZVI: Frydenberg’s Population Ageing Backflip
After studiously ignoring population ageing in his ten year budget plan issued before the 2019 Election, Josh Frydenberg now says population ageing will be an economic and fiscal timebomb. So which of the two Frydenberg narratives are we to believe? The pre-election one or the post-election one? Continue reading »
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PERCY ALLAN. Latest Research shows Australia still woeful at Policy Making.
For the second year running, independent research by two philosophically opposed Right and Left think tanks finds that public policy making at federal and state levels is rarely evidence and consultative based. Unlike last year, none of the 20 case studies this year got close to a perfect score of 10. Only four case studies Continue reading »
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GEOFF DAVIES. The Independent path to effective democracy, and survival.
A way to break us out of the ossified and toxic parliamentary culture and the fearful stupor of the electorate. A way to restore fluid and functional governance. Continue reading »
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ROB STEWART. Everything but the Elephant – Labor ’s Election Campaign Report
Labor has taken Government from Conservatives only 3 times in the past 70 years. It must start representing those who have no effective power – the majority – if it wants to be taken seriously. Continue reading »
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JACK SHAMASH. The Labour Party’s antisemitism problem might lie in a simple clash of identities (The Independent UK, 03 November 2019)
After a show of hands in my north London synagogue, I started to wonder if this rolling row had its roots in how both groups define themselves It’s not easy to make sense of the current furore about antisemitism and the left. But it may be that a fundamental part of the explanation is quite Continue reading »
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FIRE CHIEFS pull the rug from under climate change deniers.
Commenting on the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 60 people and injured more than 400, the US National Rifle Association said ‘This sort of response isn’t helpful. Families are mourning. Offer a prayer and temper your desire of politics…’ It sounds just like the response of the Prime Minister and Coalition Ministers to the Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. OK Boomer – know thine enemy
In the 20th Century each successive generation fared better than their parents, both socially and financially. The likelihood is that trend will continue this century – if we all work together finding solutions to the very serious problems facing the environment and we leverage the benefits accruing from the emerging digitally-enabled global economy. There has Continue reading »