Politics
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Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout: what we were promised
How does the original Covid rollout compare with what we are experiencing right now and what we are likely to end up with? In Part 1 we look at what we were promised. In Part 2 we examine how the rollout collapsed. In Part 3 we find that at mid-year, significant changes to our rollout Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 20 June 2021
The harmful health effects of climate change are under-recognised. Calls for a socio-ecological approach to tackling climate change and biodiversity loss together. Trends in the reporting of climate science. ‘Zombie’ fires in northern boreal forests, and LGBQTI+ activists stand up for climate change and human rights. Continue reading »
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Australian human misery: a dirty dozen cases
The prime minister has an eye for the public relations opportunity. Recently he was quick to be seen at the announcement of the success of an FBI-AFP operation targeting drug traffickers. He condemned criminals for bringing misery to Australia. Regrettably, we have plenty of misery already, thanks to his government’s policies. Continue reading »
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Julian Assange and the collapse of the rule of law
Chris Hedges gave this talk at a rally Thursday night in New York City in support of Julian Assange. John and Gabriel Shipton, Julian’s father and brother, also spoke at the event, which was held at The People’s Forum. 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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Australian Media in the Asian Century
Scott Morrison calling. It’s been another fortnight of triumph in world forums for Scott Morrison, if you’ve read the headlines and lead paragraphs in The Australian and the Australian Financial Review. Continue reading »
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The authoritarian academy: corporate governance of Australia’s universities exploits staff and students and degrades academic standards. Part 3
The corporatization of Australia’s public universities has been driven by government funding cuts and regressive changes to how universities are governed. The rationale for corporatization was that it would encourage universities to become more entrepreneurial by turning vice-chancellors into CEOs and governing bodies into corporate boards. The resulting hybrid has been very successful at promoting Continue reading »
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Immigration: language of cruelty or words for humanity
The Coalition government’s self-image, values and attitudes towards powerless people, such as the Tamil Biloela family, are parcelled in a language and style that is far removed from ideals of a common humanity. Continue reading »
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Witness K: was his guilty plea coerced?
After years of suffering oppression, delays and injustice from his employer the Federal Government, Witness K, finally pleaded guilty before a closed court for disclosing classified Commonwealth material to his lawyer about Australia’s dirty antics against East Timor. Two days of sentencing hearing are set down for Thursday and Friday. But was his guilt plea Continue reading »
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Coalition policies and corporatization of universities are premised on shifting costs to students and staff. Part 2
Australia’s tertiary education system is large, complex, and poorly regulated. Its government funding sources, governance structures and annual reporting requirements lack transparency and are inconsistent between and within jurisdictions. Distorted government priorities and discredited ideological fixations have created a dysfunctional system that devalues the work of academics and professional staff while imposing ever higher burdens Continue reading »
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AICD outflanks Morrison on the left
The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) doesn’t immediately spring to mind as one of the major progressive voices – except perhaps in contrast with Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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Blink and the boats will restart the Government says, but that is nonsense
The Government excuses its cruelty to the Biloela family by wrongly asserting that the boats bringing asylum seekers will start again . Over the past 6-7 years, the Government has presided over the biggest labour trafficking scam and abuse of Australia’s asylum system in our history. As a result of that scam of asylum seekers Continue reading »
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COVID cuts highlight intellectual bankruptcy of Coalition higher education policies. Part 1
Australian universities are in crisis, a crisis that has been a long time in the making, but is becoming increasingly obvious as the country’s borders remain closed to international students and the rivers of gold that had flowed from them rapidly evaporate. Continue reading »
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Lampooners beware – politicians’ dignity is precious
A cutting cartoon by Cathy Wilcox in The Age this month had a figure looking like Scott Morrison in the first frame saying: ‘And Jenny said to me, you have to think of this as a father first.’ In the second the PM adds: ‘And I thought: Don’t be ridiculous. These girls don’t look anything Continue reading »
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A family from Biloela holds a mirror to unconscionable Government behaviour
For the second time in their lives the two adults of the Murugappan family have been forced to be resilient and brave in the face of confrontation by a government intent on causing them harm. Continue reading »
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G7 support for pharma monopolies is putting millions of lives at risk
The self-interest of G7 countries is the biggest obstacle to ending the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of campaigning organizations said today. Ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit, the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned that G7 promises to vaccinate the world by 2022 will be impossible to fulfill, if governments continue blocking proposals to waive patents and share life-saving Continue reading »
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Since you’re not using the Crown, Prime Minister
The presumption that the federal government will act fairly can be traced to the Crown, but the federal government is now undermining it. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up.
Ecosocialist advice for the G7’s leaders and encouragement to read a recent P&I article on carbon accounting. The price of solar panels is rising slightly and our sylvan friends are emitting ‘treethane’. Finally, a plea to dog owners. Continue reading »
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Carbon border adjustments: what are they and how will they affect Australia?
Australia cannot continue to stand apart from other wealthy countries, free riding on their emission reduction efforts. Sooner rather than later, we will need to set commensurate targets under the Paris Agreement and implement policies to achieve them. Continue reading »
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This is leadership: Germany bids farewell to Angela Merkel
At a press conference, a female Journalist asked Merkel : We notice that you’re wearing the same suit, don’t you have any other? She replied: “I am a government employee and not a model” Continue reading »
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China: Draconian repression of Muslims in Xinjiang amounts to crimes against humanity
Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region face systematic state-organized mass imprisonment, torture and persecution amounting to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said as it launched a new report and campaign today. Continue reading »
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Behaviour, the pandemic, and climate change
Implementation of carbon reduction and other global warming-related policies will be an inordinately difficult challenge. The inability of governments to effect widespread, sustained behavioural change has been an outstanding feature of the past eighteen months of the pandemic. In preparation for the transition to a zero-carbon, climate-adapted future, the past assumptions underlying policy implementation need 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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Liberal Party accusations on Premier Andrews’ spinal injury
The Victorian Liberal Opposition has been clutching at straws for some time – witness their landslide loss at the last election – but now they are now sinking into desperate measures with this latest attack on Premier Daniel Andrews. Continue reading »
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Right and left: Dumb and Dumber
When it comes to thinking, progressives do it better than conservatives do. Progressives embrace novelty, nuance and complexity, while social conservatives struggle to process complex tasks. A decade of brain scans suggests why. Continue reading »
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We’ve got you on file: Australia’s McCarthyist moment
Some people think that McCarthyism – casting doubt, without evidence, on the loyalties of people in public life – was dead and buried with the Cold War. Continue reading »
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Australian democracy is fading fast
Australian democracy is fading fast, with little care on the part of the Coalition and mainstream media or realisation on the part of Labor. Continue reading »
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Mr Morrison, the G7 Summit and the report “Biodiversity, Natural Capital and the Economy”
When Mr Morrison arrives at the G7 Leaders Summit later this week he will have before him a report on Biodiversity and if he reads and understands it he will realise that Australia’s reformed gross domestic product (GDP) would almost certainly be in negative territory and likely to fall further because of our poor record Continue reading »
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Government rorting is now the Australian way of doing business
Australia has moved to a deeply corrupted system of doling out consultancy contracts to mates by pure discretion, in circumstances which in the classic Morrison style are compulsively secretive, and vague in sums and contract terms. Continue reading »
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Australian traditional culture under threat again and again.
The changing of a word in the national anthem from ‘young’ to ‘one’ indicates that Australia did not begin in 1788. So aspects of society going back beyond that date are clearly Australian culture. Around Bathurst today, real Australian culture has been threatened by inappropriate and unnecessary developments. All Australians should object. Continue reading »
