Politics
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Government collective IQ shrinks further.
There was little to enthuse about Scott Morrison’s second ministry. The first one wasn’t too flash either, but with the exodus of Christopher Pyne, Kelly O’Dwyer and Mitch Fifield, the collective IQ has fallen still further. Bringing back Arthur Sinodinos would have helped, but he preferred a comfortable posting to the other side of the Continue reading »
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TONY SMITH. Time to revive the ‘most appalling’ list.
As a naive teacher of undergraduates I always assumed that research findings about wealth distribution in Australia would be of vital interest to students in any discipline. Understanding the extremes of wealth and poverty and their causes seemed to be essential to understanding individual behaviour and to making collective decisions. Sadly, the trend has always Continue reading »
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RICHARD DENNISS. What’s ‘left’ and ‘right’ in Australian politics today? The lines are shifting (The Guardian)
Remember when the right was accused of obsessing over market forces and the left of not understanding economics? Continue reading »
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GREG BAILEY. The Australian Electorate and the ‘Sensible Centre.’
Now that the grieving over the electoral loss of progressive political forces is beginning to be transformed into sustained soul searching about the characteristics of the Australian electorate and the tactic used by the ALP, it is time to ask whether the ALP could have won given the forces rallied against them. In truth the Continue reading »
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US Foreign Policy: Preference for Conflict
US foreign and military policy is thoroughly fused. The cliches which assert that: military postures are designed to shore up diplomacy and, the other favourite; articulated by the US in virtually every situation:- “all options are on the table”; do not dilute this fact. The key consequences of this are: the US is always at Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 2 June 2019
Where is the drive that is urgently needed to transition to a zero carbon, environmentally sustainable world going to come from? A European group thinks Community-Led Initiatives can provide a kick-start. Climate change is affecting animals and plants, and the reverse is also true. Stories about worms, forests, snow hares, moose and ticks illustrate this. 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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HENRY REYNOLDS. The centre cannot hold.
In a recent article in the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat drew attention to the Australian elections and the cotemporaneous triumph of Narendra Modi in India and of Nigel Farage in Britain’s European elections. Each represented a surge in supporter for right wing populism and what he called’ the global fade of liberalism.’ Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for? Values and principles. Part 3 of 3.
In Part 2 I focussed on particular issues the ALP faces. In this part I will focus on the way that Labor policies and programs need to be grounded in values and principles. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL PASCOE. Government integrity test: A genuine retirement system inquiry or a political stunt? (New Daily, 30.05.19)
If Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wants a genuine “review of the retirement income system”, the little matter of franking credit refunds will have to be back on the table – and that would be only one of the political challenges. Continue reading »
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JOCELYN CHEY. Civilisations should not clash
The United States relationship with China has been defined by a State Department senior official as a clash of civilisations. China’s response was given by President Xi Jinping in a speech that stressed the importance of respect for all cultures. Each side however interprets civilisation and culture in a narrow sense that prejudices dialogue. Let Continue reading »
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GEOFF DAVIES. Hawke and Keating set Australia, and Labor, up for failure
Labor failed, again. It took on the most riven, brutal and monumentally incompetent rabble since Federation and still could not manage to beat them. This is a profound failure that requires a profound explanation. There is one, though it goes against decades of received wisdom. Continue reading »
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REG LITTLE: Confucian thought: pervasive, unstoppable but largely invisible
‘China is taking over the world’ is a cry not uncommonly heard these days. Reasons expressed for this ‘takeover’ are often Chinese wealth and the many Chinese spreading their influence across the globe, and the uncertainty of the US and Europe’s futures. While these are reasons on one level, they fail to capture the Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. It’s not about “left-right”: it’s the economy
Some see Australia’s election from a traditional “left-right” perspective, but that frame is meaningless. Labor should be guided by principles of good economic policy, in contrast to the Coalition’s policy of thwarting necessary economic adjustment. Continue reading »
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GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. ‘No child in poverty’
At the risk of repetition I must put the record straight on ‘By 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty’, Bob Hawke’s promise made in Labor’s policy speech in 1987. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING Why Labor should oppose Morrison’s tax cuts
Labor should oppose the second and third round of the Government’s proposed tax cuts which only take effect after the next election. The future is too uncertain to lock-in these tax cuts now. Furthermore, reasonable projections raise strong doubts whether they can be afforded, and they do not represent the best way to increase economic Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for? Some key issues. Part 2 of 3.
At the same time as addressing overarching ‘Labor’ principles that could guide Labor policies and programs that I will return to in Part 3, there are five immediate issues which must be given priority. Continue reading »
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SANDI KEANE. The bank cat is out of the bag.
The cat is out of the bag. Bank shares have shot up since the surprise election result as new investors pile onto the great franking credits bandwagon. Continue reading »
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TIM BUCKLEY. The Global Energy Transformation is Well Underway
Improved technology and economies of scale are driving rapidly falling costs of renewable energy. As a result financial institutions and energy corporates are fleeing coal and coal facilities are becoming stranded assets. Government policies in China and India and other Asian nations are reinforcing this trend. Australia must prepare for the inevitable technology driven disruption. Continue reading »
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JOAN STAPLES. Hawke’s environmental legacy – a personal reflection.
There has been much written on Bob Hawke’s legacy following his death. None has fully celebrated his monumental environmental record nor touched on his unique relationship with the environment movement. Continue reading »
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MILES LITTLE. Democracy?
‘We have two Australias’: Election results show a growing divide within the nation. So read a headline in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, May 25th, to an article by Matt Wade. Continue reading »
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JOSEPH ANTHONY CAMILLERI. Was this ‘the election we had to have’?
It is two weeks since Australia went to the polls, but are we any wiser as to what actually transpired at the ballot box and during the preceding weeks of mind numbing electioneering? Politicians and commentators alike have single-mindedly focused on the ‘surprising’ election result – shocking for some, miraculous for others. But few if Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. What should Labor stand for as the blue collar base declines? Part 1 of 3.
A concern expressed to me by many voters was that the recent ALP campaign lacked an over-riding narrative or framework and that, being very detailed, it was vulnerable to lies and scare tactics. There were many attractive big-ticket policies but was there a vision of where Labor wanted to take Australia? Continue reading »
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ANDREW GLIKSON. Greta Thunberg . ‘You lied to us’
“The first law of humanity is not to kill your children” (Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, EU chief climate scientist). Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Mining, taxation and Australia
Turning points in political history are few and far between. Election 2019 was not one of them but the failure to instal the mining tax in 2010 was just such a pivotal moment. One of the consequences of that failure was Labor’s fiddly set of tax polices rejected by voters on Saturday 18 May. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Albo has authenticity ScoMo can only fake.
It didn’t take long for the hubris to kick in. Before the dust was settled, an exultant Liberal was reported ass gloating: “We just campaigned on a strong economy – we’ve got a mandate to do anything!” Well, anything – or nothing. Continue reading »
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CHRIS WALLACE. How might Labor win in 2022? The answers can all be found in the lessons of 2019. (The Conversation 27.5.2019)
The high tide of analysis concerning the Australian Labor Party’s shock 2019 federal election loss has been reached. It looks like so much flotsam and jetsam with the odd big log – leadership popularity, Queensland – prominent among the debris. Sorting through it, making sense of it, and weighting the factors driving the result really Continue reading »
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DENNIS ARGALL: Australian strategic posture from here forward
There is no sign of political enthusiasm to grasp the need for coherent national strategy, but basic principles need to be put in place and three particulars need urgent attention. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING Labor and the economy: Future policy choices?
Labor went into the recent election with a comprehensive economic plan. Many commentators have blamed Labor’s election loss on this plan, and its support for modest redistribution, thus raising the question of where does Labor go from here?…Labor needs to sell the message that redistribution is essential to sustain economic growth. Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER The Ostrich in the Room: The Alliance
The ostrich buries its head in the sand in the belief that what it can’t see isn’t there; won’t harm it. If perception is everything, the Ostrich has a point. But it isn’t and, the wilful exclusion from our recent election campaign of any debate about Australian foreign policy, especially the demands being placed on Continue reading »