Politics
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ALAN AUSTIN. Coalition doubles all government debt since Federation in just under six years (Michael West).
The Coalition has just doubled all government debt accumulated since Federation. In under six years. Alan Austin reports. Continue reading »
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MARGARET REYNOLDS. Ita, the new ABC Chair
It is interesting to ponder the thoughts of the Prime Minister before he decided to make a captain’s call by appointing Ita Buttrose as Chair of the ABC Board. In doing so he has confounded critics and perhaps even signalled some remorse for the Federal Government’s continuous assault on Australian public broadcasting. Continue reading »
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ALEX MITCHELL. A deeply divided NSW is heading for a deadlocked State Election
With NSW voters facing a State Election on Saturday, March 23, politicians are nervously asking each other, “How are we going?” Meanwhile, journalists on the campaign trail are equally nervous, asking colleagues: “Who do you think will win?” Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Reboots,fig leafs and climate wars
Scott Morrison may be shedding minister like the early leaves of autumn, but, as usual, there are distractions – and for once he can be profoundly grateful. Continue reading »
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JUDITH WHITE. Government arts policy slammed in NSW report
The NSW Coalition Government has breached its own Treasury guidelines and governance of the arts and culture sector needs a complete review, according to the final report of the Upper House Inquiry into Museums and Galleries. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Murdoch becomes a paper tiger (Canberra Times 2.2.2019)
If Labor wins the next election Bill Shorten may be the first Labor prime minister since Arthur Calwell 55 years ago to act as if he was completely indifferent to the existence, the views or the personality of Rupert Murdoch, or his many media organs, in print or online. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Christopher Pyne,The mincing poodle!
The imminent retirement of Christopher Pyne, christened the mincing poodle by Julia Gillard and the most irritating person in Australia by just about everyone else, is not just another deserter from the sinking ship. Continue reading »
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 3 March 2019
To mixed responses, global and Australian mining giant Glencore has announced that it will not be expanding its coal mining operations. Meanwhile politicians squabble in Canberra over Australia’s greenhouse gas emission projections for the next decade. Waters shortages in Australia create many problems but they are unlikely to result in military conflict; in Africa and Continue reading »
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IAN DUNLOP. Keeping Australians Safe and Secure
Defence Minister Christopher Pyne recently gave us the benefit of his wisdom on the parlous state of Australian politics, doubting that it is any longer capable of acting for the long-term good of the nation. Prime Minister Morrison confirmed the truth of Pyne’s observation in his 11 February 2019 National Press Club speech on “Keeping Continue reading »
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GEORGE MONBIOT. Dark money is pushing for a no-deal Brexit. Who is behind it?
Modern governments respond to only two varieties of emergency: those whose solution is bombs and bullets, and those whose solution is bailouts for the banks. But what if they decided to take other threats as seriously? Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. The Liberal and National parties have deserted country people on climate change, NBN and more.
Both the Liberal and National parties are taking a drubbing from country voters. A while back it was New England and Lyne. More recently it has been Indi and Wagga Wagga. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Wallowing in the chum bucket
A slur, a smear, grubby tactics, thundered the outraged ScoMo. Labor is getting down into the mud. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. Labor’s policy of disallowing franking credit rebates: who will be affected, and by how much?
This article examines the claims that people with relatively modest incomes will be hard hit by Labor’s proposal to stop cash rebates of dividend franking credits to people whose taxable income is insufficient to make full use of those franking credits. Instead, this examination of the evidence shows that these claims are almost totally exaggerated. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Julie Bishop – Style and substance?
Julie Bishop did leave a positive impression with her interlocutors. She did present well. But the media seemed to mis understand that there should be much more to being foreign minister. Just compare her ‘achievements’ along side Gareth Evans. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Julie Bishop
So that was the great female hope of the Liberal Party that was. Julie Bishop, the only conservative who ever got to a bull’s roar of the Lodge, ( the ambitions of her namesake Bronwyn were nevermore than megalomaniac fantasy) has decided to retire her shoes – which most of the media thought was by Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Soft cops are soft-soaping us (Canberra Times 23.2.2019)
It was another so-so week for police public relations. As usual, it was trying to straitjacket any news into its own public relations construct of itself. But the image is fraying. 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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OISÍN SWEENEY. Lessons from the Murray-Darling disaster run deeper than water.
Environmental mismanagement runs deeper than the ecological tragedy gripping the Murray-Darling Basin. Recent policy decisions around native forest logging in NSW follow the same pattern of ignoring science and favouring extractive industry over the public interest. Continue reading »
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JOHN CARMODY. The federal Parliament reasserts its authority – and the Speaker’s.
It was reassuring to see that, in a previously unrecognised consequence of the Morrison Government’s slip into minority status, the Commonwealth Parliament recently asserted its authority over the feckless Executive and, at the same time, enhanced the authority of the Speaker. That would have been significant at any stage but, at a time when both Continue reading »
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A national humiliation. We are not allowed to read our own history: The Queen’s letters on Whitlam’s dismissal Remain Secret
As the media debated the political precedents for the Morrison government’s historic defeat in the House of Representatives last week – some pointing to the Bruce government in 1929, and others to the Fadden government in 1941 – largely forgotten was the more recent, and far more compelling, example of the 1975 defeat of the Continue reading »
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Being The Australian means never having to say sorry
For a paper that is quick to moralise about the failings of competitors, critics and ideological opponents, The Australian seems remarkably reluctant to admit to any errors, shortcomings or moral failings of its own. Continue reading »
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SCOTT BURCHILL. Australian minds have not been decolonised.
Australia has never been properly decolonised, particularly in both the political and psychological senses, as most states which came into existence during the 20th century were. This has had a profound effect, not only on the way aboriginal Australians have been treated by settlers from around the world. It has also contributed to a lack Continue reading »
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DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO AND DAVID BOND . UK National Cyber Security Centre says Huawei is manageable risk to 5G( Financial Times London 18.2.2019
British intelligence has concluded that it is possible to mitigate the risk from using Huawei equipment in 5G networks, in a serious blow to US efforts to persuade allies to ban the Chinese supplier from high-speed telecommunications systems. Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH. The ties that bind – the US and Saudi Arabia.
If an international criminal like ‘El Chapo’, the Mexican drug baron, can be tried (and convicted) in the US within two years of falling into American hands, why can’t the surviving alleged perpetrators of the 9/11 atrocity? Why is it that relatives of the 9/11 victims suing for damages have yet to see a day Continue reading »
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LAURA TINGLE. Senior bureaucrats send a message to the Government and the Opposition (ABC 19.2.2019)
The political significance of his [Mr Pezzullo’s] interventions are twofold — the first is that it makes clear the security establishment does not believe the legislative changes, of themselves, will spark a wave of new boat arrivals. The second is that, just as Mr Lewis and Mr Pezzullo were sending a clear message to the Continue reading »
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PETER BROOKS. Will Labor Really Be Brave On Health Reform – Response To National Press Club Address By Catherine King.
The major challenges that beset our health system are well articulated with the obvious commitment to strengthening Medicare, making it fairer and tackling some of the major funding deficits introduced over the past decade such as the Medicare rebate freeze. The major and anticipated announcement of the establishment of the Australian Health Reform Commission is Continue reading »
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ALAN PEARS. The Politics of Confusion on Achieving the Paris Commitment
Will Australia meet the government’s Paris climate commitment? Experts disagree, while the government avoids explaining exactly how it will achieve its goal. This creates confusion and conflict, which suits the government in the lead-up to the election. Lack of information and widespread disruptive change mean it is not yet possible to make a definitive judgement. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL KEATING. National Security: How Professional is the Advice?
Prime Minister Morrison and Minister Dutton have launched a scare campaign over the Medivac Bill, alleging that 1000 refugees will arrive in Australia from Manus and Nauru in a matter of weeks, which will in turn start the boats coming again. In an effort to gain some credibility for this claim, the Government has cited Continue reading »
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PAUL BONGIORNO. Did Scott Morrison miss his Tampa moment? (The New Daily 18.2.2019)
The question playing on the minds of nervous Coalition MPs is whether Scott Morrison has missed his “Tampa moment”. Should the embattled Prime Minister have seized the moment of last week’s humiliating government defeat in Parliament to have called an immediate election? Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The marketeer in the Lodge.
In the world of marketing, there are no such things as losses – only opportunities; and Scott Morrison, if he is nothing else, is a dedicated marketeer. Continue reading »