Politics
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HENRY REYNOLDS. Has the Cavalcade of Commemoration Finally Halted?
With Remembrance Day behind us we may finally have some relief from the relentless commemoration of conflict which began twenty years ago and climaxed with the centenary of the First World War. Historians of the future may well wonder where this obsession with war came from and why we spent more on the centenary than Continue reading »
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GARRY EVERETT. A tale of two processes.
Last year I participated in a community consultation about increasing the water supply in south east Queensland. It was a very satisfying experience because of the process and skills of the consultants. This year I was invited to participate in a different kind of process. The Catholic Church has instituted a process for decision-making called Continue reading »
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MARC STEARS. Don’t give up on politics. It’s where the fight for the fair go must be won (The Conversation).
This article is the third in the Reclaiming the Fair Go series, a collaboration between The Conversation, the Sydney Democracy Network and the Sydney Peace Foundation to mark the awarding of the 2018 Sydney Peace Prize to Nobel laureate and economics professor Joseph Stiglitz. These articles reflect on the crisis caused by economic inequality and Continue reading »
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PETER ARKELL. Choosing our head of state does not need to be difficult.
The Australian Republic appears to be coming back into the community’s discussion. The stumbling block for previous models seems to have been how the head of state will be chosen and even concern that we do not offend the Queen. Perhaps there is a solution that she would be pleased to step aside for. Continue reading »
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GEORGE BROWNING. Nationalism: the world’s greatest threat
We owe President Emmanuel Macron a debt of gratitude for yesterday’s speech in Paris. “Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” the French leader said. “In saying ‘Our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it Continue reading »
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MARGARET SIMONS. Good riddance to Guthrie and Milne. The ABC needs grown-ups in charge (the Guardian 12.11.18)
The most powerful message to emerge from Four Corners’ sad story about the tumult at the top of the ABC is that neither the former chairman Justin Milne nor the former managing director Michelle Guthrie appeared to be friends of the public broadcaster. Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Poor Malcolm.
Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean people don’t hate you. It sometimes seems that Malcolm Turnbull is being pursued by that old Andy Capp character Joe Btfsplk, who brought bad luck to everyone near him. Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Let’s hope independents take lead on corruption. (Canberra Times 10.11.2018)
Perhaps the greatest service the House of Representatives’ six independent MPs could do for themselves and the nation over the dying days of this Parliament is to take charge of progress with a federal anti-corruption commission. Good for them – indeed, all six have an excellent chance of being re-elected – and good for the Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Morrison drives bus over sincerity.
ScoMo’s blue bus is the perfect symbol of the man and his government – a brash, ostentatious cliché, non-functional and completely phony. Continue reading »
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SAMANTHA MAIDEN. ‘You’ll find yourself in tears’: PM empathises with young asylum seekers on Nauru (The New Daily)
Border protection hardliner Scott Morrison has told a Lifeline fundraiser that he cried “on his knees” over the plight of young asylum seekers held on Nauru. (Yet Scott Morrison has the power to end the suffering of the children on Nauru ,but does not do so.!!.John Menadue) Continue reading »
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TONY STEPHENS. 1918
I’ll go to the Armistice Day service at the Balmain war memorial this November 11 because it will mark the centenary of the end of the Great War and because it will be the end of nearly five years of almost continuous remembrance. While the youthful nation of only 18 years rejoiced with good reason Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS Armistice Day thoughts
In 2014 publishers gave us some superb books describing the origins of the First World War including Christopher Clark’s spellbinding The Sleepwalkers. In the four years between 2014 and 2018 has the world moved towards peaceful coexistence? Do we learn from history? You must be joking Continue reading »
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FRANCESCA BEDDIE. The common-sense test for assessing research applications.
In 2014, the last year for which complete data is available on the Australian Research Council’s website, 20.7 per cent of applications for research grants were successful; 1,417 grants were made, at a cost of $1,018,017,312. The Australian taxpayer deserves to know if sums of such magnitude are being well allocated. Continue reading »
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LINDY EDWARDS. Identity Politics is central to the current political crisis, but not for the reasons Paul Kelly argues.
Paul Kelly’s recent article ‘Could disruption be the ruin of western liberal democracy?’ was a thoughtful account of the challenges facing western democracy, and I would agree with some of what he described. But in the spirit of the constructive engagement he laments as missing in current debate, I offer up a different line of Continue reading »
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ROSS GITTINS. Our oldies have never had it so good (SMH 5.11.2018)
Don’t let anyone tell you Scott Morrison is out of touch. When he says that, if he had the money, he’d increase the age pension rather than the dole, he’s reflecting the views of most older Australians. Everyone knows it’s the old who are the deserving poor. Except it ain’t true. It was true once, Continue reading »
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Morrison fakes authenticity
The French playwright Jean Giradoux once said something to this effect: “If you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.” Continue reading »
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Time to pull the curtain on memorial industry (Canberra Times 3.11.2018)
A fairly safe rule of public life is that the more flag lapels one wears, and the more one speaks of love of country or national greatness, the less likely the person has served in the nation’s armed forces and put himself in harm’s way, least of all in a time of national need. Two Continue reading »
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Morrison’s foreign adventures
The past, they say, is a foreign country – which is just the way Scott Morrison likes it. Continue reading »
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Bill Shorten – where the bloody hell are you?
As the Morrison government stumbles from fumble to bungle on a daily basis, Labor leader Bill Shorten is keeping a low profile. Would this not be his turn to shine, or is he just biding his time? Continue reading »
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LATIKA BOURKE. Forget Barnaby Joyce’s affair – this is why he should not return to the leadership
Although Barnaby Joyce’s name is not mentioned, it is his legacy that informs Philip Moss’ damning report into the Department of Agriculture’s performance as the regulator of the live exports industry. Continue reading »
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SIMON SCHAMA. On the battle for America (Financial Times 2.11.2018)
Ten days before the midterm elections in America, murder came to the Tree of Life. Shouting “all Jews need to die”, a neo-Nazi gunman with an animus against the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society slaughtered 11 Jews gathered at their synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. Two days earlier, pipe bombs had been sent to 14 critics Continue reading »
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JESSICA IRVINE. Labor’s housing tax changes will help cure our property addiction (SMH 1.11.2018)
It seems a requirement of modern political scare campaigns that they be not only breathless, but logically inconsistent. And so it is with the mounting fear campaign being waged against Labor’s policy to, if elected, reform the tax treatment of investment properties.Labor’s changes would, we hear, both accelerate price falls under way in Sydney and Melbourne Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Detention on Manus and Nauru serves no useful policy purpose.
On 13 August 2016 Robert Manne, Frank Brennan, Tim Costello and I wrote the following article for The Melbourne Age. It was also posted on this blog. Since that time, we have consistently argued on many occasions , first, that all detainees on Manus and Nauru should be brought to Australia for processing and possible Continue reading »
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TIMOTHY SNYDER. Donald Trump borrows from the old tricks of fascism (The Guardian, 30.10.18)
The governing principle of the Trump administration is total irresponsibility, a claim of innocence from a position of power, something which happens to be an old fascist trick. As we see in the president’s reactions to American rightwing terrorism, he will always claim victimhood for himself and shift blame to the actual victims. As we Continue reading »
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AARON PATRICK. Tweet victory: How Libs lost Wentworth. (AFR 1.11.2018)
Five days before the Wentworth byelection, when Liberal candidate Dave Sharma was starting to claw back support in the seat Prime Minister Scott Morrison was desperate to save, Facebook and Twitter lit up with a warning: if local doctor Kerryn Phelps doesn’t come second, the Liberals win. Continue reading »
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PAUL KRUGMAN. Hate is on the ballot next week (New York Times 31 October 2018)
In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a wave of hate crimes. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Google vs News Corp in Australian algorithm war
It’s Google versus News Corp Australia in a battle over the way algorithms can be controlled to drive internet search engine traffic. Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. Pricking the balloon of crony capitalism
The Queensland Supreme Court has dismissed Aurizon Network’s application for judicial review of a draft decision by the Queensland Competition Authority on rail access, with costs awarded in favour of the QCA. Former QCA Chair and now Chair of the Port of Newcastle Professor Roy Green comments. Continue reading »