Politics
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH. Morrison’s willingness to tell brazen untruths proves he is just like Donald Trump (the New Daily, 03.09.18)
Australia’s new prime minister Scott Morrison showed this week he has mastered one of US President Donald Trump’s most amazing tricks: the ability to make claims he and every one else knows are complete nonsense – and to make them with total impunity. Continue reading »
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Overreaction in the South China Sea when US influence is waning and Chinese influence is rising
The present and recent Australian Governments seem to have become victims of their own China and Russia phobias. Continue reading »
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MARTIN WOLF. Donald Trump is wrong: China is not Mexico (Financial Times)
“When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.” This tweet of March 2 set out the aims and means of Donald Trump’s trade policy. Continue reading »
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Susan Reid reviews ‘Adani and the War Over Coal’ by Quentin Beresford and ‘The Coal Truth’ by David Ritter (Australian Book Review, October 2018
Who can forget the image of Scott Morrison, as federal treasurer, juggling a lump of lacquered coal in parliament on 9 February 2017? Appearing pretty chuffed with his own antics, Morrison urged people not to be afraid. Eighteen months later, the jester is now prime minister. His ascension results from one of the most undignified Continue reading »
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China and the New World Order. China–USA Part 2
Westerners may believe that the growing integration and interdependence of China with the regional and international economy makes armed conflict too costly to contemplate and that the Pacific military balance is so heavily in US favour that China would not be foolish enough to challenge Washington. But what if Beijing believes that the costs to Continue reading »
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ROSS GITTINS. Nowhere to hide now for banks. (SMH 3.10.2018)
Last week must have been a terrifying wake-up call for Australia’s ruling class – not just our politicians, but also the chief executives and directors of our big corporations, both publicly and privately owned. If they’re half as smart as they’re supposed to be – after all, we’re told they got their jobs on merit Continue reading »
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NICK BRYANT. How right-wing Scott Morrison became Australia’s sixth prime minister in 11 years.
It’s a measure of how far Australian conservatism has turned towards the Trumpian that Morrison was considered the mainstream candidate. Continue reading »
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PETER WHITEFORD. Relax. The divide between the taxed and the ‘taxed-nots’ isn’t new and doesn’t buy elections.
Might government benefits, and government employment, be a self sustaining machine – one in which those who benefit from government payments deliver the votes needed to ensure they continue? Continue reading »
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China and World Order: Navigating the Thucydides and Kindleberger Traps Part 1
There have been two big geopolitical storylines thus far in this century: the US has suffered a relative decline from its dominant position at the end of the Cold War; and China has acquired impressive power in both relative and absolute terms. How China develops economically and evolves politically, and how it behaves domestically, regionally Continue reading »
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CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. Keeping the mates at arm’s length in the gambling industry.
The Grattan Institute’s report on access and influence in Australian politics, ‘Who’s in the room?’, comes at a time when the reputation of politicians and the political system seems to be plumbing new depths. Continue reading »
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KIM WINGEREI. The politics of change – reviews of Michelle Grattan’s anthology and Laura Tingle’s Quarterly Essay.
As trust in our political leaders continues to decline, writings and commentary decrying the malaise in which our democracy finds itself are booming. Everybody has a view of what’s wrong. Much of it along similar lines of lack of leadership, the short-term focus on elections, the 24 hour news cycle and the adversarial nature of Continue reading »
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Walking together for a better future (Eureka Street, 01.10.18)
Frank Brennan’s keynote address to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council Assembly entitled: ‘Strong Faith. Strong Youth. Strong Future — Walking Together in a movement of the Australian people for a better future’. 1 October 2018, Technology Park — Bentley, Perth Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Turnbull’s cronies.
That’s what happens when you make a captain’s pick, choose your mates to fill important jobs because … well, basically because they are your mates. Continue reading »
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NICK BISLEY. The risks of a new Cold War between the US and China are real: here’s why (the Conversation, 26.08.18)
Donald Trump is making good on his trade war rhetoric with China, announcing tariffs on a further US$200 billion worth of goods from the PRC. As China promises retaliation, the warmth of the Mar-a-Lago summit of April 2017 is a thing of the past. When this is added to the wide-ranging tensions such as the Continue reading »
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. Morrison does not get it.
His thought bubble about inaugurating a public holiday – well, perhaps not a holiday, but something or other – to celebrate indigenous Australia is about to be shoveled into the back drawer. That’s the one where the former Treasurer keeps his cast offs – the GST increase, the limitations on negative gearing, and of course Continue reading »
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JACK WATERFORD. Turnbull’s ABC chickens home to roost (Canberra Times 28.9.2018)
Malcolm Turnbull is a gift that keeps giving to the Labor opposition. Scott Morrison’s ongoing efforts to be all things to all people were again derailed this week by the ABC implosion, which saw the loss of its board chairman and its managing director, and a powerful smoky stench as Coalition jihadists ran for cover. Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL WEST Big Four: government’s binge on consultants goes ballistic.
The Big Four global accounting firms have banked $3.1 billion in taxpayer income in the past six years for government consulting. That’s three thousand one hundred million dollars in government revenue to just four firms – PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte – for providing advice. Continue reading »
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JOHN WARHURST. The power of the Catholic lobby. (Canberra Times 27/9/2018)
The continuing education funding controversy invites scrutiny of the power of insider politics. Political insiders are those who use economic clout, political connections, extensive networks and privileged access to decision-makers to consistently influence political outcomes. Continue reading »
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ANN DAVIES. ABC board members appointed by Fifield despite being rejected by merit-based panel (the Guardian, 28.09.18)
The Coalition’s much touted merits-based nominations process for ABC board appointments has been ignored or circumvented in recent years. Continue reading »
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GRATTAN INSTITUTE Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics.
Many business sectors depend heavily on government favours and regulations. They include miners,property developers,road contractors,liquor and gambling industries. Not surprisingly they are the largest political donors who seek favourable government approvals. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL THORN. Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics. The revolving door.
Those searching for remedies to the parlous state of Australian politics and public policy-making might dwell on this claim by the Grattan Institute: “…more than one-quarter of politicians go onto post-politics jobs for special interests, where their relationships can help open doors”. It’s a jobs highway. Continue reading »
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PATRICK MAGUIRE. Why Corbyn is promising a “green jobs revolution” (New Statesman)
The Labour leader’s promise to create 400,000 new skilled jobs is a direct pitch to Brexit Britain – and an implicit criticism of Gordon Brown and New Labour. Continue reading »
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GRATTAN INSTITUTE. Special deals for special interests. Packer’s casino licence
How rent seekers and lobbyists work – The Casino Licence In February 2012, James Packer proposed building a hotel-casino on the Sydney Harbour foreshore at Barangaroo. The NSW premier and opposition leader were quick to back the idea, saying it would bring jobs and tourists to Sydney. Both major parties ignored the public interest. Continue reading »
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BRUCE WEARNE. What can we infer from the more than four month delay in releasing the Ruddock Panel’s Report?
According to the Government’s web-site, the Religious Freedom Review received over 15,500 submissions. In political terms the review was established so that Parliament and the citizens of this country could have qualified juridical advice about the prevailing situation across this Commonwealth and thus how subsequent public debate should proceed, particularly in terms of the consequences Continue reading »
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TONY SMITH. What is a good MP?
It is hardly surprising that, as female Liberal Party parliamentarians have expressed dismay over the way that they were bullied during the removal of Prime Minister Turnbull, party powerbrokers have reacted by seeking to prescribe the role of the politician. Sadly, no-one has questioned the obvious bias in the offered definition of ‘parliamentarian’ as requiring Continue reading »
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BRUCE KAYE. The Prime Minister’s Pentecostal Christianity and neo liberalism.
Will Scott Morrison really be able to exercise the office of Prime Minister properly while belonging to a Pentecostal church that is said to have a prosperity gospel that promises wealth and health to believers? Guilt by association is always a bad place to start. Nothing is wrong with facts that are relevant. Actually, this Continue reading »
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DANIELLE WOOD. ScoMo can get a quick win by cleaning up Canberra’s murky dealings (Australian Financial Review, 204.09.18)S9
Scott Morrison needs to pull a policy rabbit out of a hat and he needs to do it quickly. At best, he has eight months to convince a sceptical public the Coalition can be trusted to run the country. But fortunately for the new PM, there is a bunny in plain sight. Policies to improve Continue reading »
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GRATTAN INSTITUTE Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics.
On almost any measure Australia lags behind other comparable countries in managing the lobbying scourge Continue reading »
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MICHAEL SAVAGE. Ministers warn harder EU exit risks breaking up Britain (the Guardian, 23.09.18)
Theresa May is being warned by cabinet colleagues that a shift towards a harder Brexit will hasten the break-up of the UK, amid a renewed attempt by Brexiters to secure a clean split from the European Union. Continue reading »