Politics
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Sunday environmental round up, 21 March 2021
Last chance to have a say on the review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Increasing temperatures are changing the climate-defining currents of the Atlantic Ocean. Forests being lost to provide wood to burn for electricity and land for agriculture. Hotchpotch of rules govern single-use plastics across Australia…. Continue reading »
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On the death of PNG’s first PM, Sir Michael Somare
The death of Sir Michael Somare, first Prime Minister of PNG, has occasioned an outpouring of national grief and heartfelt obituaries for “the Father of the Nation”, “the Chief”. That he was, and remains, widely respected, even loved, across the country is beyond dispute. However, it is disturbing that the posthumous record presently being confected… Continue reading »
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Vaccine Diplomacy Is Paying Off for China
Beijing Hasn’t Won the Soft-Power Stakes, but It Has an Early Lead…. Continue reading »
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Despite what the media says, John Howard was not a supporter of sport
I manage a wry smile every time I see John Howards’ name mentioned as a ‘cricket tragic’ or as a supporter of sport. The Hawke Government introduced in excess of 10 pieces of legislation in the Parliament in the 1980s. The word sport had not been included in one piece of legislation that had been… Continue reading »
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Do we need to remove men from power?
As the Sex Discrimination Commissioner conducts an inquiry into federal parliament’s toxic culture, it is clear that her task is to diagnose misogyny and make recommendations for its removal. The easiest way to achieve this would be to remove men from positions of power…. 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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Fear and Loathing: Australian media on China and Covid-19
The way various segments of the Australian media report on China’s COVID-19 experience reflects these media’s own fears and anxieties and their political, ideological, and cultural positions. More credible media outlets in Australia have mostly framed China’s efforts in political and ideological terms…. Continue reading »
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Radical people, not technology, are needed for a sustainable revolution
Michael Keating’s summary and review of Ross Garnaut’s latest book Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession is stimulating and important. While massive sustainable transformations in Australia’s economy and society are required, the emphasis on macroeconomic policies and the faith shown in technology is concerning…. Continue reading »
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The Trouble with Men: the reason for March4Justice
This is embarrassing to write as I share the gender and the age demographic of many who are problematic in our society. What is it with some men? What don’t we ‘get’? Don’t we realise we can’t and shouldn’t treat women the way some of us do? … Continue reading »
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Without leadership, Australia is vulnerable to foreign powers including the US
Having sold and ceded our sovereignty to the US on the international market, all but rendering Australia incapable of making independent decisions, Morrison is now hellbent on squandering domestic sovereignty. He is dividing the nation on the most basic of issues, the rights of women…. Continue reading »
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Australia to welcome Hong Kong ‘democrats’: are they a proxy for others?
The Australian government has now welcomed Hong Kong “pro-democracy” leaders to settle in Australia, ahead of millions of desperate refugees fleeing wars and genocide. Such is the power of a label on general public and media gullibility…. Continue reading »
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Police compliance with cruelty: will Australia follow Moscow, Minsk and Myanmar?
In an ideal world, war is declared but no-one turns up. In the same utopia, police forces refuse orders to arrest, torture and kill, but in Myanmar, Minsk, Moscow and Hong Kong, men in police uniforms are complying with orders…. Continue reading »
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OECD Chief Mathias Cormann: a lose-lose for Australia and Europe
Pictures stick in your head don’t they. The tongue kiss Soviet President Brezhnev gave East German President Eric Honecker in 1979 is one. That photo of Scotty (“Holidays”) Morrison and now deposed clown-king Donald Trump getting close on the White House lawn is another. Smiling, whispering, foreheads touching, a speck of dribble on the corner… Continue reading »
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Truth and Treaties: the ongoing legacy of the Uluru statement
The 27th of October 2017 was the most shameful day in Malcolm Turnbull’s tenure as Australia’s Prime Minister. It was the moment when he peremptorily rejected the Uluru Statement which had been addressed to the people of Australia five months earlier. He declared that the projected voice to parliament would not be ‘either desirable or… Continue reading »
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Afghanistan warcrimes: best we forget
The council of the Australian War Memorial, including Tony Abbott and Kerry Stokes, have doubled down on their support of alleged Australian war-criminals and transformed the Memorial from a solemn veneration of Australia’s war dead into a protection racket. … Continue reading »
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Will the Alaska meeting ease tensions or worsen relations between the US and China?
There is an important face to face meeting between the US and China on Thursday in Alaska. But our media seems disinterested…. Continue reading »
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Can soft power contain China?
The Quad had its origins in efforts to deal collectively with the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, an effective use of soft power. Since then the Quad has grown haphazardly into a regional vehicle for the United States, Japan, India and Australia to make common cause against China…. Continue reading »
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Liberal Party MPs line up to succeed Premier Gladys
Eight Cabinet Ministers are in the field of wannabees to become the 49th Premier of NSW…. Continue reading »
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Feminism needs to oppose neoliberal economics to move forward
Women, particularly feminists, have spent the last four decades seeking equality with men, but have failed to change inequitable male-driven values. We started well in the 1970s and into the 1980s but as neoliberalism took over our progress stopped. We had gained laws for equality in some areas but without the necessary value and attitude… Continue reading »
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How good is Scott Morrison? Or is it all marketing?
After a bad beginning with the bush fires, Scott Morrison has understandably claimed credit for Australia’s relatively strong performance in mitigating the health and economic consequences of the Covid pandemic in 2020. But looking to the future, how much substance is there, or is he just Scotty from marketing. So long as Morrison remains determined… Continue reading »
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Ignorance and Prejudice on China is now entrenched in Australian media – Part 2
With a mainstream media climate like this on China and dissenting voices being discouraged, it is hard to see any early prospect of easing tensions. The Australian people have been badly let down on China by our policy elites…. Continue reading »
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Why aren’t work health and safety laws used to confront Parliament’s ‘sexual abuse with impunity’ culture?
The review into parliament, following allegations of sexual assault, has not specifically highlighted the most important piece of legislation for ensuring the safety of Parliament workers, the Work Health and Safety Act. Without the act’s enforcement, Parliament will remain unsafe and its workers vulnerable…. Continue reading »
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Western Australia, the One Party State
Western Australia’s tourism slogan was once The Wildflower State. Then it became The State of Excitement – to the amusement of Victorians. Now WA is the One Party State. After Saturday’s election there is a government in the West without an opposition…. Continue reading »
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A week is a long time in politics and three weeks is even longer
Scott Morrison’s prime ministership began with a brazen betrayal, perfectly captured in the image of a beaming Morrison, arm slung around the shoulders of embattled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declaring ‘this is my leader. I’m ambitious for him!’. Like every step along the Prime Minister’s political path it was entirely contrived, a matey display of faux fealty, friendship and… Continue reading »
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‘Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australian media’. Part 1
Ignorance and prejudice on China are now entrenched in Australia, fed by media repetition of false narratives; possibly encouraged by US and UK origin foreign influences; and enabled by stubborn and inept Australian political leadership…. Continue reading »
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Angus Taylor has failed as a politician and energy minister. He should be moved on
Angus Taylor is a failure as a politician and as federal energy minister…. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up.
Threats to human existence – not what you might expect. The lightly tapped potential of energy efficiency (turning off your computer camera helps) and the heavily exploited pangolins. Cormann’s Pauline conversion to climate action on the plane to Paris undermined by sceptics…. 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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Scott Morrison’s rule of law
Lawyers around the country are shaking their heads in trying to understand just what the Prime Minister means by the ‘Rule of Law’. … Continue reading »
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Gladys Berejiklian continues to stumble
Watching life ebb from the premiership of Gladys Berejiklian requires a strong stomach because it is a most terrible experience, rather like seeing someone running out of breath…. Continue reading »
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