Politics
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It’s a pity Bernie Sanders isn’t the president
A few years ago, I gave a talk at the annual conference of the Australian Institute for International Affairs. Afterwards, one of the local luminaries observed that it sounded like I was channelling Bernie Sanders. It was not meant as a compliment. On the contrary, both of us were clearly regarded as unrealistic and naïve, Continue reading »
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Environment: Australia publishes its first climate risk assessment
Australia is conducting its first climate risk assessment and developing an adaptation plan. Not only humans experience heat stress, so do other animals and plants. If you must feed wild birds, listen to the experts’ tips. Continue reading »
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The guiding criminal lie in economics
A criminal is one who seriously breaks the law. By that measure Albanese, Dutton and most pollies across Australia are criminals together with their supporters. Continue reading »
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The one state solution
Right now, with Israel about to bomb Rafah to smithereens, world leaders including our own are chorusing—as they have repeatedly done for decades—that ‘We support a two-state solution’. And what has that chorus achieved over the years? Other than making the people saying it feel good, nothing! Continue reading »
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The death of Amr
Over 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza. Amr Abdallah was one of them. Continue reading »
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Morally damaged America still wagging its righteous finger
Very recently, the leading British daily, The Guardian, ran remarkably informing side-by-side stories covering official United States perspectives on the Gaza genocide. Continue reading »
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Shattered wards, ill-timed hernias, and the moral bankruptcy of a nation
Pampered hernia patient Netanyahu is ultimately responsible for the destruction of more of the planet’s hospitals than anyone since the bombing of Hamburg during the Second World War. Continue reading »
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David McBride versus Four Corners
On Easter Saturday, a friend and I drove down to Mullumbimby to hear Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride speaking at the Mullumbimby RSL. The previous Monday, I had watched the Four Corners program about David McBride, called Rules of Engagement. My friend hadn’t seen it, so we listened to it on the iPhone as Continue reading »
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China’s quiet energy revolution: the switch from nuclear to renewable energy
There is now a policy dispute about the roles of nuclear and renewable energy in future Australian low emission energy systems. The experience of China over more than a decade provides compelling evidence on how this debate will be resolved. In December 2011 China’s National Energy Administration announced that China would make nuclear energy the Continue reading »
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Can Albo overcome the paradox of class?
Boris Johnson did it, Donald Trump specialises in it, Peter Dutton is trying it. Continue reading »
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The Commonwealth should get out of schooling
There is no government or agency or combination of them capable of conceiving and driving the kind and scale of change Australian schooling now requires. The ‘national approach’ installed by the Rudd and Gillard governments fifteen years ago has not worked and cannot. Its sponsor, the Commonwealth, should move or be moved to the margins or Continue reading »
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Labor is slipping in the polls – Weekly Roundup
What a flat white coffee reveals about our economy, $27 billion on the table for state governments, nothing about the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case, and Labor is slipping in the polls. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues. Continue reading »
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Europe’s identity crisis
As European leaders continue to import a version of U.S. militarism, rearmament will cost the Continent its postwar social contract. Continue reading »
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The ‘human shields’ lie has been conclusively, irrefutably debunked
One aspect of the recent revelations about the IDF’s Lavender AI system that’s not getting enough consideration is the fact that it is completely devastating to the narrative that Israel has been killing so many civilians because Hamas uses “human shields”. Continue reading »
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For Albanese, one Australian life matters more than 32,000 dead Palestinians
How Albanese doesn’t swallow his tongue as he vociferously demands “full accountability” from Israel for the killing of Zomi Frankcom yet remains silent on 32,000 other killings is anybody’s guess. He waved his metaphorical fist at Netanyahu and told of Australia’s “outrage” at Zomi’s death. But Albanese left out the bit about many Australians’ outrage Continue reading »
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Housing affordability and equality: part 2
Yesterday, Part 1 of this article discussed the decline in housing affordability and the consequent increase in wealth inequality. Today, Part 2 will discuss possible policies to restore housing affordability in the interests of a more equal and cohesive society. Continue reading »
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Vivat Samantha: My hopes for the new Governor General
Samantha Mostyn will become the next Governor General in July, taking over from outgoing former General David Hurley. I am greatly cheered by this news, not simply because she is only the second woman to hold this office but because I believe she has the capacity to heal this nation at a time of its Continue reading »
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The disintegration of party politics in contemporary Australia
The world today is disastrously misgoverned by a paranoid generation of ageing political leaders. There’s not a statesman among them, let alone a stateswoman. Meanwhile, the once dominant mainstream political parties are retreating into their bunkers, fearful of the exposure of corruption that has remained hidden in their ranks, terrified of malevolent media moguls, and Continue reading »
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Commonwealth-State health reform: It’s time for a conversation about national priorities
The prospects for significant health reform looked good at the end of 2023. A mid-term review of the main Commonwealth-state agreement – the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) – had recommended that the focus of a new agreement, due mid-2025, should be broader than public hospital funding. States seemed to be on board and the Continue reading »
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Did Dutton and Tehan disagree on immigration levels?
In a recent interview on Perth radio, Opposition Spokesman on Immigration, Dan Tehan, asserted: “I’ve been saying now for well over 18 months, it’s [meaning immigration] too high”. Continue reading »
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Unaligned – or undecided? Prabowo, China and US
This week Prabowo Subianto has been in Beijing at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. It’s the Indonesian president-elect’s first major overseas trip after winning the 14 February election. No come-soon card yet from Washington, so China’s getting in first. Should we be worried? Duncan Graham reports: Continue reading »
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Western hawks continue to see North Korea as a target for attack
With Japan’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, assassinated, Japan’s current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has been saying he wants direct talks with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un -a reversal of Abe’s position. Continue reading »
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The banality of evil redux
Hannah Arendt’s BANALITY OF EVIL report on the Eichmann trial failed to adequately address a key question. How could the German people not have known and how could they have let the holocaust happen? Continue reading »
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A graveyard of patients and staff
On Monday 1 April I am sending this letter which I had prepared late in the evening of the 31st, and which is now only testimony to Israel’s determination to destroy every civil structure and every possibility of life in Gaza. Tonight they totally destroyed the Shifa hospital so that it is unrecognisable. The hospital Continue reading »
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Our highest national security priority
The purchase of nuclear submarines via AUKUS is turning into an open–ended nightmare in terms of cost that will deliver nothing positive for Australia’s security. Meanwhile, the need for action both on disarmament and on nuclear risk reduction has never been more pressing. Even at the height of the Cold War, the metaphorical hands of Continue reading »
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Housing affordability and equality: part 1
The first part of this article explores how home ownership has become almost impossible for most aspiring first-home buyers and how that is creating a much more unequal distribution of wealth. A second part tomorrow will discuss the policy options to restore home ownership and thus a more equal and cohesive society. Continue reading »
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Is China heading for some kind of ‘currency crisis’?
In the short term, no. But over the medium- to longer-term, the possibility of a Chinese ‘currency crisis’ – by which I mean an abrupt fall in the value of the renminbi against other currencies, prompted by large capital outflows, and possibly entailing large falls in the values of other Chinese assets – cannot be Continue reading »
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Albanese government wedged on aged care
With a Medicare-style levy and changes to the treatment of family home both ruled out, the only choice left is more user-pays. But it will not be enough. Continue reading »
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Police chief hits out – with compassion
ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan has expressed alarm at the severe constraints on front-line policing in Canberra while showing great sympathy for principles of drug decriminalisation and raising the age of criminal responsibility. Continue reading »
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Appointment of Samantha Mostyn as Governor-General
I congratulate Samantha Mostyn on her appointment as Governor-General. Such an appointment is a great honour. Continue reading »