Politics
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Richard Broinowski. Australia’s maritime espionage
According to The Australian’s defence editor Brendan Nicholson, an Australian submarine twice penetrated the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in Vietnam in 1985. Nicholson’s claim appeared in an article in the newspaper on 27 April 2016 analysing Canberra’s decision to build French Barracuda submarines in Adelaide. HMAS Orion’s first intrusion resulted in ‘brilliantly clear’ footage Continue reading »
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Jon Stanford and Michael Keating. the mistaken decision on submarines.
The government has made a bad decision on acquiring the future submarines (FSMs). It’s bad for the Navy, bad for the taxpayer and it represents a major regression in terms of industry policy. It’s bad for the Navy because in terms of capability the decision fails to deliver on the objectives set out in the Continue reading »
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Arja Keski-Nummi. Manus – “The Worst Angels of Our Nature”
The PNG Supreme Court decision has again thrown into stark relief the bankrupt nature of Australia’s asylum policy and the disingenuous way that both sides use trite slogans such as “ saving lives” and not “starting up the people smuggling business” as justification for their cynical and inhumane policies. People working with asylum seekers and Continue reading »
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Douglas Newton. What we fought for: from Gallipoli to Fromelles, 1914-1916
Formal speeches about Australia’s Great War normally follow simple rules. The focus is upon military achievement, and defining national values – service, sacrifice, and mateship. Hardship and horror are added, giving lustre to military achievement. National awakening is emphasised: the diggers were ‘the founding heroes of modern Australia.’[1] Audiences are flattered: the Anzacs were ‘our Continue reading »
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Richard Eckersley. Wellbeing and sustainability: irreconcilable differences?
Better concepts and measures of quality of life and wellbeing make sustainable development more achievable. The debate about progress and development is converging and merging with that about sustainable development. My analysis of the flaws in equating progress with modernisation, discussed in my previous article, contributes to this debate because it shows the equation counts Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan SJ. Manus Island proposal.
Asylum seekers on Manus Island should be brought to Australia and processed. Those who are refugees should be permitted to stay in Australia. Neither the Liberal Party nor the Labor Party agree. The race to the bottom and the race against time is now on as the country prepares to go into election mode on or about 12 Continue reading »
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Frank Brennan. Cheque book solution on asylum is unconstitutional
A bench of five justices of the Supreme Court of Justice, the highest court in Papua New Guinea, has unanimously ruled that the detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island is unconstitutional. The successful applicant in the case was Belden Norman Namah, the PNG Leader of the Opposition. Unlike the Australian Constitution, the PNG Constitution Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Slogans or advocacy.
At the last election, Tony Abbott gave us a long list of slogans. One of them was to ‘axe the tax’. And he did axe the carbon tax. But it was a serious mistake. With the continuing strong evidence of global warming, we badly need a carbon tax or an ETS to reduce carbon pollution. Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Defence White Paper. US, China and Barracuda – class submarines.
Rather than acquiring military off-the-shelf (MOTS) submarines, the Australian government has committed us to the French submarine that will be built to Australian specifications. It will be a ‘unique’ build, non-nuclear and very expensive The Defence Minister says that the Barracuda submarine will meet Australian Government ‘requirements for a submarine with considerable range and the Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. The odd couple – the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and their uneasy relationship.
As enduring international couples go, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia must rank among the oddest. They have been kind of firm friends since 1933 when oil was discovered in the kingdom. Yet their societies are so different as President Obama might have seen for himself when his limousine drove through the streets of Riyadh last Continue reading »
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Mungo MacCallum. So that was the week that wasn’t.
We were promised drama and suspense, the start of a massive showdown in the senate over the Building and Construction Commission bill, a clash of egos leaving us wondering how and when it would end. And we were hoping for some action in the House of Representatives, too – the session might be rudely Continue reading »
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Duncan MacLaren. Does Brexit mean a second independence referendum for Scotland?
The algebra goes something like this: EU ref: Brexit – Scotland = indyref2? In other words, if England overwhelmingly votes to leave the European Union while Scotland votes to remain in and the overall result from England, Northern Ireland and Wales, (known since the debate on independence in Scotland as rUK – rest of the Continue reading »
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Cavan Hogue. Saudi Arabia involvement in 9/11 attack!
The United States has long supported one of the most repressive regimes in the world. It invaded Iraq where women were able to do anything men could (which wasn’t much admittedly) but not Saudi Arabia where women are kept in subjection. It also ignored the fact that Saudi Arabia is home of the Wahabi brand Continue reading »
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Evan Williams. What Bill Shorten should say – but won’t
With Australia’s longest-ever election campaign now underway, politicians face a problem. How long can they go on repeating the same promises and slogans? According to usually reliable sources, Bill Shorten drafted a speech for his campaign launch which was immediately shredded by his close advisers. Leaked extracts are reproduced here by Evan Williams, who accepts Continue reading »
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Rob Nicholls. NBN – election issue or fizzer?
Cable competition NBN Co has let a contract worth $1.6 billion for Telstra to construct the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network in the mainland state capital cities. The deal has the ACCC on edge with Rod Sims expressing concern that Telstra will get a retail edge. As he said in a media release: “It is Continue reading »
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Richard Eckersley. The mismeasure of progress: Is the West really the best?
Western liberal democracies dominate the top rankings of progress indices. But are they the best models of development when their quality of life is, arguably, declining and unsustainable. The measures of human progress and development that we employ matter. Good measures are a prerequisite for good governance because they are how we judge its success. Continue reading »
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Adrian Bauman & William Bellew. Does a spoonful of sugar help the medicine go down?
“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”, according to Mary Poppins. Many more spoonfuls of sugar currently pervade our lifestyles and unconscious food choices. The recent media focus on sugar has been remarkable, but the media frenzy has sought a single solution, a quick fix, to what is in reality a complex problem: Continue reading »
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John Austen. Grattan Institute on transport projects: a better mousetrap?
In ‘Road to riches: better transport investment’ the respected Grattan Institute joined commentators, independent authorities and lobby groups in advancing ideas on transport ‘investment’. Like others it proposed publication of assessments for public spending; a better mousetrap to ensnare politically motivated proposals. The report proposed a three stage process for government transport ‘investment’: Spending only Continue reading »
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Ian McAuley. Are Conservatives better economic managers?
Here’s a short quiz. Over the last fifty years Australia has had 17 federal treasurers. Which two have won the coveted Euromoney “Finance Minister of the Year” award? As a memory jogger, below is a list of treasurers in chronological order. William McMahon (Lib) Leslie Bury (Lib) Billy Snedden (Lib) Frank Crean (Lab) Jim Cairns Continue reading »
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Geoffrey Harcourt and Peter Kriesler . The case for taxation.
We were happy to sign the Australian Institute letter on taxation cuts in the Sydney Morning Herald (12/04/2016).We now would like to set out the general philosophy that lay behind our support. We have always argued that taxes have two main functions: first, the relative structure of taxation types and rates should reflect philosophical views Continue reading »
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Douglas Newton. The hard questions we should face on Anzac Day 2016.
On Anzac Day 2016, the centenaries of 1916 should loom large. In April 1916, the Australian divisions that had been mauled at Gallipoli were being despatched to the Western Front. The industrialised kill-chain at the Somme awaited them. Other centenary moments from 1916 are coming: of diplomatic deals that escalated the war, and of lost Continue reading »
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David Stephens. How did Canberra get its memorial to Kemal Atatürk?
The Atatürk Memorial in Anzac Parade, Canberra, was unveiled on Anzac Day 1985. Over the signature ‘Kemal Atatürk’, the memorial bears an inscription which commences like this: Those heroes that shed their blood And lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly Country. Therefore rest in peace. There is Continue reading »
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Brian Lawrence. Bracket creep and income tax priorities in the May 2016 Budget
The May 2016 Budget will frame a political narrative about rising average incomes over recent years and the budgetary measures that will ensure that the trend will continue in the next year and beyond. This will occur despite the impact of cuts in Government expenditure over a range of services and cash benefits. There are Continue reading »
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Mark Gregory. What the government doesn’t want you to know about the NBN
The Coalition’s National Broadband Network (NBN) plan is in trouble and the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull should heed the mounting calls for Coalition NBN plan to be dropped before the nation’s digital future is harmed irreparably. In June it will be three years since Turnbull, as Minister for Communications, launched the Coalition’s NBN plan, extolled Continue reading »
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David Peetz. Having a say at work.
There’s a phrase you sometimes hear about the workplace: “leave your brains at the gate”. Workers use it to summarise the dismissive view their bosses have about the contribution employees can make – and about how much say workers have in what they do at work. Not all bosses are like that. But it seems Continue reading »
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Mark Beeson. Australia still hasn’t had the debate on why we even need new submarines.
Australia is about to make its biggest-ever investment in military hardware. Although we don’t know yet whether Germany, France or Japan will be awarded the contract to build our 12 new submarines, it is possible to make a few confident predictions. What to expect First, the actual cost of the submarines when completed will be Continue reading »
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Editors, East Asia Forum. Australia’s fraught decision on submarines
The submarine deal would fundamentally change the Australia-Japan security relationship. Australia is about to embark on its single biggest ever military acquisition. The Future Submarine Program (SEA1000) will see Australia purchase 12 submarines to replace its ageing Collins-class fleet. The SEA1000 has been a source of ongoing controversy with criticism over the lack of transparency Continue reading »
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Laurie Patton. Generalists and specialists in the Australian public service.
Why the ‘theory of empty spaces’ hurts public sector performance The other day I was talking to a friend who recently retired from the public service. After a career lifetime of studied discretion he now wears as a badge of honour his entitlement to express independent views. Many of these are critical of the processes Continue reading »
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Tony Broe. Coordinating Community Aged Care & Hospital Aged Health Care
Getting Australian Health Services right depends on delivering both Aged Care & Health Care effectively for frail ‘high risk’ older-old people. Reducing inappropriate hospital admissions, shortening length of stay, returning frail people to their homes rather than Residential Care, all depend on accessible, locally based, Community Aged Care assessment support and management systems. For around Continue reading »
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Tony Wood. The $50 b. submarine project.
Jon Stanford’s papers on the submarine project make an important contribution and deserve widespread circulation particularly among our decision makers. The replacement submarine decision has profound implications for all Australians. Its intention is to provide a deterrent to “potential adversaries”, but also to offer to the young members of our defence force weapons at least Continue reading »
