Public Policy
-
Arrest of Kristo Langker represents gross misuse of resources and threat to our freedom of speech
When politicians in Australia rushed to legislate in the wake of 9/11 and the commencement of the so-called ‘war on terror’, some of us warned that such legislation and the bureaucracy it created would be abused by police. We warned that the sorts of concepts and powers that anti-terror laws spawned would find their way… Continue reading »
-
The authoritarian academy: corporate governance of Australia’s universities exploits staff and students and degrades academic standards. Part 3
The corporatization of Australia’s public universities has been driven by government funding cuts and regressive changes to how universities are governed. The rationale for corporatization was that it would encourage universities to become more entrepreneurial by turning vice-chancellors into CEOs and governing bodies into corporate boards. The resulting hybrid has been very successful at promoting… Continue reading »
-
The Sri Lankan family – just a case of bloody mindedness. A repost from 2019.
We await further operation of Federal Court processes before the future of the Sri Lankan family being held on Christmas Island is finally known. In the meantime, it’s worth reflecting on why the government has chosen to take such a hard line on this family…. Continue reading »
-
Immigration: language of cruelty or words for humanity
The Coalition government’s self-image, values and attitudes towards powerless people, such as the Tamil Biloela family, are parcelled in a language and style that is far removed from ideals of a common humanity…. Continue reading »
-
An Agricultural Visa Would Change Australian Society – for the worse
After years of resisting creation of an Agricultural Visa, Prime Minister Morrison has announced we will now have an Agricultural Visa for farmworkers from the 10 ASEAN countries. This may be the final step in Australia becoming a low skill guest worker country, something we had resisted for decades. The article below has been republished… Continue reading »
-
Unsettled – seeing First Nations histories represented in the Australian Museum
Museums, libraries and archives are traditionally not culturally safe spaces for First Nations peoples. As state institutions, they have supported the colonial process and they have privileged certain histories over others. The collections that they hold often position Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as objects or specimens of scientific and anthropological study. The historically… Continue reading »
-
Moral bankruptcy and cruelty in the treatment of the Biloela Family.
The government is hiding behind legislation as a reason for not doing anything. This is truly a morally bankrupt position as anyone who understands Immigration law knows…. Continue reading »
-
Coalition policies and corporatization of universities are premised on shifting costs to students and staff. Part 2
Australia’s tertiary education system is large, complex, and poorly regulated. Its government funding sources, governance structures and annual reporting requirements lack transparency and are inconsistent between and within jurisdictions. Distorted government priorities and discredited ideological fixations have created a dysfunctional system that devalues the work of academics and professional staff while imposing ever higher burdens… Continue reading »
-
Blink and the boats will restart the Government says, but that is nonsense
The Government excuses its cruelty to the Biloela family by wrongly asserting that the boats bringing asylum seekers will start again . Over the past 6-7 years, the Government has presided over the biggest labour trafficking scam and abuse of Australia’s asylum system in our history. As a result of that scam of asylum seekers… Continue reading »
-
COVID cuts highlight intellectual bankruptcy of Coalition higher education policies. Part 1
Australian universities are in crisis, a crisis that has been a long time in the making, but is becoming increasingly obvious as the country’s borders remain closed to international students and the rivers of gold that had flowed from them rapidly evaporate…. Continue reading »
-
How Victoria’s lockdown finally got Australia in vaccination mode
The sluggish vaccination rates that we have witnessed in the weeks leading up to Victoria’s fourth lockdown have been attributed to Australians being happy to play a waiting game. The switch from vaccination apathy to vaccination frenzy, in the wake of Victoria’s fourth lockdown, provides a teaching moment…. Continue reading »
-
Is the expanding medical workforce meeting changing community needs?
After around 20 years of expansion in medical workforce supply (Geffen, 2014), what are the key issues facing the medical workforce today? When producing more doctors, it is essential to ensure the additional doctors are used to meet the population need for healthcare, rather than reinforcing a paradox of overtreatment and overdiagnosis for some of… Continue reading »
-
Denial as policy, the Tamil Biloela family.
In a school playground, a little boy responds to being caught doing something wrong: ‘It wasn’t me sir’, or ‘It was those other boys’, or even ‘ I would never do such a thing.’ His ducking for cover matches the denial of responsibility characterising the Morrison government, not only regarding their cruelty to the Tamil/Biloela… Continue reading »
-
Solving the mega-risks
The world is awash with literature describing the deepening self-inflicted crisis into which humanity is pitching. I am frequently asked how we can solve it, presuming we wish to do so. Here, briefly, are the ten most urgent solutions…. Continue reading »
-
Australia’s facile immigration policy debate
Australia’s immigration policy debates over the past 30 years have largely consisted of the usual suspects trotting out the usual lines…. Continue reading »
-
Regulating Alcohol in the Northern Territory: in whose interest?
Woolworths commissioned a report into its strategy to establish a major alcohol retail outlet in Darwin that questions standards of governance within both corporate Australia and the Northern Territory…. Continue reading »
-
Sunday environmental round up.
Ecosocialist advice for the G7’s leaders and encouragement to read a recent P&I article on carbon accounting. The price of solar panels is rising slightly and our sylvan friends are emitting ‘treethane’. Finally, a plea to dog owners…. Continue reading »
-
Carbon border adjustments: what are they and how will they affect Australia?
Australia cannot continue to stand apart from other wealthy countries, free riding on their emission reduction efforts. Sooner rather than later, we will need to set commensurate targets under the Paris Agreement and implement policies to achieve them…. Continue reading »
-
The Tamil family: cruelty beggars belief
The continued detention of the Tamil Biloela family, let alone the threat to deport them, confirms the government’s fascination with cruelty as policy. To demonstrate their bravery in defending Australia’s borders, Ministers think that to protect comfortable and fortunate Australians, they must show a wanton disregard of the interests of the powerless and vulnerable…. Continue reading »
-
Ageism and the secret to living a long life.
The Archibald is 100 and Peter Wegner has won the 2021 prize for his portrait of 100-year-old artist Guy Warren who commented, “One hundred years is a hell of a lot of experience. I’ve survived the Great Depression, a war, I’ve survived serious medical difficulties and I’ve survived COVID – touch wood. The secret to… Continue reading »
-
Climate tipping point looms
It is ironic that the most successful film – in box office terms – about climate change and dramatic changes to the earth was made by Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox…. Continue reading »
-
Why the Western narrative of China’s ‘debt trap diplomacy’ is another big lie
To work well, the lie must be introduced early, repeated often and insulated from contradiction by a narrative of “fake news” and accusations of “witch hunts”…. Continue reading »
-
Pentagon Papers failed to cure servile pro-war media
The mainstream media nowadays often show more distrust and indignation about peace than about war…. Continue reading »
-
Jobs versus climate
A debate between having a job and acting on climate change is painful for everyone involved and will not end well. Yet the absence of a clear narrative from our political leaders to clarify the issue is leaving many Australian communities in exactly that position…. Continue reading »
-
After the G7, the G20 and COP 26 in Glasgow, what might be real progress on the climate crisis by the end of the year?
We’ve had President Biden’s ‘zoom’ climate Summit. The G7 meeting in Cornwall this week is looking to ramp up ambition on climate response. And the most significant UN meeting on climate change since Paris is taking place in Glasgow in November. Expectations are high. But with intense geo-political tensions and covid response concentrating attention, what… Continue reading »
-
Competition isn’t improving the aged care sector
A new study finds more competition isn’t associated with better quality of care or lower prices in aged care, prompting policy reform to address sources of market failures…. Continue reading »
-
The ABC does not have an “editor-in-chief”
Reporters continue to refer to the managing director of the ABC, David Anderson, as the “editor-in-chief”. There is no such office in the ABC…. Continue reading »
-
Atmospheric carbon dioxide hits highest level in more than 4 million years
New data released on Monday showed atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a monthly average level of 419 parts per million in May, which is not only the maximum reading ever recorded since accurate measurements began 63 years ago but also the highest level the planet has experienced in more than four million years…. Continue reading »
-
The Stench of COVID Coverups.
Most of us who read Pearls and Irritations are not virologists, mainstream media journalists, Americans, or Chinese. As the nasty details about the pandemic emerge, that’s just as well, if we want the truth…. Continue reading »
-
Australian barriers to electric vehicles and batteries
There are two significant barriers to the take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia – publicly accessible charging infrastructure suitable for a large country, and Scott Morrison…. Continue reading »
Top 5 most read
- Arrest of Kristo Langker represents gross misuse of…
When politicians in Australia rushed to legislate in the wake… - This is leadership: Germany bids farewell to Angela Merkel At a press conference, a female Journalist asked Merkel :…
- As Biden inflicts a new cold war, his acolyte…
Morrison’s first trip overseas since COVID has shown him as… - Australia’s facile immigration policy debate
Australia’s immigration policy debates over the past 30 years have… - A family from Biloela holds a mirror to…
For the second time in their lives the two adults…
