Media
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FRANK BRENNAN SJ. The cost of Alexander Downer cutting corners on Timor Leste a decade ago.
If only the government and their supporters like News Ltd had been prepared to listen to the parliamentary committee a decade ago. Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. Robert Manne v Ramesh Thakur v Gillian Triggs: What on Earth is Going On?
If one were ever in this situation, who would one wish to speak for them: George Brandis or Gillian Triggs? That’s the choice. Continue reading »
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CHRIS SIDOTI. 30th Anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Part 2 of 2.
Human rights work has a cost, and we need to remember the cost and the toll that it takes on the people who are doing it. Those who are paying the price need the support of those who are not paying so much. Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Indonesia – Complexities, restraints, and opportunities for Australia
The importance of our relations with Indonesia in the future and in the wider context of the Asian century cannot be overstated. It is essential that each country acts to know more about its neighbour. Continue reading »
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CHRIS SIDOTI. 30th Anniversary of the Australian Human Rights Commission. Part 1 of 2.
Chris Sidoti recounts the context for the establishing of the AHRC, (formerly called the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) and records the frequent conflicts over the years between the AHRC and the government of the day. This is an edited first half of the speech. The second half will appear in the next P&I. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 1 – Who’s been left behind?
In “developed” countries the benefits of 35 years of economic growth have been unevenly distributed. Many people who once had well-paid manufacturing jobs and many who live in the country have fallen behind. While this has been most starkly manifest in the US, it is also happening in Australia. Continue reading »
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Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 2 – The response of those left behind
It would be hasty to attribute the Brexit and Trump votes to a “swing to the right”, or to an ill-informed electorate. The most compelling explanations are in terms of protest votes. People’s anger of electorates has given an opening for political opportunists. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 5 – How we lost trust in government
We have lost trust in our governments and in mainstream political parties. Politicians, the media and corporate interests have been responsible for alienating governments from the people who elect them, creating fertile ground for populists. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 8 – Don’t wait for a “leader”: we need leadership.
We have many hard issues to confront but our present political elites are adept at avoiding them. It’s futile and dangerous to wait for a “leader” who will solve our problems. The task of leadership is one that falls on anyone who has voice. Continue reading »
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JAMES O’NEILL. Lessons from the Iraq War: a reappraisal.
The release of the Chilcott Report into the circumstances under which the United Kingdom (UK) became a party to the invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003 has raised fresh questions about the circumstances surrounding Australia’s involvement in that same war. Continue reading »
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Chomsky interview on the ravages of neoliberalism.
In this interview, reported in The Wire on 31 January 2016, Noam Chomsky talks about the ravages of neoliberalism. this is a repost from 21 February 2016. Continue reading »
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DAVID MENERE. How the mainstream media mislead the public on Syria
The bias in the treatment of the Syrian conflict by the mainstream media is not accidental or due to laxity on the part of the media. Rather, it is the result of the opposition groups’ exclusion of independent reporting, coupled with western governments’ financial assistance to the opposition for media production. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. AHRC President Gillian Triggs: a year of living dangerously. Part 3 of 3.
In hearings before a Senate estimates committee on 18 October, Triggs said her interview had been inaccurately reported, with quotes taken out of context and even fabricated. When the paper’s editor replied they held an audio recording of the interview, Triggs acknowledged that ‘the article was an accurate excerpt’. Continue reading »
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RAMESH THAKUR. AHRC President Gillian Triggs: a year of living dangerously. Part 2 of 3.
Asylum seekers and children in detention There are four separate issues that typically get lumped into one confusing debate: the policies on asylum seekers, boats turnback and offshore detention; and the treatment of detainees. Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Turnbull’s New Year resolution should be a fibre-based NBN for everyone
As we all make our New Year’s resolutions, here’s one for Turnbull: build us a better broadband network. It’s time to allow NBN to dump copper and revert to a fibre-based model. The sooner the better. Continue reading »
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CHRIS BONNOR. Schools punching above their weight – or just punching each other?
Put your hand up if you are participants in the festive season. No, not that Christmas stuff – I’m talking about the annual festival of the HSC/VCE or whatever. You must have searched to see where your old school, your kids’ or grandkids’ school ranked in the hierarchy. For many people it joins real estate Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Cricket – alcohol and junk food.
Cricket has a dangerous relationship with alcohol and junk food. Continue reading »
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The media are misleading the public on Syria.
This article by Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe in February 2016 revealed how the media in the US misled the public about Syria. It is also true of Australia. We mindlessly follow the Washington media with its consensus and group-think, including a range of media outlets and so-called think tanks. Kinzer describes the coverage Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Malcolm Turnbull’s future.
The Chinese will be celebrating the year of the rooster. But for Malcolm Turnbull it is more likely to be just another year of the chicken. If not the feather duster. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. White man’s media – Rupert Murdoch’s faulty memory.
Rupert Murdoch has asserted again that he has never asked anything from any Prime Minister. Continue reading »
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Putin interferes in US election. In the past the CIA interfered in Japan.
The following is a New York Times Report of October 9, 1994. In a major covert operation of the cold war, the Central Intelligence Agency spent millions of dollars to support the conservative party that dominated Japan’s politics for a generation. Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. NBN – Are you one of the lucky ones in Turnbull’s two-speed society?
If Australia was a corporation, we, its shareholders, would be justified in terminating CEO Malcolm Turnbull’s employment contract forthwith. Continue reading »
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ROBERT MANNE. The Australian’s attacks on Gillian Triggs.
The attack launched by the Australian on Gillian Triggs and the Human Rights Commission has been obsessive, petty, relentless, remorseless and ruthless. Continue reading »
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TESSA MORRIS-SUZUKI. The ‘information war’ hits Sydney.
This action by a small number of Japanese in Australia harms the Japanese community itself and demeans the work of those in Japan and elsewhere who have fought so long and hard for historical truth and justice. Continue reading »
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BRIAN McNAIR. The empire strikes back.
Just five short years after (literally) eating humble pie live on national TV for presiding over the most corrupt, criminally minded, bin-raking, sleaze-mongering crowd of press hacks ever to spread their poison in the English-speaking world, Rupert Murdoch is back at the door of Sky in the UK, huffing and puffing like the big bad Continue reading »
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KELLIE TRANTER. FOI documents expose Australia’s unlawful invasion of Syria.
‘Make no mistake: we unlawfully invaded a sovereign state.’~ Kellie Tranter Not one journalist in the country – although I am happy to stand corrected – asked either the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Attorney General or the Defence Minister to explain how the Government of Syria was ‘unwilling or unable’ to prevent attacks. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. White man’s media
The Australian media behave as if Australia is a large island parked off London or New York. Our media is remarkably derivative as a result of media systems laid down over a century ago. It is very unresponsive to the needs of Australia in the 21st Century in relations with our own region. Our media Continue reading »
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RICHARD BUTLER. Our white man’s media.
In this blog, I will be posting occasional pieces under the title ‘our white man’s media’ about the inadequate coverage of important issues in world affairs and in particular, in our region. So much of our media coverage reflects the interests and views of the US. Is the Wretched situation in Yemen of no interest Continue reading »
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ANDREW MARKUS. Australians more alarmed about state of politics than impact of migration and minorities.
There is no shortage of expert commentary on current shifts in public opinion, understood as a revolt against political elites. Within Europe and the United States interpretations are supported by the British vote to leave the European Union, the increasing popularity of far-right parties campaigning on anti-immigration and nationalist platforms, and the success of Donald Continue reading »
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RICHARD LETTS. National Opera Review: propping up the 19th Century
The National Opera Review has reported. Instigator George Brandis is probably well enough satisfied. The Terms of Reference are pure Brandis. The name is National Opera Review, the game is a review of the four larger companies funded by the Commonwealth. Excluded are the Victorian Opera and the numerous small companies that are the Continue reading »
