Public Policy
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USHA M RODRIGUES. New research shows how Australia’s newsrooms are failing minority communities.
Australians from culturally diverse backgrounds often feel frustrated about media coverage of news events and issues that portray them in a negative light. A new study analysing media coverage of issues related to multicultural Australia found that more than a third of stories reflected a negative view of minority communities. Continue reading »
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KEVIN BAIN. “Down with refugee capture and storage!” Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 I pointed to opinion research which suggests that European and Australian political leaderships are playing to their narrow base, that the population has not abandoned humanitarian attitudes towards refugees, but do reject the dominant slogans of advocates and the implied consequences. I’ll comment on one of the aspects, and report on the Continue reading »
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ADAM MORTON. In a canter? Climate experts say Australia will not meet emissions targets. (Guardian 11.10.2108)
Guardian Australia spoke to 12 economists and scientists – almost all reject government’s claim to be on track. Leading climate researchers have overwhelmingly rejected the federal government’s claim it is on track to cut greenhouse gas emissions as promised under the 2015 Paris agreement. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Ignore the planet and our grand children at our peril.
The government has thrown in its lot with climate sceptics, the loony right which includes the Murdoch media and the coal miners. We have a government with no policy on climate change at all. The responses by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers for the Environment and Energy to the latest IPCC report Continue reading »
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MARK BUTLER. There is only one energy future: firmed renewables. (AFR 10.10.2018)
Australia is in the deep throes of the most severe energy crisis in living memory. Power and gas prices have skyrocketed in recent years and are continuing to go up in spite of claims from the Liberal government that they have solved the energy crisis and prices are coming down. Continue reading »
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KEVIN BAIN. New thinking needed on refugee policy for a new period (Part 1 of 2)
Both Robert Manne and John Menadue have recently put proposals at this blog for better refugee policy. As an amateur who has accumulated an awareness of the counter-intuitions, swirling dynamics and deep knowledge required in this fiendishly complex policy space, I have no detailed prescriptions of my own other than “first, do no harm”. But Continue reading »
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CHRIS BONNOR. Ruddock review kicks up a storm
If short term reactions are any guide it seems that many of those who submitted to the Ruddock review into religious protections might have some cause for regret. While it is early days, it is likely to throw a timely spotlight on religious school enrolment and employment discrimination. Such discrimination already applies unevenly across Australia, Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Outdoor advertising – enclosing the commons
The furore over the projection of horse racing on the Sydney Opera House raises not only the issue of the treatment of Louise Herron at the hand of a radio shock jock and her lack of support from the NSW Government, but also the broader issue of appropriation of public space for commercial purposes. Continue reading »
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KIM WINGEREI. (Art) encounters of the Jones kind.
When the artist by the name of Banksy had his own artwork shredded, it was his right. It was (and is) his own artwork and he wanted to make a statement about his work being sold at an auction. But when NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian instructed Opera House CEO Louise Herron to allow Jørn Utzon’s Continue reading »
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Coalition’s breathtakingly stupid response to IPCC climate report (RenewEconomy, 09.10.18)
It wasn’t too hard to predict what the Coalition government’s responses to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report would be – you just needed to know where they would be making them. Continue reading »
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PAUL BONGIORNO. Political climate uncomfortably hot for Scott Morrison (New Daily 9.10.2018)
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison found himself in a very awkward spot on the day the world’s most authoritative climate science body released its latest report. Continue reading »
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ROSS GARNAUT. Where Australia’s at 10 years after climate change review. (AFR 8.10.2018)
Energy costs will be lower if there is more investment in renewables capacity. Continue reading »
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LINDA SIMON. When will students get their money back?
How many students have been the victims of the VET FEE-HELP rorts? The Government doesn’t know the answer to this question, nor how much it may cost to waive such debts. New legislation being introduced to Federal Parliament seeks to make it easier for students who have suffered due to the inappropriate conduct of their Continue reading »
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SALVATORE BABONES. Australia -the world’s first immigration economy.
Australia’s economy is addicted to immigration, requiring ever-increasing infusions of new people to stave off an inevitable collapse. Continue reading »
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MICK PALMER. The drug trade has just kept getting bigger,more dangerous and more prosperous.
The facts are clear. For over half a century our governments have relied heavily on law enforcement to curb the drug trade and reduce drug use. However, despite huge funding, ever increasing levels of police effectiveness and genuine effort, and the imposition of very lengthy prison terms for serious drug offences, the drug trade has Continue reading »
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Of academic freedom and institutional integrity: A Canadian prequel to the ANU rejection of the Ramsay Centre millions
At the University Chancellors’ 11th national conference in Adelaide on 4 October, the Australian National University Chancellor Gareth Evans delivered the inaugural Chancellor’s Oration. One section of his speech dealt with the imperative to defend university autonomy. Continue reading »
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. Continue reading »
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JONATHAN PAGE. How Buddhism helped this cancer doctor care for his dying patients (ABC Science interview)
Medical oncologist Jonathan Page says being more in the moment helps him to be a better doctor. His relationships with his patients were once characterised by “coldness…. and a lack of grieving”. But a mental health crisis that led him to Buddhist meditation helped change that. Continue reading »
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CHRIS MILLS. The next BIG thing: renewable water.
When cattle and sheep are dying in vast number across Eastern Australia, how sane is it for the driest inhabited continent in the world not to capture and redirect wastewater and stormwater from our cities and towns into food and beverage production? Energy is a major component of the cost of treating and moving water. Continue reading »
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JENNIFER DOGGETT. AIHW Health Expenditure Australia 2016-17 report – five key lessons.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has released its Health expenditure Australia 2016–17 report. This report contains detailed data on expenditure throughout our health system and is a valuable resource for governments, policy makers and health stakeholders. Continue reading »
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JERRY ROBERTS. Is Ken Wyatt’s position tenable?.
Ken Wyatt is one of the few high-class acts in a low-class environment known as the Australian Federal Parliament. If he is driven out of the place it will be the Parliament’s loss, not Ken’s Continue reading »
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ROSEMARY O’GRADY. Death of a Real-Life Publisher.
In June this year I posted in these pages a piece entitled ‘ Meanings of War’. It reported the publication of new translations and editions of the German-language classic Simplicius Simplicissimus, first-published in its original German edition in 1669. Continue reading »
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DAVID BOOTH, JOHN TURNBULL. The backflip over Sydney’s marine park is a defiance of science.
The New South Wales government’s decision to back away from establishing no-fishing zones in waters around Sydney leaves significant question marks over the plan, which is open for public consultation until September 27. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. We all owe a lot to great teachers.
Recently I chatted with a friend about how much we all owe to some teachers and mentors. So I decided to share, with a few minor changes, what I wrote about twenty years ago about two teachers to whom I owe a great debt. They turned my life around. Continue reading »
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH Scott Morrison is either lying about carbon emissions, or just plain ignorant (the New Daily, 02.10.18)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia is on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target “in a canter”. But it’s not, and Mr Morrison is either being blindly optimistic or he is an outright liar. More fake news from Scott Morrison. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE Morrison and Trump are experts in fake news
Scott Morrison keeps telling us that he stopped the boats. As I have said many times that is just not true. It is fake news. But the lie has been so uncontested by the media for so long it is hard to nail the lie.Perhaps being careless in the first place the media now finds Continue reading »
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STEPHEN LONG. Tesla battery proves a leading source of dispatchable power, AEMO says .
Scott Morrison said it would be about as useful for the electricity system as the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour or the Big Prawn at Ballina in NSW. He has a habit with fake news. Continue reading »
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DAVID ISAACS. Pervasive refusal syndrome and Nauru
Fatima was a happy child who loved school and was a top student. She was 11 years old when she took to her bed, stopped eating and drinking, covered her head with the sheet, stopped washing and started wetting the bed. For months she would not or could not get out of bed and had Continue reading »
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State Govts Evade Commitments to Public Schools
Public schools have suffered a double blow in the last fortnight. The Morrison Government announced a $4.6 billion appeasement deal for private schools with no increase for public schools. Last week The Guardian exposed how Labor and Coalition state governments are trying to evade commitments to increase their funding of public schools through a subterfuge. Continue reading »
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JOHN ELDER. Gas leak: Government tries to release its greenhouse news on the quiet.
The Morrison government stands accused of trying to sneak-release the latest greenhouse gas emission figures – they’ve gone up, again – by making them public on the eve of the footy grand finals. Continue reading »