Public Policy
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Richard Butler. After Paris
The attacks in Paris were textbook in terms of the philosophy of terrorism: hit publicly, indiscriminately, affecting as large a group of innocent people as possible, attract maximum publicity, generate widespread fear. They also represented a continuation of terrorist actions within metropolitan Europe: Madrid 2004, 191 dead; London 2005, 56 dead; Paris January 2015, Continue reading »
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Thanks to Jake Bailey and Christchurch Boys High School.
Just one week before his final school assembly, Christchurch Boys High School’s Head Boy, Jake Bailey, was told that he may not have long to live. The 18 year old NZ student was bed-ridden and absent from school for three weeks while undergoing treatment for aggressive cancer. But during his final school prize-giving ceremony he Continue reading »
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Ian Marsh. Will privatised schools and hospital drive public sector efficiency?
One of the first substantive announcements of Treasurer Scott Morrison concerned the privatisation of schools, hospitals and community services that are provided by State governments. He enthusiastically endorsed this 2012 Commission of Audit recommendation: ‘Given the size of the human services sector (which is set to increase further as Australia’s population ages), even small improvements Continue reading »
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Malcolm Turnbull’s NBN is off the rails.
Paul Budde comments in his BuddeBlog on 6 November 2015 ‘If you abandon national FttH (fibre to the home) you also undermine the infrastructure required by the new economy. … The MTM [multi technology mix] leads to the Balkanisation of infrastructure in Australia and will favour companies such as Telstra and TPG. … The NBN Co Continue reading »
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Ross Gittins. Launch of book by Menadue and Keating.
Sydney, Thursday, November 5, 2015 Paul Samuelson, the famous American economist, is said to have remarked that the stockmarket has predicted nine of the past five recessions. I thought of that this week and decided the Canberra press gallery could top it: the gallery has predicted nine of the past two early elections. They Continue reading »
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Peter Gibilisco. Friendship and Service Provision Ethos for People with Disabilities
In this article I want to discuss an aspect of the standardised procedures set by service providers in facilities that serve people with disabilities. More to the point, I am keen to explore how this affects the ethos of service delivery for people with severe or profound physical disabilities within such shared supportive accommodation. Let Continue reading »
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Allan Patience. Now is the Time for All Good Men and Women to Come to the Aid of the Party
Richard Di Natale has called on the Greens to get ready for government. Well and good. The direction in which he is prodding his party is a rare glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak Australian political landscape. Whether in a coalition (likely with Labor), or in its own right (unlikely), what sort of public Continue reading »
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Climate, Economy, Health, Human Rights, Immigration, refugees, Infrastructure, Media, SERIES: Freedom, opportunity and security, World Affairs
Michael Keating. The role of government in policy renewal.
In thanking Ross Gittins for launching ‘Freedom, Opportunity and Security’, Mike Keating explains the reasons why he and I decided to launch this series, first online and now in a book. Mike Keating’s book launch notes follow. I will also be posting Ross Gittins’ comments. John Menadue. Thank you Ross Gittins and thanks to you all Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The new squatters are taking over more public land.
On a wide front developers and other commercial interests are moving into our public parks, gardens and beaches. They are our new squatters and the community is feeling powerless in the face of this invasion. In earlier blogs I outlined the historic encroachment of private interests on our ‘public commons’ – the land and facilities Continue reading »
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Quigley, former CEO of NBN, attributes $15 b. cost blow out to Turnbull’s Multi Technology Mix.
For comment by Renai LeMay, see link to his blog delimiter.com.au below: https://delimiter.com.au/2015/11/05/quigley-releases-detailed-evidence-showing-mtm-nbn-cost-blowout/ John Menadue. Continue reading »
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Quentin Dempster. Countering Rupert Murdoch’s plan to destroy public broadcasting in Australia.
I regret to report there are forces at work in this country out to destroy public broadcasting… the ABC and SBS. But the fight to protect and enhance a more dynamic public broadcasting sector has just begun. Tomorrow in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, you will see a half page ad paid for Continue reading »
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Ranald Macdonald. In journalism we trust – or do we?
Journalists from the safe fortress of their own news outlets attacking the professional integrity of their competitors is a no-win situation. The consequences are far-reaching. Doyen of Australian journalism, Laurie Oakes got it right recently at the Melbourne Press Club when he quoted Tom Stoppard (the noted British playwright) who said “A free press needs Continue reading »
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Steve Hatfield-Dodds. Australians can be sustainable without sacrificing lifestyle or economy.
A sustainable Australia is possible – but we have to choose it. That’s the finding of a paperpublished today in Nature. The paper is the result of a larger project to deliver the first Australian National Outlook report, more than two years in the making, which CSIRO is also releasing today. As part of this Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The unfairness and waste in health. Private Health Insurance is the real culprit.
Medibank Pte has been in dispute with the Calvary Hospital Group and now with UnitingCare over performance in their hospitals. At last our largest private health insurance company, MBP has come to understand that the private providers, hospitals and doctors, are really in control. These private providers determine the quality of care and its cost. Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Abbott lectures London on how to ‘stop the boats’.
Tony Abbott has been at it again, this time in London, claiming that he stopped the boats and that Europeans should follow suit. It is an oft repeated untruth that he stopped the boats. His one-liners are not supported by the facts. But the lie is deeply imbedded. Last month, Peter Hughes and I posted Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Malcolm Turnbull and rebuilding the ABC
Our new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull has a chance to repair the damage that was done to the ABC when he was the minister in charge. Malcolm Turnbull was unable to stop Tony Abbott’s cultural war on the ABC which was aided and abetted by Rupert Murdoch. Today, Friends of the ABC published an advertisement Continue reading »
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Erica Feller. Good democracy is challenged by mass migration.
Mass migration in a globalised world might well turn out to become, not least from the perspective of democracy, one of the overarching and defining challenges of our time. Syria and the exodus of millions of Syrians to neighbouring states and beyond is currently bringing this home in the starkest of ways. The autonomous sovereign Continue reading »
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Chris Bonnor. Educational opportunity in Australia.
Educational opportunity in Australia – who succeeds and who misses out? This critical question about our schools is the title of a new report commissioned by the Mitchell Institute. It is a thorough, timely and outstanding contribution to our understanding of disadvantage in schooling. The report, produced by Victoria University’s Centre for International Research Continue reading »
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Ranald Macdonald. The ABC and SBS are under attack.
Now is the time to support the ABC and SBS and the reasons are clear for all to see. Our new Prime Minister has the chance of reversing decisions made during the Abbott leadership – but with him as the Communications Minister. Public broadcasting is under attack in many countries. The BBC has been particularly Continue reading »
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John Tulloh. Turkey at a dangerous crossroad.
Spare a thought for Turkey as it goes to the polls on November 1. It straddles Europe and Asia, but it is not sure if it is part of either. Nor is it part of the Middle East, yet it shelters more Arab refugees than any other country there. They number two million – mainly Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Coal is good for humanity! The Tony Abbott story continues.
The messenger may have changed, but apparently not the message. Only this week our new Prime Minister said ‘Can I simply say, the government’s policies are unchanged’ An obvious example of this unchanged policy is that Malcolm Turnbull has agreed to the go-ahead of the $16 b. Carmichael Coal Project in central Queensland. This is Continue reading »
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Dean Ashenden. What is to be done about Australian schooling?
Dealing with high and rising social and cultural segregation is the real challenge of school reform. Over the past two or three months alone, no fewer than five prominent individuals and organisations have tried to answer an increasingly vexing question: what is to be done about Australian schooling? Australia, these various commentators agree, is among Continue reading »
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Peter Gibilisco and assisted by Bruce Wearne. A Special Minister for Disability.
Disability support and policy is currently undergoing much needed reform. Such reforms highlight the attenuated life chances of people with disabilities and how these can be mitigated by policies that emphasize the inclusion of people with disabilities into the social life of us all. There is much public money being spent on getting things right, Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Is Malcolm Turnbull sacrificing his principles?
The polls show most Australian voters have welcomed Malcolm Turnbull’s election as Prime Minister. I did. It is very early days, but I am concerned by signs that he is bowing very much to the right wing of his own party and former Abbott supporters rather than spelling out clearly his own policies that we Continue reading »
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Nicholas Reece. Falling behind in the innovation stakes
Malcolm Turnbull has promised a new innovation policy for Australia by Christmas. Bill Shorten has pledged to be a “jobs prime minister for the new economy”. For the first time in a long while, the political rhetoric matches a genuinely huge national policy challenge. In the past 15 years, there have been more than 60 Continue reading »
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Good Samaritans in Greece
We have been told in Australia that asylum-seekers are so inhuman, that they would even throw their children overboard; that they are all ‘illegals’ and akin to criminals; and that they bring disease and wads of cash. Fortunately, helpers in Greece have taken no notice of this characterisation of asylum seekers. See the link below Continue reading »
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Misha Coleman. Open Letter to Julie Bishop on Sri Lankan war crimes.
8 October 2015. Dear Ms Bishop Thank you for co-sponsoring the UN Human Rights Committee resolution negotiated by the Sri Lankan Government, which will hopefully provide some answers and finality to the mothers of 146,679 missing people, through the establishment of a domestic war crimes panel. You’ll know that these Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian Continue reading »
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Bob Kinnaird. 750,000 temporary residents with work rights.
The recent Fairfax/ABC Four Corners reports exposing widespread exploitation and wage abuse of overseas students and other visa workers in 7-11 stores, horticulture and other sectors have been justly applauded as outstanding examples of investigative journalism. Their impact has been immediate, forcing 7-11 to set up an independent investigation panel chaired by Alan Fels and Continue reading »
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Nauru and the Philippines
Three days ago, on 6 October, I posted a story ‘Nauru and the Philippines‘. That story carried an unconfirmed report that the Australian government was negotiating with the Philippines government for the transfer of 600 asylum seekers in Nauru to the Philippines. Since then there have been several reports confirming the thrust of this story, Continue reading »
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Nicholas Rowley. Cleaning up the mess on climate policy.
It is one of the rarely considered consequences of the sad story of Australia’s national policy response to climate change, that many of our finest public servants have sadly wasted years of analysis and effort to dutifully serve the demands of their political masters. More than ten years ago analysis by Ken Henry under then Continue reading »