Public Policy
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This one will blow up on Scotty: Christine Holgate’s unfair dismissal
For thirty years I have believed that, when it wants to, Australian public culture defaults to its misogynistic normal in justifying a woman be disciplined or punished for an event or outcome with which they may have absolutely nothing to do at all…. Continue reading »
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Aged care – where sexism and ageism walk hand in hand
Double jeopardy: being female and being old…. Continue reading »
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USYD’s war on peace in education
The University of Sydney looks set to close its Department of Peace and Conflict Studies. What is the broader significance of this? Does it matter?… Continue reading »
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The ‘levee paradox’: why has development in floodplains exploded?
In March we were reminded that flooding is a problem in Australia. It is a problem partly because of the way we accommodate our growing population on floodplains…. Continue reading »
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The illiberal moment: ASPI’s ‘The Influence Environment’
Last year’s report from ASPI (the Australian Strategy Policy Institute) on Chinese-language media in Australia is a doubly unfortunate manifestation of the profoundly illiberal moment that has now become a worldwide phenomenon and which now clearly infects Australia’s relations with China…. Continue reading »
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The unfolding Covid disaster in PNG
Helping New Guinea with its disastrous Covid outbreak is not pure altruism on our part. The unbridled, indeed raging pandemic, known to have infected 100,000 already and likely to have infected a million more within a week or so, provides a perfect ‘incubator’ for wild type more infectious variants of the Covid to develop. We… Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 4 April 2021
Colonialism and racism’s longstanding and ongoing links to climate change. Six principles for decarbonising industry, VW on Tesla’s tail, and a new, free, online course on climate change…. Continue reading »
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Should pleasure from illicit drugs be included in consideration of drug policy?
In recent decades, the notion that law enforcement approaches to illicit drugs has failed, moved from heresy to orthodoxy. But drug policy till now has only been considered as the prevention of harm. It’s time for policymakers and the community to accept that the pursuit of pleasure should also be a consideration. A distinguished US… Continue reading »
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Experts warn failure to rapidly ‘Vaccinate the World’ creates dangerous opening for Covid-19 mutations
Epidemiologists from dozens of countries around the world issued a loud warning Tuesday that failure to ensure global administration of Covid-19 vaccines within the next year—at the very latest—could allow vaccine-resistant variants to spread among unprotected populations to such an extent that current shots are rendered ineffective…. Continue reading »
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ALP climate policy: from the “great moral challenge” to conservative-lite
Deputy ALP leader Richard Marles, seem to studiously avoid any mention of the need for massive action order to avoid a rise towards +4 degree climate warming despite promoting science…. Continue reading »
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Government refuses to address Australia’s future liquid fuel risks
$90 billion for submarines that may never be used in conflict. Only $200 million for Future Fuels that every Australian depends upon every day. There is something seriously awry with the Government’s priorities…. Continue reading »
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Seriously ugly: here’s how Australia will look if the world heats by 3℃ this century
Imagine, for a moment, a different kind of Australia. One where bushfires on the catastrophic scale of Black Summer happen almost every year. One where 50℃ days in Sydney and Melbourne are common. Where storms and flooding have violently reshaped our coastlines, and unique ecosystems have been damaged beyond recognition – including the Great Barrier… Continue reading »
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The ‘ecology of attention’ in health and social care
Every single transaction expends precious time of attention; time which is even more precious amidst the escalating claims on our attention. Those needing support and treatment are hoping to have their circumstances and problems understood, they seek attention, attention to the way their lives have been affected…. Continue reading »
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Proposed English language testing of Australian sponsors and partners
In the 2020 Budget, former Acting Immigration Minister Tudge announced the Government would introduce English language testing for partner visas – that is when an Australian sponsors their non-Australian partner to become an Australian permanent resident…. Continue reading »
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UK introduces Australian-style asylum system
Boris Johnson insists radical plans to reshape the way the United Kingdom treats asylum seekers are lawful, even as government lawyers prepare for a raft of legal challenges arising from the decision to create a two-tier system discriminating against ‘boat people’…. Continue reading »
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The meaning of the word ‘floodplain’ – and the consequences of building on one
One of the great challenges of city building is building sustainably. Many of our towns and cities are built at least in part on floodplains, which are by definition problematic as places on which to build…. Continue reading »
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Climate crisis solutions need to address the web of causes
Climate change has no single cause. It has resulted from the interconnected web of population, consumption, technology, and the political economy. The climate emergency requires us to recognise and grapple with this web sooner rather than later…. Continue reading »
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An immigration agenda for new home affairs minister Andrews
Peter Dutton’s transfer to Defence Minister and appointment of Karen Andrews as the new Home Affairs Minister provides her with an extraordinary array of Dutton inspired problems she could readily fix…. Continue reading »
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Re-thinking flood mitigation and development, especially in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley
The rain has gone, the floods on the eastward-flowing rivers are receding in Queensland and New South Wales and the focus has shifted from response to recovery. But there’s another important matter which needs to be addressed mitigation, or the means by which we can reduce the impacts of future flooding. Let’s look at this… Continue reading »
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Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness: Feb/Mar 2021
The following is the latest instalment of a monthly digest of interesting articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material relevant to housing stress/affordability and homelessness…. Continue reading »
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Richard Boyle: The overtaxed whitstleblower
It’s hard to believe this email started a war…. Continue reading »
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The unfortunate reality for private health insurance premiums
On 21 December last year, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced “the lowest annual average [private health insurance] premium change for consumers since 2001”. However, the affordability of private health insurance for many consumers continues to decline and is likely to get worse…. Continue reading »
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Sunday environmental round up, 28 March 2021
Eight tips to save insects from catastrophic (for them and us) decline, followed by articles on a green COVID-recovery and the energy transition, including Do’s and Don’ts for subsidising hydrogen…. Continue reading »
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The scandal of Packer’s proposed Barangaroo Casino
The Packer family have only once faced public scrutiny in their pursuit of a casino license in Australia. In the early ’90s, Kerry Packer ran a very distant third to Showboat and Leighton Properties in his pursuit of the license to run a casino in Sydney. Kerry spent the next 2 years desperately trying to… Continue reading »
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Why has there been a spike in anti-asian hate? The NY Times answers their own questions
A collage of panic-inducing anti-China headlines from the New York Times and other major publications can be seen as a factor in the rise of anti-Asian hate seen in western countries…. Continue reading »
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WHO Chief blasts ‘Grotesque’ vaccine inequality as rich nations block speedy end of global pandemic
As rich nations like the United States and pharmaceutical companies face sustained calls to share Covid-19 vaccine knowledge, the head of the World Health Organization on Monday decried the “grotesque” global inequality of vaccine distribution. “We have the means to avert this failure but it’s shocking how little has been done to avert it”, said… Continue reading »
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Media in the Asian Century: On our Quad bikes
The most concrete measure to come out of the March 12 Quad summit was a plan for India’s huge pharmaceutical industry to manufacture one billion doses of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine financed by the US and Japan for world-wide distribution to regions in need, particularly the most remote…. Continue reading »
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Light relief after a tawdry, desperate week: ‘Floods prove weather’s not broken’
Media coverage of “solo lewd acts’ diverted focus from the real game – was there a cover-up of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins?; no apology from Scott Morrison for fabricating an harassment claim; and there’s always room for climate denialism in The Australian…. Continue reading »
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Vaccine rollout hindered by lack of recognition for nurse practitioners
A general practitioner will be required to supervise nurse practitioners as they administer the COVID-19 vaccine, a decision that was made without concerns of health and safety. This means under-resourced and at-risk communities will be slower to gain access to the vaccine,… Continue reading »
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Will Packer bow out of Crown?
The US private equity firm Blackstone has made a conditional non-binding offer for Crown Resorts Ltd, valuing the casino operator at over $8 billion…. Continue reading »
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