John Menadue
Publisher and Editor
Callum Foote
Associate Editor
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Category Archives: Top 5
Dan Oakes, Witness K and Bernard Collaery
Dear Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, please demonstrate that the decisions whether or not to prosecute, and the decisions to continue the prosecutions of Collaery and K, are not influenced by possible political advantage, disadvantage or embarrassment to the Government. … Continue reading
Posted in Human Rights, Justice, Politics, Top 5
8 Comments
Australian submarines operating in the South China Sea is a very provocative and very bad idea.
In responding to my post (19 October) about the Morrison government’s plan to spend at least $90 billion on large submarines, Jon Stanford’s post (21 October ) argues that we should do what the Commander of the US Submarine Force … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Top 5
10 Comments
Will our Glad have a chair when the music stops?
Spare a thought for the personal tragedy of Gladys Berejiklian, a genuinely hard-working and on the face of it a decent premier of NSW. Brought low because she formed a long-term personal relationship with a spiv, one whose general dishonesty … Continue reading
Gladys’ arrogance paves the way for Federal ICAC
The most remarkable thing about the revelation of Gladys Berejiklian’s love life was that it was remarkable at all.
Posted in Politics, Top 5
11 Comments
In for a penny, in for a pound: $90 billion for an obsolete submarine fleet
So much for Australian sovereignty. We are locked out of repairing key US components of our subs’ computer systems, and the Coalition has committed our submarine fleet to the extraordinarily dangerous role of helping the US conduct surveillance in the … Continue reading
Posted in Defence/Security, Politics, Top 5
10 Comments
Misinformation about Covid-19. Don’t listen to Donald Trump or Alan Jones.
Here is the big so important question. As we prepare to ease some restrictions, will we, in contradistinction to many communities in other countries, embrace the long-term behaviours that must be normalised to allow us to live as safely and … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Politics, Top 5
13 Comments
Gillard’s discrimination against people with a disability aged over 65 must be put right – Part 1
It is a truth universally acknowledged – our aged care system is in a tragic mess. It has become a badly regulated, provider-centric system focused more on limiting Commonwealth budget exposure than supporting the dignity and independence of older Australians.
PR Spin on Our Alleged War Crimes and ‘Rogue SAS Squad’ in Afghanistan
Senior members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have been drip feeding us through the media with information about the alleged war crimes committed by the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) and other Special Forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Top 5
5 Comments
LobbyLand ‘Culture of cosiness’: colossal conflicts of interest in Defence spending blitz
In Part 1 of her three-part investigation, Michelle Fahy investigates the corporate influence on government policy and how weapons makers cultivate relationships with politicians and top officials in the public service.
Posted in Defence/Security, Lobbyland, Politics, Top 5
6 Comments
Aged Care: Human Right or a market opportunity
The overwhelming evidence is that, after more than two decades, the private-for-profit market model has not resulted in the improvements that were expected – more competition, more choice, improved efficiency, improved access and so on. It is time to conclude … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Top 5
4 Comments
LobbyLand. Fossil Fuel Lobbyists: Modus Operandi, Impact, Solutions
In Australia, denial mounts. The recent “Gas-Led Recovery” and “Technological Roadmap” announcements of the Morrison government confirm the continued influence of the fossil fuel industry and its lobbyists.
Posted in Environment and climate, Lobbyland, Top 5
2 Comments
Why a social housing stimulus is a measure Morrison cannot ignore.
Given our Prime Minister’s famously well-honed skill of tapping into the public mood, as well as his claims to an economically hard-headed approach to policymaking, you would surely expect a social housing stimulus plan to be front and centre of … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Housing, Top 5
5 Comments
Christian Porter has shown himself unfit to be federal Attorney–General
By his response last week to the Federal Court’s finding that Immigration Minister Alan Tudge engaged in criminal conduct by detaining an asylum-seeker for five days in defiance of an order by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), Christian Porter has … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Top 5
8 Comments
Susan Ryan: a forgiving politician
It is difficult to exaggerate the significance of the movements, legislation and offices shaped or led by the late Susan Maree Ryan (Oct 10, 1942 – September 27, 2020).
Posted in Politics, Top 5, Tributes
3 Comments
Tamed Estate: Low Emissions, Insolvency Reforms, Responsible Lending and NBN Privatisation
Following on from the opener to the Tamed Estate released in both Michael West Media and Pearls and Irritations, we will be conducting a rolling watch for media failures and manipulations.
Posted in Tamed Estate, Top 5
4 Comments
The Foreign Interference law is more a political stunt. But what about Rupert Murdoch’s foreign interference?
Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp are currently campaigning to have the ABC neutered. Murdoch is a foreigner, as NewsCorp would seem to be. Australians and others are allegedly doing Murdoch’s bidding, with the intention to “influence a political or governmental process”; … Continue reading
A white flag moment on the NBN was inevitable.
This week’s capitulation – that’s what it is – by communications minister Paul Fletcher sets us on a course that hopefully will see Australia start moving in the right direction again as we head further into a digitally-enabled future. It’s … Continue reading
Feeding the Chooks: Scott Morrison’s marketing triumph over mainstream media complete
Scott Morrison has perfected the art of media manipulation by briefing a select club of Canberra correspondents together, rather than leaking to individual media outlets. Callum Foote and Michael West report on the marketing genius of the Prime Minister and … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics, Top 5
8 Comments
Morrison’s choice: blimps and gas-fired power
If Scott Morrison ever went back to his old job of promoting tourism and needed to ramp up the travel industry, he would put his money on blimps. So gas is obviously the go. A sensible middle course, obviously the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment and climate, Politics, Top 5
4 Comments
Neoclassical economics I: farcical global warming analyses
Analyses of the economic effects of global warming by prominent economists are based on patently invalid arguments, profound ignorance of the global response to solar energy and basic misrepresentation of scientific sources. Their conclusion that the effects are minor is … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Top 5
14 Comments
Father Glen Walsh paid a heavy price
The revelations never end about priests and brothers, of monsignors and bishops with their secret sexual lives, masturbating, buggerizing, sodomizing and raping boys and girls – protected by an amoral hierarchy and a few corrupt members of the upper-echelons of … Continue reading
Aged care should not be ‘pre-palliative care’ as Scott Morrison suggests
In Question Time, Prime Minister Scott Morrison made an unfortunate but revealing statement about our attitudes to aged care. He said: “For those of us who have had to make decisions about putting our own family, our own parents, into … Continue reading
The atrocious foreign interference law – It doesn’t add up
When, for example, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) receives grants from the US State Department to undertake research projects it is an admission that it is engaging in conduct on behalf of a foreign principal.
China policy – the children are in charge
Is the Australian Government serious about restoring the relationship with China? There are disturbing indications that it is not.
Australia’s fathers day shame
On this coming Father’s Day I want to salute three fathers whose sons, who have not broken Australian law, were and are betrayed by the Australian government: Terry Hicks, John Shipton and Khalil El-Halabi.
US: Grand Theft Election
Trump is working on stealing the result of the election in November. His main contention of political substance – that it is a “law and order” election – is shadowed by the actions he is taking to prevent an unhindered, … Continue reading
The Australian Government is pursuing economic suicide
The prime objective of a country is to maximise the interests of its inhabitants. That objective is met in trade by selling its goods at the best possible price. What the countries leaders may think of the politics of their … Continue reading
How market forces are failing us in opting out to private and for-profit child care
It is extraordinary that about 70% of our long day care services are now run by for-profit operators when we know that the for-profit sector generally delivers lower quality education care.
Posted in Education, Health, Top 5
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It was a mistake to privatise aged care
We are trying to care for our elderly on the cheap. What an indictment that we seem willing to spend more on defence than we do on the elderly.
Your ABC is turning into their ABC
The combined savagery of the Murdoch media, the jejune fogies in the Young Liberals, their fogy elders on the extreme right, as well as their urgers in reactionary organisations like the Institute of Public Affairs, is culminating in an unhappy … Continue reading