April 14, 2020

ALLAN PATIENCE. The Future is global.

The closing of borders because of the coronavirus pandemic has inflamed opinion around the world that the era of globalisation is coming to an end. Governments are raising the sovereignty flag, hunkering down behind their borders.

September 22, 2020

Our challenges in dealing with China

America was built on the Bible, the gun and slavery.Our interests in dealing with China are not the same as Americas interests. We have differences with China, but we must handle them in our own way rather than joining Trumps strident chorus of criticism.

April 5, 2020

Wither Brexit and the Trade System under Covid-19?

Where can the suspended post-Brexit negotiations go from here when the very multilateral trading system, along with globalisation, is on its uppers, under the curse of the CaronaVirus pandemic? What will the negotiators be able to come to grips with mutually as their respective constituents demand protectionism for their industries and their trade relations? It is already a different world

June 1, 2020

CHRIS NYLAND. Perhaps Not a Good Time to Poke the Dragon?

A number of commentators have expressed surprise that Canberra would provoke China at a time when the Australian economy may be desperate to increase exports!

April 13, 2020

BOB CARR supports Pearls and Irritations.

Pearls & Irritations is unique, indispensable, provocative and refreshing. It really does make a difference.

April 12, 2020

MAX HAYTON. Ardern provides crisis management masterclass.

New Zealand is giving us a crisis management masterclass. Prime Minister Ardern has demonstrated skilfuland empathetic management of the Covid-19 crisis.

July 20, 2020

New Zealands Opposition Leader Judith "Crusher" Collins says she will crush the government of Jacinda Ardern

Even her supporters use the nick-name Crusher. The Opposition National Partys fourth leader since Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister in late 2017 aims to live up to her moniker.

April 28, 2020

TERRY SLEVIN. The Silver lining on the coronavirus cloud.

Among the extraordinary health devastation, and social and economic disruption of COVID19, comes some benefits. Will we be able to identify and capture them and will we be able to sustain them? Will public health become a higher priority for governments?

April 21, 2020

IAN DUNLOP. Fatal Calculations: How Economics has Underestimated Climate Damage and Encouraged Inaction

A rational response from Australias leaders to the unprecedented and disastrous 2019-20 megafires would have recognised, first, that they are another warning and the strongest yet that the catastrophic impacts of human-induced climate change are here now as lives are lost and livelihoods destroyed. Second, it would accept the need for emergency action.

September 12, 2020

A tit for tat with no end point (AFR Sep 10, 2020)

A get-tough policy on China with no apparent goal has left Austral as the only developed country with no media representation in the country.

June 22, 2020

Justice impossible with secret trials

Over in the United States, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, John Bolton, has a book about to hit the newsstands. It is very critical of, and indiscreet about, his former boss. It shows Trump double dealing with China, approving, not disapproving of its persecution and detention of the Uighars, and seeking China’s help in securing re-election by buying soybeans and wheat.

June 4, 2020

THALIA ANTHONY. I cant breathe! Australia must look in the mirror to see our own deaths in custody (THE CONVERSATION 2.6.20)

I cant breathe, please! Let me up, please! I cant breathe! I cant breathe!

June 2, 2020

Lockdown mea culpa: Norway sets an example

On 5 May, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health published an important report on Norways experience of dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. The text that follows is a verbatim extract of the equivalent of the executive summary from the report, using Google translation.

April 20, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. Has Gladys got Peter, or Scott in the cross-hairs?

Peter Dutton has been heard usually whistling to the dogs but not much seen over recent weeks, and there have been some who have ventured to suggest that his coyness may have something to do with the Ruby Princess debacle the one, and the most important boat he failed to stop. Were I he, however, I would be thinking of coming out of retirement, and quickly.

April 12, 2020

MUNGO MACCALLUM. Science and modelling.

In the modelling for COVID-19, the real world evidence is too immediate, too stark to be wished away by nitpicking.

April 6, 2020

ANDREW PODGER. COVID-19 crisis shows a strong public service is vital

The convid-19 epidemic has shown how much Australia relies on an effective public service, free from politics. This, however, is in spite of the over-politicisation and under-resourcing of the service over recent years.

June 14, 2020

Regardless of the EU, the UKs trading status is about to default to the WTO

_The UK has already left the EU. Thats the reality. What remains to be decided, before 31 December, is its future relationship with the EU. But there is more to it than that.

June 4, 2020

GREGORY CLARK. The anniversary of 1971 Pingpong Diplomacy

The 50th anniversary of perhaps the most important event Australia’s relations with Asia, or even in its history, was barely noticed when it passed this month.

April 12, 2020

DUNCAN GRAHAM But the dead are many

Indonesias response to the Covid-19 pandemic makes a train wreck seem structured. The fourth most populous nation has next to no testing, no info, no direction and most important of all no trust. Such is the legacy of authoritarianism.

April 13, 2020

MUNGO MACCALLUM. Snapback

Well, that should be out of the way for the next four months. Having shrugged off the minor and temporary distraction of parliament, Scott Morrison can resume doing what he is best at marketing himself and his often dubious achievements.

July 26, 2020

Australias SAS must stop to cover-up and start to be accountable for possible war crimes (The Conversation 24.7.20)

Stories of alleged unlawful killings by Australian special forces in Afghanistan continue to emerge in the media now on a regular basis.

December 29, 2017

CHRIS SHEIL AND FRANK STILLWELL. Bad data collection means we dont know how much the middle class is being squeezed by the wealthy

There is a glaring need to reform Australias archaic wealth inequality statistics to make them commensurate with international practice.

April 6, 2020

MARIANA MAZZUCATO.- Capitalism's Triple Crisis (Project Syndicate 30.3.2020)

_This time, rescue measures absolutely must come with conditions attached. Now that the state is back to playing a leading role, it must be cast as the hero rather than as a naive patsy. That means delivering immediate solutions, but designing them in such a way as to serve the public interest over the long term.

January 1, 2020

TOBY HALL.-The surprising truth about Australian hospitals we don't need so many(ABC 17.12.2019)

_For a long time I’ve argued that a significant barrier to substantial reform in healthcare in Australia is that the main players are too captive to their membership bases or special interests to be willing to leave their corners and engage in meaningful discussion.

April 27, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. Still fighting with one hand tied behind our back

Americans have so epically mismanaged the coronavirus that it is difficult to look to it for lessons. The same might be said of most of the nations of western Europe, including Britain. But the blame lies more on their politicians than on their scientists.

October 23, 2019

NOEL TURNBULL. Blunders of our governments

What would you include in a list of Australian government blunders if you were preparing a book like Anthony King and Ivor Crewes 2013 book Blunders of our Governments ?

King and Crewe looked at British governments both Tory and Labour and came up with a long list including the Millennium Dome (Blair); the poll tax (Thatcher); Private Finance Initiatives; IT disasters and others.

May 4, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. Spies and non-combatants rehearsing war dances

It is becoming fairly obvious that there is a significant group within the Australian government that is spoiling for a major confrontation, perhaps to skirmish level with China.

June 1, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. The size of the COVID deficit is a political, not an economic choice

We have had an obsession with the balanced budget and with at least the aim of a reduction of government debt, at least since John Howard blew the Budget in 1983-84, then, more than a decade later, discovered a $5 billion black hole in the last Keating Budget.

April 27, 2020

GARY SAMPSON. Covid-19 and Tensions in the World Trading System

_A collective G20 response to emerging trade tensions in the production and trade of medical products is critical to avoiding politically appealing but self-defeating trade policies.

April 27, 2020

JAYANT MENON. Flattening the COVID-19 misery curve (East Asia Forum 24.4.20)

Countries and regions with the highest reported COVID-19 infection and mortality rates are imposing lockdowns to flatten the curve slowing its spread so that healthcare systems can cope with the increase in patients.

April 16, 2020

PETER SAINSBURY. Corona-myths: shifting the blame to preserve privilege. Part 2 of 2.

In Part 1 I explored seven myths about coronavirus that are being used to obscure the truth, shift responsibility and perpetuate existing power and privilege. In Part 2 I examine the failure over the last twenty years of governments and corporations to fulfil their risk management responsibilities to prevent and prepare for a viral pandemic. We need a new breed of managers if we want the post-COVID world to tackle the serious problems besetting humanity in the 21st century.

February 24, 2019

MARGARET BEAVIS. Selling weapons to Saudi Arabia - your taxes at work.

How many Yemeni children have to die from the famine before Australia stops selling weapons to the Saudis, who are coordinating the blockade that is causing mass starvation? In November last year Save the Children reported that 85,000 children have died from acute malnutrition, and last week the UN reports the situation has worsened.Not only does the Australian government boast of its weapons deals with Saudi Arabia, but also it has emerged the Australian government is heavily subsiding companies involved in these sales. For example, Electro Optic Systems, which makes weaponry enables remote operation of cannon, machine guns and missile launchers, received $36 million dollars of taxpayer funds.

July 7, 2020

Marshall's SA Government - just like a duck

Moderate Marshall is calm on the surface but paddling like mad underneath…

April 16, 2020

ALEX MITCHELL: NSW prisoner release in chaos

Premier Gladys Berejiklians Government has begun releasing minimum security prisoners as a health measure to ease overcrowding as the COVID-19 pandemic presents an alarming threat. But is prisoner release driven by health concerns or budget blow-outs?

January 29, 2019

PETER SAINSBURY. Australias greenhouse gas emissions are galloping ahead

The Australian governments most recent projections indicate that greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 5.4% between now and 2030, when they will be only 7% below the level in 2005. Such a reduction is well below Australias Paris Agreement commitment to reduce emissions by 26-28% between 2005 and 2030. And yet the Prime Minister continues to insist that Australia will achieve its commitment in a canter. Personally, I wouldnt bet on it.

June 28, 2020

Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Universities are not, and must never be, walled citadels protected enclaves sheltering from the societies that surround and nurture them.

November 16, 2019

PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 17 November 2019

Fire chiefs and health professionals stand up for action on climate change. Fly ash from coal burning causes major problems in Indonesia. The International Energy Agency identifies the main trends influencing energy supply over the next 20 years.

June 14, 2020

Remove place names dedicated to racists. *

* This article uses the names of some deceased persons.

_The removal of the visual reminders of perpetrators of racism is a good move towards helping Indigenous peoples feel as though they belong in their own land.

May 26, 2020

DUNCAN GRAHAM If Bali lets you in will Oz let you back?

When is a pandemic suppression order not a lockdown? When its in Indonesia.

April 23, 2020

ANDREW FARRAN. Cleaning up after Brexit

Although Brexit is the name that within the UK Government cant be spoken the hard truth is that it is not yet done and the doing may prove a messy business. The cliff that looms on 31 December is coming closer. What degree of readiness will suffice to save a crash?

June 14, 2020

Unlearning racism starts with deep listening

The George Floyd case has given witness to social systems in the US that privilege whiteness. However across the world, there is institutional police brutality that is an expression of existing tensions and hierarchies.

April 15, 2020

ROY GREEN. Australia's Manufacturing Future. Part 1 of 2

Every crisis provides an opportunity and Covid-19 is no exception. Not only has it exposed the gaps in Australias manufacturing supply chains, but it has also more broadly demonstrated the vulnerability of a commodity-based economy to external shocks and the need to reverse the now all too apparent hollowing out of manufacturing capability.

April 9, 2020

MICHAEL KELLY. Coping with Isolation

The ‘command and control’ world of isolation we all find ourselves requires some new lessons in coping with isolation. Father Michael Kelly reflects on his experience of the strict world of the Jesuit Novitiate to guide him through his isolation.

April 30, 2020

ALEX MITCHELL: How Sydney survived the 1900 bubonic plague

Sydney was struck by bubonic plague in 1900 creating panic throughout the ramshackle town on Sydney Cove. The city fell under a state of siege and a shutdown. Why did it work?

January 5, 2020

ED. SIMON.-Why We Will Need Walt Whitman in 2020 (NYT 30.12.2019)

All the more reason amid today’s national rancour to revisit Whitman’s open embrace of the democratic ideal, his declaration that ’every atom as belonging to me as good belongs to you’,no matter where you were born.

Read the full article at… https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/30/opinion/walt-whitman-nytimes-2020.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

April 23, 2020

STEPHANIE DOWRICK. Communication in a time of crisis

Isolation is also a crisis of communication for us as social beings. And an opportunity to consider with fresh interest how we can more thoughtfully support others - receiving with grace and gratitude what they may have to give.

June 4, 2018

KAVEH L AFRASIABI. Hidden Message To UN On Iran.

In a remarkable and somewhat unprecedented rebuke of the US administration, Indias Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has announced that India will not respect unilateral U.S. sanctions on Iran and will recognize only the UN sanctions. Bound to raise tensions with Washington, Indias brave decision reflects both Indias political evolution and the primacy of her own national interests. Its also another setback for the White Houses hawkish anti-Iran policy, which has already alienated key European allies who are struggling to preserve the Iran nuclear deal without the United States by offering Iran a package of incentives in the near future. Adding real bite to her major policy announcement, Swaraj then went on to meet Irans visiting Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is seeking to shore up global sanctions-busting support through a flurry of diplomatic trips.

May 4, 2018

BRIDGET WELSH. This Malaysian election is different.

Malaysias government has dissolved the Parliament to make way for the 14th General Election (GE14). The country will go to the polls on 9 May. From afar, this election seems like a repeat of the last election in 2013, when a polarised electorate was divided over the governance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Questions of leadership, ethnic inclusion, economic management and democratic reform were at the heart of the earlier polls. These issues remain important. But now there is greater electoral competitiveness, a reformulated opposition and international intervention in an election that will be a crossroads for democracy and governance in Malaysia.

May 11, 2020

MARK BEESON. The blame shifter in chief

Donald Trump is notorious for trying to shift the blame for his mistakes onto others. Its one of his most egregious failings as a leader.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal