April 29, 2020

Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness Mar/Apr 2020

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 with hypertext links to the relevant source. Unsurprisingly, much of the following is Covid-19 focused, as the pandemic has undoubtedly made the relevant issues more pressing than ever, and therefore provided additional impetus for urgently needed reform.

January 15, 2019

Nuclear arms: A year of living dangerously

Last January, the Doomsday Clock was moved to two minutes to midnight the closest it has ever been, matching the acute sense of crisis of 1953. The primary explanation for the heightened threat alert was disturbing developments in the nuclear realm.

May 10, 2020

PATRICK COCKBURN. Trump is Igniting a Cold War With China to Try to Win Re-election (Counter Punch 5.5.20)

Go to China!, a woman in Denver, Colorado, shouts at two hospital workers standing in front of her car to prevent her from taking part in a protest against the coronavirus lockdown.

August 1, 2020

Malaysia: Whats Next with conviction of Najib Razak

After years of investigative exposs and legal wrangling, former Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty last Tuesday 28 July of serious crimes related to the 1MDB financial scandal.

June 2, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. Morrison has all of the flexibility in the world

No modern Australian prime minister has faced the political, economic and social challenges of Scott Morrison. But its a funny sort of crisis because no prime has ever had such access to the extra resources he can call to bear – if he wants to.

July 12, 2018

TOM HUSSAIN. In Pakistan's currency crisis, China is the problem and the solution. (South China Morning Post 7/7/2018)

Having racked up unsustainable bills in supporting Beijings infrastructure master plan, Islamabad is bailed out by China to the tune of US$1 billion leaving it more dependent than ever on its all-weather ally.

May 19, 2020

CHEK LING. Unleashing the White Australia virus

It is such a shame that the PM and our Foreign Minister felt the need to goad China.

April 15, 2020

ABUL RIZVI. The plight of temporary entrants

For Sujith, Priyanga and their two children, winter is coming as it is for so many temporary residents.

April 15, 2020

Pandemics and the G20: One last shot at relevance

The pandemic has starkly highlighted the inadequacy of current governance arrangements. In a world in which all politics is stubbornly local but most big-ticket problems are global, the G20 is uniquely placed to bridge the global governance gap.

January 20, 2020

ROB PURDON. Insuring against future bushfires

This summers bushfires are a tragedy. There has been massive habitat loss, and we all want to help those who have lost their properties and businesses. But climate change means that we are facing a new normal.

July 2, 2018

GREG JERICHO. Australia's middle class is being given a new look, and it's not pretty.

The real low and middle-income earners are being erased from the debate in an unhealthy and one-sided class war.

April 13, 2020

STEPHEN LEEDER.Weve flattened the curve, but the nations health is still in danger

2020 is not panning out to be the Year of Tranquillity in Australia.

April 9, 2020

JASON YAT-SEN LI et al. An open letter from Chinese -Australians calling for national unity.

We are deeply concerned that the recent rise in anti-Chinese sentiment is driving a marked escalation in racial abuse towards Asian Australians. This poses a serious threat to our national unity.

December 26, 2020

The future on both sides of the Atlantic

2020 was a year most will wish to forget. Yet, we cannot do that. Too much of what has caused us so much grief and suffering, sending the world into a tailspin, will be carried forward into next year, rather like a bad balance sheet.

May 4, 2020

PAUL PERVERSI. An Open Letter to the ABC regarding its coverage of China in the recent past.

As a long-term consumer ABC services, I acknowledge its great achievements over the decades, despite the occasional skeleton in the closet, such as the Lateline story that sparked the Northern Territory intervention. I am very concerned, though, that in 2020 the ABC is becoming something of a laughing stock with respect to its coverage of China.

February 20, 2019

JOHN TULLOH. The ties that bind - the US and Saudi Arabia.

If an international criminal like El Chapo, the Mexican drug baron, can be tried (and convicted) in the US within two years of falling into American hands, why cant the surviving alleged perpetrators of the 9/11 atrocity? Why is it that relatives of the 9/11 victims suing for damages have yet to see a day in court? Could it be the Saudi Arabia connection, given that the majority of the terrorists were from there?

April 30, 2020

QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Google and Facebook versus News Corp/Nine as Australias newspapers are declared terminal

With Australians about to lose their local and metropolitan newspaper coverage the competition watchdog sent to the rescue is facing the prospect of litigation from tech giants Google and Facebook.

April 28, 2020

KIM WINGEREI. My week with Malcolm and a faltering democracy.

_Otto von Bismarck (in)famously said: Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable - the art of the next best. It is a sentiment I abhor.

April 23, 2020

DAVID STEPHENS. Anzac Day and History as What we Choose to Remember

_The Covid-19 pandemic has been compared with the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19. That many of us knew nothing about that disaster of a century ago shows that history is what we choose to remember.

May 31, 2020

LINDA SIMON. VET system a dud? I don't think so.

_The VET system has again been criticised by the Government, this time by the Prime Minister in his recent address to the National Press Club, when he referred to it as a dud system.

May 27, 2020

PAUL COLLINS. Back to Nature

It is five years this week since Pope Francis published perhaps the most radical and important papal encyclical ever issued, Laudato si, mi Signore (Praise be to you, my Lord) on care for our common home.

September 10, 2020

Ross Garnauts Superpower case is not impressive

The book tells us we can run everything on renewable energy and get rich exporting it. Unsurprisingly it has been met with much fanfare and enthusiasm. But on the crucial issues it either provides flimsy and unconvincing analyses or fails to deal with them at all.

May 4, 2020

WILLIAM BRIGGS. What Drives Peter Hartcher

_Peter Hartcher, the Sydney Morning Heralds international editor, maintains an indefatigable but entirely unedifying assault on China. He is by no means alone in vitriolic attacks.

July 14, 2020

For whom the bell polls in South Australia.

At the half way point in a four year term the SA Marshall Liberal government is surprisingly looking a little lost and its pretty much all their own work.

May 27, 2020

JOCELYN CHEY. Marsupial Madness and the Batty Media

Reliable sources of information on Australian ties with China do not include the ultra-nationalistic PRC Global Times when it applauds Australia receiving a slap to the face, or the Vision Times, which reports that people have recovered from COVID-19 after reciting the Nine Sacred Words of the Falun Gong sect. Nonsense spreads like wildfire through social media. Those looking for objective or nuanced reporting have to work harder.

April 30, 2020

DUNCAN GRAHAM. Not the Freshest Meat in The Australian.

_The Australian_has become very liberal with their use of the word ‘EXCLUSIVE’.

February 6, 2019

HUGH MACKAY. A Culture of Compassion (Edited extract of Australia Day Address)

We humans are, by nature, social beings who need each other. We need the sense of belonging to communities that sustain, nurture, support and protect us and even give us our sense of personal identity you cant make sense of who you are without a social context.

July 1, 2020

Like Banquos Ghost: Hugh Mahon and the Eden-Monaro by-election

The name Hugh Mahon has appeared in the news recently in connection with the Eden-Monaro by-election caused by the resignation of Labors Mike Kelly. Like Banquos ghost, Mahons appearance during a by-election for an opposition seat strikes fear into the heart of the incumbent opposition leader. For Mahon is the only opposition candidate to lose a seat to the government at a federal by-election.

February 9, 2018

JIM COOMBS. What makes good government?

Recently in P & I the question has been raised as to how we can get better government parliamentary reform, more professional public service, changes in economic policy and so on. But it is the answer to the question above which seems to have got lost.

April 20, 2020

ARTHUR STOCKWIN. How will COVID-19 reshape the world? (EAST ASIA FORUM 15.4.20)

The Second World War led to radical changes in national governance and the international system. Something similar may occur following the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The quick reversal of orthodox government policy triggered by COVID-19 in many countries around the world is astounding.

August 26, 2020

The opportunity cost of the new cold war.

Australia, perhaps unwittingly and with very little in the way of public debate, has unnecessarily involved itself in a new cold war between the United States and its allies on one side and Russia and China on the other.

April 26, 2020

JULIAN CRIBB. Diagnosing the American Disease

Coronavirus has become the American disease as it exploits a particular flaw in the American character and self-image. The question is, can America heal itself?

April 5, 2020

ADRIAN BAUMAN.-Shaping the Corona Story: mass communications in the COVID-19 pandemic.

_The Covid-19 crisis poses an unprecedented challenge for mass communications in Australia, and has posed new challenges for campaigns to persuade the population to change behaviour to reduce health risk

October 31, 2019

Christopher Findlay. Can cooperation prevent the descent of a digital Iron Curtain? (East Asia Forum, 27 October 2019)

Fifth-generation mobile network technology (5G) offers higher speeds and greater capacity. This is critical for cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous vehicles and applications of virtual reality. The development of 5G is also expected to drive innovation towards many things not yet imagined. It is likely to be truly transformative.

Chinese technology firm Huawei has significant market shares in the components required for 5G telecommunications networks. Huawei is an industry leader because of its research and development spending. It offers competitive pricing, leading technology and global standards.

October 18, 2018

Let us stop the Queen's death watch (Editorial SMH 18.10.2018)

_The visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Australia has been delightful, especially since the happy surprise that they are expecting a baby. Back in Britain, however, there is reportedly growing impatience at Australia’s uncomfortable impasse on whether to become a republic.

April 13, 2020

MIKE SCRAFTON. A tale of two Americas: Australias foreign policy choices post-pandemic

As Michael Shoebridge has rightly pointed out, how the US rebounds from the COVID-19 crisis will be important for international relations and Australias foreign policy. However, hagiography and selective historical references dont substitute for serious reflection and reassessment.

April 3, 2019

TIM COSTELLO. The Foreign Aid Program continues to be treated like an ATM

Despite delivering a budget surplus, the Coalition has chosen to keep aid at its least generous level.This is not surprising from a government who have lost sight of our nations role as a global neighbour and treated our aid program like an ATM.

June 23, 2020

Chinese Australians take on anti-Chinese racism in Australia. Part 3 of a series on racism.

In the age of weaponised racism, Chinese Australians have taken on the moral duty of telling Australia stories well.

September 23, 2020

Review: Cruelty or Humanity by Stuart Rees

Cruelty or Humanity by Em.Prof. Stuart Rees, is essential reading in our present tumult and bedlam of human cruelty.

August 5, 2020

A silent cry of Chinese Australians in this difficult period

As the Australia-China relations deteriorate further, we are trying to highlight our government focus to maintain and protect our trade relations for the sole national interest of sustaining our economic, providing jobs and peaceful co-existence for all nations in the Asia Pacific.

November 19, 2017

CHRIS BONNOR. Labors National Schools Forum Gonski 2.0 in a day?

Remember the newly elected Rudd Governments 2020 Summit back in 2008? It was a high-profile gathering of a sympathetic audience to address pre-selected policy issues and options. Far from coming up with answers, the education sessions at the Summit managed to avoid the urgent questions to such an extent that a group of unusual suspects held their own education summit a couple of months later.

December 12, 2020

Sunday environmental round up, 13 December 2020

The Amazon rainforest and Pacific islands are increasingly threatened by climate change but rich nations prefer spending on their military forces rather than climate change. A little-known hero of threatened species protection receives a posthumous tribute but Jeff Bezoss philanthropy is not so fortunate. Pardalotes feature in Indigenous culture.

June 11, 2020

The white elephants of NSW

Recent economic policy in NSW requires the nimbleness of musical chairs. One day everyone is in favour of neoliberalism and austerity, then they charge the minds and everyone adopts Keynesian big spending. As a result, billions of dollars have been wasted on projects that dont stack up.

May 11, 2020

DUNCAN GRAHAM. When in doubt, think up a number

Indonesias second president General Soeharto had a fix-all to calm restless citizens demanding improvements. Hed pronounce a numbered plan.

April 7, 2020

JACK WATERFORD. Failing to mass test condemns us to repeated epidemics

Australia needs to start mass testing for Coronavirus if we want to truly get a grip on this epidemic. Otherwise, those reluctant to present to medical authorities may continue to unwittingly spread the virus.

June 24, 2020

Aboriginal issues and New Zealand's indigenous experience

New Zealand is often held out as an example of multi-culturalism and race relations that Australia might emulate. This has been so particularly since publication of the Uluru Statement (2017).

June 22, 2020

Australia-'The most oppressive of the Western Democracies'

When theres a concerted attack on the interests of the Australian mainstream media they will rise in joint defence of journalists freedom. But they are slow to support five other Australians who have already lost their freedom.

May 5, 2020

RAY BRICKNELL. Will traditional economic ideologies in Australia survive the pandemic unchanged?

Never waste a crisis we are hearing this a lot, and for good reason. Covid-19 is presenting politicians with a lot of opportunities to slip significant changes through relatively un-noticed.

July 7, 2020

Lincoln's second assassination

And so, the statues topple. History is revised and historical figures, deserving of homage are lumped together with those who deserve condemnation. There is a madness upon the earth. Somehow, symbols of slave-owning society, and those who fought against slavery have been mixed, amalgamated, and history has been turned upon its head.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal