December 20, 2018

STEPHEN DUCKETT. Morrisons health handout is bad policy (but might be good politics) (The Conversation).

The A$1.25 billion Community Health and Hospitals Program Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced this week should be awarded a big policy fail.

May 27, 2020

JOHN TAN. Neoliberalism: ITS TIME for progressive fiscal policies (Part1/2).

Central banks worldwide facegrowing criticism for putting money before people, for contributing to growing inequality and social disadvantage. But change is coming.

June 25, 2018

DORINA POJANI, IDERLINA MATEO-BABIANO, JONATHAN CORCORAN, NEIL SIPE. Freeing up the huge areas set aside for parking can transform our cities.

Parking may seem like a pedestrian topic (pun intended). However, parking is of increasing importance in metropolitan areas worldwide. On average, motor vehicles are parked 95% of the time. Yet most transport analysis focuses on vehicles when they are moving.

December 11, 2017

PAUL COLLINS. The Royal Commissiona mixed blessing

Im not looking forward to the report of the Royal Commission. As a still-practising Catholic with a minor public profile, I am very ashamed of what the Commission has revealed about my church. But, despite its excellent work, I still think it has been a mixed blessing.

June 3, 2020

IAN WEBSTER. The UK and COVID-19; lessons for the UK and some for Australia

It is with bewilderment and concern we watch as COVID-19 overwhelms the UKs health and social systems. There are lessons to be learnt for Australia, too.

April 14, 2020

MICHAEL PASCOE. The CEOs, MBAs and private equiteers undermining our resilience (THE NEW DAILY 08.04.20)

Corporate Australia is in serious trouble thanks to COVID-19, but its trouble that has been made worse by a generation of CEOs, directors, MBA-badged management consultants and private equiteers undermining our resilience grabbing short-term profits and ramping up share prices at the cost of sustainability.

May 1, 2019

AVI SHLAIM. Benjamin Netanyahu and the death of the Zionist dream.

Israel’s founding fathers are turning in their graves.

December 29, 2017

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

Ross Gittins says that we would be mugs to panic and cut our company tax rate.

In his book review of Polanyi’sA Life on the Left in the New York Review of Books,Robert Kuttner argues that ‘Democracy cannot survive an excessively free market and containing the market is the task of politics."

In his book review on Inequality and the Coming Storm, Edoardo Campanellacomments: “the super-rich are not all the same. Some are entrepreneursor entertainers who create real wealth for society. Others run hedge fund, private equity firms or other rent seeking businesses who contribute nothing or little."Inequality and the Coming Storm by Edoardo Campanella - Project Syndicate

October 10, 2020

Sunday environmental round up, 11 October 2020

A look at current figures to see if China going carbon-free will destroy Australias coal industry. COVID is bad enough but some people have had COVID and extreme weather events to deal with. Governments have an opportunity to use the COVID recovery to clean up international trades supply chains and emissions. How to buy sustainable fish.

January 21, 2019

VINCENT MAHON. Will the Greens learn from the Victorian election?

The Victorian Greens entered the State election with eight MPs. It ended with only four, losing fifty percent of its parliamentarians. The Greens prioritised lower house seats to the detriment of the five upper house seats it held where it exercised the balance of power. There was no net gain in the lower house retaining three seats (Brunswick gain offsetting Northcote loss) while it lost four of its five upper house seats.To say this was a poor campaign for the Greens is an understatement. Yet the spin from the Greens is that its vote basically held and fault lay with the usual suspects, absolving itself of any major responsibility. If the Greens actually believe their own spin then that doesnt bode well for the federal election or its future.

May 31, 2020

DUNCAN GRAHAM. More Jakarta, Less Geneva!

Its become a ritual for every Australian leader for the past half-century.

April 1, 2018

Mapping the division of Malaysia.

Nation’s parliament set to ratify new boundaries to boost the government’s electoral prospects.

June 25, 2020

Google is not always the best answer

Google has become the default casual research tool for most people, albeit a sometimes dangerous one for students with AI plagiarism software widely used in universities. Yet print editions of various reference texts are still of greater value and utility than online searches.

May 20, 2020

JOHN WARD. Residential aged care in Covid and beyond

Residential aged care was already struggling before Covid, the arrival of which threatens to collapse the industry. It is surely time to redesign aged care to meet the needs of future generations.

July 18, 2018

JAMES O'NEILL. Australian Government silent on OPCW Report

On 7th April 2018 an incident occurred in the Syrian city of Douma, 10 km North east of the capital Damascus. It was alleged, initially by the jihadi extremists occupying the city that a nerve gas attack had been carried out by Syrian government forces.

July 20, 2020

Constructing a Faux Republic

_T_he release of the Palace Letters has renewed a fierce division of opinion that foreshadows the kind of partisan debate that would plague any attempt at constitutional alteration to a Republic. But could we foreshadow the form of such a Republic within the present constitutional constraints?

July 18, 2018

Bad news for coal-huggers: Renewables at 50% by 2030

King coal to rule for 20 more years screamed the front page lead headline in The Australian, following the release of the Australian Energy Market Operators 20-year blueprint for the future of energy, known as its Integrated System Plan.

July 8, 2020

Scared of the same bogeyman? Lets cooperate.

Was Indonesia alerted ahead of the PMs 2020 Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan announcement? The presumption is that key people were tipped off, largely because theres been no blow-back.

July 8, 2020

BREXIT and the WTO

According to a report of the House of Lords on various BREXIT outcomes: Trading with the EU under WTO rules alone would be the most disruptive option this option is therefore unattractive for UK-EU trade in goods and in services.

July 20, 2020

Catholic School Systems Required to be More Transparent About How They Use Taxpayer Funds

Catholic school systems have been diverting taxpayer funding for schools in poor areas to schools in wealthy inner suburbs for years. Many official and other reports have documented this unethical and unchristian practice. It may at last be about to change.

June 11, 2020

Pathology of a Dictatorship: Lessons from the Philippines

Over six thousand kilometres to the north of Australia, a dangerous pandemic is spreading and needs to be contained. President Duterte of the Philippines is consolidating his dictatorship with an Anti-Terrorism Bill which defines terrorism so broadly that free speech can be prosecuted and any dissent punished.

July 30, 2018

JAMES ONEILL. Australias Foreign Policy: the Rhetoric and the Reality.

A recent article on the ABC website by Andrew Probyn and Andrew Green suggested that Australia may be poised to play a role in a threatened United States attack on Iran. That role would, it was suggested, be played by the United States controlled spy facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory. The prospect of a US attack on Iran has increased in recent weeks, mainly because of a series of moves by the United States and some typically exaggerated rhetoric from United States President Donald Trump. In a tweet from Trump last week, directed at Irans President Rouhani, he said: NEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE YOU EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. (capitals in the original).This is eerily similar to the threats Trump issued against North Korea, which was followed by a summit between the two presidents. Trump was never going to carry out his threats against North Korea because their security had been underwritten by both Russia and China, and the United States was in no position to start a war against either or both of those nations. The issue here, however, is not whether or not Trump will carry out his threats against Iran (which are many), but rather the status such threats have, and the reaction to those threats by acolytes of the United States such as Australia. The ABC article cited Foreign Minister Julie Bishop who emphasized diplomatic efforts to bring Iran to heel. Australia, she said, is urging Iran to be a force for peace and stability in the region. Quite where and how this urging is being done is unclear, and prima facie improbable given the relations between the two nations.

April 12, 2020

LAURIE PATTON. Public administration accountability is not what it used to be!

Blame shifting between state and federal government agencies over how a cruise ship carrying people suspected to have the Coronavirus was allowed into the port of Sydney has shown up, yet again, the lack of public administration accountability in this country.

May 7, 2020

AURELIA GEORGE MULGAN. COVID-19 highlights Abes leadership failings (EAF 5.5.20)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes leadership capacity is being called into question in relation to how he is dealing with Japans COVID-19 crisis.

April 14, 2020

STEPHEN LEEDER: The public health discipline after Covid-19

The Coronavirus pandemic draws our attention to the importance of public health in maintaining global human health. Public health as a discipline is distinguished by taking the entire community into account rather than individual patients, and seeking out what can be done to protect and promote human flourishing for all in that community.

September 6, 2020

No 10 and the secretly funded lobby groups intent on undermining democracy (The Guardian Sep 1, 2020)

Thinktanks such as Policy Exchange are working to shift power away from state institutions into the prime ministers office.

April 7, 2020

JOHN MENADUE. An explanation and apology to some subscribers.

I’m writing to apologise for any inconvenience some subscribers may have experienced in the transition from production being handled by myself to production being outsourced. Change often has some unintended consequences.

January 14, 2020

JAMES LAURENCESON.- China Trade Questions confound Australia's Indo-Pacific shift.(EAF 5.1.2020)

The Indo-Pacific, stretching from the eastern Indian Ocean to the Pacific, is the Australian governmentsframingof the international environment for its foreign policy.

May 31, 2020

DENNIS RICHARDS. Trumpism redefines American exceptionalism

Americans shamelessly believe that their nation and their culture are superior and exceptional. Under Trump America’s reputation around the world is depleted. There is a real danger that his may become permanent should Trump be re-elected in November 2020.

October 10, 2018

ERIC HODGENS. Revisiting the Theology of Clericalism.

Theology tends to ramp up the status and certainty of its models and theories so that what starts off as a theory morphs into unquestionable truth.

May 19, 2020

MACK WILLIAMS. Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Morrison Covid19 "proposal"

Assuming that the WHA will pass its Covid Response A73/CONF./1 Resolution now that President Xi has declared his support in his surprise personal address, which will have influenced widespread endorsement from developing countries, Australia needs to take a very serious look at its own performance on this sensitive issue.

April 7, 2020

RIVKA T. WITENBERG A moral dilemma or not.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has created some problematic dilemmas, at least for some of us. We hear from people of all walks of life asking whether it could be that the cure is worse than the disease.

January 17, 2021

Western governments will have blood on their hands unless they stop persecuting Julian Assange

The case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is complex, containing elements of law, freedom of speech and of the media, journalism, politics, international relations and health. In the recent hearing to determine whether Assange should be extradited to the US, health became the dominant discourse. He may die if several Western governments do not stop persecuting him.

April 9, 2020

EVA COX. Treating people as customers rather than citizens.

Will the current expensive policy shifts rebuild voters trust of those they elect?

April 23, 2020

MIKE SCRAFTON. The dogs of war cry wolf: The post-pandemic China threat

Two senior analysts of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) recently published pieces that put its reputation for sound analysis and practical policy recommendations at risk.

December 14, 2019

Sunday environmental round-up, 15 December 2019

Strong evidence that every days delay in reducing greenhouse gas emissions makes the ultimate task more difficult (and less achievable; exploding the myth that natural gas is a safe, low emissions transition fuel to a carbon free world; hoped-for outcomes from the current COP meeting in Madrid; some Christmas suggestions; and a visual tribute to a genuine hero of 2019. Happy Christmas and lets hope 2020 sees progress towards the creation of an environmentally sustainable world.

June 25, 2020

A China Air Defence Identification Zone in the South China Sea - Is the Sky About to Fall?

_In 2013, when China declared an Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, alarmists warned that China would soon declare one for the South China Sea. But the sky did not fall in the East China Sea and it wont in the South China Sea either.

April 8, 2020

CAMERON LECKIE. False Assumptions a Threat to National Security

Crucial assumptions underpinning Australias defence posture have now been proven false. The Australian Defence Force is also becoming too expensive to operate and changes are required in the interest of national security.

December 5, 2018

ANDREW FARRAN. Brexit: Law versus Process as next drama erupts

Theresa May suffered three defeats in just a few hours in the British Parliament this Tuesday which doesnt auger well for her EU Withdrawal Agreement next Tuesday. The various coalitions that have been the drivers to date may not hold well together thereafter.

June 10, 2020

US-Chinese relations: why things just keep getting sharper

President Trumps press conference on the 29th May has set the scene for even more dangerous US-Sino relations. He claimed that China was effectively responsible for the 100,000 American COVID-19 deaths, has ripped off the US economy and stolen jobs.

April 19, 2020

NOEL TURNBULL. New insights into US attitudes to COVID-19

The phrase only in America is one which is deep in possible meanings. In particular it lays itself open to the deconstruction demonstrated in the old Jewish joke about Stalin and Trotsky.

May 3, 2020

MARK BUCKLEY. The ABC is their new target

In 2018 two researchers from the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) wrote a book, entitled Why We Should Privatise the ABC and How to Do It.

April 22, 2020

ISABELLE REINECKE & BELINDA LOWE. Strong democratic systems will see us through COVID-19

The COVID-19 crisis has rapidly hit every aspect of our lives. Governments are making life or death decisions during this emergency period that will reshape the face of our nation for decades to come. Strong democratic systems that enable transparency, scrutiny and accountability are key to success on all these fronts.

January 8, 2021

Scott Morrison: Trump Lite. A fair moniker for Australias Prime Minister?

Scott Morrison has said that he and Donald Trump “share a lot of the same views”. Just how far does that similarity extend?

March 7, 2019

MICHAEL McKINLEY. The present and future national security policy of Australia is to be found on the coast of Victoria.

National security will not be the determining factor in the forthcoming elections but it will get frequent redacted mentions for the purpose of injecting elements of fear and additional insecurity into the impoverished discussions it will attract.

April 7, 2020

PATRICIA EDGAR. Education and Entertainment after COVID-19

COVID-19 has let the genie out of the bottle. Education and entertainment will not return to their traditional forms.

April 15, 2020

A Wake-Up Call

With the world in the grip of the Covid19 virus, there are lessons to be learnt and changes to consider. The pandemic has brought nations together who were eschewing the value of international co-operation. It has highlighted the need for reform.

June 23, 2020

Coming Crises in Sustainability and Health will challenge the PM in his Leadership of the National Cabinet

Mr Morrison has created a National Cabinet to drive a singular agenda to create jobs. If it functions successfully as it has done over Covid, it will be a masterstroke of governance allowing state leaders from both major parties to interact for the common good without the damaging rancour shown in Parliament and the media.

April 23, 2020

ALEX MITCHELL: Changing of the guard in NSW

Damien Tudehope, ultra-conservative Minister for Finance and Small Business, is the new Leader of the Government in the NSW Upper House. He replaces former Arts Minister Don Harwin who quit in disgrace. The Liberal Partys right-wing faction is now calling the shots.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal