January 8, 2021

White supremacist? We need to talk about Doc Evatt: Part 1

Doc Evatt was revered as a man who fought for justice for all, yet there was a dark side to the man that has been either glossed over or ignored. Part 2 will examine Evatt’s prejudiced role in the partition of Palestine.

March 1, 2021

Lets talk tax: It's vital if Labor genuinely wants a fairer, more equal society Part 2

Part 1 discussed the policy platform that Labor needs to seize leading up to the election. However, such a platform will lack credibility unless all its policies are fully costed, and it is clear how they will be paid for.

October 18, 2020

Will the US survive the next three months of Trump?

There’s a terrible prospect that few seem strong enough to contemplate. Sensible people who care about the future of the USA should hope that Joe Biden wins the vote on 3 November by a landslide. Otherwise literally terrible outcomes are real prospects.

February 22, 2021

Competition for technological primacy between the great powers will draw in ASEAN

Scott Morrison assumes the ASEAN states will line up with the US and Australia in attempting to blunt Chinas growth and influence. Yet China can offer the ASEAN states solutions to their pressing problems of population growth, poverty and urbanisation through its ‘smart cities’ technologies.

May 13, 2018

PETER SMALL. Defending the indefensible.

Yet again Australian farmers and their organisation are caught on the back foot defending the indefensible, -the live sheep trade to the Middle East.

October 13, 2020

Employer incentives do not lead to an increase in skilled employment

_A crucial aspect of Australias long-term economic recovery and growth will be filling the chasm in the labour market at the intermediate skill level a chasm caused by a decade of irresponsible and ultimately damaging fascination with privatising Vocational Education and Training.

October 28, 2019

LUCY ROBINSON. Climate protests have roots that go deep into the rich history of British social change (The Guardian 13-10-19)

Extinction Rebellion draws on a radical lineage that brings together a range of beliefs and ages.

February 17, 2021

Numbers don't lie: Public schools underfunded by $60bn; private overfunded by $6bn

The Morrison Government has abandoned all pretence at funding private schools according to need and has washed its hands of ensuring that public schools are fully funded.

February 28, 2021

Vaccine rollout: the value or otherwise of a 'vaccination certificate'. Part 3

Those who are vaccinated can still become infectious. Therefore proof of vaccination might not be sufficient for international travel as it does not guarantee a person is infection free. A vaccination certificate can be wrongly used as a proxy for not infectious.

November 11, 2020

Covid vaccine claims 90% efficacy; Australia has bought 10 million doses

It was an exciting announcement for Covid-weary people everywhere - but while Scott Morrison has endorsed the importance of sharing vaccines, Australia voted to prevent developing countries from having the chance to build local production.

February 25, 2021

Hunger games: is it any wonder that most of the Independents and MPs from small parties are women?

The major parties are largely managed by men who manipulate the choice of candidates to favour men like themselves. I doubt there has been a woman working in Parliament who has not experienced sexual harassment at some time in her career. It is time men in leadership roles faced up to their individual responsibility to eradicate this toxic culture.

December 1, 2020

Brereton's comments which gave rise to the Chinese tweet on Australian Afghanistan war crimes

The Brereton report sheds light on the tweet posted by a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry of a digitally altered image depicting an Australian soldier holding a knife to a veiled Afghanistan child.But I have not seen any of our mainstream media do the obvious, publish the relevant extracts on alleged killing of Afghan children by Australian soldiers.

January 16, 2021

Line between sledging and racism continues to blur

An invidious Sydney tradition surfaced again at the third Test match between Australia and India last week, with six spectators ejected from a stand for allegedly racist chants towards a nearby Indian outfielder.

August 29, 2020

A statement by former Republican National Security Officials (Defending Democracy Together)

We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump. Through his actions and his rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character and competence to lead this nation and has engaged in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as President.

May 6, 2020

KEN HARVEY. TGA fails to act on Palmer's hydroxychloroquine advertisements

The recent decision by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to drop its investigation into advertisements for hydroxychloroquine splashed over 3 pages of national newspapers by Clive Palmer is the latest example of its regulatory failure.

April 29, 2020

BRENDAN COATES & MATT GOWGILL. COVID-19 Employment Shock.

The sight of Centrelink queues snaking around the block past shuttered shopfronts in cities, suburbs, and towns across Australia leaves no doubt that COVID-19 is having a big impact on Australian unemployment. But just how big?

April 12, 2020

NEVE GORDON. For Us in the West, the Lockdown Is Meant to Save Lives. In Gaza It Will Kill Many (07.04.2020 HAARETZ)

When people started to share the Facebook post Dear world: How is the lockdown? Gaza, I felt uncomfortable. Though the posters sought to generate empathy for the 2 million Palestinians trapped in theGaza Strip, the attempt to compare the closure that free citizens of the West are experiencing to the 13-year siege on the Strip is, at the very least, tasteless.

December 3, 2020

Tamed estate: War crimes and China tweets

The biggest story in town? That all depends - it might be the Brereton Report on the killing of Afghan children by Australian soldiers. Then again, it might be a China tweet.

December 2, 2018

CAVAN HOGUE. Storms in the Sea of Azov.

The recent clash between Russia and Ukraine is about access to the Sea of Azov especially arising from the Russian bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland. Russian and Ukrainian claims and explanations are entirely predictable as is NATO’s condemnation of Russia. The Russians claim that it is all the fault of Ukraine for illegally entering Russian territorial waters while Ukraine says Russia is to blame and that it is yet another example of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The legal position is disputed and somewhat murky but Russia is clearly in breach of a 2003 agreement on the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. There have been tensions and minor incidents for some years but. tension has escalated with threats from both sides and even an offer from Turkey to mediate.

October 6, 2020

LobbyLand. The used motor vehicle lobby.

We are paying to protect an industry that no longer exists. We see it almost every day in the media; rent-seekers like the motor industries extracting benefits for themselves through political influence and lobbying at the expense of the broader community. It has very little to do with markets.

February 15, 2021

Boyos banished when Barangaroo boomerangs back

But the fact is that a reformed Crown board will be sailing full steam ahead to take up the licence from an unresisting NSW government.

November 12, 2020

Inside the Canberra Bubble

After the Four Corners program “Inside the Canberra Bubble”, I was asked whether, assuming there was any truth to the allegations made, there were any implications for a Federal ICAC.

February 28, 2021

Liberal and Liberal-lite: a Hobson's choice for voters at next election? Part 1

Will Labor offer voters a real choice? Labor should grasp the nettle and focus on the key challenges facing Australia climate change and inequality. Tomorrow, I will discuss the budget consequences of this policy agenda, as this is essential to Labors credibility.

September 5, 2020

The U.S. is Determined to Make Julian Assange Pay for Exposing the Cruelty of Its War on Iraq (CounterPunch Sep 2, 2020)

OnSeptember 7, 2020, Julian Assange will leave his cell in Belmarsh Prison in London and attend a hearing that will determine his fate. After a long period of isolation, he was finally able to meet his partnerStella Morisand see their two sonsGabriel (age three) and Max (age one)on August 25. After the visit, Morissaidthat he looked to be in a lot of pain.

September 12, 2020

JobKeeper recipients paying millions in bonuses to their executives, research reveals (ABC Sep 10, 2020)

At least 25 companies have paid bonuses worth a combined $24.3 million to their executives after claiming JobKeeper subsidies, an analysis of the financial reports of 290 entities on the ASX 300 has found.

October 5, 2020

Aged care providers have Coalition wrapped around their little fingers

Locking out visitors has made it difficult for staff to meet the daily care needs of aged care residents. So said the royal commissioners. What an indictment on aged care providers. They receive billions a year in funding, yet they rely on the unpaid work of family, friends and volunteers to help with meals, exercise and care for their loved ones. Surely it is time for complete accountability for their government funding.

October 25, 2020

We have just about given up on the mainstream media.

For Labor, there is no point in getting into a fight you will never win. The Murdoch myrmidons will always be their enemy, and since they have become invulnerable like the banks, they are too big to fail – they have to be accommodated.

March 26, 2019

ANTHONY PUN. A response to Gareth Evan's article on the bamboo ceiling.

Our former foreign minster, the Hon Gareth Evans, has written an excellent piece about the bamboo curtain. His thesis is focused on institutional covert and overt discriminatory practices. To be fair, the fault is not entirely due to discrimination but also the psyche and cultural conditioning of Chinese Australians. The way forward is to create increased awareness of the short-comings of Chinese Australians, an opportunity to present Chinese Australian community views and a change of cultural thinking in taking up positions of power whether it is community, business, or political governance.

January 28, 2021

Media in the Asian Century: Digging in deeper in an already fraught relationship with China

China sanctions a sting in the tail for Trump officials; role of ASPI in provoking ire of China flies under the radar; and conservatives perform impressive backflips on Biden.

November 11, 2020

Uneasy lies the head: Crown casinos is falling

Shakespeare recognised centuries ago that uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Certainly, the individual and collective heads of the members of the board of Crown Resorts Ltd should be very very uneasy. Their Crown is falling, almost fallen.

June 9, 2020

ROBERT GATES. The Overmilitarization of American Foreign Policy (Foreign Affairs July/August 2020)

_Donald Trump’s decision to go it alone in responding to the coronavirus pandemic is but the latest manifestation of the United States’ waning global leadership, writes Robert M Gates.

July 23, 2019

J.A. DICK. Natural and Unnatural human rights

On Monday, July 8, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the creation of an advisory commission: the Commission on Unalienable Rights. He hopes it will provide the intellectual grist of what I hope will be one of the most profound re-examinations of inalienable rights in the world since the 1948 Universal Declaration.

January 31, 2019

CJ Polychroniou. Noam Chomsky: Ocasio-Cortez and Other Newcomers Are Rousing the Multitudes (Truthout, 30 January 2019)

A quick glance around the world today reveals that politics almost everywhere from the federal government shutdown in the US to the power struggle in Venezuela and from Macrons crisis in France and UKs Brexit nightmare to the Israeli-Iranian rivalry are engulfed in a state of uncertainty and turmoil. Meanwhile, oligarchy is replacing democracy as the widening social and economic gap between rich and poor continues unabated. So, who rules the world now? The US is in a state of relative decline, but neither Russia nor China has the capacity to control global developments. How do the super-rich and corporations factor into this equation? In this exclusive interview, world-renowned linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky provides penetrating insights into some of the most critical developments going on in the world today.

December 2, 2018

ANTHONY PUN. Genetic manipulation of Human Embryo must be guided by proper moral and ethical research protocols.

A recent story emerged at the International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong about an experiment in off-target gene editing of two human embryos in an attempt to render the resultant twin babies resistant to HIV infection. The father is HIV positive whist the mother is negative. This experiment attracted severe criticism for being illegal, reckless and lack of moral and ethical considerations by worldwide researchers, Chinese medical science researches and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. The Chinese reaction should be applauded.

September 20, 2024

The AUKUS project is being submerged in twaddle

Cameron Stewart recently attempted to vaunt the virtues, so to speak, of the AUKUS nuclear submarines via an article in The Australian newspaper. In part, it’s threaded together with tufts of intellectual fluff from Kim Beazley, his one-time offsider, Paul Dibb, Peter Dean from the United States Study Centre in Sydney, Mike Pezzullo formerly of the Department of Home Affairs and John Blaxland from the ANU.

July 2, 2019

ROBERT MICKENS. Pope Francis or Steve Bannon? Catholics must choose. American alt-right leader enlists Catholic allies to turn people against the pope

Among all the world’s political and social leaders, Pope Francis stands increasingly alone as the most powerful force for global peace and stability. Thank God and the cardinals who elected him in March 2013 that the Argentine Jesuit is the current Bishop of Rome.

July 12, 2017

JOHN MENADUE. The Catholic bishops dont understand their responsibility and accountability. (Repost from 27 February 2017)

_In any other walk of life or area of public administration, admission of criminal neglect would be a prelude to the tendering of resignations. The criminally negligent are not fit and proper persons to hold senior administrative responsibilities._Not so in the Catholic Church because its all someone elses responsibility.

February 24, 2021

Rethinking Australias Covid vaccine rollout: beware a two-tier system. Part 1

If our rollout proceeds, using two different vaccines, we might create a society of suspicion and division: vaccinated v non-vaccinated, Pfizer v AstraZeneca. Most other countries need to mass vaccinate now but Australia doesnt. We should forget AstraZeneca and wait for higher efficacy vaccines to avoid havinglower overall immunity than those other countries.

February 15, 2021

Preferential lobbying: Money talks ... loudly (Part 2 of 4)

Preferential lobbying drives powerlessness, environmental destruction and even in conventional economics is grossly inefficient. Parts 2 and 3 examine how it happens. If your electoral system is open to significant funding by the wealthy, then politicians get bought by lobbyists. And lobby firms are typically made up of former politicians and officials with substantial address books.

April 16, 2022

Philip Huggins: Easter and the universality of forgiveness at a pivotal moment in our nation's history

Forgiveness from the heart is profoundly beneficial and very demanding. That is why the Cross is such an enduring symbol. Both on Good Friday and then, thankfully, the Easter Sunday Cross, garlanded with flowers.

February 16, 2021

Preferential lobbying: no explicit deals, all unstated understandings. How it works behind the scenes. (Part 3 of 4)

Preferential lobbying is all about access to decision-makers, clandestine decision making, funding of political parties and the often limited subject knowledge of politicians and bureaucrats. It all conspires to subvert the democratic process.

January 31, 2021

Time to dial down racist rhetoric targeted at Australian universities

Racial profiling characterises some submissions to the Senate inquiry into universities, and the Australian Chinese community is again being targeted. Meanwhile, President Biden is instructing agencies to avoid xenophobic rhetoric, a wise strategy for Australia.

February 4, 2021

War Crimes? What war crimes? Nothing to see here

Burying crimes under layers of legal process is tantamount to cover-up. And cover-ups destroy democracy. Just another one to add to the list of evidence showing the Morrison government’s problem with accountability - sports rorts and the bonanza for Liberal donors from the Leppington Triangle land deal being just two examples.

January 19, 2019

Sunday's environment round up

Environmental issues, particularly but not only climate change, are once again prominent in the public eye and their importance has been reflected in frequent posts over the years in Pearls & Irritations. We can also be certain that a range of environmental issues will feature strongly in the forthcoming Federal election, particularly for instance climate change and carbon dioxide emission reduction targets, energy policy, the proposed Adani mine, fracking, the Murray Darling River, the Great Barrier Reef and land clearing. Some issues will assume greater importance in some electorates than others.

February 9, 2021

Without our dithering PM, Australia would be on top of Covid-19 leaderboard

Despite Scott Morrison’s failure on quarantine and aged care, we are still near top spot on responding to the pandemic. While the states have responded well in carrying the burden, imagine how many older people would still be with us if the PM had taken charge as required.

February 21, 2019

JOHN CARMODY. The federal Parliament reasserts its authority - and the Speaker's.

It was reassuring to see that, in a previously unrecognised consequence of the Morrison Governments slip into minority status, the Commonwealth Parliament recently asserted its authority over the feckless Executive and, at the same time, enhanced the authority of the Speaker. That would have been significant at any stage but, at a time when both polls and commentators have been saying, ominously, that the Australian people have been losing their faith in democracy and yearning for a strong leader, that declaration of the importance of Parliament has been reassuring.

February 2, 2019

PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday's environmental round up, 3 February 2019

A complete focus on climate change this week, starting with a short video by the inspirational Greta Thunberg and finishing with a map of distinctly chilly Iowa. In between, articles about last year’s game-changing IPCC report on warming of 1.5oC, Germany’s plans to exit coal fired power, sweltering Adelaide and a report on feeding the world’s growing population.

January 28, 2021

Lessons from our diplomacy in Asia in the 1930s

Scott Morrison says he has been revisiting the 1930s, a period in which Australia faced an existential threat. The strategies of conservative policy makers of the 1930s are worth examining by today’s leaders so we don’t repeat the disasters of that time.

February 22, 2019

SATURDAYs GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts in other media

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal