May 1, 2023

Labors serial betrayal of Australia

Make no mistake, the Albanese government knows that in joining the US fight against China, Australia will be left defenceless on American withdrawal. And only a dodo could not know this risk is high. Maybe the government doesnt appreciate that war for America is different. It is the war which matters, not the result. Winning is incidental.

August 5, 2022

Bob Carr - Keep the peace between China and the US: our goal

_If there is conflict between the US and China this is how things might go- a crisis meeting of the Australian cabinet with a resigned air and desultory exchanges, until someone - defence minister or prime minister - says something like, Well, theres no alternative, is there?

September 12, 2021

Our two ministers just passing by in Indonesia got a mo?

Marise Payne and Peter Dutton’s Jakarta visit was flagged as an exclusive in an AFR curtain-raiser implying a renaissance in relations between Australia and Indonesia. That expectation came to naught.

December 7, 2020

ASPI resorts to bullying to deter strategic debate on China

Peter Jennings, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), has launched an ad hominem attack belittling those who take a contrary approach to Australia-China relations rather than advocating for war preparations. But it is his poor grasp of his subject matter that is most disappointing.

November 10, 2020

Biden wins the poisoned chalice as we pray for a coronavirus vaccine

The challenges facing President-elect Joe Biden and his team are daunting; A polarised population, high levels of unemployment, a likely Republican-dominated senate, and the perseverance of COVID-19 to name a few.

February 19, 2020

KEN HENRY. Tax reform in 2020.

Largely because of the budgetary impact of the global financial crisis, we missed the opportunity a decade ago to fix the Australian tax and transfer systems.

August 16, 2024

The potential US withdrawal from AUKUS must be an election issue

Resolution of the tension between President Biden’s policy of strengthening America’s position through allies and partners, and the US Navy’s (USN) mission requirements, will come to a head in the next president’s term. The AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines will be at the centre.

July 11, 2024

The two envoys

The Prime Minister says he has appointed an antisemitic envoy and will soon appoint an islamophobia envoy, because the population does not understand the complexity and seriousness apparent in a perceived threat to Australia’s social cohesion. But the boot is on the other foot. He and his government have shown an abysmal lack of understanding or perhaps wilful blindness to the causes of misplaced anger with racist overtones. Defacing war memorials and attacking the offices of members of parliament, which I do not condone, are protests against our government for not sanctioning Israel for its gross violations of international law.

May 1, 2024

Why is violence against Australian women not rated as terrorism?

Weekend rallies highlighted the anger and fear of thousands of women and men about the ongoing violence against Australian women. It is a crisis, and it is occurring day and night in homes and suburbs across the country where police are struggling to keep up with reporting of male violence and too many offenders avoid detection, because our leaders do not rate violence against women as the extreme terrorism it has become.

July 3, 2022

Is Australia in the firing line of a new Chinese campaign against the US?

How can Australia navigate the tough and dangerous strategic environment in Asia today with America and China competing to be the leading regional power? The consensus in Canberra on both sides of politics is that we should stick as close as we can to America, in the hope it will win the contest.

April 18, 2022

Why Morrison is dodging an Integrity Commission?

_There is a very simple reason why Prime Minister Scott Morrison broke his pre-2019 election promise to introduce into parliament legislation to establish a Commonwealth integrity commission.

February 7, 2021

Australian aged care is a crisis waiting to happen

_Providers know they are in the box seat and that they can, and do, operate sub-standard homes. Bad homes cannot be closed - imagine the furore if older people were suddenly evicted from a home that does not measure up.

December 16, 2020

Casual cruelty in Australia the backdrop to the Brereton report

That the Brereton report was released after Melbourne Cup day presaged government reliance on the distractions of Australias festive season. This will be yet another in the sorry list of Australian government cover-ups.

November 11, 2020

Fear and loathing of China is poppycock

_Australia seems often to act like a junior gang member who is hyper anxious to impress the leader of the gang….Annoying China is good politics but bad leadership.

July 24, 2024

Australian Leadership to end the war on Gaza: open letter to the Prime Minister

We write to express our extreme concern that Senator Payman has resigned from the Labor Government.

September 2, 2021

White Mans Media. A short history

Is White Mans Media fair? Or is White Mans Media coloured by its own prejudices?

February 4, 2021

Upturn: all too familiar ideas but an advance on Coalition's limited offerings

An eclectic set of essays, the book Upturn: A better normal after Covid-19 tries to put forward a serious reform agenda.While there is a wealth of enthusiastic ideas, Upturn is unfortunately stronger on identifying problems than solutions. This post concentrates on the chapters discussing economic and social welfare. Reviews of other chapters will be posted in coming days.

January 11, 2021

With a booby-trapped White House, many Americans will want the nightmare to end

Biden’s task of restoring unity is not merely a matter of being statesmanlike or breaking down the hyper-partisanship of recent years. It is a matter of restoring faith in democratic institutions, the media, and in facts as a basis for debate.

January 5, 2021

Why inequality increased and what to do about it

The evidence clearly shows that the rise in inequality has been principally driven by technological change. But governments can make a difference. Education and training policies to assist the adjustment to new technologies can help preserve the distribution of income and an egalitarian society.

February 13, 2020

DAVID SOLOMON. Aliens in a racist Constitution.

_Almost all the arguments against constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders went out the window on Tuesday, courtesy of a decision by the High Court (Love v The Commonwealth).

April 23, 2024

The costs of living and the price of death: Spare a thought for Gaza and Sudan

In response to questions about starvation in Gaza and Sudan, a Federal Labor MP has explained, ‘In Australia, the cost of living is the issue. It’s voters’ major concern, and a political priority.’

August 25, 2023

BRICS adds heavyweights in push for global reforms Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: Bloc steps up challenge to old world system. Plus: Xi and Modi agree to ease border tensions; West loses plebiscite on rules-based order; three-way alliance confronts China, North Korea; US media support new China narrative; Biden to visit New Delhi but skip Jakarta; new Thailand PM a Thaksin confidant.

April 8, 2022

Weekly roundup Saturday 9 April

Weekly roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy.

December 6, 2020

Here we go again - the anti-China merry-go-round

The enemy spin of the wheel begins when an Australian official or politician, pumped up with ‘Yellow Peril’ prejudices and US anti-China propaganda, sets out to condemn China and urge severe restraints on Chinese people working in Australia.

October 11, 2020

Scott Morrison plans to launch Matthias Cormann on to the global stage.

_Following the long and successful run in the provinces ScoMo believes his retiring Finance Minister is ready to take on the world and has nominated him to the prestigious role of Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.He will be remembered for his longevity, but not much else, not through a lack of diligence but because it went with the job.

June 30, 2024

Peril with Little Promise: The US Presidential Election and South Korea's Dilemma

The US election is being watched with trepidation in South Korea. Should President Joe Biden be re-elected, Seoul would likely see continuity in the relationship and a continued strong US-South Korea bilateral alliance. But a victory for Donald Trump is fraught with peril. He could throw the alliance into turmoil, try to make South Korea a front-line state in the US standoff with China, threaten overtures to North Korea, and demand South Korea increase defense cost-sharing and defense budget or face the withdrawal of US forces, writes Chung-in Moon. The situation is worrying for all sides of the political spectrum in Seoul.

May 30, 2024

Will the Cocos Islands become like Diego Garcia, highjacked by the US?

The 2000 residents of Diego Garcia were forcibly removed to make way for a giant US military base.

May 13, 2024

Palestinian statehood is the only way forward for peace. Our media don't help.

Australia’s recent vote to increase the status of the State of Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly is as welcome as it is historic. The positive vote recognizes that Palestine is qualified to join and recommends to the U.N Security Council that it reconsider the matter favorably.

July 31, 2023

Kits for killing: AUKUS goes to school

While Australians pride themselves, for the most part, in having stricter gun laws than most and not being warlike in disposition, their governing officials have increasingly thought otherwise. War drums are beating. The chatter about acquiring and building armaments is getting more frenzied. As a client state of the US imperium, firmly enmeshed in the security arrangements of the AUKUS agreement, Canberra is becoming increasingly interested in militarising the population and turning the country into a garrison state.

August 17, 2021

Where is our government in the Afghan crisis? People who helped us are in danger

The sudden collapse of Afghanistans political, military and administrative structures has highlighted how ill-prepared Australia and the world was despite the fears of many ordinary Afghans over many months.

May 24, 2021

Israeli deceit and US complicity in attacks on Palestinians

‘We are the only people on Earth asked to guarantee the security of our occupier.’..Hanan Ashrawi

‘America is behind this war and I am ashamed to be an American’…Anthony Hopkins.

October 27, 2020

Queensland votes: North-south split tightens race, with LNP's 'wooden spoon' tag wide of the mark

For city folk in the south-east, the pandemic has narrowed the focus from Labor’s five years in power to its performance in 2020, even though border controls matter less in the northern seats linked to the mining industries.

February 5, 2020

Scomo and the Public Service: How Bad Can It Get?

The Report by the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens, into Bridget McKenzie’s handling of the Community Sport Infrastructure grants fails to address key questions and raises serious concerns about the relationship between the Government and the Public Service.

May 18, 2024

Labor’s 2024-25 Budget: competent but not outstanding

After considering Opposition criticisms, this article concludes that this Budget reflects Labor’s competent economic management. However, a more ambitious tax reform agenda is needed to adequately provide all the services that Australians expect.

April 2, 2023

The reality that supports the recognition of the Voice

Some opponents of the voice are motivated by concern that it undermines the human universalism which is at the heart of liberalism and the heart of Australian democracy. This argument deserves respectful consideration but is not a reason to oppose the voice. Australian democracy has to deal with Australian reality.

May 9, 2021

New Ministers Andrews/Hawke keen to make their mark on asylum seeker debate

New Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and new Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will be keen to stamp their mark on the asylum seeker debate a debate that has won the LNP many elections and led to the promotion of relevant ministers, including Morrison and Dutton.

February 28, 2021

Spanner in the works: US tinkers with Mid-East foreign policy

The Biden administration has now made three significant moves in the cauldron of conflict that is the Middle East, although a deal with Iran looks set to be a sterner test.

January 10, 2021

What do our political leaders stand for?

Good government must be based on broadly shared values that inspire and enthuse us.

January 3, 2021

Strung out on centre court: the loneliness of the long distance tennis player

January has long been the month when the international circuit wends its way to Australia, with the Australian Open a key event on the calendar. While Covid-19 delayed the Grand Slam until early next month, January remains a bittersweet time for me. I can’t help but reflect on my professional tennis career. But while I remember the highlights, other memories come flooding back the constant pressure to perform, and live up to the expectations of coaches, the public and family.

November 1, 2020

Australia and the World <i>after Trump</i>? The moment of decision is fast approaching

Much of the commentary on the US election has focused on the personalities, the contest, the likely result. Will it be Biden or Trump again? But is this the nub of the question?

August 11, 2020

Why America shouldnt have nuked Japan (Asia Times 6 August, 2020)

US belief that atomic bombings were necessary to obviate even deadlier invasion of Japan is as false 75 years later as it was at the time….The idea of a Soviet occupation of Japan was their worst nightmare.

August 14, 2024

Nancy Pelosi: ‘Pot calling the kettle black’

Nancy Pelosi said of my recent 7.30 interview ‘it is not in the security interest of the Asia-Pacific region for people to talk that way’ – that is, of my remarks in respect of Taiwan.

May 11, 2024

“Antisemitic hate crime”: US and Israel desperate to avoid ICC justice

Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has labelled prospective action by the International Criminal Court to hold him accountable for the murder of 14,500 children in Gaza as “an unprecedented antisemitic hate crime”.

September 29, 2022

Defence Strategic Review - Is defending Australia dead?

The last decade of Australias defence policy has swung from successful focus on our own defence, by ourself, to one heavily influenced by the US strategic determination to dominate China militarily. Thereby conservative governments have invited risk to our nation needlessly and been wrong-headed enough to subsidise it.

June 8, 2024

I've seen every Jerusalem flag march in last 16 years. This one was the ugliest

The Flag March on Jerusalem Day is an accurate thermometer of the condition of Israeli society. It measures the levels of hatred, racism and violence in the religious Zionist society and the tolerance of the police and the rest of society to these traits. This year’s diagnosis is terminal. Wednesday’s march was one of the most violent and ugliest I have seen – and I have witnessed every single one over the past 16 years.

May 23, 2024

The bleak picture of Australian politics: this is how we change

We are confronting a deep structural crisis in our society. We have confused the idea of democracy with the institutions of political parties and representative democracies. The major parties have become structures representing economic and security elites to which only second rate personalities flock, incapable of navigating the huge challenges we face globally. Meanwhile, the under resourced education system has become an iron cage, captured by industry, that we have been imprisoning young minds into, and from which they are now breaking free.

May 7, 2024

Israel’s war on journalism

Last Sunday, Israel closed Al Jazeera’s office in occupied East Jerusalem, confiscating broadcast equipment and taking the channel off air. Israel’s targeting of journalists and their families, the closure of Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office, the imprisonment and alleged torture of journalists, and the refusal to let foreign journalists enter Gaza amounts to a war on journalism.

April 11, 2024

Staring into a void — of neither two states nor one

I support recognition of a Palestinian state, in the UN context, as an affirmation that our values apply in our approach to dealings between states as well as within states.

August 21, 2022

Civilian casualties in Ukraine-5,000? In Yemen-380,000? But Western Media tells a different story!

Whilst resort to warfare must be strongly deprecated in virtually all circumstances, it is arguable that the media treatment of specific conflicts and the resulting casualtiesboth civilian and militarydiffers considerably from war to war and can easily break down into black and white categories, based on factors other than the war itself. The recourse to particular forms of categorisation tells us as much about the media itself as it does about the particular conflicts being reported upon.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal