July 4, 2024

Does China matter any more?

China Matters has gone, and that is a tragedy. Australia lost a valuable think tank that could provide policy advice at a critical juncture of Australia-China relations. The implementation of the government hatchet job is set out in detail in Margaret Simon’s extended article, Red Flags, in the latest _Monthly_, and in Hamish McDonald’s article in _Inside Story_ on 22 April.

September 27, 2023

Did Penny Wong really just suggest China is an ‘existential’ threat?

The Australian Government has a big problem with its security narrative. Preparing for a putative war with China is the nation’s top security priority, while the government’s knowledge of the growing existential threat of climate disruption and their security consequences remains a closely-guarded secret.

May 27, 2023

Why a different world order is already here

US primacy is being replaced by two orders led by Washington and Beijing. Canberra’s job is to make the US understand what has happened.

August 18, 2022

‘Scott Morrison’s ministerial fetish: ”An unprecedented trashing of our democracy”’

Scott Morrison must resign immediately as the member for Cook, leave the Parliament, and try to salvage what remains of his shredded reputation as Australia’s 30th Prime Minister.

July 21, 2022

It’s folly to resist a Beijing reset

There are some on the right who thrive on the tension. And they blame the breakdown entirely on the other side. China’s statement following the first meeting between foreign ministers Penny Wong and Wang Yi has been denounced as ‘‘China’s four demands’’. One such ‘‘demand’’ is that the two countries seek common ground. Oh, the effrontery!

July 12, 2022

Jeffrey Sachs speaks: The perilous situation after COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and the end of US leadership

Jeffrey Sachs, economist and UN adviser for the Sustainable Development Goals, discusses the situation in the world after the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the dangerous US mindset.

July 10, 2022

The tragedy and self-harm of celebrity appointments in the universities

The appointment of Chancellors, celebrity professors and even high-level management in Australia’s universities, especially at the Australian National University, is best understood comparatively – as a template derived from the Roman Curia, and water polo – and through the application of The Generalised Iceberg Theorem: two-thirds of what determines outcomes takes place out of sight.

April 27, 2022

The funding of essential services

The key purpose of a government’s budget is to propose the spending on essential government services and how that spending will be financed. Judged by this standard, the latest Budget is completely inadequate and belies the claims of the Morrison Government to be competent economic managers.

April 13, 2022

The Taiwan dilemma: A stark choice

_American foreign policy seems to be moving inexorably towards recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign nation. This would greatly heighten the danger of armed conflict between the US and China and would make Taiwan not more but less secure. The incoming Australian Foreign Minister should consider policy options and their long-term consequences carefully, for our sake and also for Taiwan.

October 1, 2021

If ever a writer and historian were deserving of a Nobel Prize, it's Henry Reynolds

It is hard to overestimate Henry Reynolds’ influence in the great movement that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

December 11, 2020

Of warriors, bad apples and blood lust

Talk of “warrior culture” in the wake of the Brereton report rings hollow. Sir Galahad never burnt villages or killed children. But “bad apples” has a ring of truth, especially if applied to the estimated 2% in any army who take too much pleasure in killing. But as usual the taboo topic of “hedonistic killing” has not been addressed.

November 25, 2020

Robodebt was a Morrison fiasco at every stage (Peter Van Onselen, The Australian, 21.11.20)

The buck should stop with the PM, but he won’t be held to account. With summer just around the corner, this week’s $1.2 billion settlement of the Robodebt class action has shone a light on government failings.

August 10, 2024

The Americanisation of our public policy, media and national interest

John Menadue AO eminent former public servant, ambassador and businessman - now independent founder, publisher and Editor in Chief of the online public policy journal ‘ Pearls and Irritations’ - offers an in depth conversation about how Australian public policy is making us more vulnerable in dangerous geopolitical times, by compromising pursuit of our sovereign interests, power and diplomatic capacity in favour of over reliance on our alliance with America and its interests.

July 23, 2022

Weekly roundup Saturday 23 July

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

May 14, 2021

Budget 2021: only set a target you can meet

In committing to an unemployment rate below 5 per cent, the government is abiding by the old political axiom: only set targets that you already know you can meet. Because, putting aside another major outbreak of COVID-19, it seems certain that’s where we are heading.

January 21, 2021

CIA, the USA and a poor night's sleep for the world

Joe Biden’s appointment of William Burns as CIA director shows how the US, of whatever stripe, views the world. It sees things in absolute black and white. Peace and security can only be assured if ‘we’ remain dominant.

December 10, 2020

US Sanctions on China’s CNOOC Over the Top

The U.S. has sanctioned China’s third-largest oil company apparently because it has explored or drilled in an area disputed by third parties. This precedent could have serious repercussions.

September 7, 2024

Why WA gets the share of GST that it wants

WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti MLA is almost certainly right when she says that there would be a “voter backlash” [in Western Australia] if “you take our [sic] GST”, as reported in The Australian.

July 13, 2024

The Bezosmoth

Behold, now behemoth … Behold, he drinketh up a river … The Book of Job, 40: 15 and 23.

August 28, 2023

Behind the ‘Red Curtain’: Decoding China's institutional logics

Instead of simply aligning their interests with the US, it is critic__al for US allies such as Australia to find a new balance in the great power rivalry between Washington and Beijing, and to develop their own strategic approach toward China. Among other things, this will require an understanding of how policy is formulated behind China’s ‘red curtains’.

August 9, 2023

Penny Wong’s delusion on nuclear weapons in the South Pacific

Australia’s Pacific neighbours deserve much better from our foreign minister. Australia is becoming a de facto nuclear armed state.

August 26, 2022

Our Air Force is already 'operating against China'

_Australia is seemingly as eager as ever to be pushed out on a plank by our American friends, professionally. Ever the faithful “patsy”.

June 2, 2021

We have to handle our relationship with China, not leave it to others

How should we manage relations with China – New Zealand’s most complex foreign policy issue in the 21st century?

May 28, 2021

Climate Change and 'The Australian’s' Graham Lloyd

For years I have marvelled at the way The Australian’s Graham Lloyd has spun climate science research to boost scepticism about global warming and the need for action.

December 15, 2020

Fire and viruses did not cleanse bad government

The past year was a terrible year for Australia and Australians and in many ways the worst globally since World War II. And at least for Australians, a terrible year for good, decent and honest government.

November 22, 2020

Henry Kissinger urges U.S. resumption of engagement with China

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Monday called for Joe Biden to restore communication with China and warned that otherwise the world would suffer a catastrophe like World War I.

October 29, 2020

Sydney's Metro mania is policy based on vanity

Is it of interest that a 2018 study by Transport for NSW and its federal counterpart into rail connections to Sydney’s second airport was made at roughly the time the same the federal portfolio spent $30 million to buy land near Leppington worth only $3 million?

March 18, 2020

IAN McAULEY. We should be thankful that Morrison wasn’t our PM in 1939.

In his gauche handling of the coronavirus situation, Morrison has once again proven himself incapable of understanding the task of leadership in a democracy.

June 23, 2024

Environment: Solar gets cheaper but more oil and gas is what we’re promised

As solar panels get cheaper, companies and governments commit to increasing oil and gas production. Community opposition to wind farms funded by fossil fuel interests. Indigenous languages threatened by climate change.

June 4, 2024

North Asian Summit: hedging against the United States?

The Prime Ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met in Seoul on 27 May to resume regular annual meetings which began in 2008 and were held annually until 2019, when they were interrupted by COVID and “aspects of the international situation”.

April 22, 2024

Why conventional economic theory is wrong about technological change

Society as a whole has a critical interest in the direction of technological innovation. This cannot be left uniquely to a limited group of capitalist bosses. Consultation with all the key interest groups and government regulation have a critical role to play in ensuring future economic growth and a fair go for all.

June 24, 2023

Menzies told the US, ANZUS did not apply on Taiwan. Why not Albanese?

Call it Carr’s law. I’m pretty confident it withstands any testing. It’s simple: find someone talking up war with China and, if they were around 20 years ago, you find they were a supporter of the Iraq invasion.

June 1, 2023

House of Representatives passes Voice referendum legislation

After a marathon debate, the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning passed the bill for the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament to be inserted into the Constitution.

August 7, 2022

Australian War Memorial needs to own Australian frontier wars

_Proper recognition and commemoration of the Australian Frontier Wars at the Australian War Memorial would be a practical expression of the Spirit of Uluru. As the Albanese government begins the lengthy process of enshrining the Voice in the Australian Constitution, having the Memorial commit to Australian Frontier Wars recognition and commemoration could happen soon – provided the will exists in both the Memorial and the government.

May 17, 2022

If Penny Wong becomes foreign minister will she repeat the numerous blunders Australia and the US have made in the Pacific?

The discussion of foreign policy is one of the low points in the election. It is hard to be otherwise when both major parties are committed to integrating Australia’s military forces with those of the US. This severely curtails the scope for proposing independent policies and raises expectations ensuring the Government and Opposition contribute forces to almost any war America wants it to.

April 29, 2022

Priority actions for the next federal housing minister

Housing is yet again up there as a major concern in this year’s federal election debate. Given the rising cost of putting a roof over your head in today’s Australia, that’s hardly surprising. Buying a home will now set you back 30% more than at the start of the Morrison government’s current term in office. Meanwhile, rent increases have escalated to their highest levels for more than a decade.

October 1, 2021

With a statesmanlike press club speech, is Turnbull on his way back into politics?

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s online National Press Club address was extraordinarily good and could yet have significant political consequences.

April 12, 2021

Nationhood and the deadly incarceration pandemic of our First Nations people

_“For the vast bulk of our people the legal system is not a trusted instrument of justice. It is a feared and despised processing plant that propels the most vulnerable and disabled of our people towards a broken and bleak future.”

November 16, 2020

Korea : Biden a mixed blessing?

Seoul and Pyongyang are trying to fathom the implications of the Biden presidency for the Korean peninsula, while concerns remain about the damage Trump may yet do during his remaining time in office.

November 6, 2020

Media in the Asian Century: upheaval all around but no Australian perspective

For the Australian media, it seems, it’s always safe in England or America. Anyone noticed that despite a daily death toll from Covid-19 of near 500 in the UK and near 1,000 in the US, there is no talk of withdrawing correspondents.

February 10, 2020

PROFESSOR JENNY HOCKING The ‘Palace letters’ case at the High Court

_Echoes of the Governor-General Sir John Kerr’s vice-regal dismissal of the Whitlam government reverberated across the High Court this week, as the long-running Palace letters case came before the full bench on appeal.

September 26, 2024

Nurse-led clinics: getting a return on your taxpayer dollar

It is disappointing, although hardly surprising, to see the medical organisations in July of this year trotting out their opposition to anything other than GP-led primary health care in both Queensland and the ACT; and then (again in a September media release) to see that remarkably (or maybe predictably) the RACGP is restoking its outrage about the ACT clinics.

July 10, 2024

Save Ukraine from American meddling

Ukraine can only be saved at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield. Sadly, this point is not understood by Ukrainian politicians such as Oleg Dunda, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, who recently wrote an oped against my repeated call for negotiations.

July 8, 2024

Australia could be the first nation in the world to eliminate poverty

The Australia Institute has recently argued for the introduction of a system for measuring the extent of poverty in Australia, pointing out that the government’s recently established wellbeing measurement framework, Measuring What Matters, does not measure the number of Australians living in poverty. Greg Jericho and the other researchers at the Institute have argued that the Albanese government should revive the commitment of the Hawke-Keating government that no child will live in poverty and they’ve suggested that elimination of poverty is a worthy ambition that “ starts with measuring it properly”.

May 28, 2024

Palestine, from the river to the sea, between colonialism and liberty

When Labor and Liberal politicians repeat deceptive Israeli propaganda without scrutiny and knowledge of the facts, they lose credibility and reveal their undignified ignorance and sycophantic submission to Israel. We heard leaders from both sides repeating Israel’s accusation that those who raise the slogan “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” are being antisemites. Let us examine the facts.

May 21, 2024

The Philadelphi Corridor: Egypt joins South Africa’s ICJ genocide case

Why has Egypt confirmed that it will support South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide? The answer lies in the significance of the Philadelphi Corridor or the Salah Al-Din Axis.

May 19, 2024

Jim Chalmers’ 2024 budget ignores that humans are social beings

This is not the budget that is likely to reassure voters that the Australian Labor Party is there to create better societies and be trustworthy in difficult times.

May 18, 2024

As 700,000 civilians flee Rafah, our shared humanity compels the indication of further ICJ provisional measures

“[T]here was the man in his 50s, forgotten in a room, having had both legs amputated. He had lost his kids, his grandkids, his home . . . and he’s alone in the corner of this dark hospital, maggots going out of his wounds and he was screaming: ‘The worms are eating me alive please help me…’

April 8, 2024

Witness to horror upon horror, I scream underwater

I recently heard the British-Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah tell of the horrors of Israel’s total destruction of Gaza’s hospitals and healthcare system. Many children who have lost both parents and extended family in Israel’s inhumane and incomprehensible slaughter of Gazans, have also lost their limbs, eyes and certainly their futures. Dr. Abu-Sittah alerts the world that these children are destined for what can only be described as an appalling and destitute future. When one toddler drowns in a pool in Australia, we all mourn and sympathise with the family. Why are 13,000 children not mourn-worthy?

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal