August 18, 2022

Sex, lies but no videotape

Governments love distractions and theres a doozy gripping the people next door: A lurid tabloid tale running for five weeks and counting is keeping electors focussed on spice rather than the erosion of democracy and corruption controls.

July 14, 2022

Anthony Albanese must get real about China

Penny Wong is professional and diligent, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needs to change his advisers on China.

May 15, 2021

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

As an Adjunct Professor, sometimes released and eventually retired from diplomacy, I would pose to my students two questions. With Israelis and Palestinians seeking the realization of their conflicting versions of their respective national rights, where does justice lie?

April 6, 2021

21st century democracy: blurring the lines

President Biden, at his first press conference, said this:

Look, I predict to you, your children and grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded: autocracy or democracy? Because that is what is at stake, not just with China.

January 6, 2021

China Series: Where To From Here? (A repost from 23.12.2019)

A SERIES of posts on this blog in the last two weeks have highlighted aspects of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) that are often overlooked in discussion of the bilateral relationship. We have to get used to living with the Chinese elephant in our neighbourhood.

December 15, 2020

We pay lip service to our relationship with Indonesia

If a relationship just concentrates on STDs itll never mature. That goes for countries as well as couples.

December 2, 2020

Governing Queensland - Political and Economic Challenges for the new Labor government: Part 1 The Political Challenges

The new Labor government in Queensland faces many challenges as it attempts to revive an economy hard hit by the Covid shutdowns, in particular developing strategies to limit the effects of likely changes in the demand for goods and services that has been the mainstay of the States economy.

October 26, 2020

We the people have a right to know.

Two issues largely treated as separate have got increasing attention in Australia this Millennium. The first is whether the activities of governments are sufficiently transparent, whether a lack of transparency breeds incompetence and corruption, and whether we need a federal ICAC. The second is about what used to be referred to as the Official Secrets Act.

February 2, 2020

ABUL RIZVI: Does Australia have a temporary migration problem?

On 5 December 2019, the Senate established a Select Committee on Temporary Migration to inquire into the impact temporary migration has on the Australian economy, wages and jobs, social cohesion and workplace rights and conditions.

August 27, 2024

Capitalism with American characteristics

It’s not mindlessly anti-American to suggest that any nation experiencing the number of gun and drug deaths that the US does every year is evidence of a nation not entirely at ease with itself, to put it delicately. Likewise, any political system that may reinstall a narcissistic, breathtakingly ignorant, self-serving, convicted felon as its leader clearly has a few problems, too.

July 20, 2024

Israel’s occupation "does not qualify as an act of self-defence"

“In my view, three dimensions of Israel’s policies and practices illustrate that the maintenance by Israel of its occupation does not qualify as an act of self-defence: their intensity, their territorial scope and their temporal scope.” The policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, some of which are discussed in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, also give rise to forms of multiple and intersectional discrimination that disproportionately affect women and girls, writes Hilary Charlesworth.

June 19, 2024

Australia must recognise Palestine to promote peace

Such a move would support the peace efforts, not undermine them, as some have argued.

May 27, 2024

No more fence sitting … the Australian Government must condemn Israeli genocide!

_We must make it clear to the current Israeli administration that our nation can no longer accept its actions and certainly do not “share its value_s “

May 8, 2024

The end of US primacy: facing Australia’s existential security question

“Nothing Australia does – with or without AUKUS – will make any difference to the collective capacity to either deter or defeat China in the next decade, which is the time frame that counts. That means the only prudent choice for Australia’s military strategy is to prepare to defend ourselves from major powers such as China without American support” - Hugh White.

May 6, 2024

Is environmental disaster inevitable? A reflection on economics and society

Is capitalism capable of long term meaningful reform? This is perhaps the most import of issues to address, given that environmental disaster is becoming an inevitability under the present watch of capitalism._

September 20, 2021

Anxious white men look to bonds of 'blood and history' in AUKUS

Apprehensive of loss, the leaders of white men’s countries are invoking pride of race to spruik the AUKUS alliance to secure their primacy of place over China in a fast-changing world.

March 1, 2021

Risky business: The act governing treatment of parliamentary staff (MOPS) needs overhaul

Is it asking too much to expect parliamentary staff, who are paid by taxpayers and exercise privileged influence if not direct public power, to behave with high ethical standards? The absence of clear lines of accountability and clear behavioural expectations is no longer acceptable.

November 24, 2020

Investigating ADF murder is not an AFP core competency

The path to court for SAS murder suspects wont be smooth, quick, certain or inevitable. Justice Brereton had a power federal police investigators will not have: he could compel soldiers to give answers, promising them that nothing they said could be used in cases against them. [Though they could be required to give evidence against others.]

November 5, 2020

The US under Biden will be an awkward ally for Morrison on climate warming

Even if Joe Biden becomes President, which seems increasingly likely, this does not mean a return to the world we knew before Trump.

July 27, 2024

China’s first steps as crisis deal-maker – Asian Media Report Extra

Beijing is projecting an image of China as a crisis deal-maker with peace as its priority, as Asian media are reporting this week.

May 10, 2024

Peace starts with Palestine’s UN membership

On May 10, all member states should vote to admit the State of Palestine as the 194th member of the United Nations.

September 3, 2023

Chinas artificial intelligence is a great leap forward: Australias opportunity?

Australian entrepreneurs and investors are already looking to the new developments in our region for inspirations and opportunities. They might look no further than China.

August 9, 2023

The problem for commentators in the so called "mainstream media

They rely significantly on feeds of material thats not otherwise readily available. As theyre in the news business, they need something new to keep in the hunt.

July 23, 2023

The US in Australia---and in China!

The coming week will see an enormous festival of US alliances with and in Australia, with the biggest Talisman Sabre exercise ever, and a visit to Australia by the US Secretaries of State and Defence for the annual AUSMIN talks. All of this has been made more glamorous by the arrival of a new US warship, commissioned as USS Canberra while here.

April 27, 2023

Australia pays Washington swamp monsters for war advice

Australia has been paying insiders of the US war machine for consultation on how to run the nation’s military, a massive conflict of interest given that Washington has been grooming Australia for a role in its war agendas against China.

May 20, 2022

Weekly roundup Saturday 21 May

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

August 30, 2021

Australian Strategic Policy Institute rorts Wikipedia

In an important but shocking article in Michael West Media (MWM) on 21 August, journalist Marcus Reubenstein has exposed a pernicious practice by which supporters of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) have assiduously removed all negative criticism of ASPI from Wikipedias ASPI page, and added fawning praise of ASPI which renders the page, in Wikipedias judgment, to be ranked C on the Quality Scale, which is the lowest ranking for an established Wikipedia page.

December 22, 2020

The Christmas Story. It is not about tinsel.

Light is strongest when the night is darkest.

October 7, 2020

A Sinologist's view on Australia's relations with China

My memory of the time I spent in Australia, while directing the University of Sydney China Studies Centre from 2012 to 2015 was a largely positive and happy one. Looking from the UK, where I am now based, I have to acknowledge a sense of shock and sadness.

August 23, 2024

Dutton's psychological projection

I write as a child of Holocaust survivors because I am disturbed by the demagoguery engaged by the leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, labelling hapless Palestinian refugees as potential terrorists.

August 19, 2024

Comparing Palestine’s prospects for independence and peace

In trying to Palestine’s prospects of independence and peace with Israel, one is reminded of Tolstoy’s observation that ‘All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’. This is to say that, successful claims to independence share common features, but the circumstances of Palestine’s aspiration for independence are distinctively its own.

July 24, 2024

ICJ severs Penny Wong’s line of retreat on Palestine

It’s easy to see why the advisory opinion of the United Nations International Court of Justice (the World Court) might give Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, a few matters for consideration.

July 7, 2024

Palestine is an issue of justice not religion

At the coming elections, many of us will vote on the basis of a party’s or a candidate’s stance on the issue of Palestine. It will be a vote to reject the occupation, apartheid, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and a myriad of other unspeakable horrors. And it will be an appeal to our common humanity to stop the genocide in Gaza and to help Palestinians get peace with justice. I sincerely hope it will not be a religion-based vote.

July 6, 2024

Afghanistan women’s cricket team seeks recognition

Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost three years ago, women’s sport has been cast into darkness there.

June 22, 2024

Counting the environmental toll of war – and why peace is a climate solution

One’s immediate thought on looking at any of the multitude of photos of the devastation of Gaza is a profound sense of sorrow and grief at the capacity of humans to wreak such destruction and suffering.

June 6, 2024

The US Empire isn't a government that runs non stop wars, it's a non stop war that runs a government

The US as a country is just a source of funding, personnel, resources and diplomatic cover for a nonstop campaign to dominate the planet with mass military violence and the threat thereof.

August 22, 2022

The Chinese non-threat

Our resident non-Chinese speaking, non-Chinese informed but bitterly China is expansionist-aggressive’ commentators in the mainstream media in Australia dont have,or even want to have, any idea about China?

May 26, 2022

Vehicle or destination? Parties down, policy up

_The major parties, with the possible exception of The Greens, are in serious, probably terminal, decline, with habitual supporters largely disengaged, with a third of voters moving in a new direction.

June 10, 2021

Detaining Refugees Indefinitely: The Executive v The Judiciary

Recently, a Federal Court Judge ordered the immediate release of a young man from immigration detention. The man had been in immigration detention for five years. The Federal Government wasnt happy. It introduced legislation into the Commonwealth Parliament to make sure that no such release could happen again. The Governments power to detain non-citizens indefinitely was affirmed and strengthened. That was not a good outcome.

November 23, 2020

The Biden Administration, China and Southeast Asia

With its mixture of arrogance, ignorance and browbeating, the Trump administration has left a dark cloud over US-Southeast Asian relations. But there is a silver lining. This nadir provides a low-hanging fruit of diplomatic success that the Biden administration can easily and quickly pick.

October 29, 2020

Yes Minister: Another day, another aged care scandal

The Morrison government has redefined Westminster ministerial responsibility. No longer does a minister bear ultimate responsibility for the actions of its ministryor department.

August 2, 2024

Israeli killing of Ismail Haniyeh: a futile act by a rogue state

From Ismail Haniyeh to Imad Mughniyeh, Israel’s policy of assassinations is a great example of winning the battle but losing the war, writes Emad Moussa.

June 16, 2024

Environment: Pacific politician calls out Australia’s climate duplicity

The temperature is rising and the world is getting increasingly dangerous, even the rich bits. Former Tuvalu PM slams Australia’s climate policies. Rights of and around rivers.

May 27, 2024

Full spectrum resistance: we need militant teams who are willing to destroy the death machine

I can not think of a greater tragedy in existence than to allow the greed of a few to destroy all life on earth.

July 21, 2023

We need an Earth System Treaty to save civilisation. And we need it now

The world stands in urgent need of a universal accord to ensure it remains a Planet that our children and grandchildren can inhabit and enjoy, far into the future.

July 19, 2023

Lithuania and Taiwan: "Don't Fight, Don't Win, Don't Surrender"

Uzupis, a historic district of Vilnius, Lithuania and a vibrant artistic community, had unilaterally declared its independence from the rest of the country. It adopted three mottoes: “Don’t Fight,” “Don’t Win and Don’t Surrender. These seem particularly apt for the ambiguous status of Taiwan with its anomalous international status and phantasmic national identity.

August 23, 2022

The west's false narrative about Russia and China

The world is on the edge of nuclear catastrophe in no small part because of the failure of Western political leaders to be forthright about the causes of the escalating global conflicts. The relentless Western narrative that the West is noble while Russia and China are evil is simple-minded and extraordinarily dangerous. It is an attempt to manipulate public opinion, not to deal with very real and pressing diplomacy.

August 3, 2022

Kishore Mahbubani: The G-7, G-20 paradox

The G-7 countries are democratic domestically but are dictatorial globally. By contrast, the G-20 group, which has many autocratic regimes, represents a more democratic forum for governance.

September 19, 2021

Genocide by big pharma. Millions will die

Big pharma is fiercely opposing measures to scale up production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. This corporate genocide must be named. Stop protecting crooks.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal