September 4, 2023

Breaking the suicidal impasse

In the last few months events have occurred globally which indicate an astonishing, but not unexpected, acceleration in the pace of climate change. The world has now entered a new era of extremely dangerous climate impacts which are already proving catastrophic in many parts of the world. The factors which hitherto have constrained warming, such as the inertia of the climate system and the cooling effect of atmospheric aerosols, are fading, pushing the global climate system into uncharted territory.

July 29, 2023

Environment: Palaszczuk - mining coal is good for your health

The Queensland government is vigorously promoting coals social licence. Heat waves are clearly linked to global warming. The war in Ukraine is destroying the environment as well as people.

June 18, 2023

The Western fantasy of a Taiwanese proxy war against China

The Western hope that Taiwan could serve as a catalyst for an attack of China seems likely to remain the fantasy it always was.

August 4, 2022

Can Australia become a confident, independent country?

_Caroline Bouvier Kennedys arrival as Americas ambassador in Canberra has thrilled Australians who think of her as American royalty. However, her appointment is small comfort for those Australians concerned about the future of the countrys alliance with the USA.

September 8, 2021

Payne and Dutton's high-stakes Indonesia visit must accelerate relationship

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton are due to meet their Indonesian counterparts in Jakarta for vital talks. The stakes are high.

January 26, 2021

Greg Sheridan: Principles, privilege and punditry

The Australian newspaper’s foreign affairs editor Greg Sheridan epitomises the capacity columnists have to promote ideological agendas even ones that are seemingly at odds with their professed values and beliefs. They are hardly conservative.

November 30, 2020

Natasha Kassam and the AFR have it wrong on China-Australia tensions

Australia is fast becoming a sad joke, an object lesson in how not to behave towards China. If we are becoming an example, it is an example of what to avoid.

April 12, 2023

An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: A moment whose time has come

I believe the time for the Voice has come. With those words from the Liberal MP Julian Leeser announcing his resignation as shadow minister for Indigenous Affairs, the path to a successful referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament just got a lot clearer, as did Peter Duttons dire miscalculation in opposing it.

June 23, 2022

New Heads of Departments in Canberra

The appointments announced by the Prime Minister on Wednesday 22 June seem mostly sensible, offering the APS a more professional leadership which can both provide strong support for the Government and demonstrate its impartiality in its policy advising and management of programs.

April 7, 2022

Paul Komesaroff, Michael Komesaroff and Roger Mendelson: Australias response to the Ukraine crisis is a missed opportunity

Not only did diplomacy fail spectacularly but the responses of governments around the world was, perversely, to turn away from the search for a solution and instead to engage, unintentionally or otherwise, in deliberate and sustained actions to inflame the conflict further.

August 25, 2021

The Great Game of smashing countries

As a tsunami of crocodile tears engulfs Western politicians, history is suppressed. More than a generation ago, Afghanistan won its freedom, which the United States, Britain and their allies destroyed.

November 18, 2020

The people with disabilities who regularly miss out

Disability has been co-opted by bureaucracies, professional bodies and institutions, often in a harmful way … Instead of seeing welfare as a social drain, faring well should be an act of decency, a helping hand to a contributing life.

July 18, 2024

Pro-Israel lobby smells blood in coordinated lawfare against media critics

In my view, some parts of Mary Kostakidis’ Twitter feed displays a particular and disturbing orientation. Despite that criticism, there should be no doubt that the pro-Israel lobby is engaged in a form of coordinated lawfare against critics of Israel on several fronts. Win or lose, the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) will attempt to use the case against Kostakidis to discredit those who support Palestine in general as antisemites. This attack is part of a general assault on media critics.

July 14, 2024

The time Antony Blinken went to bed with Sergey Lavrov

Once upon a time the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken booked a nice hotel room with a Queen bed and invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to share it with him. They went there to launch a diplomatic initiative to try to end the war in Ukraine and to put to bed, so to speak, the idea of violent confrontation between the two superpowers.

June 22, 2024

Nuclear and gas expansion weakens our national security

Former Australian defence force chief and admiral retired, Chris Barrie frankly discusses with Michael Lester his deep concerns that Australia is complacent in its unwillingness to face up to the threat to our national security posed by global climate change.

June 10, 2024

Chips and geopolitics part two: China's semiconductor resilience

In my previous article, I discussed how the AI chip sector has become a critical battleground in the ongoing rivalry between the United States and China.

June 9, 2024

Could the rise of China eclipse the enlightenment

According to the dominant Western narrative, the history of the entire modern world has been prodigiously shaped by Western historical turning points beginning with the Renaissance and running through the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the science-driven, first Industrial Revolution. A recent, US-published book, “China’s Age of Abundance: Origins Ascendence and Aftermath” by Professor Wang Feng, from the University of California, argues that the Rise of China needs to be added to this revered Western turning-point list.

May 29, 2024

Duggan’s fate hangs in the balance as his lawyers keep their powder dry

The Magistrate hearing the United States application to extradite Australian citizen and father of six, Daniel Duggan, was floored.

April 23, 2024

The Anti-China War Book: Pezzullo hears the call again

It is extremely hard to kill off a public figure of the calibre of Mike Pezzullo. As with a person of similar personality, Tony Abbott, one can be sure they are out of the play for good only when their bodies lie at a crossroads at midnight, with a wooden stake through their hearts. Before that, their bloody, broken and bruised bodies may be on display, having suffered pains, indignities and humiliations no other person could survive. But while there is even a glimmer of a pulse, they are plotting their comebacks.

August 25, 2023

Ita out - so whats next for the ABC?

The Albanese ALP government now has an opportunity to reinvigorate and rebuild the ABC.

June 22, 2023

Blinken's six words of stability

“We do not support Taiwan independence.” These were perhaps the most important six words spoken by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his China visit. They signalled the end of several years of deliberate ambiguity, vacillation and provocation in relation to US policy.

May 20, 2022

Environment: Atmospheric CO2 hits 420ppm. Operating mines and wells must close to stay under 1.5C

The level of CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise and staying under 1.5 degrees of warming will require closing almost half of currently operating fossil fuel wells and mines: regional Australians know this. Conflicts over water are increasing worldwide.

May 19, 2022

Morrison reverts to pre-bulldozer type

The super-salesmans ploy is working: since his claimed character reformation last Friday when he said he recognised he had been a bit of a bulldozer and that things were going to have to change the debate about some of his worst behavioural faults as Prime Minister has shifted dramatically.

August 8, 2021

Western media is destroying its own credibility

Eric Xun Li has the answer to the problem of the relentlessly negative press that China is receiving. And its simpler than one might expect.

October 13, 2020

Migrants: how can we make THEM more like US?

In a crisis, the Coalition government thinks that migrants need to jump through higher hoops.

September 15, 2023

From Americas IRA to Chinas eco-civilisation, a new global consensus is emerging. Globalisation and growth are out, redesigning society is in

This summer saw the hottest average global temperaturesin the last 125,000 years. Europe is embroiled in war, with other conflicts raging around the world. The global economy is still reeling from the impacts of the first global pandemic since 1919. Experts are warning against the threat posed by our most advanced technological creationartificial intelligence (AI). However, to piece together how we got here as a species and secure societies for the future, we need a heavy dose of BIbasic intelligence.

September 9, 2023

Environment: Andrew Forrests climate message to Biden, Modi and Xi

Andrew Forrest makes impassioned plea for governments to hold business responsible for climate action. African countries struggle to extract their natural resources without destroying their environments and people.

July 15, 2023

Environment: Australias energy transition pathways a shambles

Australias energy transition pathways are piecemeal and incoherent and inconsistent with achieving the 1.5oC goal. Eliminating fluorocarbons helps the climate and the ozone layer. No future for CCS in the steel industry.

May 16, 2023

The crooked timber of an unhappy, dangerous American Empire

Sealed inside its bubble, America today is steadfastly walking the unhappy, steady and confident gait of the Soviet Union.

September 20, 2022

The incautious, entitled, meddling King Charles III of Australia: Can he stay out of politics?

When, according to the self-appointed guardians of public decency and royal decorum, is it ever appropriate to speak about the future of the monarchy let alone, dare I say it, a republic? Not while the Queen was alive - because, disrespect. And not now that the Queen is dead because, also disrespect. And of course, dont even mention the troubling political interventions of our new Head of State, King Charles III of Australia, because that might draw the Monarch and the Monarchy into political controversy.

June 23, 2022

Government benefits from Opposition's divisions

_The new Albanese Labor Government is facing a host of difficult problems that will thoroughly test its capacity to govern, but politically it is in an enviable position enjoyed by none of its predecessors in the past half a century and more.

June 21, 2022

The Outlook for Living Standards: Part 3

Previously Part 1 of this article assessed the impact on living standards from surging prices relative to wage growth, and rising interest rates. Yesterday, Part 2 considered what the new Labor Government can do to lift the rate of wage growth relative to prices. Today, Part 3 discusses how best to respond to the two principal drivers of the increased cost of living fuel and energy costs and housing costs.

September 14, 2021

German Social Democrats' success would have a ripple effect in EU and beyond

On current trends the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) is likely to lead a coalition government after the federal elections on September 26.

September 6, 2021

IPA's pick for Human Rights Commissioner undermines independence

Lorraine Finlay’s appointment as Human Rights Commissioner is yet another attack from the Coalition on the commission’s independence.

November 24, 2020

Australian universities may come to regret the end of the Trump presidency

The share of Chinese students who have applied to study in Australia next year is 53 per cent of all international students compared to 27 per cent last year.

July 11, 2024

A time for multipolar peace

NATO has been shaping up to go global for quite some time. It has singularly failed as a so-called ‘defensive alliance’, having been involved in assorted bouts of warfare and bloodshed in Europe over the past three decades. Having come into existence ostensibly as a defensive bulwark against the threat of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the USSR in 1991 should have spelled the end of NATO. It didn’t.

June 29, 2024

Afghanistan’s underdogs upsetting the established order

One of the charms of sport is seeing underdogs upsetting the established order by overcoming teams they seemingly have no chance of beating. All sports have examples of such upsets. Long-term realities about relative strengths can fall in the short run. Ah, the glorious uncertainty of sport!

May 24, 2024

The liberation of Kanaky: resisting France’s brutal colonial overlordships in the Pacific

“Only the struggle counts … death is nothing.” Eloi Machoro – ‘the Che Guevara of the Pacific’ – shortly before he was gunned down by a French sniper on 12 January 1985.

May 22, 2024

To restore humanity, stop the genocide and make Israel accountable

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu

June 19, 2023

Before Ellsberg died, he revealed detailed US plans to nuke China

The final revelation of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who died on Friday at the age of 92, was to reveal details of top secret US plans to launch a nuclear invasion of China.

May 14, 2023

Nuclear weapons may not be in Seouls best interest

Going nuclear would likely hurt rather than enhance South Koreas global prestige.

May 10, 2023

The militarisation of space - can Australia avoid following America?

Americas space policy reveals its hegemonic obsession and the future quandaries for Australian policy. Even Americas approach to exploration and colonisation of the Moon is only comprehensible in terms of terrestrial geopolitics. It now expects the world to bow to its power in outer space.

September 23, 2021

How deep was the Saudi government's involvement in 9/11?

The FBI is still coy on the Saudi governments involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks but theres enough in its latest document release to suggest that Saudi government officials assisted with hijacker logistics.

April 19, 2021

Our MPs and Generals hope we forget the foolish Afghanistan war and the wounds it left on our honour

The aftermath of the Brereton inquiry into war crimes committed by SAS soldiers involves much more than continuing efforts to prosecute. It also involves findings of the degree of culpability of officers at all levels above the non-commissioned soldiers accused, as well as the whole culture of the SAS, perhaps of the whole army.

January 12, 2021

Are Australias democratic safeguards shrinking?

In light of worrying developments, I review the trends putting pressure on our democratic institutions. Fortunately, new policies and serious protests can halt the trends and bring out the better nature of voters. However, such movements are not in sight.

January 2, 2021

How Murdoch extracts concessions from governments. Consider how he got control of Foxtel!

Rupert Murdoch claims, falsely, that he has never asked a Prime Minister for anything. Yet his whole business career in three countries has been founded on threatening or seducing politicians for privileged commercial access or opportunities.

December 28, 2020

How Chinas state serves the Party (East Asia Forum Dec 22, 2020)

Xi Jinping is a Party man. His first words in November 2012 after being made General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party were about closing the gap between the Party and the people.

December 20, 2020

Marketing and mythologies in our endless wars on behalf of others

In a year beset by a global pandemic, attendant economic instability, a tumultuous US election, and foundering global diplomacy, reflection inevitably trends to what has been tested, what has been tried, and what is true.

November 12, 2020

Return of the dangerman preacher

It was a full-on snub to history and a challenge to the social and business reforms of President Joko Jokowi Widodo. More worrying is the likelihood of a return to faith-based hate politics in the worlds most populous Muslim country.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal