May 24, 2022

JANINE HENDRY. When women fight back. How the women's March4Justice changed the political landscape in Australia

On March 15 2021 as I stood before the podium at the March4Justice in Canberra waiting to speak to the 10,000 women and their allies standing on the lawns of Parliament House; I had a moment to reflect on how it was that we, the women of Australia had reached this point.

April 2, 2022

Greg Wilesmith: Who Needs the ABC? A book review

_Why taking the ABC for granted is no longer an option.

September 12, 2021

Beyond the hype of hydrogen

In the last three years, hydrogen has become all the rage. For those following energy and climate, barely a day goes by without a new story about hydrogen. But is hydrogen essential to our efforts to decarbonise the global energy system?

September 28, 2024

'Rank dishonesty': Internal docs detail how Blinken rejected calls to cut off US arms to Israel

“The Biden administration is not only complicit in genocide. It’s knowingly complicit,” said one analyst.

September 14, 2024

Private equity bares its tactics in private healthcare shakedown

An article published in the Medical Journal of Australia earlier this year points to increased private equity (PE) activity in Australian healthcare, conservatively estimating A$4.5 billion in acquisitions across general practice and selected specialties in 2022 alone. The paper refrains from extensive commentary on the drivers and implications of this trend. However, it points to broad international experience suggesting that PE’s elevation of profit above other considerations coincides with underwhelming outcomes for patients, practicing clinicians and funders alike.

June 13, 2024

After a low, China-Australia ties can aim high

When I think of Australia, the first things that pop into my mind are koalas and kangaroos. Those adorable marsupials are wooing travellers worldwide every year to the beautiful land.

September 18, 2023

Navigating policy and power Indonesia and Australia's energy transition

Indonesia and Australia have more to gain from energy transition - and more to lose from inaction - than any two countries in the world. But the Indonesian government must navigate significant policy challenges to attract the capital it needs for a swift, just and orderly transition.

August 20, 2023

From Kandahar to Canberra: Why is Human Resource Management considered low priority?

In both government and business circles the rising stars avoid working in Personnel. They consider it a dead end. Yet in my view it is the most important area in order to achieve human flourishing and marginal productivity. In Afghanistan, Human Resources staff are strong willed and resilient: what can their Australian counterparts learn from them?

May 27, 2023

Bring Julian home

Over the past month, Australian pressure on the Biden administration to drop the charges against Julian Assange has grown significantly.

July 19, 2022

Geography or history in determining our defence and foreign policies

I was living in London and had been referred to an eye specialist in Wimpole Street. In conversation he remarked that the problem with Australia was that it had too much geography and not enough history. This observation came back to me when I was thinking about the evolution of Australian defence and foreign policy which has, for much of the time, privileged historical ties with great and powerful friends ahead of the opportunities and challenges of scale and location.

July 18, 2022

Are we approaching a consensus on the need to manage flooding differently?

_It is possible that recent events related to flooding in New South Wales are galvanising a consensus on how we manage the threats floods pose. If that is so, we are on the verge of a phase shift in our management of floods.

August 25, 2021

The fastest gaffes in the West

Australians who reckon were recognised as an independent player on the world stage havent had to confront the neighbours scepticism. Apart from the Union Jack on the flag and the Queens likeness on our coinage, theres also the matter of our US badge.

January 7, 2021

Ireland and Brexit: Time to NIxit? Part 1: A Question of Identity

Four and a half years after the United Kingdom referendum in which a majority voted in favour of leaving the European Union, the Brexit project is at last formally complete. Now we await the consequences. One question is whether Britains withdrawal from the EU will be the catalyst for the breakup of the UK. In particular, will Brexit hasten the reunification of Ireland by inducing the people of Northern Ireland to vote to leave the UK? NIxit, to coin a phrase.

October 15, 2020

Lobby Land. The power of the health lobby. Health ministers may be in office but they are not in power

The major barrier to health reform is the power of providers- the health lobby. A succession of Australian health ministers Liberal and Labor for three decades have failed in any serious health reform. Any Minister, Liberal or Labor who wants to reform health must be prepared to take on the providers and their lobbyists.They are unwilling to do so.

August 21, 2024

A dream: of world leaders meeting to make peace

“Everything begins with a dream” - Rumi

June 5, 2024

UN agencies call for international aid as war-torn Sudan faces famine threat

“Extreme hunger is unfolding” as a civil war enters its second year and funding is slow to arrive, the agencies warned.

May 30, 2024

Defence: who are we, what do we stand for?

Allan Behm, head of international and security at the Australia Institute, discusses foreign affairs, defence, AUKUS and security issues facing Australia. Behm poses the question: do we know who we are and what we stand for in attempting to secure our national interest?

May 1, 2023

Will Labor's Budget prioritise public services and a caring society?

The biggest choice facing this country is between poor public services and inadequate government income support or more taxes. Unfortunately, I fear that next weeks Budget will seek to avoid this choice.

April 29, 2023

The American way: exporting US dysfunction to the world

The United States of America is not well, a fact that even as an acolyte the Australian government does not seem to be aware or care about, on account of our unconditional love for the Americans.

September 20, 2021

Ministerial standards exposed by Christian Porter's 'blind trust'

Until last week, blind trust seemed to mean the faith that many Australians put in their political leaders. However we have been better educated by the revelations that Christian Porter was given money by a blind trust.

September 6, 2021

Human rights by US vice president: the last refuge of scoundrels

Kamala Harris’s trip through South-east Asia, touting the US’s commitment to human rights, was full of ironies.

October 8, 2020

Lobby Land. "Doubt is their product": The difference between research and academic lobbying (Pro Market Sep 28, 2020)

Research on market power, its causes, and its consequences has received a welcome revival in the past few years. A group of excellent scholars has managed to make progress on rather hot competition policy topics. Whats more, this research was accepted for publication in journals considered to be at the very top of the profession.

September 11, 2024

Murdoch to Musk: how global media power has shifted from the moguls to the big tech bros

Until recently, Elon Musk was just a wildly successful electric car tycoon and space pioneer. Sure, he was erratic and outspoken, but his global influence was contained and seemingly under control.

April 22, 2024

Marking 10 years of the Russo-Ukraine War

On February 28, 2022, four days after Russia had attacked into Ukraine, Moscow and Kiev began peace talks.

July 30, 2023

War crimes and bravery: Meeting Daniel Ellsberg in 1977

For over seven years [working for the US government] I have been preoccupied with our involvement in Vietnam. In that time I have seen it first as a problem; then as a stalemate; then as a crime - Daniel Ellsberg, 1971.

April 23, 2023

Whats the point of the Australian Labor Party?

The ALP seems intent on abandoning progressive policies and turning itself into a competent version of the Coalition. This is not good for them, our collective future, or democracy.

April 12, 2023

NATO and Australia: vital partners in a new world war?

Two recent news stories say it all. On the 4th of April the Sydney Morning Herald carried a report of an interview with Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of NATO, in which he claimed that Australia was a vital partner in the organisations campaign to confront the security challenges posed by China and in particular NATOs plans to defend Taiwan. Quite clearly this came as a surprise to many Australians.

June 23, 2022

The Teals will force the Greens to get smart at last

John Menadue asks whether the Greens can avoid the perfect obstructing the good. The Teals will force the Greens to Get Smart.

May 10, 2022

Probability websites are picking Labor to win

I am much too scarred by the 2019 experience to make an election prediction in 2022.

However, as I remain fascinated by the prospects and challenges in the remainder of the election campaign, I have studied the two websites I am aware of which are trying to assess the probabilities of various election outcomes based on polling and, in one case, other data.

The Poll Bludger website provides the best overview of polling data but does not attempt to use it to make forecasts. In a recent edition the poll bludger referred to two websites which are attempting to do just that for this election. Their methodologies are different but their results are remarkably similar.

September 5, 2021

White Man's Media-Why cleaning up the government and media is women's work

We let powerful global institutions control the narrative, and it’s up to women to put a stop to it.

January 9, 2021

COVID-19: The Sabbath we had to have?

As we lament this interminable time of suspended animation when even healthy human contact is potentially a criminal offence, or, at the very least, frowned upon as an egregious social sin; a searing question emerges from deep within: What does it mean to be human - to be a citizen?

September 10, 2024

It’s now too late for Labor to fix its re-election problems

This week I was practising my argument about a feeling that Albanese Labor has by now left it too late to retrieve its position before the next federal election is due. This was after it was revealed that the economy is on life support and that Labor’s best argument about being a superior economic manager was that its skills had avoided the recession we did not need. It was, however, after it became clear that Bill Shorten was of the same view.

August 4, 2024

Environment: Peak oil is close but the descent will be slow

Peak oil is imminent but it will be a long time before we return to base camp. China surging ahead with solar while continuing to burn coal. NATO produces the equivalent of half of Australia’s annual CO2 emissions.

July 9, 2024

'When a weasel makes a courtesy call on a hen': a ‘pro-China' Dutton and Chinese-Australian voters

When I asked Jocelyn Chey about her experience at the lunch in Parliament House in honour of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, she said, “I thought the best part of the lunch was Dutton’s speech through gritted teeth about how everyone wants relations with China to improve.”

June 26, 2024

Policy responses to the cost-of-living crisis

Improving housing affordability is the key to resolving the cost-of-living crisis, but the policy options are limited and will inevitably take time to have their desired effect.

April 30, 2024

A future made in Australia: Can it work, what are the risks?

Claims that industry assistance comes at a cost to other industries and consumers are too often right. Industry policy should therefore be limited to areas of identified market failure and requires tight evaluation of each case and that performance targets are met.

September 27, 2023

The despotism of Mike Pezzullo

Journalists from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Sixty Minutes have at last exposed the efforts by Mike Pezzullo, Secretary of Home Affairs, to influence government in favour of conservative politicians and by insisting that press freedom be stifled.

September 19, 2023

From one fire into another

New Zealand academic Robert Patman advocates back peddling on confrontation with China to focus on fighting Russia, but both promise disaster.

August 4, 2023

The terrible reality: Great Barrier Reef on threshold of rapid deterioration

Ten years ago, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority wrote in a submission to the federal government that 1.2C was a key threshold for the Reef. Beyond that, there would be a rapid deterioration in the extent of hard coral cover. The terrible reality is that we are already at 1.1C of global warming right now. The system is on a knife edge. The Australian government must act. And it must stop approving new fossil fuel developments.

June 21, 2023

A subservient defence policy undermines Albaneses successful first year

There were celebrations and high expectations when Prime Minister Albanese and his talented front bench formed the government in May 2022. The language and style of the national agenda appealed to Australians wanting realistic policies and a two-way conversation about what is in the best interests of our community. There were inspiring speeches and commitments that introduced policies and programs of reform and social justice.

September 15, 2022

Murdoch, the Prince/King and conspiracy theories

There is set to be some anxiety in monarchist groups in the community as they reconcile the ascent of King Charles III to the throne with their fear. Even in educated hard right circles like The Spectator Australias readership, conspiracy theories about him are evident.

August 20, 2022

The truth about Gough Whitlam, Murdoch and China

With more than 90,000 views, this interview that Jordan from the Friendly Jordies conducted with John Menadue in 2020 was received with much praise from viewers. “This dude is like 70 and he gets the current landscape more than people half his age”, writes one, “This man is a primary source, if I ever have to write a history essay on Aussie politics in the 70’s I have this interview right here I can quote”, writes another".

August 24, 2021

History, or a royal commission, will not be kind to Morrison

Not a single woman or man on the governing side of Australian politics has had the guts or integrity to criticise the practices, and apparent working standards and ethics, of the Morrison government. In public that is.

July 15, 2021

Women's rights in Afghanistan-a lost opportunity in the 1970s.

_In Afghanistan today the US calls for the rights of women to be respected. But it was the US that acted in 1978 so that womens rights would suffer.

August 31, 2024

Keating was wrong. Australia is already the 51st state of the US

Paul Keating is wrong when he says that Anthony Albanese risked making Australia the 51st State of the United States of America. Not so! Australia is already the 51st State of America, in all but name.

July 17, 2024

Warning from the edge of the abyss

A famous US politician shot. Nuclear missiles positioned close to an enemy superpower. A nervous world wonders, ‘What next?”. It happened in the 1960s; it’s happening again today. We need a good song to wake us up.

July 14, 2024

Environment: will humans behave like monkeys when climate apocalypse strikes?

Summers right across the northern hemisphere are getting hotter but vegetation can lower the temperature locally. Macaques show humans how to cope with hotter conditions. Poor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

June 28, 2024

UNESCO calls on Australia to take more ambitious climate action

It feels like Groundhog day: Another coral bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef, another meeting of the World Heritage Committee to examine Australia’s progress to safeguard our World Heritage-listed icon.

June 11, 2024

Israel is on the UN blacklist of countries that harm children, and justifiably so

Somalia, Syria, Myanmar, Boko Haram – and Israel. Together, and not by coincidence. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ decision to add Israel to the blacklist of countries that harm children insulted and shocked Israel. We and Syria?

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal