September 23, 2022

Making the sensible choice: Australia can support peace between US, China in the Taiwan Strait

US-China relations continue to be in free fall. A confident China under the leadership of strongman Xi Jinping is more assertive in defending its national interests. While China has changed, so have Western powers who, unable to adjust to the new reality of global power transition, are treating China as the primary threat. Animosity has been growing between China and the West. Both sides seem to have abandoned the shared interests in combating real global challenges such as climate change, nuclear nonproliferation, and public health.

September 17, 2022

Sleepwalk to war: Another view

In Sleepwalk to War (Quarterly Essay Issue 86), Hugh White explores the potential responses of America and Australia to the growing strength of China. The latest Quarterly Essay (Issue 87) contains nine comments on Hugh Whites essay. Like White, all the commentators discuss the issues from the viewpoint of Australia and America.

August 29, 2022

The US-A genocidal warmongering nation disguised as a democracy?

From its inception to the present, the US rarely distinguishes between diplomacy and war. Today, it has ambassadors working in one-third of the worlds countries, but has special force operators active in three quarters of them.

July 24, 2022

How to trigger a war: three easy lessons for Australia

One: Select your grievance. Two: Insult and belittle your adversary. Three: Brace yourself…

June 30, 2022

Equity in education must be clearly defined, measured and reported

Equity in education has long been a key national goal for schooling. Most recently, it is one of the key goals in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Declaration of national goals. However, it has never been clearly defined. This deficiency has resulted in a variety of interpretations, inadequate target, limited reporting and lack of accountability for improving equity. Equity in education should be well-defined in order to effectively guide education policy and funding, measure equity and monitor progress in improving equity.

August 12, 2021

From pioneers to cavaliers: Australia's 40-year descent into environmental degradation

In the 1980s Australia was considered one of the most admired countries in the world on an environmental scale. That record, built under the Hawke government and our ideals about environmental protection has now been trampled by the rest of the world. Today, we find ourselves at the bottom of every poll of National regard for the worlds environment and we are never offered a speaking position at any International Environmental Forums.

January 23, 2021

US presidents love to play a round

The US presidency is said to be the office of the leader of the free world yet, as highlighted by the dying days of Donald Trumps presidency, one of the most challenging handicaps for US presidents seems to have been on the golf course.

October 13, 2020

Quad is built on wobbly foundations(Asia Times 5.10.2020)

With Australia, India, Japan and US set to meet in Tokyo to collectively counter China, it’s not clear Beijing represents a threat.

March 9, 2020

MUNGO MACCALLUM.- Morrison's Clayton's Solution

The frazzled Josh Frydenberg more or less admits that his beloved surplus is about to become collateral damage; he will reluctantly kiss it goodbye.

October 1, 2024

The electorate is turning left. Why is the PM facing the wrong way?

It must be so disappointing to be in the left faction of the Australian Labor Party.

June 13, 2024

Hostages have been freed, who cares about the Palestinian unpeople?

It’s been a month since I relocated to a new town. It’s been traumatic. The emotions have run wild and the somatic reactions strong. At the epicentre of this emotional firestorm is a deep, wounding sense of dislocation, of severed connections with people and place.

August 17, 2023

Former Attorneys-General say Enough is Enough in relation to Julian Assange

Nine former Attorneys-General, both State and Federal, have voiced their concern about the treatment of Australian citizen, journalist and publisher Julian Assange saying that enough is enough and his on-going detention must come to an end.

August 10, 2023

A tremendous addition to the Australian publishing machine

Pearls and Irritations (P&I) is a tremendous addition to an Australian publishing scene in which propaganda is increasingly replacing accurate news and analysis.

June 15, 2023

The States can establish the Voice now: Why wait?

There is a widespread misconception that the powers given the Federal Parliament by the Australian Constitution may be altered only by referendum.

July 6, 2022

What might our new Attorney do with Bernard Collaery?

A 22-year-old speech by the late, long-serving federal and ACT Judge John Gallop provides all that Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus needs to consider in the case of Bernard Collaery and Witness K.

June 5, 2021

Sunday environmental round up.

Chemical pollution is an under-appreciated threat to our oceans. China and the OECD are now running neck-and-neck on greenhouse gas emissions but Australias major overseas coal and gas customers place their bets elsewhere as Net Zero starts to make a strong run in the 2050 Survival Stakes.

February 23, 2021

The frightening cost of Morrison's climate inaction

Scott Morrison loves saying he wont take action on climate change without knowing what it will cost. Joel Fitzgibbon takes the same tack when defending his coal mining constituents. But now we have a clear idea of the cost of not taking action.

September 5, 2020

Trump at the RNC: Echoes of Saddam (Counterpunch 31/8/2020)

The Republican convention was a nauseating performance even by the cess-pit standards of theTrumpadministration. In its cult-like obeisance to the supreme leader it reminds me of meetings of the Iraqi Baath Party that periodically endorsedSaddam Husseinas the national saviour.

June 5, 2024

University leaders could learn from their students’ ethical clarity

University encampments invite us into a different way of doing education that defies institutional control.

September 22, 2023

The Great Australian Silence

Voice proponents flood the streets of major cities as Australian media battles its cult of forgetfulness.

June 28, 2023

Simon Crean: Advocate against war

He was a creature of workmanlike officialdom, a unionist, a federal Labor opposition leader never allowed to contest an election by the machinations of his own party, but still clear on one gloriously sane point. It takes a lot to oppose the squealing and hollering for war, and the late Simon Crean did that in 2003 in a number of speeches against the illegal invasion of Iraq. Some of these proved to be his finest.

August 23, 2022

The war you don't see

In The War You Don’t See, John Pilger returns to the subject of war reporting and its critical role in the making of wars. This drum beat was the theme of Pilger’s 1983 documentary Frontline: The Search for Truth in Wartime, a history of war journalism from the Crimea in the 19th century (the last British war without censorship) to Margaret Thatcher’s Falklands War in 1982.

July 3, 2022

Learning from Covid-19: A call for collective reflection

With the end of vaccine mandates for teachers and public servants in sight, it is an opportune moment for collective reflection. What can be learned from Australias management of Covid-19? What lessons can be applied to future challenges?

May 20, 2024

Antony Loewenstein - Not in my name

For Australian-German author and journalist Antony Loewenstein, Gaza was rarely a place to fear as a Jew.

July 17, 2023

Dont count on much post-Robodebt reform

The Holmes report into the Robodebt scandal gives the Albanese government all the authority and mandate it needs for root and branch reform of the public service, including a spill of its senior leadership.

August 8, 2022

Does the US know what it is doing, and mean what it says, over Taiwan?

The Chairman of the US Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, seemed quietly confident this week that Australia would be standing side-by-side with the US and Taiwan if China attempted to retrieve its errant and rebellious province by force of arms. Perhaps he knows something I dont.

June 20, 2022

Is the Quads maritime domain awareness initiative a trojan horse for the US military?

The Quad has launched the Indo-Pacific Partnership on Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA). While hailed by its backers as a step forward in practical Quad cooperation, it could be a Trojan horse for the US military.

September 29, 2021

Australias banks got $188 billion in cheap loans from the RBA. Now theyre funding sharebuybacks

Much has been written about the taxpayer-funded windfalls to some companies provided by the $90 billion JobKeeper scheme. Their gains have come from grants given to them to offset projected COVID-19 losses with no obligation to pay that money back when the losses didnt eventuate.

June 16, 2021

Coalition policies and corporatization of universities are premised on shifting costs to students and staff. Part 2

Australias tertiary education system is large, complex, and poorly regulated. Its government funding sources, governance structures and annual reporting requirements lack transparency and are inconsistent between and within jurisdictions. D__istorted government priorities and discredited ideological fixations have created a dysfunctional system that devalues the work of academics and professional staff while imposing ever higher burdens on students to pay more for less.

January 13, 2021

Shock horror: Racist white mob rampages through Capitol

The commentariat are reacting to the upheaval of January 6th as a shocking, one-off event. It was neither. Get ready, there’ll be more.

August 29, 2024

American reflections on global hegemony

Some US commentators are advocating a recalibration of America’s full-spectrum global posture, while others, including Condoleezza Rice, energetically beg to differ – naturally for the good of the world.

August 24, 2024

Compliance is killing caring

Having recently returned to working at the coalface in aged care, I was starkly reminded of the continuing crippling impact of the mandatory reporting and compliance regimes that overwhelm this “industry”.

August 22, 2022

Everett Bledsoe: The US military empire. How many US military bases are there in the world?

_The Pentagon does not know how many bases it has around the world so it relies on academics to tell it. The US bases are gated communities which replicate US suburbs, shops and amenities to the exclusion of local people.

July 2, 2022

The revolution industry and how the Hong Kong police were targeted

Professional destabilisersworked with activists for years to distort reality in Hong Kong, writes Phill Hynes. And theres a specific reason why the destruction of the reputation of the citys police became a key target.

June 30, 2022

Peter Drysdale and Shiro Armstrong: Australia must find common purpose with China

Both nations depend heavily on a multilateral trading system. Strengthening it together is a way of managing their troubled bilateral relationship.

June 29, 2022

We need an Australian Healthcare Reform Commission

With a new Government it is time for Health System Reform. In fact reform is long over due.

April 5, 2022

International mission to decide on Morrison Government's climate and reef policies

_So, is the Morrison Government doing enough to secure the protection of the Great Barrier Reef? The question is almost absurd. The answer is a deafening no.

October 25, 2020

McCarthyism is now rampant in Australia

Linda Jakobson spoke at the National Security Summit hosted by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on 22 October 2020 on the issue of foreign interference in Australian education and society.

February 23, 2020

The travesty of Detention Centre health care

Comcare has still not laid charges against Australian Border Force.

August 17, 2024

Court strikes again in Thai lawfare – Asian Media Report

In Asian media this week: Another Shinawatra becomes PM in Thailand. Plus: Kishida ‘lost people’s trust’; Big losses as Asian Muslims shun KFC over Gaza; Manila reshapes its superpower ties; Gen Z revolution in Bangladesh; Racism a factor in Olympics row.

May 4, 2024

Our biggest China lie

Three things: China is winning from Gaza; China growing at 5 per cent now is better than China growing at 7 per cent a decade ago; and Australia’s biggest China lie is that we’re spending half a trillion dollars on boats to protect our sea lanes.

May 2, 2024

Monthly economic and market review

The Australian All-Ords share price index rose 0.3% last week after falling 2.9% the week before. The index had been yo-yoing sideways since it escaped its three-year channel ceiling at the end of February 2024, but a fortnight ago had a big drop bringing it back within its previous channel ceiling. Read Percy Allan’s monthly economic market review.

July 26, 2023

Iron ore wealth - inequity through reversible governmental failure

It is time for the Australian citizenry and First Nations to resume their rightful ownership and custodianship of the lands eco-geology.

June 20, 2023

Treasurer must wield power, rein in the RBA

The parliament wisely gave a treasurer the power to reign in the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) when it was not acting in the best interests of the Australians. Jim Chalmers should use it.

June 10, 2023

Alls not quiet on the home front

Labors ability to seamlessly follow in the Coalitions strategic footsteps is showing welcome signs of weakening as opponents of AUKUS and the submarine deal find their voice.

September 17, 2022

Long live Democracy: We must reject Charles as King of Australia

The Governor-General has asked Australian citizens to be obedient to the King of Australia. Charles is not my King. I recognise the Parliament and the High Court as our highest legal authority. Lets put the frivolity of fairy tales and princesses to one side. Its time for an Australian Republic.

July 6, 2022

The killing of Afghanistan

The core reason for the crumbling of the US empire is a familiar refrain in imperial history. As US economic power declines and continually makes strategic mistakes its military capacity will be jeopardised, and its network of client states will start to challenge its capacity to ensure their security.

January 16, 2021

Chocolate: still tainted by child labour

What is your New Year resolution? To get fitter and eat less sugar, including chocolate? There’s plenty of other reasons to re-think our love affair with chocolate.

October 12, 2020

Julian Assange and failure of mainstream media

On 18 September, a little over a year since Amal Clooney was appointed as the UKs special envoy for media freedom, she resigned. Among Clooneys barrister colleagues are Geoffrey Robertson, Jennifer Robinson, and Gareth Pierce, all of whom, at their Doughty Chambers human rights practice, are advocates for Julian Assange.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal