March 27, 2017

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Can Turnbull learn from Trump?

It may have been one of the few rational things Trump has done since moving into the White House, but it was considerably more decisive than the endless procrastination of our own leader, who seems determined to hang on to the great National Economic Plan of 2016, the plan for massive across-the-board cuts to company tax.

May 3, 2018

CAVAN HOGUE. What rules based order?

Australia proclaims the importance of a rules based international order but it is not at all clear what those rules are, let alone who observes them and who doesn’t. Even where there is agreement on what the rule is countries interpret it to suit their interests. There are no countries in a position to cast the first stone. International agreements might reasonably be seen as rule setting but there are few such bodies where every country in the world has signed up and many important ones have not been accepted by one or more of the major world powers. I try to ask here some of the questions that we should be looking at. I suggest that Australian leaders reflect Australia as it used to be and not as it increasingly will be. This influences their approach to the world and to rules today.

December 11, 2014

Max Corden. Australia needs higher taxes, not spending cuts.

The federal budget balance is expected to deteriorate. The reasons are numerous but, in a lengthy statement, the government sums it up in terms of two key factors. These are: the softer economic outlook; and unresolved issues inherited from the former government.

The economy is going through a transition. A decline in resources investment will be offset by a recovery in the non-resources sector. It seems the decline in resources investment may be sharper than previously forecast while the recovery in the non-resources sector may be more gradual.

July 31, 2019

RICHARD BUTLER-Fake News, Alternative Facts and now Alternative Intelligence

Trump has terminated the supremo of US intelligence, John Coats, and has nominated as the new Director of National Intelligence, Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe. His unstinting commitment to all things Trump and, his inexperience in intelligence and foreign affairs, would seem to guarantee that he will provide alternative intelligence to Trump’s liking.

August 5, 2018

MARION McCONNELL. Drug Reform series-The long road to drug law reform

What should I tell people about your sons death, asked our Minister. He was there to discuss arrangements for our sons funeral. In my overwhelming grief it hadnt crossed my mind, but now it immediately struck me. Our son had died from a heroin overdose. He is now tainted with shame. We, his mum and dad will also be made to feel the shame. Not something I ever thought my family would have to cope with. What should we do? How should we handle this? I need not have stressed because in an instant my husband replied in a sure but shaky voice: Tell the truth.

June 13, 2017

JOHN QUIGGIN. The OECD joins the backlash against unfettered globalisation

The OECD, in a recent report, has recognised that globalisation has many dimensions. Its enthusiasm for globalisation is undiminished, but it does acknowledge that the costs of globalisation “have been larger, more localised and more durable than previously thought, and that this is one source of disaffection with globalisation”. In a challenge to conventional wisdom it suggests that governments should seek to restore progressivity to their tax and welfare systems.

February 15, 2015

John Menadue. Climate change and the rise and demise of Tony Abbott.

Opposition to climate change was the vehicle for Tony Abbott to rise to the leadership of the Liberal Party. It is now making a major factor in his demise as Prime Minister.

Tony Abbott regarded climate change as absolute crap and in December 2009 he rallied the support of the right wing of the Liberal Party led my Nick Minchin to overthrow Malcolm Turnbull as the leader. His victory margin was one vote. Malcolm Turnbull had been negotiating with Kevin Rudd for a bipartisan commitment on an emissions trading scheme.

November 5, 2015

Quigley, former CEO of NBN, attributes $15 b. cost blow out to Turnbull's Multi Technology Mix.

For comment by Renai LeMay, see link to his blog delimiter.com.au below:

https://delimiter.com.au/2015/11/05/quigley-releases-detailed-evidence-showing-mtm-nbn-cost-blowout/

John Menadue.

August 28, 2017

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Captain Cook.

For months we have had to endure war on all fronts the class war, the gender war, the religion war, the equality war, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war against political correctness, the war on the ABC and of course the perennially convenient war on terror.

August 16, 2017

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. "Which of us is safe?"

Graham Freudenberg, of German, Scottish and Irish descent, whose Prussian-born grandparents were declared enemy aliens in 1915 after 50 years prolific residence in Queensland, has recently held a sance with King OMalley (an American pretending to be a Canadian and Peter Duttons early predecessor as Minister for Home Affairs) and Prime Ministers Chris Watson (born in Chile, son of a stateless Swedish sailor), Billy Hughes (a London-born Welshman), Bob Menzies (British to the bootstraps) and Malcolm Fraser (part-Jewish and therefore with a citizens right of return to Israel whether he wanted it or not) and writes:

January 15, 2017

TONY KEVIN. Obama's years of promise and frustration.

For eight years I have delighted in Barack Obama’s words - even richer and more inspiring to see and hear in his ringing tones , than to read in cold print. . Those days are, sadly, about to depart. The Chicago valedictory address was his last, magnificent, gift to us.

May 23, 2018

MICHAEL MULLINS. Wilson conviction exposes Australian bishops lack of contrition

Recently a friend abused by a priest in Newcastle 40 years ago took his own life. Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted this week for concealing sexual abuse in that diocese around the same time. Church leaders valued the institution ahead of its people, and unfortunately it appears little has changed in the attitude of the Australian bishops.

October 9, 2016

Gough Whitlam and Blue Poles.

Blue Poles is in the news again. It was purchased for $1.3 million and is now valued at $350 million. The disparaging nature of the campaign against the purchase is reflected in Molnar’s cartoon (below) of 5 April 1974.

Mungo would be chuffed!

August 5, 2018

GEOFF GALLOP. Drug Reform series-The politics of drug decriminalisation

Policies around drug decriminalisation should be evidence based, recognise the need for a nuanced rather than fundamentalist approach and take account of the advances made in the field of harm reduction, not just law enforcement. Reform measures should be premised on a mix of rights, health and community safety principles and reflect the views of a broad cross-section of society.

February 16, 2014

John Menadue-Refugees - the demographic dividend.

As responsible members of the human family, we have a strong moral case to provide protection for the victims of persecution and violence.

There is also a strong case in our own self-interest that refugees almost by definition are risk-takers and entrepreneurial. It can be argued that they are amongst the most highly motivated and determined in the Australian community.

Most importantly if we want to see economic growth and rising productivity we need young people. Even the hard headed economists know that it is people that matter and not how they have come here. We need to open our minds as well as our hearts. Lets look at asylum seekers and refugees from an economic perspective as well as a humanitarian perspective.

September 21, 2018

MARK BUTLER. Coalition exposes its ignorance in anti-renewable stance (The Big Smoke, 21.09.18)

On Tuesday during Parliamentary Question Time, new Energy Minister Angus Taylorannounced:the (RET) target reaches a peak in 2020 and we will not be replacing that with anything.

January 18, 2017

STEPHEN LEEDER. Over-servicing in health.

Abuse of Medicare or other reimbursement schemes is much easier if the regulations surrounding it are lax. That is what makes the current review of Medicare so important so that the rules are clear and make the best match possible between cost and benefit. This will result in less temptation to overuse useless procedures that might make the clinician rich but do nothing and perhaps even harm the patient.

June 29, 2018

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND

A regular connection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media.

March 23, 2017

RICHARD BUTLER. The many risks we run - Trump and the US. (Part 2 of 2)

The deep-seated argument taking place within the US polity, partly but not only because of the mess being presided over by President Trump, makes even more urgent the need for a thorough-going review of Australias foreign policy, including how we conduct ourselves within the alliance.

July 8, 2013

Ending the policy paralysis on refugees. John Menadue

In my blog of July 6, Asylum seekers good news at last, I expressed concern that it had taken so long for the government to take action and really put effort into the development of a regional framework. It has been obvious for years that this was the path we had to take. We cannot solve this problem unilaterally. As a result our public discourse got diverted into a whole range of divisive and secondary issues.

December 16, 2016

STEPHEN GRENVILLE. Australias AAA credit rating under threat, but who cares?

_Australia needs to live within its means,_but we can do this without the constant hectoring from agencies whose egregious misjudgements are still fresh in our memories. It’s time to stop genuflecting at the ratings’ altar.

Five year ago the Financial Crisis Enquiry Commission, set up by the US Congress following the Global Financial Crisis, described the rating agencies as ’essential companies in the wheel of financial destruction’ and ‘key enablers of the financial meltdown’.

_Closer to home, Stephen Grenville, a former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia,_expressed similar reservations__in this blog (see repost) John Menadue

April 22, 2014

We were warned about lobbying.

In my blog of April 19 2014, ‘This is about more than a bottle of wine’ I referred to the need for major reforms in lobbying.

Three and a half years ago the ICAC in NSW brought forward proposals to better manage lobbying and avoid corruption. The Recommendations of the ICAC are still relevant today. If action had been taken at the end of 2010 we could have avoided many of the problems that have arisen in NSW. The ICAC report follows.

John Menadue

July 7, 2015

Michael Keating. Greeces Predicament

The front page news story for weeks now has been what is happening to Greece and what will happen. The markets, the various authorities and the media all treat Greeces predicament as if it were solely a matter of excessive debt. Therefore austerity is justified as being essential to bringing the debt back under control, and gradually paying it back.

But this is very much a financiers view of Greeces problems and those Governments whose views are coloured by their involvement in arranging and/or guaranteeing the finance. What has so far escaped attention is how Greece, while locked into the Euro, has become completely uncompetitive.

December 4, 2018

PATRICIA EDGAR. Kids Technology and the Future: The programs and projects children want to see (Part 2).

Children are now on the move. Their phone is their companion for reaching out to friends, texting, referencing, looking up what they want and need to know, viewing YouTube, playing games, taking photos and videos. They can click through whats on offer: a cornucopia from which they are learning and having fun. They have led the way in showing tech companies how versatile a smart phone can be. They go online for a myriad of purposes and attracting their attention for any length of time is a challenge. Yes they enjoy stories but they are looking for diversity and innovation.

December 9, 2024

A five-minute scroll

In 24 hours the Middle East has changed. Craig Murray gives the perspective of distances and the significance of the change, Netanyahu speaks to the opportunities and challenges while Wikileaks reminds us of notable moments. Peter Cronau reveals the lopsided outrage over the Melbourne Synagogue fire, and a former Chief Adviser to the British Prime Minister calls out the US policy on Taiwan. Ron Paul calls on the US to stop foreign aid. A new week begins.

May 17, 2018

LAURIE PATTON. Consultation group to help reshape Internet domain names management.

With three months to develop new processes to redress historical weaknesses the company managing Australias Internet domain names has created a broad-based consultative group to guide the process.

August 28, 2017

ROSS GITTINS. Government losing its resistance to rent-seeking businesses

I’m starting to suspect the federal government of whatever colour has lost its ability to control its own spending.

January 11, 2018

DUNCAN GRAHAM. Visit Down Under and pay up.

Indonesians will not be getting cheap and easy-to-obtain Australian visas available to Malaysians and Singaporeans. Australian campaigners seeking better access for Indonesian tourists have been officially told there will be no changes. This is despite the Republic giving Australians free visas-on-arrival and the Australian Government claiming it wants more Indonesian visitors.

August 7, 2018

MICHAEL HART. Drug Reform Series Drub Policy-an addiction to failure

A careful assessment of our policy towards currently illegal drugs and our struggle with the trade in these drugs brings forth a somber but frank conclusion about the war on drugs. It should stop.

August 7, 2018

RALPH SECCOMBE. Drug Reform series-Production of illicit drugs - the balloon effect

Policy on illicit drugs should be developed on the basis that supply can never be cut off. Production is like a balloon: squeeze it in one place, but it will only bulge out elsewhere. This applies all the way to the consumer. There is no pricking this balloon under the present prohibition regime. While we naturally focus on harm suffered in Australia, we should not lose sight of the harm which international policies cause in countries from which we source the illicit drugs consumed here.

September 18, 2017

JOHN BENSON. Biodiversity is threatened in New South Wales

The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was the first of its type in Australia. Established by a Liberal government, its lyrebird emblem became world-renowned. But the Service is not valued by the present Government and now faces grave uncertainty.

July 25, 2015

John Menadue. A graph on boat arrivals for lazy journalists.

I have reposted below an article I wrote on 8 December last year pointing out that Tony Abbott did not stop the boats. But the debate proceeds, assisted by journalists who still claim that Tony Abbott stopped the boats. He didn’t.

So that my argument can be better understood, see the graph below which reveals quite clearly that there was a dramatic fall in boat arrivals from July 2013 when Kevin Rudd announced the policy that future boat arrivals would not be settled in Australia. We may argue about the wisdom of this policy, but it effectively stopped the boats. There is a current debate about turn-backs of boats, but they were only a marginal influence in stopping the flow of boat arrivals.

January 6, 2016

John Menadue. Radicalism and terrorism.

Repost from 15/10/2015

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is talking a lot about his governments commitment to counter radicalisation in the Muslim community. The NSW Premier and Police Commissioner also keep talking about countering radicalisation. At least this is preferable to the endless talk we had before about a death cult and team Australia.

But radicalism and terrorism are not the same thing. Radical politics and radical religion are surely acceptable and widespread. But what is not acceptable is to commit acts of violence and terrorism. Making this distinction between radicalism and terrorism is not some semantic play with language. We had better understand the essential difference between the two or we will never stop terrorism.

April 19, 2015

Judith Crispin. Anzac day, the Armenian Genocide and destruction of cultural heritage in the Caucasus.

“Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group.”

September 17, 2019

HAJO DUKEN. Australian values

What a great and timely question Allan Patience asked on P+I on 7 August. Whilst I agree with him that most of the Australian value talk is simply humbug, I feel that, in times of Trump and Brexit, the Uluru Statement from the Heart and raids on the ABC, we more than ever need to have a serious discussion about what the values of a nation in general, and Australian values in particular, are and who determines them.

October 4, 2018

GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. 80 years after Munich.

The 80th anniversary of the Munich Agreement passed without significant comment, although it was a pivotal event of the 20h Century. Perhaps its time for me to commit the ultimate political incorrectness and confess that I am a Municheer. I mean that if I had been there instead of a four year old in Brisbane, I would have cheered to the echo in the House of Commons as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that Hitler had invited him for the fateful meeting in Munich on 27-28 September 1938. When Chamberlain brought home the Munich Agreement which ceded the Sudentenland from Czechoslovakia to the Third Reich, then it would continue, I would have joined the ecstatic Londoners as Chamberlain blathered on about peace with honour and peace in our time. I would have approved President Roosevelts cable to Chamberlain: Good man.

October 6, 2016

DAVID CHARLES. Venture Capital and Start Ups Is Berlin an example for Australian capital cities?

During a visit to Berlin in mid September this year I was struck by the way the venture capital and start up scene in Berlin had shifted from being something of an exotic hothouse flower to one of the leading places for new business creation in Germany and indeed Europe. Ernst and Young in its 2015 study Liquidity meets Perspective: Venture Capital and Start Ups in Germany argues that Berlin is the new kid on the block and has already got some impressive milestones behind it. Between 2011 and 2015 17,000 jobs were created.

According to Ernst&Young, in terms of start ups and the mobilization of venture capital Berlin may have already caught up with London as the leading European location for tech based businesses. In 2015 Euro 2.9 billion of tech start up business took place in Germany. Of this over two-thirds was in Berlin with the lions share of deals being in IT and communications and E-Commerce. This placed Berlin ahead of London in that year.

The question is how did this come about given the special nature of Berlin and its complex post World War 2 history as an island economy which had lost much of its industrial base? Are there pointers that Australia (and indeed the major Australian capital cities) can learn from in developing our own start up eco-systems?

June 13, 2015

Ian McAuley and Miriam Lyons - Governomics.

Current Affairs

Governomics

Melbourne University Press have just published_Governomics._ The book is about the role of government and the importance of the public sector.

The day after_Governomicswas launched Geraldine Doogue interviewedMiriam Lyons and Ian McAuley on the ABC Radio National program_Saturday Extra.

The case for government

In a fightback against the small government obsession, Ian McAuley and Miriam Lyons have written Governomics: Can we afford small government?

It was published on May 1 by Melbourne University Press, and, and was covered in an extensive interview on Geraldine Doogues Saturday Extra on the following day.

June 19, 2018

CAROL GLATZ. Dictatorships begin with taking over media, warns pope

Individuals are tempted to destroy by spreading scandalous news, Pope Francis said during Mass. Media outlets are also put in the hands of unscrupulous people.

May 21, 2017

LINDA SIMON.The future of VET remains uncertain!

The 2017 Federal Budget provided little new funding for vocational education and training, with its main focus the Skilling Australians Fund. This Fund appears to only exacerbate the uncertain future of the VET sector with its narrow student application, dependence on revenue generation and outcomes focus.

March 12, 2017

GEOFF MILLER. Too Nuclear to Fail?

The North Korean launch of four missiles towards the west coast of japan, reportedly accompanied by boasts about a coming ability to hit the continental United States with an ICBM, has raised the level of tension in North East Asia.

January 11, 2018

DYLAN McCONNELL. A month in, Tesla's SA battery is surpassing expectations.

Its just over one month since the Hornsdale power reserve was officially opened in South Australia. The excitement surrounding the project has generated acres of media interest, bothlocallyandabroad.The aspect that has generated the mostinterestis the batterys rapid response time in smoothing out several major energy outages that have occurred since it was installed.

September 24, 2017

MAX HAYTON. The New Zealand Election: MMP will decide

The result of the New Zealand election on Saturday was inconclusive. On the night the leader of the Labour Party Jacinda Ardern said MMP will decide who governs for the next three years. MMP or Mixed Member Proportional elections usually create coalitions. It has done so again.

January 4, 2017

SUE WAREHAM. Why is Australia not fully behind efforts to prohibit nuclear weapons?

It’s about time for some good news. Heaven knows, we need it after 2016’s litany of human failures to find peace between ourselves and with our struggling planet. But as a Christmas gift of historic proportions, the UN which is to say its member states has taken the most promising action in decades to lead us towards the elimination of the world’s worst weapons. Late on December 23 in New York, the UN General Assembly resolved by a strong majority to begin talks in March on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons.

December 17, 2014

Truth, Justice and Healing Council's challenge of celibacy falls on deaf ears.

In an article on December 16 in the SMH online, former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally said that the report of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council offered Catholics a wake-up call. She said that many in the Vatican are still asleep. She added ‘I can’t decide whether to scream or cry when I hear a bishop or cardinal deny that the Catholic Church has a particular and serious problem with child sexual abuse by pointing out that such abuse happens outside the church as well.’

August 16, 2017

JOHN McCARTHY. The West needs to talk about Russia.

The place Russia occupies in the political maelstrom in Washington, the recent sanctions bills in Congress and Putins cuts to the American diplomatic presence in Russia are driving the USs relationshipand hence the Wests relationshipwith Russia from bad to worse. However, the following thoughtsfrom a Russia neophyte after a trip to Moscow and road journey to Archangel on the Arctic circleare thrown into the mix, if only to colour reflections on what might, one day, make sense.

August 6, 2018

MICK PALMER. Drug Reform series-The Blind Eye of History: from policing alcohol prohibition to policing drug prohibition

Australia has some unhappy laws which result in people using illicit drugs being severely punished. When thinking about this, one should recall laws used half a century ago to criminalise Aboriginal people who drank alcohol.

February 22, 2016

John Menadue. Making the Federation work better.

The Abbott Government decided that over the next decade commencing in 2017 the Commonwealth Government would reduce grants to the states for education and health by $80 b. This is likely to produce a major and concerted campaign by the states to protect their hospitals and schools. It does provide an opportunity for more effective cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States in the health sector. I have reproduced below an article on this subject which was posted in May last year as part of the policy series co-edited with Michael Keating. I argue for the establishment of a joint Commonwealth State Health Commission in any state that will cooperate. In addition to this state by state approach, it might also be possible to build cooperation on a region by region basis. I do not think that a major change in constitutional arrangements is possible or that the Commonwealth will concede completely to the States or vice versa. But I believe that a pragmatic and step-by-step approach could be successful. See repost of article below.

November 9, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Donald Trump- the billionaire outsider!

But is there a possible silver lining?

I am surprised and horrified by the election of Donald Trump as the Leader of the Free World. He is sexist, racist, xenophobic and a Muslim-basher. He doesnt dog-whistle like our prime ministers, but speaks out bluntly on issues in ways I find offensive. Yet clearly large numbers of Americans like his populist nonsense.

It seems that Clinton may have narrowly won the popular vote but Trump has clearly won the numbers in the Electoral College. Perhaps the system was rigged after all - but in Trumps favour!

I have been disappointed so many times in the past in elections. It is not a new experience for me.

The Trump victory is a repeat of what we saw in Brexit and what is developing in so many other countries around the world, particularly in Europe. Many people clearly feel that they are being left behind. Yet the populists who exploit this alienation have no credible policies in response. In Europe in the 1930s, we saw the enormous damage that populists can play in the lives of people who feel alienated and vulnerable.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal