June 23, 2022

US will stop being a democracy most Americans say

MOST Republicans and Democrats believe that the United States will cease to be a democracy, according to a new poll by Yahoo News and YouGov.

August 7, 2021

Barry Jones speech for the Monash Medal at the Rotary Club of Melbourne 4.8.2021

_The soldiers had to have a representative hero who was a volunteer; he was acceptable to the community as a seemingly unpretentious outsider, not really part of the Establishment. His commanding intellect was sensed as well as his basic honesty and decency. He was one tall poppy who was never cut down.

August 20, 2024

Albanese’s impotence gives Dutton undue credit

One of the first things Tony Abbott did soon after becoming Prime Minister of Australia in 2013 was to abandon the fibre-to-the-premises model that had been the hallmark of the previous Rudd Government’s National Broadband Network rollout. Shortage of labour and supplies had bedevilled the rollout under Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, but it promised a world-class high-speed broadband network that would greatly improve workplace productivity and make Australian businesses internationally competitive.

September 7, 2023

Embedding indigenous advice in government policy key to real change

In discussions of the upcoming referendum on establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, a question often raised is how will it make a difference? This has been difficult for advocates to address because instances of governments empowering our First Nations peoples are few and far between.

September 1, 2023

Queensland Government slammed for abusing human rights of children

More than 180 human rights and legal experts, social justice organisations and First Nations community groups have signed the open letter below condemning the Queensland Government for overriding the states Human Rights Act to lock children in the states police watch houses indefinitely.

August 28, 2023

Climate and housing left on the 2063 agenda

The Albanese government is tiptoeing as if it has all the time in the world.

June 22, 2023

Gambling and tobacco a tale of two poisons. The lessons we must learn to tame big gambling

Gambling is normalised and celebrated which has led to the highest levels of gambling losses per capita in the world 40 per cent higher for poker machines and 20 per cent higher for online gambling well ahead of any other country.

May 29, 2023

Swathes of pro-integrity rhetoric no match for departmental accountability shyness

This is a brief, unhappy yarn about the struggle for accountability and integrity in a Commonwealth government organisation. The yarns principal character is the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), now headed by Dr Glyn Davis, the de facto leader of the Australian Public Service (APS). The Department is at the forefront of promoting what it calls a pro-integrity culture and setting an example for others.

May 22, 2023

How PwC monetises its insider secrets

The crisis in which PricewaterhouseCoopers finds itself is a useful illustration that the problem of politicians and bureaucrats becoming lobbyists, and of the revolving door syndrome are far from the only ones besetting integrity in public administration. The widespread use of supposedly independent consultants, many with deep and intractable conflicts of interest, is undermining good government, and costing taxpayers extra billions they should not have to be paying.

June 6, 2021

Indias suspect Quad credentials

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis carefully cultivated competence bubble has been punctured by his government’s ineffectiveness amid the second wave of the COVID-19 virus that has ravaged his country.

September 24, 2024

Albanese’s social media gesture confirms the primacy of bipartisanship

The New York Times published an article last week by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and pollster Will Johnson. Haidt has spent many years researching how smartphones and social media affect the lives and mental health of the generation which has been using them since the cradle; i.e. American Gen Z-ers.

June 21, 2024

The Jewish community raise their voice to call out extremists

The Jewish Council of Australia, according to reports by Al Jazeera, is deeply concerned that the Australian Jewish Association is promoting the far-right Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin as a speaker at an Australian Zoom event, apparently held on 19 June, notwithstanding that Feiglin has recently quoted Adolf Hitler in reference to the wiping out of Gaza’s population.

August 21, 2023

The edifice of the consultancy-military-industrial complex is crumbling

The consultancy-military-industrial complex continues to reveal its sinister nature as serious questions are raised over conflicts of interest in the tender process for KPMGs $46 million REDSPICE contract with the Australian Signals Directorate.

June 17, 2023

The Voice and Reconciliation

The Voice is beyond politics. Its about reconciliation between two profoundly different cultures and approaches to life.

April 19, 2023

How to go about achieving better immigration policy and decision-making

It helps to apply all the lessons of the past correctly when considering learnings from a recent High Court decision about the use of personal Ministerial intervention powers under the Migration Act

August 5, 2022

Environment: UN declares right to a healthy environment

Global right to a healthy, sustainable environment declared but governments conspire to hide the truth about climate change, Tassie sanctions the killing of native wildlife and Brazil encourages dangerous mining deep in the Amazon.

July 30, 2022

Notes from Nomadia

Thousands of grey Nomads are travelling endlessly around Australia contributing in a small way to the destruction of the very environment they apparently admire. Good luck to them.

March 2, 2021

So many questions for Home Affairs

How did a backlog of around 100,000 partner visa applications develop when the Migration Act clearly states it is illegal to limit the number of partner visas? When the Department of Employment undertake a systemic investigation into the 22 deaths of seasonal worker visa holders? Why have we significantly tightened legal criteria for all other skill stream visas yet the Global Talent Independent visa has almost no meaningful legal requirements? So many questions the new immigration minister Alex Hawke should ask the Department of Home Affairs.

January 11, 2021

Militarism has become the norm. We need a civil revival

Military governors headed our first colonial settlements and led the Frontier Wars to dispossess the indigenous people. I thought we had outgrown that military relic. But not so. We are back with military governor’s general rewarded for their service in Afghanistan. The military are being intruded into more and more of our civil life.

November 18, 2020

Sermons beginning again in Melbourne

Its easy and cheap to insult sermons and sermon-givers, which of course makes it utterly irresistible to me.

October 20, 2020

Necessary but insufficient: Anti-corruption commissions wont stop corruption

Unfortunately, its patently obvious that we need anti-corruption commissions to expose corruption in Australian politics. But history shows such commissions to be necessary to expose corruption but insufficient to prevent it.

October 3, 2024

Do we need universities?

Australian universities are starved of funds and forced to operate as commercial entities focused on profit, not the pursuit of knowledge.

June 17, 2024

The elephant in the Zionist classroom

What is it about the Australian Jewish community, Australian Jewish ‘faith’ schools and Israel?

September 11, 2023

Insulating foreign policy from domestic politics: The legacy of Marise Payne

Marise Payne’s tenure as Australia’s Foreign Minister was rightly marked with criticism. Australia’s international and strategic interests went backwards during her time. But was she really Australias worst Foreign Minister as some commentators assert? Its important to consider the root cause of the damage done to Australias national interests: the belligerent interference and harm done by Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton.

August 20, 2023

Pay the (colonial) rent?

Internationally-acclaimed Indigenous artist Richard Bells latest Pay the rent! installation at the Tate Modern in London goes to the heart of some of the intractable problems of Australian white settlement.

August 9, 2023

Crimea and conundrums

Over recent weeks Pearls and Irritations has published two pieces on Crimea. One by David Higginbottom reports his views of the situation in Crimea following a visit there, arguing that there is widespread acceptance of Russian rule. The second, by Jon Richardson, argues that Higginbottom is wrong, that any pro-Russian majority is a result of the influx of ethnic Russians following the deportation of the Tatars in 1944, and that the future of Crimea should be determined principally by its original inhabitants (the reference to terra nullius in the title).

July 21, 2023

Unemployment kills Australians: Weekly roundup

The Voice Yes campaign is actually supported by parliamentarians from all main parties; Unemployment kills Australians; The Fadden by-election no winners, but a strange electorate. Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy.

April 2, 2023

Albos toxic legacy on AUKUS

After a long, Covid-enforced break, Dr Sigmund Freud (SF) has resumed his interviews with world leaders. He met recently with Prime Minister Albanese (AA).

May 9, 2021

Fairfax's polling bias

Progressives should not necessarily be concerned about the Crosby Textor connection of the new SMH and Age pollster. The key question is how the polls are reported.

February 25, 2021

Media in the Asian Century: crises galore but screens are filled with Boris' antics

Australia takes a safety-in-numbers approach to Myanmar, but shows no such restraint in dealings with China. And speaking of China, there was a meeting of minds in The Australian_, both left and right._

January 18, 2021

Nicola Sturgeons ally in her push for Scottish independence Boris Johnson (The Irish Times, Jan 17, 2021)

Brexit has rubbed the noses of the Scots in their status as junior partners in the union. They have been told repeatedly that their vote against it means nothing, and that their duty is just to suck it up.

August 19, 2024

Carbon budget blown, only 50% chance 1.5 degrees

_As greenhouse emissions accumulate each year and linger for decades in the atmosphere, effectively adding another layer of climate warming ‘blankets’ on the globe, it chews up our carbon ‘budget’ available to reach the Paris 2015 agreement target of 1.5 degree warming. I discuss this with David McKewan, director, adaptive capability, net zero program and project management consultancy, and author of ‘_The Adaptive Economy’.

July 17, 2024

NATO becomes OTAN

The NATO logo dominated meetings at the anniversary conference in Washington. The logo includes a reversed rendition reading OTAN. The final communique at the anniversary conference had some wondering if OTAN was an acronym for Oriental Territory Attack Node.

May 14, 2024

“From the river to the sea”

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant being used frequently today in rallies around the country in support of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza. More relevantly, for the purposes of this paper, the chant is being used in university campuses, where protestors are active, to the point of erecting tents, encampments, to accommodate themselves during the course of their protest.

April 30, 2024

Israel-The Real Terrorists

The Western world (18 % of the whole world) believe HAMAS is the terrorist of Gaza. That’s a result of mainstream media conflating HAMAS terrorism with legitimate aspirations for self-determination. It disregards the observation that one man’s terrorist may be another man’s freedom fighter in the Gaza strip.

September 21, 2023

Rights are necessary but insufficient for the achievement of the full inclusion of people with disabilities

Two significant reports concerning people with disabilities are due be released. First will be the Independent Review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and second, the findings of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. Underpinning both inquiries is Australias commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) with Australia being one of the first to sign and ratify it in 2008.

July 19, 2023

Numbers fail to add up for central bankers in fight against inflation

The ground has been shifting under the feet of the worlds central bankers, including our own Dr Philip Lowe, the outgoing chief of the Reserve Bank. This has weakened the power of higher interest rates to get inflation down.

May 19, 2023

Australians can now see whether parliaments are working for them

Many Australians might not realise that the 2022 federal election was the first to be accompanied by an independent report on the performance of the outgoing parliament in building a better Australia.

June 29, 2021

Garuda-The spirit of Indonesia takes a dive

The financial deck warning lights had been flashing furiously when Indonesias Garuda airline welshed on its AUD 660 million sukuk repayments this month after a 14-day grace.

October 5, 2024

Jayson Gillham files legal action against MSO, launches crowdfunding campaign

Melbourne, October 2024 - Acclaimed Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham has filed legal proceedings against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) in the Federal Court of Australia, following the controversial cancellation of his performance in August. Gillham has also initiated a crowdfunding campaign to support his legal costs in this fight for artistic freedom and free speech.

May 25, 2024

Dutton’s migration cuts on parents, health workers, risks massive backlash from Australia’s migrant community

In his Budget reply, Peter Dutton said he wants to cut the permanent migration program from 185,000 to 140,000 while maintaining a two-thirds to one third balance in favour of the skill stream. We subsequently found out that this is part of his plan to reduce net migration to 160,000.

September 2, 2023

The future of the Catholic Church: Creating unity through diversity

Official surveys all show that the Catholic Church in Australia is in serious trouble. Any refusal by the church to be fully inclusive of women and diverse sexualities will almost certainly lead to a much smaller church than has historically been the case in Australia. If the church cannot accommodate greater inclusion and equal human rights, then the continuation of the church as we know it is unsustainable in the long-term.

August 12, 2022

Facial recognition technology down under

The language is far from reassuring. Despite being caught red handed using facial recognition technology unbeknownst to customers, a number of Australias large retail companies have given a meek assurance that they will pause their use. The naughty will only show contrition in the most qualified of ways.

November 3, 2020

The Royal Commission bushfire report must lead to a national Climate Adaptation Policy

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements (Bushfire RC) report is eagerly awaited not only by eminent fire fighter Greg Mullins who hopes it will lead to action to reduce climate change emissions but by all anxious Australians who recognise our governments negligence by not preparing a national climate adaptation plan. Hopefully the Bushfire RC report will be a first step in its delivery.

July 4, 2020

Scott Morrison. We're not in the new 1930s

Leaders seem to want to believe that theyre living in the worlds most interesting times but theres a real danger if they make it so.

September 1, 2024

Big battery market charges beyond expectations, now the grid just needs more wind and solar

The big battery storage market continues to charge ahead beyond expectations, buoyed by the doubling of planned capacity at what is already Queensland’s biggest battery, and a host of new projects that have taken the sector to levels and dimensions not contemplated even 12 months ago.

August 13, 2024

Political assassination on a butcher’s paper

Has Australian journalism become weapons of mass lies and character assassinations? When did our media become instruments of sabotage and reputation busting outfits? Whatever the answer is, some print media outlets have been exposed as mere butchers’ papers.

July 24, 2024

Peter Dutton: Australia’s uncomplicated Trumper

When a divine entity allegedly intervened to save Donald Trump from a gunshot pellet that grazed his ear at a rally in Pittsburgh on Saturday 13 July, it was not the first time the former president had taken an interest in political assassinations.

May 27, 2024

Changing skills language to help save humanity

Words and phrases used to define, classify, and order our world, combine to tell a good story. That story, told often enough, seems normal. But that story can hide, ignore, and distort, reinforcing unhelpful beliefs and stereotypes. This is what’s happening with stories about skills and occupations.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal