September 20, 2024

Does the Reserve Bank need to change?

Shortly after he became Treasurer, in July 2022, Jim Chalmers announced a review of the Reserve Bank – the first since the current monetary policy arrangements were instituted in the 1990s.

July 25, 2024

Cartoon Commentary

September 10, 2023

The Circuit Game: Oligopolies are distorting the economy

In orthodox theory, oligopolies are big, lean and efficient. Their size and efficiency should produce price cuts. Instead, in the real world, oligopolies undermine economic democracy. They price gouge. They outflank regulatory laws while regulatory cops sit on their hands. Can Andrew Leigh and Jim Chalmers limit the damage economic concentration imposes?

September 5, 2023

MOP(S) Act Amendment Bill: Much to commend but critical omissions too

There is a lot more substance to the Members of Parliament (Staff) Amendment Bill now before the Parliament than the Public Service Act Amendment Bill. But, once again, a key reform proposed by the Thodey Review and endorsed by the Robodebt Royal Commission is missing.

June 23, 2023

Remembering Vietnam and Australia at 50

This is a story of five decades, from 1973 to 2023. Diplomatic relations between Australia and the then North Vietnam were established on 26 February, 1973. It has history. Early this year marked its fiftieth anniversary, otherwise mostly ignored.

May 26, 2023

Junk food ads for the chop? Dont hold your breath

Banning harmful advertising such as junk food, gambling, and alcohol advertising should be a political no-brainer. The evidence of the harm they cause is clear, especially among children and young people, the health and social benefits of such restrictions are real and public support is high and undeniable. And yet - tobacco advertising excepted - action by the political class on preventive health policy is unacceptably slow.

June 18, 2022

Jeffrey Sachs: Reaching a just and lasting peace in Ukraine

On June 6-7, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network convened a study group of experts in international affairs, military and security affairs, and international relations among the US, European Union, Ukraine, and Russia. Their statement follows. Kindly note that the statement is solely that of the individual participants of the study group, and not that of any other organisation, including the Holy See, the United Nations, or any national government.

July 16, 2024

Federal parliamentary committee presents a decisive case for an Australian Human Rights Act

Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has tabled a report that makes a persuasive argument for comprehensive legislation to protect Australians’ fundamental human rights. Its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework (2024) identifies a catalogue of deficiencies in the nation’s disaggregated systems of human rights protection. The report provides a new and compelling case for Parliament to revisit the idea that Australia should join every other Western nation in providing comprehensive legal protection to combat the widespread infringement of human rights.

April 7, 2024

What China gets right in PNG and Australia gets wrong

This former leader of PNGs state energy supplier says we should take a leaf from the China playbook by using a tied aid model.

August 16, 2023

The lost decade of school autonomy in NSW

It is just over ten years since the school autonomy program called Local Schools, Local Decisions commenced in NSW. It has been a lost decade. It was supposed to increased student results but high inequity in education continues with more bureaucracy, less central support for schools and bigger workloads for principals and teachers.

August 12, 2023

The other form of abuse in the Catholic Church

When we hear the term abuse in relation to the Catholic Church, we immediately think of crimes of a sexual nature committed against children by the clergy.

August 2, 2023

Just Transition? Fossil fuel industries must pay the entire cost

For a transition to a low carbon economy to be just, the Australian government should force the fossil fuel industries to pay the entire cost.

August 24, 2022

Memories of my brother - John Tulloh

Friends and fellow journalists are paying tributes to my brother, John Tulloh, who died at the age of 82 on the 20th August. Id like to share the reasons why I believe he became the person he was; a loyal brother and friend, as well as a journalist who loved his job.

August 26, 2021

How Much Does China Benefit from the Taliban Victory over the United States?

A backward impoverished country, led by a radical Islamist group, has defeated the twenty-year occupation of various Western powers led by the superpower, the United States. Taken by surprise at the speed of the Taliban victory, all these powers could do was to organize the retreat and departure of their own people and Afghan followers, and issue moralistic warnings about their own virtues. Australian Prime Minister, for example, declared that the Australian participation had been right all along, because we were fighting only for justice, despite taking part in a sometimes brutal occupation of a foreign country that proved totally futile in bringing peace, stability or advancement.

August 20, 2024

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra strikes the wrong note on Gaza

A well-known Australian band, The Cat Empire, has decided not to perform three shows scheduled with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over the treatment meted out to Australian-British classical pianist Jayson Gillham.

July 22, 2024

It’s the Voice of ‘Rural Nullius’ on a Jim Crow Country Hour

With just a few more stories farmers in the south of Israel would have been granted as much air time as all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations in Australia put together.

June 18, 2024

Cartoon Commentary

September 23, 2023

Want to solve Australias housing crisis? Look to Vienna

What do you think of when you think of Vienna? Probably not a model for affordable housing in Australia.

July 23, 2023

The con jobs

Accountancies have bolted on non-accounting services in the same way pharmacists dispensers bolted on front-of-house sales of cosmetics and liquorice. Like tinkers of old they knocked on the doors of organisations: Any jobs we can do for you?'

June 20, 2022

Why Albanese needs to protect capitalism from capitalists

_One of the first things Anthony Albanese and his cabinet have to decide is whether the government will be pro-business or pro-market.

July 14, 2021

Afghanistan visa issue shows what Australia really is

The current debate about visas for Afghans poses questions about the sort of people we are.

August 25, 2024

We value our readers and seek your point of view

Thank you for the important work you are doing in providing an informed, alternative analysis on news that is independent from mainstream media. Donor, August 2024

June 13, 2024

Who prepared Dutton’s report on nuclear power?

The Canberra Press Gallery is not a homogenous group although its members do seem to suffer from a fair amount of groupthink; preference for gotchas and speculation about what might happen next in politics; and heavy dependence on leaks and drops for copy.

July 28, 2023

Attorney-General Symes must uphold integrity of Victorian justice system

The Lawyer X scandal is one of the most outrageous examples of the undermining of the rule of law in Australian legal history. What is at stake here is nothing short of confidence in the legal system in Victoria. The Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes must step up and ensure the integrity of justice in her state is upheld.

May 10, 2023

Health budget has big changes reviving our worn-out Medicare fee-for-service system and boosting bulk billing

There were four major changes forhealth care in the 2023-24 budget: prioritising primary care, funding to strengthen Medicare, cheaper access to common medicines, and new funding to keep the digital health system going. Many of these changes wereforeshadowed in recent weeks.

September 30, 2022

Weekly roundup Saturday 1 October

Weekly roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy.

March 2, 2021

Manufacturing consent: Australian War Memorial has become a cheerleader for war

The Australian War Memorial is being transformed, against the wishes of the Australian people, from a place of war commemoration to a place that honours war itself, a militaristic and rousing endorsement of every decision to send Australians to war.

September 7, 2024

Is a new American civil war possible? Probably not, but...

It is sometimes difficult to believe that the US is not headed irretrievably towards a new civil war. But recent research suggests that among the massive problems and sheer insanity of many of its citizens — let alone that of one of the Presidential candidates — the situation is much more complex.

July 26, 2024

“Ill-begotten siblings”: Australia and the United States of America

Allan Behm has been about a bit._

September 20, 2023

The Richard Boyle case: Lots of persecution, no sign of humanity

The Australian public needs to know why persecution of the principled, courageous ATO whistle blower Richard Boyle has dragged on for six years. He blew the whistle on the ATO in October 2017, the AFP raided his home in April 2018, in March 2023 a judge in South Australia decided he was not immune from prosecution and a trial may not be held until 2024.

July 25, 2023

Are the Greens losing the renters vote?

One of the emerging political challenges of the 2020s in Australia is the contest for the votes of renters.

July 22, 2023

Carefully throwing stones

The human dynamic of subcultures was one of Anne Coombs preoccupations. She turned it into a skill that guided her activism and philanthropy. Both GetUp! and Rural Australians for Refugees, two of the causes for which she will be best remembered, relied for their success on mobilising people with shared values and beliefs. These movements grew from the deep knowledge of the transformative power of change, one person at a time. Just like the characters in Glass Houses (Upswell 2023).

July 4, 2023

Miscarriages of justice: Kathleen Folbigg is one of an unknown number of people wrongly convicted

Most Australians have little idea how frequently miscarriages of justice in the form of wrongful convictions occur in Australia. This lack of knowledge should be no surprise; not even our criminal justice system tracks such data let alone researches the possibility of wrongful convictions. In the absence of data, most people, including many in the criminal justice system, see instances of wrongful convictions such as those of Lindy Chamberlain and Kathleen Folbigg as rare aberrations.

May 10, 2022

If I were Foreign Minister in the new government

Australia has always been a follower in foreign and defence policy. When the British Lion lost its teeth we turned to the American Eagle which is currently losing its feathers.

September 19, 2024

The Pope's visit? The Sydney Morning Herald had more important stories to cover

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of the world’s one billion Catholics, arrived in Indonesia on 3 September. He then travelled to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore, before returning to Rome on the evening of 13 September.

August 5, 2024

Why I’m not in the mood for the Olympic hurrah

The latest Essential poll published in Tuesday’s online Guardian revealed that a whopping third of those polled would, if given the chance, vote for the Mango Mussolini (the Donald). This is concerning. But it’s worse than first appears. Along with the dispiriting response to the Voice - based largely on conspiracy theories, lies and dog-whistling racism – and the fact that disillusionment with the political class and democratic institutions is sky high, our nation seems to be at an inflection point.

September 7, 2021

Australia's government scares me more than the Saudi government

I left Saudi Arabia, one of the worlds most oppressive regimes. But the Australian governments recent draconian rules remind me so much of home.

July 4, 2024

The time-bomb under every state budget

Australia’s public hospitals cost too much and achieve too little. Soaring costs threaten to drown state finances while abandoning patients.

June 29, 2024

Cartoon commentary

May 31, 2024

Coercive control — by country

At last the crime of coercive control in marriages and partnerships has been recognised and criminalised in Australia. This is a crime that can remain invisible for years, concealed behind the image of a fine, friendly man whose wife has problems. Once exposed, the victim’s bruises — or worse — make us ashamed of our blindness. Did we prefer not to notice? Were we afraid to challenge that decent fellow whose menacing emotions we sensed?

June 12, 2023

An inquiry of self-limited curiosity

Senator Linda Reynolds is suggesting that she might seek to take her complaints of ill-treatment during the controversy of the Bruce Lehrman rape allegation to the new National Anti-Corruption Commission. That would include, we gather, allegations that Senator Katy Gallagher was briefed by the alleged victim and her boyfriend before the allegations had been made publicly. Apparently, some on the Labor side of politics (we assume the late Senator Kimberley Kitchen, regularly given to this sort of treachery) had tipped her off about Labors knowledge of the allegation one Reynolds had been aware of, at least to a degree, for nearly a year.

July 9, 2024

Payman becomes symbol for discontent with Labor

The strategic and tactical geniuses inside the prime minister’s office and the man they serve may take time to appreciate how comprehensively they have mismanaged popular discontent about Labor’s passive support for Israel during the war against the Palestinians of the past eight months. Instead, they are deluding themselves about being politically outplayed by a novice Labor Senator, who, allegedly, always had it in mind to betray the Labor Party.

June 24, 2023

Have we given up on obesity?

About 65% of Australian adults and a quarter of children are overweight or obese and about 60% of Australians are trying to lose weight at any one time. Overwhelmingly, the evidence indicates that being obese increases your risk of premature death. And yet policies to reduce obesity have been startlingly unsuccessful. Instead obesity is increasingly accepted, normalised and celebrated.

May 18, 2023

Are we on track for net migration of 400,000 in 2022-23?

In the May 2023 Budget, Treasury caused a big Australia furore by increasing its net migration forecast for 2022-23 from the 235,000 it published in the October 2022 Budget to 400,000.

May 24, 2021

The rejected murder suspect and the Taiwan Government's lack of interest in the Rule of Law.

A Hong Kong resident, Chan, Tong-kai murdered his pregnant Hong Kong girlfriend, whilst they were holidaying together in Taiwan in mid-February, 2018. After killing her and disposing of her body, he fled back to Hong Kong, admitting to his crimes. Significant CCTV circumstantial evidence helped confirm what had happened, but the murderer has yet to be tried.

May 9, 2023

Are Pacific nations setting themselves up as US pawn sacrifices?

Being led by the nose by warmed-over former colonies like the US, Australia and India to fight a country thousands of miles away is neither smart diplomacy nor smart foreign policy.

April 4, 2023

Aston insights into Liberal world view

Perhaps the most significant thing about the Aston by-election was the comment on the result by Peter Dutton a comment which provides a profound insight into Liberal thinking and why the Liberal Party is in trouble.

April 25, 2021

There is a conspiracy about the origins of COVID-19. But it has nothing to do with Chinas secrecy

The WHO report into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, released on March 30, supported what the scientists have long known: that the SARS-CoV2 virus most likely originated in an animal reservoir and, after a process of mutations, in complex settings of environmental and ecological change, eventually found its way into human populations. It also raised a curious question: why, if it is clear that the origin of COVID-19 is no different to other zoonoses to have emerged in the last century, are the public debates focusing on quite different issues?

September 24, 2023

Earth Systems Treaty: John Hewson calls for action on mega threats

Former Liberal party leader John Hewson, in a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, enquired why the United Nations was not acting on proposals to deal with a series of well documented and interacting catastrophic threats.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal