March 14, 2017

Older women need housing too

In the growing discourse around affordable housing, the federal and some state governments are edging forwards. Recently proposed changes have merit, but they may exclude poorer older women in need of housing.

September 30, 2018

NICK BISLEY. The risks of a new Cold War between the US and China are real: heres why (the Conversation, 26.08.18)

Donald Trump is making good on his trade war rhetoric with China, announcing tariffs on a further US$200 billion worth of goods from the PRC. As China promises retaliation, the warmth of the Mar-a-Lago summit of April 2017 is a thing of the past. When this is added to the wide-ranging tensions such as the disputes over barely habitable rocks in the East China Sea, tensions over the competing claims in the South China Sea, and the spectre of nuclear catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula, the sense of geopolitical risk is as palpable as it is frightening.

May 25, 2018

PANKAJ MISHRA. A Gandhian Stand Against the Culture of Cruelty

The bomb that killed Rajiv Gandhi on May 21, 1991, blew his face off. Indias former prime minister, and scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, was identified by his sneakers as he lay spread-eagled on the ground. Some Indian newspapers, refusing dignity to the dead and his survivors, published a picture of Gandhis half-dismembered body. I remembered the image recently when I read about the reaction of Rajivs son, Rahul Gandhi, which he related earlier this year,to a similar image of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the mastermind behind his fathers assassination.

September 13, 2017

KOMALA RAMACHANDRA. Australias Modern Slavery Proposal Falls Short

In mid-August Australias justice ministerproposed a new lawrequiring the countrys biggest companies to report on their practices and policies to prevent forced labour in their operations and supply chains. The government wants to ensure that consumer products like food, electronics, and clothing whether theyre made abroad or domestically are not produced by people forced to work against their will. It is a laudable goal, but the steps theyve taken are inadequate.

March 19, 2017

PETER BROOKS and JOHN WILLOUGHBY. A call for doctors to take a stand on the Adani Carmichael coal mine

The comprehensive investigation, published as The Adani Files (adanifiles.com.au), provides a litany of stories of pollution, failed clean-ups of damaged environments, and allegations of corruption and of abuse of workers.

July 25, 2019

ERIC WALSH. Vale Graham Freudenberg .

The family of Graham Freudenberg, his influential political contacts, his many friends and admirers, the Australian Labor Party and Australia itself are diminished by his passing after a long illness.

March 30, 2013

Mea Maxima Culpa. Guest blogger Chris Geraghty

If you are a pious, conservative member of the Catholic Church, stay away from any movie theatre showing the documentary Mea Maxima Culpa. You will be exposed to scenes of diabolical evil, revolting details of lives destroyed, to corruption, institutional ineptitude, chronic, sinful delay, ignorance, injustice and a disturbing misuse, no, an abuse of power all in the name of Jesus. If you are a loyal member of the institution, a little person with a simple, delicate faith who wants to believe the best of those you call Father, Your Grace, Your Eminence, protect yourself from the agony of knowledge, cover your face, clench your fists and pretend that the characters of this documentary never existed.

July 4, 2018

JOHN MENADUE. The dumbed- down tax debate and the Canberra Press Gallery.

In the debate over tax and the attacks on Bill Shorten, not one member of the Canberra Press Gallery could be bothered to explain to us that with dividend imputation the difference between a 25% and a 27% tax rate for a small company is infinitesimal.

November 26, 2014

John Menadue. Our best friend in Asia is in trouble.

Japan now faces its fourth recession since 2008. The Japanese economy has contracted in 13 of the last 27 quarters. In effect, there has been no growth for six years. The Japanese economy has been moribund for two decade.

So far Abenomics is not delivering as Prime Minister Abe had hoped. His attempt at money-creation on a vast scale to monetise Japans enormous public debt is not working.

Facing failure of his economic policies, Prime Minister Abe has done what many politicians do when they are not sure of their position. He has called an election for next month. He will probably win that election despite the drubbing he received in a bi election a few days ago in Okinawa over US military bases on the island. He will win the December election, not because of any policy success he has had but because of the abject failure of the major opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan.

August 20, 2017

ANDREW FARRAN. John Howard and the Coalition's views on war powers could lead to conflict in South China Sea

Recent comments by former Prime Minister John Howard is indicative of just how easily conflict situations can engage quickly and end badly in the hands of a strong Prime Minister who takes the Howard view that the Executive alone has an unchecked power to commit to war. As Howard__s view on the war powers is strongly held by the Turnbull Government his thinking on current conflict situations remains significant.

January 9, 2014

Is Pope Francis a Marxist?

On 16 December last year, Eureka Street carried an article by Neil Ormerod about Pope Francis and his economic, social and political message. That article can be found on the link below. John Menadue

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=38645#.Us8a9j0XBt8.email

February 25, 2016

Measuring the misery of those forced to flee.

Robert Shiller, a 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economics says

‘Under today’s haphazard and archaic asylum rules, refugees must take enormous risks to reach safety and the costs and benefits of helping them are distributed capriciously . It does not have to be this way. Economists can help by testing which international rules and institutions are needed to reform an inefficient and often inhumane system.’

For link to article in AFR, see below:

March 30, 2015

John Menadue We still need to address the defects in our constitutional arrangements that November 11 1975 revealed.

We have rightly been remembering the achievements of Malcolm Fraser on human rights and race.

But we should not forget the enormous damage that the events of November 11, 1975, did to Australian public life and trust in our institutions. Conservatives keep highlighting the shortcomings of the Whitlam governments in order to hide their complicity in the deceit and Vice-regal intrigue, even with High Court Judges, that brought about the dismissal of the Whitlam Government that had a clear majority in the peoples house, the House of Representatives.

January 14, 2018

JOHN MENADUE. Domestic violence, not terrorism, is the big killer in Australia- A REOST from November 10 2017

Compared to other risks, we have little to fear from terrorism. In the last two decades only three people in Australia have died from terrorism. But there is a vividness bias in terrorism because it stands out in our minds. Importantly, a lot of politicians, businesses, stand to gain from exaggerating the terrorist threat. It is also easy news for our media. The Domestic Violence Death Review Team in NSW established by the Coroners Court has given us some chilling information that shows that domestic violence is a much more serious threat than terrorism.

October 26, 2018

ALEX TURNBULL. Coalition embraces economic vandalism with worst possible energy policy (The Guardian 27.10.2018)

When I saw the governments latest energy policy proposal, I was disappointed but not surprised.

Just a few weeks ago I was speaking with a few utilities analysts and players, wargaming the absolute worst thing a party with just a few months to live could do to Australias energy policy and how far they could roll back some commendable progress to date.

What we came up with revolved around the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission recommendations. They were very sensible but we figured they had substantial scope for selective and perverse implementation. At one point, we joked about the possibility that this good advice could be turned into a policy to subsidise companies that own coal plants and coal.

Turns out that is exactly what has happened.

November 27, 2016

The Global Strategic Landscape present realities, and prospects under Trump. Quo vadis series.

Quo vadis - Australian foreign policy and ANZUS.

Australia should call on all the nuclear weapon states in particular, the two major arsenal-holders US and Russia - to return to the prudent protocols and courtesies of classical great power diplomacy, within the protocols and disciplines of the UN Security Council system of global collective security.

March 6, 2017

The Barnett Government Has Slashed Funding for Public Schools

The claims by the Western Australian Government that it has massively increased school funding in recent years are highly misleading. The fact is that the Barnett Government has taken to the axe to funding of public schools while boosting its funding of private schools. It has abandoned disadvantaged students, the vast majority of whom attend public schools.

September 21, 2017

MICHAEL THORN. More about rent seekers and lobbyists.

There is nothing new in stories about jobs for the boys .Both sides of politics are equally guilty. What is surprising is that the practice endures despite the frequent media stories and the publics obvious disgust. Behind the appointment of a new leadership team at Tourism Australia by Tourism Minister Ciobo lies another egregious example of this; ‘you rub my back and I will give you a nice sinecure’ practice.

February 14, 2015

Peter Day. The Lucky Country

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,

We’ll toil with hearts and hands To make this Commonwealth of ours Renowned of all the lands. For those who’ve come across the seas, We’ve boundless plains to share.

With courage let us all combine To advance Australia fair.

(Our National Anthem, Verse 2)

The nature of politics these past few years, especially that practiced by the two main parties, reminds one of a bitter marriage struggle one destined for the courts. So consumed have mum and dad been by their anger, by their need for revenge, and by their need to win at all costs, theyve forgotten the children.

November 9, 2016

TONY KEVIN. Trumpageddon? Not quite .... not yet.

Trumps victory speech said all the right things. No talk now of putting Hillary in jail. On the contrary: gracious tribute for her hard-fought campaign. And promises to heal wounds, to be a president for all Americans.

And new jobs. And infrastructure. And looking after all citizens, including significantly the veterans (of Americas endless wars of choice). And making America truly great again. A lot of warm fuzzy emotion from an exhausted victorious leader.

The relative decline of a great power (relative to other contenders) does not always happen smoothly. There are discontinuities, surprises, sharp inflection points. Tonight was a major such moment in the United States relative decline.

September 20, 2017

HENRY REYNOLDS. Citizenship and English proficiency and indigenous people.

So we have the anomalous situation of a projected citizenship test which large numbers of indigenous people could not pass.

March 23, 2018

RANJANA SRIVASTAVA From a frontline clinician: here's what's wrong with private health insurance

My patients often pay thousands of dollars annually for their cover, but its not cost-effective in many cases

September 12, 2019

FLAVIA BELLIENI ZIMMERMANN. Lulas Interview in the Light of the Amazon Fires (Australian Outlook, 3 Sep 2019)

Brazils far-right president Jair Bolsonaro made international headlines for all the wrong reasons. He publicly denied reports released by Brazils Space Agency (INPE), which indicated a steady rise in the Amazons deforestation, and then subsequently sacked the institutes director Professor Ricardo Magnus Osorio Galvao. Bolsonaro replaced Professor Galvao with a former Airforce officer. The Brazilian president argued holding suspicion that Professor Galvao was acting on behalf of some environmental NGO. Then raging wildfires started sweeping through the Amazons rainforest, confirming INPEs satellite evidence and fears of illegal logging, encroaching crop and livestock farming, gold mining and illegal occupations of Amazons indigenous reserves. In a controversial twist, the far-right president suggested that NGOs were behind the Amazon fires to embarrass the Brazilian government internationally, offering no evidence to back up his claims.

February 3, 2016

John Menadue. What has happened to the 11,990 Syrian refugees?

After telling us for months that Australia would not take additional Syrian refugees, Tony Abbott announced on September 9 last year that the government had agreed to settle 12,000 Syrian refugees one of the worlds largest (intakes) to date. We were told that the first refugees would arrive by Christmas and the 12,000 by June 2016. State governments, community groups and churches then geared up to respond.

But to date, after five months, only about ten Syrian refugees have arrived.

July 18, 2019

RICHARD BEASLEY The Murray Darling Basin Plan - Four Corners v Media Watch

Monday week ago, Four Corners aired Cash Splash. It concerned whether government funded water saving schemes (efficiency measures in the Basin Plan) have been a waste of money. Since the broadcast, the National Irrigators Council, and other lobby groups, have indicated they will lodge a complaint to the ABC. Subsequently, Media Watch suggested that Four Corners ignored inconvenient evidence. I disagree, but more of that later.

December 12, 2014

Walter Hamilton. Japanese election.

Four more years of

Oh, by the way, Japan is having a national election on Sunday. Has anyone told the Japanese?

Some are calling it the Seinfeld electionthe election about nothing. Which probably suits Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who called it two years early, with no apparent justification. Others have cynically observed that some in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) reckon a disillusioned electorate is easier to govern.

After 10 December, when Japans new Designated Secrets Law came into effectlocking up sensitive information for 60 years and threatening to lock up any leaking public servant for 10 years (and 5 years for any journalist who encourages a leak)disillusioned took a giant backward step towards uninformed.

March 6, 2013

The Malaysian General Election. Will the fix be in again? Guest blogger El Tee Kay, Kuala Lumpur

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon flew into Kuala Lumpur in mid-February. He was detained and deported back to Australia as he posed a security threat to the country. He was roundly condemned by the Malaysian Home Minister, the Election Commission and the media for his interference but received favourable support overseas and from the opposition parties, civil and human rights groups in Malaysia. He was blacklisted for participating in an illegal rally for free and fair elections in last Aprils Bersih 3.0 rally and tarnishing Malaysias image. His summary deportation has cast further doubts about the fairness of the coming general election, probably in June this year.

September 13, 2017

RAMESH THAKUR. North Koreas nuclear progress isnt the only bad news

North Koreas rapid advances are a game-changer, but the quality of strategic analysis and decision-making in Washington is highly suspect. This portends troubling times ahead.

August 14, 2017

JAMES O'NEILL. Australia and North Korea: Dangerous Illusions Place Australia at Risk

The war of words between North Korea and the United states reached new heights last week. US President trump pledged to meet any further threats by North Korea to the US with fire and fury like the world has never seen. North Koreas response was a threat to vaporize Guam, a US colony and important military base in the Pacific.

March 20, 2017

JOHN NIEUWENHUYSEN. Dark Days for Immigration Policy. Nation building or border protection.

The concept of Australias Immigration Department being a minor part of a version of the United States department of homeland security is a frightening one. What will have happened to the Welcome to Australia banners of years past?

September 24, 2017

CAVAN HOGUE. Mindanao and terrorism.

The situation in Mindanao is complicated by historical, ethnic, religious, criminal and social factors that are not easily unravelled. The introduction of Saudi Wahabism and foreign fighters complicates the mix even further. Separatism is not new but the arrival of foreign fighters which led to the taking of Marawi is a new factor. The Philippine Army has been battling separatists for many years but not forces stiffened by foreign fighters and weapons.. There is no simple solution and we may question what Western countries like Australia and the USA have to offer.

May 21, 2014

Michael Keating. Part 4. Long-term Fiscal and Social Sustainability and Taxation

Fundamentally there is a problem with the rhetoric from the government and its cohorts such as the Commission of Audit. They insist on describing taxation as a burden that should be lightened at every opportunity; thus implying that taxation is somehow illegitimate. On the contrary, however, taxation represents our mutual obligation to one another as citizens. Instead of being a burden, taxation is what we should pay to ensure the sort of society that we want.

January 27, 2016

Bob Kinnaird. Turnbull Government buries the FTA bad news

The Turnbull government has proved just as determined as the Abbott government to hide from the Australian community the truth about what their FTA deals mean for the 457 visa and other temporary work visa programs.

Under the Turnbull administration, the conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations was announced on 6 October 2015 and the TPP text released on 5 November 2015. The China FTA (ChAFTA) entered into force on 20 December 2015.

November 9, 2017

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

Sorry, but Medicare needs to change writes Ross Gittins. A fee-for-service model fitted with the nations needs in 1974 when the Whitlam Government introduced universal publicly-funded health insurance, but over a half-century our needs have changed. We should be putting more resources to preventing and managing chronic conditions and reducing the need to call on specialists and hospitals, with a policy focus on patients rather than the interests of service providers.

November 10, 2016

ANDREW PESCE. The Health Care Home: too important to fail

It has been a long road for peak medical organisations in Australia to publicly recognise and support the concept that Fee for Service payments (where medical services attract a Medicare rebate for attendances and/or procedures) may not always be the most appropriate remuneration methods in primary care. Now, both the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the AMA acknowledge that alternative payment systems have a place for patients with high healthcare needs because of special circumstances and/or chronic illness. This is a well-established concept, which has shown that primary health care services can establish viable business models based on a mixture of FFS for acute conditions (providing care for a sports injury in a young otherwise healthy person) and payments for annual cycles of care for people living with chronic medical conditions (eg diabetes requiring regular ongoing care from different providers). In New Zealand for example, a shift to up to 60-70% of practice income from blended payments, with the remainder from FFS has been well received from GPs there.

August 3, 2018

LYNDSAY CONNORS. The schools funding saga wends on its way and everything changes while everything stays the same.

The recent by-elections suggest that when it comes to the politics of schools funding, everything stays the same while everything changes.

January 13, 2016

Ian McAuley, Jennifer Doggett, John Menadue. Private Health Insurance companies are price takers. Prices are set by doctors and hospitals.

Repost from 22/10/2015

On Tuesday the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released itsreport on private health insurance.

Private health insurance (PHI) was also in the news a day later with the standing down of the CEO of Medibank Pte, the largest PHI company.

The ACCC report has been a regular report since 1999, when the Howard Government introduced a swag of subsidies for private health insurance. It covers specific consumer issues, such as possible false or misleading representation of products, anti-competitive behaviour, and the incidence of unexpected out-of-pocket expenses.

January 12, 2018

REBECCA PEASE. The federal Climate Policy Review: a recipe for business as usual

The federal governments newly released Climate Policy Review is hugely disappointing, but far from surprising. It does not depart from what the Turnbull government has been saying for some time: it plans to loosen compliance obligations for emissions-intensive companies even further, reintroduce international carbon offsets, and implement the planned National Energy Guarantee.

April 27, 2018

GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND ...

The ABCs Spirit of Things has woven together several ANZAC stories, including the revelation that the puggaree on our slouch hat is a variant of the Sikhs turban. The program starts with presenter Noel Debien interviewing Marist Brother John Lutterll, who has written a biography of an Australian who served in the Gallipoli campaign as a radio operator on the troopship Hessen Norman Thomas Gilroy. The interview is about the life, politics and theology of Australias first cardinal. It also provides insight into the enduring differences between the NSW and Victorian branches of the Labor Party.

October 1, 2019

Thanks to guest editor, Ramesh Thakur.

During our three weeks holiday in the UK, Ramesh Thakur has been guest editor for Pearls & Irritations. Susie and I greatly appreciate his contribution.

In considering the future of Pearls & Irritations, we may find that guest editorship provides a possible way forward. Guest editorship provides a means of continuing the broad direction of Pearls & Irritations as well as providing an opportunity for guest editors to draw on their own unique background and experience.

May 17, 2017

JULIAN CRIBB. The war drums are beating...

Australia risks being drawn into new US wars in Asia. Having been continually at war since 2001 at Americas behest, it is time the Australian people had their say about whether we should continue to engage in belligerent actions in Asia, which are also costing us our freedoms.

September 25, 2017

JOHN TULLOH. Through the Iron Curtain to Moscow and across Siberia 50 years ago.

_Earlier this year, Pearls and Irritations ran an account of the 50th anniversary of my first major foreign news assignment, the Six-Day War. This is about another 50th anniversary assignment, the Russian Revolution. The centenary is next mont_h.

August 14, 2018

HENRY REYNOLDS. Ethno-nationalism and Australias place in the world.

Ethno-nationalism is resurgent in many European countries, in the United States and in Israel. Hostility to immigration and to refugees is widespread. The Australian debate about the level of immigration is a mild symptom of the present malaise. Andrew Bolts more strident recent attack on immigrant communities attracted widespread and cogent criticism. But it raised a number of significant questions.

December 2, 2016

Dealing with China

China will look to play a greater role in existing institutions and to craft new institutions and arrangements which place it at the centre in a pattern perhaps reminiscent of the Middle Kingdom … We must continue to pursue policies designed to avoid invidious choices [between China and the US].

October 6, 2016

HUGH WHITE. Choosing between the US and China.

As strategic tensions have mounted in Asia this year, it has become steadily clearer that small and middle powers in the region countries like Singapore and Australia face a stark choice. But it isnt, as some people suggest, a simple choice between accommodating Chinas growing power or resisting it.

It is a much more complex choice about how far to support the United States as it pushes back against Chinas increasingly assertive regional conduct, or whether to step back and leave the United States to confront Chinas challenge alone.

August 12, 2018

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Peter Dutton wants to rule the nation.

If Peter Dutton was to be arraigned before an international tribunal for serial abuse of human rights I would cheer. If the charges were upgraded to crimes against humanity I would regard it as a fair cop.But if the court in its wisdom imposed a death sentence I would protest in the streets. My opposition to capital punishment is absolute and unequivocal.

February 20, 2014

John Menadue. Manus and Nauru and Australia's responsibility in regional processing.

An asylum seeker who comes to our shores must be protected. We cannot offload that responsibility onto another country. We continue to carry a responsibility for that asylum seeker whatever happens in Manus, Nauru or even Malaysia.

I have not always held the view that those who come to Australia could be transferred and processed in another country. I changed my mind on that partly because of the rapid increase in boat arrivals after the Agreement with Malaysia fell over in2011. The large number of boat arrivals was reducing public support for a generous and humane refugee program. I came to the view that what was important is that asylum seekers are treated with humanity and that the process is fair and just. The issue of where that processing occurred was a secondary issue.

October 31, 2019

CHARLES LIVINGSTONE. Crown has an AGM, amidst the scandals

Crown Resorts Limited has been under siege recently. Multiple inquiries are currently underway across multiple jurisdictions. Allegations include breaches of money laundering regulations, use of the casino by criminal figures, including an arms dealer the subject of UN sanctions, and that immigration and customs requirements have been effectively waived for high rollers from overseas, including some with Interpol red notices for criminal activity.

February 12, 2015

Frank Brennan SJ. The Promoted Pell and the Sacked Morris: Two Catholic Bishops emerging from the Royal Commission

This week the royal commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has published three reports relating to the Catholic Church. Understandably the media has focused on the appropriately damning findings made by the royal commission against Cardinal Pell in his ruthless conduct of the Ellis case.

Having found that the Archdiocese of Sydney fundamentally failed Mr Ellis in its conduct of the Towards Healing process, the commission found that Cardinal Pell accepted the advice of his lawyers to vigorously defend the claim brought by Mr Ellis, in part to encourage other prospective plaintiffs not to litigate claims of child sexual abuse against the Church. The commission also made a formal finding that the Archdiocese, the Trustees and the Archbishop, did not act fairly from a Christian point of view in the conduct of the litigation against Mr Ellis. The commission found the Sydney Archdiocese failed to conduct the litigation with Mr Ellis in a manner that adequately took account of his pastoral and other needs as a victim of sexual abuse.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal