March 3, 2021

Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness Jan/Feb 2021

The following is the latest instalment of a monthly digest of interesting articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material relevant to housing stress/affordability and homelessness with hypertext links to the relevant source.

January 17, 2018

HENRY REYNOLDS. Memories and Massacres- A REPOST from July 10 2017

The release by Newcastle Universitys Centre for 21st Century Humanities of a map of colonial frontier massacres has attracted a burst of media attention. It draws national interest back to those questions that were highlighted during the history wars of a decade and more ago.

May 26, 2022

Biden in Tokyo: Killing strategic ambiguity

Could it have been just another case of bumbling poor judgment, the mind softened as the mouth opened? A question was put to US President Joe Biden, visiting Tokyo and standing beside Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida: You didnt want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if it comes to that? The answer: Yes. Thats a commitment we made.

June 18, 2022

Richard Heller: Universities can spearhead regional development & the distributed university model

Universities should take an expanded leadership role in regional development,the Distributed University model provides amechanism.

May 1, 2022

Colonisation stifles Indigenous leaders: now Victor Yeimo in West Papua

Victor Yeimo, leader of the West Papuans struggles for freedom has been in prison since May 2021. The world needs to know. To argue for his interests, Australia needs to summon a touch of courage. Without persistent pressure on the Indonesian government to provide urgently needed medical treatment for Victor, he is likely to die in prison, another casualty in the histories of colonial administration.

May 26, 2022

The US is priming Asia-Pacific for war

For Washington, containing China is more important than risking the lives of millions in the region. Such a war will, after all, be fought on the other side of the world, so far as ordinary Americans already sold on the evil of communist China and the benevolence of their own country are concerned.

May 2, 2021

Why the Hawke-Keating government remains the gold standard

You dont have to be partisan or nostalgic to lament the quality of political leadership in Australia. The mediocrity of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison coalition governments, the chronic underperformance of the manifestly more talented Rudd-Gillard Labor governments, and the inability of either side of politics to achieve anything like the creativity and sustained effectiveness of the Hawke-Keating governments of 1983-96, is there for all to see.

March 3, 2021

Petulant, punishment politics is becoming the norm

The $50 million spent on re-opening the Christmas Island detention facility just because it lost out on the Medevac bill was a every expensive Coalition dummy spit. Many politicians are starting to think there must be something special about them when they get re-elected, rather than it simply being a function of the system.

September 20, 2022

The US diplomatic blitz regarding the South China Sea

The US is engaged in a public relations blitz to win the hearts and minds of Southeast Asia and demonise China. However it is replete with deceit and hypocrisy.

November 29, 2017

BENJAMIN VENESS. NSW commits to improving health of doctors-in-training

NSW has finally committed to addressing systemic problems with medical training in a bid to improve the mental health of doctors-in-training.

August 26, 2022

The many lives of Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri is dead or so we are told. Al-Qaidas chief and successor to the slain Osama bin Laden, he was deemed the chief ideologue and mastermind behind the audacious September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. On July 31, he was supposedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistans capital, Kabul, while standing on his balcony.

June 10, 2022

What is the "mad left"?

Even before the Albanese government was certain that it would have a clear majority, the Sky News chorus had begun baying about the mad left taking power. What the madness constitutes is never quite made clear. It is vibe rather than diagnosis.

April 24, 2021

Sunday environmental round up.

Sharan Burrow paints a picture of an inclusive future. Northern summers getting hotter but Australias environment deteriorates. Oil companies greenwashing activities exposed. Lessons from Germany about how to exit coal (if you want to, that is).

May 27, 2022

Environment: Steel and cement emissions. Effects of climate change on mammals.

Ways to reduce steel and cement emissions now. Climate change predicted to increase the spread of viruses from other mammals to humans and affect the ability of marine mammals to communicate.

April 21, 2022

Western media have failed dismally in reporting the Ukraine war

While Western news agencies and media have been falling over each other in the rush to cover the Ukrainian side of the story the Russian side of the story has been ignored.

March 19, 2020

HUGH WHITE.-Why India isnt going to save Australia from Chinas power(EAF 15.3.2020)

_Will India save us from China?

May 5, 2022

Tactical voting and Independents

If you normally vote for the Greens or you are a traditional ALP supporter in a blue-ribbon Liberal seat such as Goldstein, Wentworth, Kooyong, Mackellar or North Sydney, at this election you face a choice between voting for your preferred party candidate or removing the Morrison Government from power.

The emergence of popular, intelligent and highly articulate female Independents in these electorates poses a real challenge for Liberal incumbents, particularly if Green and ALP supporters opt to vote tactically this time.

September 22, 2022

Caitlin Johnstone: It's not okay for grown adults to say the Ukraine invasion was "unprovoked"

On a recent interview with the Useful Idiots podcast, Noam Chomsky repeated his argument that the only reason we hear the word “unprovoked” every time anyone mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the mainstream news media is because it absolutely was provoked, and they know it.

June 3, 2022

Weekly roundup Saturday 4 June

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

April 8, 2021

The importance of environmental water: is the national water initiative up to the job?

Momentous decisions are needed on water policy to ensure that life in Australia is sustainable when climate change is advancing and the natural environment is deteriorating rapidly. Is the National Water Initiative (NWI) capable of reform to ensure a sustainable future?

July 12, 2021

William H. Overholt- Biden cannot counter China with a team that lacks expertise

President Biden’s foreign policy team says China is the priority, but the team lacks China expertise. Other than trade experience at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Bidens Cabinet has no China expertise.

July 24, 2021

Humpty Dumpty, Michael Easson and Israeli Apartheid.

Humpty Dumpty told Alice, When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.

October 31, 2020

Chris Sidoti. Will I go back to Mass?

Now that the lockdown has eased and public worship is resuming, a prominent Catholic in Australia wonders if its really worth going back to church.

May 26, 2021

A dossier of lies and falsehoods ... from Crikey

Here are 27 examples of how Prime Minister Scott Morrison manipulates the truth.

February 15, 2021

National water policy: outdated, unfair and not fit for climate challenges

The findings of a report by the Productivity Commission National Water Reform 2020 matter to all Australians, whether you live in a city or a drought-ravaged town. If governments dont manage water better then entire communities may disappear. Agriculture will suffer and nature will continue to degrade.

September 19, 2022

The wealthy pollutors inflict pain and death on the poor of Pakistan

_Even if we measure cumulative emissions just from the1992-2020 period, the US share is 19.6%, the high-income groups share is 46.9%, and Pakistans share is 0.4%.

March 27, 2019

NOEL TURNBULL. The billion dollar question

If you were running the Victorian Government what would you do with a spare billion dollars? Education, health, clean energy, public transport, the arts, reduced taxes or something else entirely?

June 15, 2022

Geraldine Doogue: Engaging young Australians with their ABC

Another highly engaging Classic 100 music countdown came to a close at 4pm on Sunday, enthralling many thousands of Australians, linking them like maybe nothing else, to their ABC. Crucially, younger Australians engaged like never before with the Classic 100, according to the networks website. Altogether, 215,486 listeners took action and voted—a record, with an increase in younger voters. Translate that via the multiplier effect to listeners and you scoop up huge numbers of Australians, clearly many converts for the first time, judging by the wonderful recorded feedback.

May 10, 2021

What do European football and Australia Post have in common?

Stakeholders are the essential foundation of any communication strategy especially issue and crisis management and two recent public debacles show how you ignore those stakeholders at your peril.

June 13, 2022

Its time to ditch the hierarchy of tertiary education

Education and training carry a heavy weight of expectation in policy development. They are cited as the pathway to prosperity and productivity, a key to innovation and to international competitiveness. Less and less often are they mentioned as the foundation for a healthy and harmonious citizenry.

May 3, 2021

Biden urged to stand 'on the side of humanity' and back waiver for Covid vaccine patents

The U.S. is facing sustained calls to end its opposition of a proposal to temporarily lift intellectual property rules for Covid-19 vaccines and related technology as soaring coronavirus cases ravage India and new reporting spotlights a debate within the Biden administration over whether to support the patent suspension effort to help tackle the global pandemic or prioritize Big Pharma’s interests.

March 16, 2020

MARK BUCKLEY. Booing is for babies.

In VFL/AFL football there is a time honoured tradition of the crowd being vocal during matches. Most of the watchers know the game, many have played the game, or aspired to do so.

February 13, 2020

Impeachment politics revisited

The doomed impeachment has helped Trump and damaged Biden. The election is now Trumps to lose and the Democratic nomination is Sanders to lose.

August 8, 2020

Fast Tracking a National Care Service

We face the immediate future burdened with an out-of-hospital care workforce that is poorly paid, insufficiently skilled and understaffed to meet the caring needs of vulnerable people throughout the life span from infancy and childhood to old age.

February 3, 2020

MIKE SCRAFTON. Future Submarines and Future War

The SEA1000 Future Submarine project is back in the news following the ANOA report. Jon Stanford has demonstrated how badly this acquisition project is flawed. How government imagines the submarines will be employed remains imponderable.

August 24, 2022

Catholic Plenary outcomes compromised by process

The outcomes of the Catholic churchs recent Plenary Council (PC) can fairly be described as modest and qualified. The process however was a disgrace and unworthy of a Pope Francis inspired synodal church.

February 10, 2020

JOHN TAN. Is Australia prepared? The next virus outbreak could be bioterrorism.

_Technology to create a synthetic virus like the China new coronavirus is well established. It is widely available to some governments, private firms, and individuals.

March 19, 2020

JAMES O'NEILL.-Four Corners Program on Australian Alleged War Crimes in Afghanistan Raises Wider Questions

Australia is still waiting for an honest appraisal of its involvement in other countries wars of choice, almost invariably carried out for other than the officially professed reasons.

June 10, 2020

Australias COVID-19 response Part 1 of 2: the story so far

Australias response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been remarkably successful. After an exponential increase that peaked at more than 400 cases a day in late March, daily cases declined to almost zero a month later.

April 24, 2022

Time to reclaim remembrance

As the nation pauses to honour our war dead on Anzac Day, it is appropriate to reflect on the tainting of genuine commemoration at the Australian War Memorial (AWM) by vested interests. Added to deep concerns about the bitterly controversial $1/2 billion redevelopment, the Memorial is dividing rather than uniting Australians.

November 19, 2020

Brace for impact: Back to wearing seat belts in relationship with China

China continues to bamboozle us every step of the way. But how we respond to the latest escalation is important. We must remember that our bipartisan position on China has served Australia well and that apolitical split is exactly what China wants.

July 29, 2020

Palace Letters: Bring On The Republic! How To Ensure A Yes Vote This Time!

John Kerrs correspondence with the Palace before he dismissed Gough Whitlam highlights how irrelevant the British Monarch is as our Head of State. That the dismissal of a Prime Minister wasnt even brought to her attention, and was instead handled by her Secretary, beggars belief!

March 24, 2020

WANNING SUN.-Response to Red Flag: Waking Up to Chinas Challenge by Peter Hartcher

Following the logic of his own argument, can we assume that Hartcher now wants to recant the position he has advanced in the Quarterly Essay?

January 29, 2020

ROSS GITTINS. Zero net carbon choice:do we want to be losers or winners?(SMH 29.1.2020)

_You may regard economists as a dismal lot, always reminding us of the cost of this or the risk of that. But theres one prominent economist with a much more positive story to tell.

March 3, 2020

PAUL BARRATT.-War in Afghanistan: 18 years of lies and obfuscation.(War Powers Bulletin 68, 1.3.2020)

The real story behind the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001

February 19, 2020

MAX HAYTON. New Zealand's Government faces an uphill election battle.

_A recent poll suggests that New Zealands Labour Party had insufficient support to form a government if an election had been held when the poll was taken.

March 3, 2020

JAMES GRUBER. Philip Lowe Has A Target On His Back.

It seems older Australians are beginning to link the RBA to low deposit rates and that may not bode well for Mr Lowe.

September 3, 2022

The collapse of foreign coverage in mainstream media

We are getting the worst press coverage of overseas events I can remember from the correspondents fielded in Ukraine.

May 18, 2022

Sue Barrett - A Teal test of character in Goldstein

There is nothing like leading and working on a political campaign to test ones character.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal