February 3, 2022

Australia's structural cruelty goes beyond refugee policy

Australia’s reprehensible treatment of refugees now goes beyond cruelty, and instead could be described as evil._

January 19, 2022

A mutual suicide pact: Australia's undeclared nuclear weapons strategy

As the world’s nuclear arsenals build even more killing power, the need for Australia to abandon this perilous defence arrangement only increases.

January 19, 2022

The Jews of Asia: why Chinese Australians feel threatened

Playing the Chinese card may be politically rewarding for some, but it is the ordinary people in the street who suffer the consequences of this Sinophobia.

January 14, 2022

In the Asian media: what our media ignored; caution on China, a problem for ASEAN, and grief tourism

Around Asia, the newspapers are covering how to deal with China, ASEAN’s Myanmar problem, and a surprising side effect of the pandemic in Singapore.

January 11, 2022

Bully boy tactics-Refugees, Christine Holgate and now Novak Djokovic.

Outsiders might think the accounts of long-term detainees refer to policies and conditions in Kazakhstan and Belarus not in alleged fair-go Australia.

January 1, 2022

Cricket cannot afford to go back to the bad old days of abuse

Bored by the lack of an Ashes contest, past players are creating mischief by calling for a return to sledging. These calls must be rejected.

November 30, 2021

Dutton leads us down a dangerous pre-World War I path

Peter Dutton’s support for the US over China risks putting wind beneath the wings of Washington’s hawks. We have been here many times before.

November 28, 2021

What is Xi Jinping to the Chinese people?

Many analysts assert that since Xi Jinping became the Secretary General of the CCP, China has become increasingly assertive in its foreign policy.

November 25, 2021

Australia diplomacy: how to lose friends and influence no one

Australia’s diplomatic missteps and lack of independence in foreign affairs and defence have brought a damaging loss of international trust.

November 4, 2021

Voter ID laws: a cynical assault on our democracy

Electoral fraud is virtually non-existent in Australia, so the Morrison government’s voter identification legislation should be seen for what it is.

July 31, 2021

Trust is the first casualty in time of plague

Who are the people who marched in Melbourne and Sydney at the weekend, chanting about freedom and demanding an end to lockdowns? One answer is obvious. They are people whose idea of freedom seems to mean being free to put the lives of others at risk by dismantling controls on the transmission of covid-19.

April 10, 2021

Oligarchy versus Democracy: choices of power for leaders

At coffee with some mates recently, we puzzled over this it seems the political choice evident in world affairs at present is not between democracy and communism but between democracy and oligarchy.

April 3, 2025

Dutton appears to be slowly losing ground

Peter Dutton was edging towards possibly towards winning the forthcoming election. But lately he has been moving further and further away from that. It’s possible he might still win, but it looks increasingly unlikely.

December 30, 2024

Western Australia is rolling in (even more) cash – thanks to nature, China and both sides of federal politics

No wonder the Western Australian state government left it until Christmas Eve to release its Mid-Year Budget Update (officially titled Mid-Year Financial Projections Statement). It yet again shows how the government of Australia’s richest state is rolling in cash, thanks largely to nature’s and China’s gifts, but helped along by the politically-motivated corruption of the basis for distributing revenue from the Federal Government’s GST among the states and territories, originally perpetrated by the Morrison Government but maintained and extended by the Albanese Government (notwithstanding its oft-professed commitments to “sound fiscal management”, and getting its own budget into “good nick”).

November 25, 2024

Promises and perils of the Future Made in Australia Act

Australia’s industrial policy is shifting significantly with the introduction of the Future Made in Australia Act, which aims to enhance local manufacturing and reduce reliance on commodity exports. But concerns have arisen regarding the potential inefficiencies of targeted investments and the risk of deepening regional disparities. Australia needs a broader and more balanced approach that invests in all states and sectors while forging collaborative global partnerships.

January 11, 2024

The Middle East debacle and the Red Sea

Kinetic responses are a symptom of policy failures, not an answer to them.

March 26, 2023

No. Let's give friendliness a try...

Plus a change…

Attention! A squadron of fierce red rats is swarming down the map from a blood-red China towards Australia! Eager scarlet claws scrabble at our coastline; greedy little rat-faces snarl with the excitement of it all.

March 30, 2022

Cynicism rampant in this election

Cynicism is the order of the day, far more so than in any pre-election period in the past 50 years. It seems to be the prevailing mood of those who are reporting and recording the issues and events that dominate the federal election that will take place one Saturday in May.

March 17, 2022

Julian Assange v. Legal - political cruelty and cowardice

_The UK High Courts decision to not allow Julian Assanges appeal against his extradition to the US is the latest chapter in years of powerful governments fascination with cruelty, each act contrived through legal antics labelled justice.

February 18, 2022

The Coming War on China

The Coming War on China is John Pilger’s most recent film his 60th documentary and arguably his most prescient. Completed in the month Donald Trump was elected US President, the film investigates the manufacture of a threat and the beckoning of a nuclear confrontation.

February 10, 2022

New funding figures pressure Labor to offer fair deal to public schools

Unless there is a dramatic change in school funding policies the vast inequity in school outcomes will continue for the rest of the decade.

February 8, 2022

Forget warfare obsession, give peace a chance in Ukraine

_Australian election candidates should remind themselves that preparations for war contribute nothing to people’s mental or physical health.

January 12, 2022

CLUB OF ROME: Rigor and care with language matters in examining separatist movements in Xinjiang.

_Much of the debate concerning Xinjiang is packed to the brim with information that lacks institutional verification and credibility. Indeed, the Islamic world itself has largely not supported these charges.

November 16, 2021

Scott Morrison's cruel indifference to pleas for climate action

Too much is at stake to be timid in critiques of the Morrison government’s outrageous ‘Australian Way’ of addressing climate change.

November 14, 2021

The origins of COVID-19: why we are still in the dark

The attempts to discover the truth about the origins of the pandemic have been undermined by secrecy, vested interests, suspicion, accusations and politics.

November 10, 2021

Reflections for Remembrance Day: the right to question is incontestable

The first Anzacs challenged the reasons for war, so the federal education minister’s insistence that Anzac Day cannot be ‘contested’ at school is political pantomime.

November 9, 2021

Understanding corruption: there's no need to get personal

Politicians have kept their ethical rulebook as vague as possible. All the better to deflect critics of their blatant vote-buying.

October 31, 2021

Party's over for climate vandals: only informed independents can save us

A new parliament is urgently needed with the ability to act on the climate crisis and this must include young people whose future is at stake.

October 11, 2021

A note to our generous supporters

We’ve been encouraged by the response to our callout last week for donations.

October 7, 2021

As Taiwan and the Mainland face off, Scott Morrison must keep calm

Political leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have been facing off against each other. Taiwan has been called the most dangerous place on earth. Exaggeration, maybe, but Australia should be careful not to get involved in any confrontation.

October 6, 2021

Adoption of anti-Semitism definition is absurd and abusive

Anti-Semitism is racist, bigoted and should never be tolerated. Yet in arguing for the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, Australian politicians’ rationale has been thoughtless, often absurd and usually abusive of the rights of Palestinians.

October 5, 2021

Australia adrift: how to be a good society Part 2

There is no denying it. Australia is at the crossroads. If a reminder were needed, the pandemic has obliged. COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of life, the uncertainties of the future, and the shortcomings__of our institutions.

October 3, 2021

Before it even starts in Glasgow, COP26 is a climate change success

Momentum is building for the big climate conference in Glasgow next month. It needs a big contribution from China. This may not happen: their agenda is full. But Glasgow has succeeded already.

July 10, 2021

What does it take to get sacked from the Morrison Cabinet?

_Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away there was a concept called the Westminster principle of Ministerial responsibility if you failed in your responsibility you resigned or got sacked.

March 9, 2025

Joseph Camilleri and Allan Patience: Beyond the crises – How can we inspire people and institutions to take action?

Allan Patience and Joseph Camilleri discuss global crises — climate change, war, the mental health epidemic, and human rights violations — highlighting the lack of leadership across politics, business, media, education, and religion. The discussion encourages us to ask not only why we’re in this state, but how we can create a better future and overcome the obstacles in our path._

December 15, 2023

NATO wants Asia

Not content with expanding its membership from the original 12 to 31 nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is making a grab for a presence in the Asia Pacific as well.

October 7, 2023

Environment: Australia labelled a Planet Wrecker

Wind and solar roll-outs are increasing globally but Australia and other Climate Wreckers are ignoring the science and developing new oil and gas fields.

March 15, 2023

"China threat" a distraction from climate change, economic inequity

Whilst much has been made of the extremely intemperate attempt by the Channel Nine newspapers to stir up fear against China, and their lauding of the AUKUS agreements and the massive amounts to be spent on nuclear submarines, little has been said about how this has been a distraction from fundamental issues the country is facing. Not the least of these is the refusal of the Labor government to implement policies that would take it away from the disastrous years of the coalition government.

January 9, 2023

US-Australia Force Posture Agreement undermines sovereignty, must be terminated

The US-Australia Force Posture Agreement has opened the gate for the US to set up Australia as a launching pad for its next war against China. The Albanese government must invoke Article XXI to terminate it and reclaim sovereignty.

January 4, 2023

AUKUS: a collection of views not found in our Washington dominated media

AUKUS: signed and sealed by the Liberal government when it joined the pact in September 2021, the spoils of which have been delivered by the Labor Government in March 2023. The Labor Government and Australia will pay a heavy price for what is being done in our name. We are being humiliated by our own government.

December 14, 2022

US primacy is desirable but it is not a vital Australian interest

We are now in a world where the competition for primacy between the US and China is a defining feature of our strategic environment. That competition will co-exist with the emergence of a more multipolar region where large powers such as India, Japan and Indonesia will also seek to assert their own interests. It will likely be many decades before this complex dynamic finds a settling point and in the meantime Australia will have to learn how best to chart its own course and advance its own interests.

October 12, 2022

Ethiopian, Eritrean atrocities in Tigray: who cares, its an African war

Fighting and famine in Tigray is described by the London Observer as the most lethal anywhere in the world.

January 31, 2022

With a tricky Budget challenge coming up, winning an election may be easy part

Whether it likes it or not, the party that wins the election will most likely be forced to raise additional taxation revenue not long afterwards.

January 26, 2022

No liberal democracy, including Australia, should have a Magnitsky Act

The law gives the foreign minister the power to punish foreigners without going to court. The accused are given no chance to provide a defence.

November 23, 2021

Climate emergency: Australia must come in from the cold

As the consequences of global warming worsen, countries that are laggards on climate action risk facing sanctions or bullying from powerful nations.

October 21, 2021

Australia's climate policies are a shambles will our children forgive us? Part 2

It is too late for an orderly transition to a low-carbon future. It’s now imperative that we have scientifically literate, competent leaders acting for the common good.

October 14, 2021

The cringe comes back: has Australia misunderstood its place in Asia again?

_With the ever-worsening Australia-China relationship, this may be the right time to examine what is it in the Australian cultural behaviour that has landed us in this predicament.

April 5, 2021

Easter in Indonesia: a time to be wary

Easter is different in Islam-dominated Indonesia. High on the facade of the Catholic cathedral and other churches in Malang, East Java stand statues of a welcoming Jesus. Beneath his outstretched arms parishioners got the extra protection of six-wheeled armoured personnel carriers, soldiers and police ready to intimidate potential bombers.

February 8, 2025

At this point, a minority government looks likely

With the election still somewhere between eight and 14 weeks away, it is too early to get much of a guide from the opinion polls about the probable outcome – except that a majority Liberal-National Party Government, the result most favoured by those who have already punted their money on the result with the various betting agencies, is the least likely.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal