December 30, 2018

HENRY REYNOLDS. The Best of 2018: Australias perpetual war footing.

We should have paid more attention at the time. It was September 2013 and the Abbott government had just been sworn in. The new Defence Minister, Senator David Johnston, gave an interview to a Fairfax journalist which was reported on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. The content was truly extraordinary.

March 9, 2021

Vaccination controversy shouldn't compromise efforts to protect Australians

The crucial fact is that all the vaccines being administered around the world provide near 100% protection from death and the need for those infected to receive intensive hospital care.

March 8, 2021

Does Morrison need Porter more than the votes of 50% of the population?

_An inquest is not usually well placed to settle matters in contest. In the case of an alleged suicide, for example, the Coroners remit is to find the cause of death, not to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry. One the other hand, in c__ases before professional tribunals, lawyers, doctors, nurses and others have been struck off after the consideration of allegations going to their character and fitness. This is for the protection of the public.

March 1, 2022

Tokenism against racism in the US helps hide an Inconvenient Global Scourge

The decision of US President Biden to announce that he would replace the outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer by a black woman, Ketanji Brown Jackson may seem like a positive step in a country wracked by explicit and systemic racism.

April 10, 2021

Rise of independent media

‘Rise of independent media’ is a panel discussion between investigative journalist Michael West, Crikey editor-in-chief Peter Fray and author and media analyst Margaret Simons and is chaired by the editor for InDaily David Washington. The panel took place at the Adelaide Writer’s Week festival on 2 March 2021.

March 27, 2021

Sunday environmental round up, 28 March 2021

Eight tips to save insects from catastrophic (for them and us) decline, followed by articles on a green COVID-recovery and the energy transition, including Dos and Donts for subsidising hydrogen.

March 11, 2021

Media in the Asian Century

They come at it from different angles but Chinese deputy ambassador Wang Xining and Peta Credlin, former prime ministerial staffer of Tony Abbott and current Sky News After Dark presenter, are agreed on one thing: the Australian media have gone to the dogs.

January 22, 2022

Nervous neighbour: Why Canada should be worried about US democracy.But is Australia?

The US is headed down a very dark road, and Canada should prepare to deal with the cracking of the American polity.

November 5, 2021

Do the ABC's journalistic standards matter? That's a leading question!

The ABC’s integrity could be undermined if its journalists continue to use interview techniques that allow those in power to avoid accountability.

February 5, 2022

Discrimination even by bishops is contrary to the message of Jesus

Catholic bishops are misguided in their insistence on being legally permitted to discriminate against individuals to protect the “ethos” of their schools.

March 13, 2022

Jim McKay - How good is sport rorts? The Morrison government's betrayal of quiet Australians who 'have a go'

At Scott Morrison’s first media conference of the 2019 election campaign, he reiterated one of his conservative-populist slogans about personal responsibility: I believe in a fair go for those who have a go."

March 6, 2022

Pragmatic national interest vs principled friendship with Timor-Leste

Since WWII, the implied mantra of successive Australian Governments on Timor-Leste is: Your Friends Will Not Forget You- unless it conflicts

January 16, 2022

Environment 2022: let's put the blah blah behind us and demand change

The cheery end-of-year messages from climate activist groups didnt resonate with me. The reality is that weve run out of time for dangerously comforting delusions about our achievements.

November 2, 2021

Bradfield can do better at Glasgow with an independent

Why I threw my hat into the ring as an independent candidate on the platform of action on climate.

July 31, 2021

Religious America is in decline

_As a Catholic I often feel that the church tries to speak the Gospel but church structures have remained monarchical and unaccountable. Most often, when confronting serious problems like clerical sexual abuse, it still adheres to policies promoting secrecy and protecting the churchs reputation.

December 27, 2018

IAN DUNLOP. The Best of 2018: The Monash Forum of Coal & Horses.

Sir John Monash was a visionary engineer, military leader and much more, who succeeded in spite of the prejudices of the conservative Melbourne establishment (read: The Coalition right wing), to become, in Field Marshal Bernard Montgomerys view, the best general on the Western Front in WW1. Monash was renowned for his vision and innovation. In 1920 he became Chair and General Manager of the newly-formed State Electricity Commission of Victoria, continuing for many years to oversee major power developments, particularly the opening up of the Latrobe Valley brown coal deposits.

April 10, 2021

Holidays and symbols matter and demand independent review

John Howards refusal to say Sorry on the grounds that he believed in practical rather than symbolic reconciliation actually highlighted the fact that the symbolism of the S-Word was so important to him that he just couldnt utter it. The Anglo in him had similar difficulty with the M-word; Multiculturalism.

February 21, 2018

The curse of political mediocrity; The informed, bold, courageous policies that Australia needs in health are nowhere to be seen. (Part 2 of 3)

This fair go mate country of ours is wealthy but in reality ever less egalitarian. Increasing Inequity is palpable and most notable in the problems we have with housing, education and health. Health outcomes for Individuals are increasingly dependent on personal financial wellbeing. Australians are spending about 30 billion dollars a year to supplement the care available from our universal health care system. Many, of course, do not have the resources to cover out of pocket expenses. Many of these problems have become chronic as political intransigence inhibits the development of bold, informed and even courageous policies. Policy development, such as it is, is often insular, ignoring the successful tactics of other countries in addressing similar problems. The Commonwealth Fund, which compares the worlds health systems for quality, is critical of our efforts to swing our health system around to focus on the prevention of disease. Eleven other OECD countries are currently doing a better job than we are. How can we change this unsatisfactory situation? PART 2 of 3.

October 4, 2021

The Afghan paradox: China, India and the future of Eurasia after the fall of Kabul

The fall of Kabul may be more than a historical footnote. It may yet become a key stop on a New Silk Road being forged across the vast expanses and indomitable mountains of Central Asia.

March 21, 2018

DUNCAN MACLENNAN ET AL. Housing: New Reapolitik Needs a New Real Economics

Managing the pressured housing markets of cities such as Sydney and Melbourne poses a major challenge to governments at both state and Federal levels. As has become increasingly clear, such trajectories are wreaking serious damage for younger aspiring homebuyers and for broad swathes of the lower income population. As yet less well-recognised, however, is the wider hit to urban productivity that results from poorly functioning housing systems. Smarter policymaking is eminently possible in this area but will require that Ministers and their advisers resist the lure of simplistic blame the planners analyses and adopt cleverer and better-informed approaches to the problem.

February 1, 2022

Understanding Ukraine through the 'religion' of warmongers: NATO

Unfortunately, many Americans and Europeans buy the alliance narrative perhaps because it is comforting to think they are the good guys .

March 20, 2021

On the death of PNGs first PM, Sir Michael Somare

The death of Sir Michael Somare, first Prime Minister of PNG, has occasioned an outpouring of national grief and heartfelt obituaries for the Father of the Nation, the Chief. That he was, and remains, widely respected, even loved, across the country is beyond dispute. However, it is disturbing that the posthumous record presently being confected in the media and various halls of power has some of the hallmarks of a personality cult. A balanced account of Somares time in PNGs politics is overdue.

May 8, 2021

Understanding Beijings motives regarding Taiwan, and Americas role

John Culver retired in 2020 after a distinguished 35-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency. During that time, he analyzed East Asian affairs, including security, economic, and foreign policy dimensions. As national intelligence officer for East Asia from 2015 to 2018, he drove the intelligence communitys support to top policymakers on East Asian issues. He routinely participated in meetings at the White House, with leaders throughout the United States government, and with foreign government officials. In a conversation with Brookings Senior Fellow and interim Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies Ryan Hass, the two discussed the risk of future conflict in the Taiwan Strait, how Taiwan is responding to rising pressure from China, and steps the United States could take to support Taiwan in consideration of its interests.

January 14, 2019

LORRAINE CHOW. Ten grim climate scenarios if global temperatures rise above 1.5 degrees celsius.

The (Northern) summer of 2018 was intense: deadly wildfires, persistent drought, killer floods and record-breaking heat. Although scientists exercise great care before linking individual weather events to climate change, the rise in global temperatures caused by human activities has been found to increase theseverity,likelihoodanddurationof such conditions.

October 4, 2021

Losing Paul Barratt

Just before his major surgery in April, Paul Barratt emailed his friends and colleagues, quoting Captain Lawrence Oates: “I am just going outside and it may be some time.”

October 16, 2021

Sunday environmental round up.

Climate change creates internal refugees for countries least able to cope. Urgent action required to reduce methane emissions but its easy. Australian companies carbon offsetting schemes are corporate greenwashing and nations emission reduction promises are just that promises.

July 3, 2021

The delusion of Biden and the price of power.

It is remarkable how quickly the Biden administration is acquiring its stamp the watermark it will leave on our parchment when it is done. This will be made of isolation and delusion, in my read. I conclude this partly because of what President Biden and his people have done in the four months since assuming the executive branch, and partly because of Bidens moment in the long story of Americas rise and decline in the post1945 era.

April 10, 2021

G20 nations slammed for calling covid vaccines a 'public good' while denying them to world

Progressive campaigners on WednesdaydenouncedG20 nations for offering lip service to the importance of treating coronavirus vaccines as a “global public good” while simultaneously blocking aneffortto lift restrictive patent protections and share vaccine recipes with the developing world.

August 21, 2021

Afghanistan: the graveyard of empires and the opium poppy (Repost from May 9, 2018)

They have all failed to conquer Afghanistan the Greeks, Indians and more recently, the British in the mid 19th Century and the Soviets in the late 20thCentury. And now the US empire is failing to subdue the tribes of Afghanistan despite enormous cost of people and treasure. What has not received much attention is that the Taliban depends very heavily on the opium trade which finds its market in the US and other developed countries. That opium trade determines what happens in Afghanistan and not military intervention.

December 31, 2018

RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Trump and Syria

While Prime Minister Morrison was visiting Australian troops in Iraq this month (but not Afghanistan -’ too dangerous’), President Trump was preparing to pull US ground forces out of Syria. Nothing Morrison said indicated that he or Joe Hockey, our Ambassador to the United States , who is supposed to have special access inside the Washington beltway, appeared to know that this was going to happen. Once again, Australia was treated with the lack of respect that our subservience to American military policy deserves.

May 27, 2021

WHO Chief decries 'scandalous' vaccine inequality where rich nations control 'fate of the world'

“The pandemic is not over, and it will not be over until and unless transmission is controlled in every last country.”

October 21, 2021

Teaching 'both sides' of the Holocaust in Texas schools

In Texas, the ‘Critical Race Theory Bill’ will edit important stories from American history and produce schools that dare not take a position on the Holocaust.

March 2, 2022

Everyone, particularly the Chinese are supposed to yield to the Americans.

The idea of China representing some real and present military threat doesnt really stack up. But never mind, as a great many Americans and their followers can still be relied upon to believe what they are told to believe. Their political leaders understand very well that Americans are least at war with themselves when they are at war with someone else.

February 3, 2020

JOHN CARLIN. And Now, Spexit!

If you have to appear in court, England is a better place to live. The Spanish are outraged that the European Court of Justice, like their German and Belgian counterparts, have refused to extradite the Catalan independence leaders to Spain. On the other hand, Spain has a better way of life and a future, but there is a cause to take up: an independent and non-political judiciary.

November 26, 2021

Why Australia's electric vehicle strategy is going nowhere

_The soaring cost of raw materials for batteries and production challenges mean rising prices will push electric vehicles out of the reach of most Australians for many years.

March 6, 2022

Monthly digest on housing affordability and homelessness

_The latest monthly digest of articles, research reports, policy announcements and other material about housing stress/affordability and homelessness.

November 26, 2021

Patronising, populist and ignorant: another Morrison election speech

The prime minister’s recent comments to an Australian-Indian audience displayed either an ignorance of history or a willingness to brush over inconvenient truths.

September 18, 2021

Plenary Council: Opportunity for Church to Restore Human Rights

Having for the first time chosen no religion instead of Catholic in the Census, I do not feel entitled to write about the Church from a religious perspective. Instead, my comments are from a human rights viewpoint, the Church being an institution with considerable influence on Australian society and government.

March 6, 2022

The Israeli kettle and the Russian pot

Israel has no right to criticize Russia. A country that has more than once acted exactly like Russia, going wild, has no right to criticize aggression and invasion.

March 25, 2022

Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini - Ukraine, international law and the history of hospital bombings

From the war in Afghanistan and the US-backed Saudi intervention in Yemen to the Israeli campaigns in Gaza and the Syrian civil war, in recent years hospitals have constantly been bombed by military forces under the guise of counterterrorism.

March 14, 2021

Angus Taylor has failed as a politician and energy minister. He should be moved on

Angus Taylor is a failure as a politician and as federal energy minister.

July 17, 2021

Why do some wealthy people leave money on the table by not buying private hospital insurance?

One in three high-income earners choose not to take out private hospital insurance, even though they could save money by avoiding the Medicare Levy Surcharge. A reason behind this decision is that these individuals are happy to use public hospitals. This suggests that people may be unaware that they are being financially penalised on their taxes, or that the incentives for purchasing private insurance are not working.

May 8, 2021

Bidens Taiwan Policy Is Truly, Deeply Reckless.Would the US allow Mexico to join a military alliance with Beijing?

In fact, polling suggests that while foreign policy elites in Washington overwhelmingly endorse going to war for Taiwan, ordinary Americans are deeply skeptical. A recent report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairsfoundthat while 85 percent of Republican leaders support sending U.S. troops to defend Taiwan from Chinese attack, only 43 percent of Republicans among the public agree.

December 27, 2018

ANNETTE GORDON-REED : What We Lost. Martin Luther King

Well, they killed King. The matter-of-fact statement hung in the air of the kitchen where a roomful of womenincluding my mother (I was the lone child)had gathered on that April day in 1968 to learn to make hot tamales for sale at church fund-raisers. Our herald, the adult son of the kitchens owner, delivered the news after pushing through the swinging door from the living room where the men had settled to watch television while we worked. His facedowncast eyes, furrowed brow, pursed lipsshowed the resignation of one who had long suspected this would happena painful but near-inevitable outcome.

This article was published by The New York Review of Books on the 8th of November 2018.

July 17, 2021

Fossil fuel economy has reached its limits: EU to slash emissions and drag Australia with it

The European Commission has outlined its ambitious policy package to more than halve its emissions by 2030, a move which could have major consequences for climate recalcitrant trading partners like Australia including an A$80 plus per tonne carbon tax on imports.

May 22, 2021

As Covid ravages poor nations, Pharma vaccine profiteering has created 9 new billionaires

A newanalysis shows that pharmaceutical companies’ immensely profitable monopoly control over coronavirus vaccines has produced nine new billionaires since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which continues to ravage developing nations left largely without access to the life-saving shots.

May 29, 2021

Our democracy is broken - but it can be fixed

Democracy is broken. Or at least, gutter politics has dragged it off its pedestal. And certainly, if our quality of life is any measure, democracy is failing the majority of Australians. But there are solutions if the will is there.

March 4, 2022

The Chinese face of globalization

The Six Faces of Globalization is an important new book, which prompts reflection on how Western media outlets have shaped our understanding of globalization and how Chinas distinctive perspective on globalization may be yet do likewise.

March 23, 2018

ANDREW GLIKSON. The betrayal of the future

A species which has invented combustion, electromagnetic radiation and nuclear energy orders of magnitude more powerful than its own physical potential, needs to be perfectly wise and in control lest it is overwhelmed by these powers.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal