September 17, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

July 30, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

July 2, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

March 8, 2021

The Australian newspaper: Decades of disservice to climate science, education

In the penultimate paragraph of my 2020 essay 40 Years of Climate Warnings ignored by Australian politicians, I presented a rogues gallery which included the Murdoch media for waging war against climate science over more than two decades. This article explores a rather extraordinary, decade-old episode in the climate wars involving the Australian newspaper which has received less attention than it deserves.

June 12, 2021

Behaviour, the pandemic, and climate change

Implementation of carbon reduction and other global warming-related policies will be an inordinately difficult challenge. The inability of governments to effect widespread, sustained behavioural change has been an outstanding feature of the past eighteen months of the pandemic. In preparation for the transition to a zero-carbon, climate-adapted future, the past assumptions underlying policy implementation need to be urgently reassessed.

April 16, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

April 9, 2021

Saturday's good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

September 10, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

August 27, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

November 14, 2021

A 'democratic' church's misstep on marriage equality

The move by Baptists in NSW/ACT to disassociate churches and pastors who welcome married gay people is based on a misuse of scripture.

October 29, 2021

Scott Morrisons budget report card: could do a hell of a lot better

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s determination to win elections exceeds his commitment to businesslike management of taxpayers money.

July 23, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

October 8, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

This weekly post is a collection of links to recent articles, reports, podcasts, interviews, and notices of upcoming webinars, on political, economic and public policy issues, that may be of interest to Pearls and Irritations readers.

April 23, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

March 27, 2021

An interview with Prof. Ross Garnaut

This is an interview conducted by Michael Lester for Radio Northern Beaches with Ross Garnaut.

May 7, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

September 3, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy.

June 4, 2021

Saturdays good reading and listening for the weekend

What people in other forums are saying about public policy

October 2, 2021

Minister for Attack: Can anything stop Peter Dutton?

Defence Minister Peter Dutton is running a hard line towards China. But he’s not unstoppable. A federal election is coming up and the voters of Dickson could very well vote him out.

October 9, 2021

Inside Paul Keating's historic and prophetic security deal with Indonesia

When, as prime minister, Paul Keating secured the 1995 security agreement with Indonesia, he ensured Australia would be surrounded by allies as China rose.

February 12, 2022

Why doesnt the West care? World remains silent over crisis in Ethiopia

As thousands die and millions suffer, an Australian nurse is desperate to shine a light on a humanitarian crisis in Africa.

October 8, 2021

Bob Carr: Israel lobby's overreach far exceeded any other diaspora community

For casting light on the savage lobbying the Australian media and politicians receive from the Israel lobby, John Lyons should be congratulated.

October 8, 2021

China, Taiwan and the US: the real terms of the deal

The US and China established full diplomatic relations in 1979, but that year the US Congress wrote its own script for Taiwan. Today, what the Chinese side interprets as word games by the US may wreak deadly consequences.

February 6, 2018

Australias curious neglect of citizens of Asian origin

Last year, I commented on the puzzling neglect of Asian-Australians in the countrys public life, in particular Parliament. Published in Pearls and Irritations on 3 October, the article seemed to resonate among many readers and generated more messages in response than usual with blog posts on this site. It also caught the attention of ABC Radio National and on 23 October, they broadcast a 30-minute interview by Geraldine Doogue with George Megalogenis and me on the interlinked themes of migration and the shift to a Eurasian nation, and on the missing Asian-Australians in our institutions. This produced even more messages.

January 20, 2022

The US holds $10b of Afghanistan's assets, while its people shiver and starve

The economic and humanitarian crises are a result of the cutoff of $8 billion in aid and the freezing of $9.5 billion in foreign exchange by the US.

October 9, 2021

Knowledge, skill and flexibility is missing in Australia's response to China's rise

Fear of China is rooted in Australian history. But today’s policymakers are ensuring that we will remain the lonely continent, adrift in an Asia we dont recognise as part of ourselves, with our identity and geography at odds.

October 2, 2021

Australia's dismal trend in corruption levels

During the pandemic, leaders have urged people to make sacrifices for the common good. But if those pleas come from corrupt leaders, they are less effective. Unfortunately, over the last decade, Australia has worsening corruption.

July 21, 2016

JOHN CARMODY. More on Brexit

Dr John Carmody reflects on the historical journey of the European Union.

August 21, 2021

A patch up for Australia-China relations?

Last week we commented on the divorce between Australia and China as a family relation that has broken down, instigated by the US Mother-in-Law.This week we will explore the broken relations and try to find means for a family reconciliation, if any possibility exists.

February 6, 2018

JOHN AUSTEN. NSW needs an inquiry into Sydney transport

A dreadful start to 2018 for Sydney transport made NSW Minister Constance the unwelcome centre of attention. The spotlight will turn to the Premier who was formerly the Minister for Transport.

October 10, 2021

The USs forgotten forever war in Korea: 'Washington rules' that bind the US to perpetual warfare

The Korean War remains conspicuously absent from assertions by the US that it is done with forever wars, but the war remains a fact of life that Koreans live with every day…Washington rules bind the US to perpetual warfare.

May 22, 2021

Does the "pub test" have a legitimate role in issue management?

What really is the “pub test” and does it have any proper or legitimate role in issue management or government policy? Or is it simply a lazy substitute for reasoned argument?

February 19, 2022

Australian and international voices call for de-escalation of Ukraine situation

In contrast to the voices and actions of the governments of U.S., U.K. and Australia inflaming the situation in Ukraine, voices from citizens and organisations for de-escalation and peaceful resolution are being raised around the world.

October 2, 2021

When a forest becomes a means of destruction: The Jewish National Fund, Greenwashing and COP26

In 1901, in Basel, Switzerland, a small group of Jewish men established an organisation which they named, portentously, the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

October 2, 2021

Crossword clues and bullying: the almighty power of the Australian pro-Israel lobby

The influence of Colin Rubenstein and his lobby group does not just limit what mainstream media outlets dare publish, it forces self-censorship on editors and journalists alike, writes John Lyons in his latest book.

February 6, 2018

STEPHEN DUCKETT, CHRISTINE JORM AND GREG MORAN. Hospitals are risky places but some are better than others

One in every nine patients who go into hospital in Australia suffers a complication: when something preventable goes wrong with their care. They might develop an infection from a hygiene breach, for instance, or be given the wrong dose or type of drug.

March 18, 2021

Orwellian media manipulation: PM's answer to 'Dorothy Dixer' published before he uttered the words

Look over there, mate. Should we really ignore a rape allegation against the first law officer of the nation because Labor also has skeletons in its closet?

August 24, 2017

John Menadue. The burqa and hijab public space must be neutral and secular.-a repost

The burqa and the hijab are stale news in France.

There has been an important debate and discussion on Muslim head and body covering in France for many years. The simple head dress or hijab, turbans and kippas have been banned in French schools since 2004. The burqa has been banned in public spaces since 2010. The French approach has a wide consensus across the political spectrum.

November 13, 2021

Dangerous liaisons: Pine Gap (and the Alice) as nuclear target, then and now. Part 4

Amazingly, it is only four decades since it was believed that a nuclear strike on Pine Gap would do little damage to Alice Springs. No longer.

March 13, 2021

Sunday environmental round up.

Threats to human existence not what you might expect. The lightly tapped potential of energy efficiency (turning off your computer camera helps) and the heavily exploited pangolins. Cormanns Pauline conversion to climate action on the plane to Paris undermined by sceptics.

March 11, 2021

Sexual violence an issue of ideology? The Australian then stopped digging

The recovered memory line took hold after being given an outing in Crikey, although coverage showed some fundamental misunderstandings. Meanwhile the Australian Financial Review lamented the fact that Scott Morrison wasn’t receiving the glory of the vaccine rollout. Just as well, actually, because it is occurring at a snail’s pace.

November 13, 2021

In too deep: the risks behind Australia's nuclear submarine deal

The controversial AUKUS deal has potentially dangerous implications for a global non-proliferation regime already facing an array of challenges.

October 29, 2021

Fiddling with the franchise: voter ID laws only affect the voiceless

The government has rushed to get next-to-useless voter ID laws up before the election. It is voter suppression The Australian Way

October 30, 2021

'I see no financial obstacles to getting to net zero by 2050'

With COP26 looming, the expert in sustainable development explains how we can have both decarbonisation and robust growth.

August 12, 2022

Learning the right nuclear lessons from Ukraine

_The Hiroshima gathering affirms the importance of nuclear arms control and disarmament.

March 20, 2021

Despite what the media says, John Howard was not a supporter of sport

I manage a wry smile every time I see John Howards name mentioned as a cricket tragic or as a supporter of sport. The Hawke Government introduced in excess of 10 pieces of legislation in the Parliament in the 1980s. The word sport had not been included in one piece of legislation that had been introduced into the Parliament in the 100 odd years since Federation. In almost every case the Howard opposition opposed the Hawke legislation and as the Minister involved Ihad to deal with the Democrats in the Senate to get our legislation passed.

October 16, 2021

Raise Warragamba dam, raise the risk to the environment

More housing, less habitat. More extinctions, less vegetation. With the raising of Australia’s largest urban water supply dam, Sydney would be further primed to emulate the flood disasters of Brisbane.

November 20, 2021

White Man's Media propaganda multiplier; the three global news agencies

Legacy media in the US, UK and Europe frames and conditions our thinking and actions. They frame and condition the stenographers in the Australian media.

November 13, 2021

Back to the future governance in the Catholic Church

Catholics cannot afford to get bogged down in their own frequent failures to meet the challenges of the times.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal