February 22, 2017

HAROLD LEVIEN. Solving our Housing Problem.

Housing investors have largely crowded out first-home-buyers from the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets. The Coalition Government has not simply failed to address this problem; its policies have been the principal cause.

March 2, 2015

Stephen Leeder. Telling the story of mental health.

It is unusual for Foreign Affairs, a magazine published by the United States Council on Foreign Relations in New York, to contain articles on health, but the first issue of 2015 carries an essay (Darkness invisible: the hidden global costs of mental illness) by three distinguished scientists from the National Institute of Mental Health about the hidden costs of mental health.1 Based on evidence from a 2010 Harvard University study on the current and future burden of disease,2 they state that the direct economic effects of mental illness (such as spending on care) and the indirect effects (such as lost productivity) already cost the global economy around $2.5 trillion a year, an amount projected to rise by 2030 to around $6 trillion, in constant dollars more than heart disease and more than cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases combined.1

June 15, 2014

Frank Brennan SJ. Homily for Trinity Sunday with the Royal Commission in town.

On Fridayafternoon, I called into the Canberra Magistrates Court to watch an hour or two of proceedings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The court was packed with lawyers. These are shameful times for us Australians as we realise how great has been the problem of child sexual abuse in our society, and presumably still is. They have been especially shameful times for us Catholics as we realise what a problem this has been in our schools, welfare institutions and parishes. Thank God, we have the help of the State to investigate matters thoroughly and transparently. We know that no royal commission can solve all the problems. No royal commission ever has. Think just of the royal commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which promised so much. The Aboriginal imprisonment rate is higher now than it was before the Commission was held. But hopefully with this royal commission, there can be new laws, new rules, and new protocols which can help to reduce the incidence of child abuse in all our social institutions, especially those which work most closely with vulnerable children. These new laws, new rules, and new protocols will apply just as much to our church organisations as to any other social organisations.

February 20, 2015

Tony Kevin, Tony Abbotts crassness could cost the Bali duo their lives.

Let me first declare my biases. I believe that I honour and respect Indonesias values and culture. I oppose the death penalty in general. In this case, I would welcome an outcome that saved the lives of the last two members of the Bali Nine who now face execution In Indonesia, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, for the offence of smuggling drugs out of Indonesia in 2005. I believe every life saved from deliberate violent death affirms and enriches our collective humanity; and that the quest for consistency of action is the enemy of mercy. I also believe the murky AFP role in the history of the Bali Nines arrest as they were leaving Indonesia imposes a special moral obligation on Australia to do everything possible to try to save these two mens lives now.

March 12, 2013

Asylum Seekers and Paedophiles. John Menadue

In my blog of March 5 I spoke about the demonization of asylum seekers by Scott Morrison. He has variously alleged that they bring disease, wads of cash and jewellery. He has also called for the registration of asylum seekers moving into a residential area.

But Senator Abetz has gone even further.

He made it very clear that we should draw the inference that just as the public wanted paedophiles registered when they moved into a community, so there should be registration of asylum seekers. He was not rebuked by Tony Abbott.

February 10, 2015

Michael Sainsbury. FIRB credibility shot with execution of Chinese gangster.

Liu Han, the Chinese criminal whose billion dollar bidfor Australian mining company Sundance Resources sailed through the Foreign Investment Review Board with barely the bat of an eyelid has been executed along with his brother, Liu Wei once one of Chinas ten most wanted murderers.

So endeth one of the most embarrassing episodes in recent Australian corporate history that exposed the incompetence not just of FIRB but of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as well.

July 28, 2014

Michael Kelly SJ. Todays Totalitarianisms Powerful Forms.

Australian eyes are focused on the unspeakable brutality and pointlessness of the downing of MH 17. But alongside this event, Australian minds and hearts are assailed daily by barbarism across the Middle East and in different parts of Asia.

Its the paradox of liberalism that pluralistic secular democracies like Australia afford citizens far greater freedoms than some of its citizens would be ready to concede if they were in charge. Australian authorities readily approve the right of Muslims to build mosques, get government subsidies for their schools and dress as they wish.

February 3, 2014

Ian McAuley. Cutting waste and costs in health.

There are three areas of saving to be made in health care real savings rather than movement of costs from public budgets to consumers.

There can be savings in technical efficiency – savings any engineer or cost-conscious manager seeks in a workplace. A strong example is making better use of information technology.

There can be savings in purchasing. Australia used to negotiate some of the worlds lowest pharmaceutical prices. We now pay high prices.

March 6, 2014

John Menadue. Conservatives, conventions and traditions.

Conservatives extoll the importance of conventions, traditions, and respect for established institutions. But it seems to be only when it suits them.

They lecture us and others about democracy, free elections, the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary. Colloquially they sum it up If it is not broken, dont try to fix it.

There is an important convention on Cabinet papers. But the Abbott Government has decided breach that convention and hand over Cabinet papers concerning pink batts to a Royal Commission examining that issue. This is despite the clear Westminster convention as set out in my blog of February 10. The Cabinet Handbook is quite explicit.

May 27, 2016

ALISON BROINOWSKI; Wisdom in hindsight.

Leaders who have presided over policy disasters typically respond in one of three ways. Some of them leave office and retire to their well-feathered nests, where they hibernate in silence. Others spray the blame around, including at those who advised them against the original folly, refusing to admit responsibility for it, and yet still claiming that the outcome was better than if they had not committed it, and claiming that now, things have changed. Others again adhere to the never apologise, never explain school of public policy, refusing to admit they were wrong, and suggesting they would do the same again, given the opportunity.

April 29, 2014

Penne Mathew and Tristan HarleyRegional Cooperation on refugees

In November last year Penne Mathew and Tristan Harley of the Australian National University undertook field work in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to examine the treatment of refugees in those countries and to discuss the possibilities of improved regional cooperation amongst themselves and also with resettlement countries such as Australia. I am strongly of the view that shared responsibility and cooperation is essential

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Marty Natalegawa recently put the case succinctly. For Indonesia, the message is crystal clear: the cross border and complex nature of irregular movements of persons defies national solutionsThere is no other recourse but to take a comprehensive and coordinated approacha sense of burden sharing and common responsibility should be the basis for our cooperation.

September 4, 2013

Chemical warfare and Syria. Guest blogger: Marcus Einfeld

I never thought I would ever agree with Glenn Beck, the US shock jock from the extreme right of the political spectrum. I think he is right about the US not intervening in the Middle East again. Difficult as it is to say, President Putin is also right even if his reasons are not pure.

The Americans [Administrations, not the very many brilliant and informed Americans who know better] never seem to understand the “enemy”, invariably miscalculate the consequences of their actions and never have an exit strategy. This time they do not even have an entry strategy. The US military top brass do not have the best record in assessing outcomes of their escapades. The jingoisms that punctuated the evidence given this week to the Senate Foreign Relations and Defence Committee by the Secretaries of State and Defence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must have horrified US thinkers and intelligentsia, not to mention the public at large.

April 4, 2016

John Menadue. The fake discussion about state taxes.

Malcolm Turnbulls ruse is obvious. He wants us to forget all about deficits and debt and the need for budget repair. To avoid these issues, he now tells us that if we want improved health and education services, we cannot have them because the states have refused his offer on state taxes and he will not increase commonwealth taxes.

But we know that large increases in commonwealth government revenue are possible without any increase in income tax rates.

October 12, 2015

Good Samaritans in Greece

We have been told in Australia that asylum-seekers are so inhuman, that they would even throw their children overboard; that they are all ‘illegals’ and akin to criminals; and that they bring disease and wads of cash.

Fortunately, helpers in Greece have taken no notice of this characterisation of asylum seekers. See the link below of Samaritan’s Purse helping asylum seekers arriving by boat in Greece. John Menadue

http://video.samaritanspurse.org/the-rising-tide/

December 19, 2016

JOANNE WALLIS. Hollow hegemon: Australias declining influence in the Pacific

Australia has vital strategic interests in the Pacific but comparatively less influence with which to pursue them. Pacific states are largely unwilling to accept Australian leadership.

May 8, 2016

Evan Williams. Will the real Malcolm Turnbull please stand up?

My friend Evan Hughes, art historian and former law student is standing for Parliament at the next election. And in many ways hes the model of a modern Labor candidate clean-cut good looks, easy charm, natural speaking skills and a first-rate mind vouchsafed by a Cambridge University degree. At a fund-raising dinner in Sydney the other night he was doing the rounds of the room with his baby son cradled in his arms. Great photo ops for the local paper. In any marginal seat youd have to say Evan was a shoo-in. But theres a problem: his opponent in the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Wentworth is none other than Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. And as we all know from experience, Malcolms no slouch himself when it comes to intelligence and charm.

February 14, 2013

Corporate bullies

Public debate and the development of good policy are being steadily corrupted by the success of powerful lobby groups to quickly close down debate and force retreat by the government. This tactic is assisted by a timid government and a media that has little understanding of policy issues, and is only too prepared to recycle the handouts from powerful groups.

Last week we saw this bullying in full view. The government floated the suggestion that the concessions handed out to wealthy retirees in tax concessions by Peter Costello in 2007 should be reconsidered. The superannuation lobby went into immediate attack. Pauline Vamos, the CE of the Association of Superannuation Funds in Australia said that for people to have a really comfortable standard of living throughout their retirement, they should have at least $2.5 million as the balance in their superannuation account. Ian McAuley has estimated that this would give the retiree a tax-free pension of about $160,000 p.a. Such a retiree would normally not have a home mortgage and the cost of raising children and their education. In the face of this nonsense by Pauline Vamos and others, the government quickly retreated and said that it had no intention of taxing any capital sums in superannuation. Tax avoidance won the day, quickly and comprehensively.

July 5, 2013

Asylum seekers. Don't let us be diverted from regional arrangements. John Menadue

Foreign Minister Carr is focusing on whether some asylum seekers are refugees or economic migrants. This is symptomatic of a government that is continually in crisis mode over boat arrivals. It should focus on the strategic issues such as orderly departure arrangements in source countries like Afghanistan and regional agreements with Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

In my blog of July 1 I expressed doubt about the arguments of Foreign Minister Carr that we needed to have a tougher and more hard-edged assessment of asylum seekers. Understandably officials of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship dont like their preliminary decisions on refugee status being overturned by the Refugee Review Tribunal.

November 25, 2015

Rob Nicholls. Ziggys stardust: The NBN, net neutrality and competitive neutrality

The sound of an incumbent lobbying has the grating element of petulant mewling. When the incumbent is a state owned enterprise that is evoking arguments about net neutrality, then its time to ask the cui bono? or to whose profit? question. After all, the term network neutrality can be best summed up as a line of argument use by large businesses in their lobbying.

In this case, it was the chair of the National Broadband Network Company, a business that likes to be known by its lower case initials nbn, that was flying the net neutrality kite. Ziggy Switkowski argued that it might be time to think about who should bear the cost of transporting streaming video from companies such as Netflix, Presto and Stan. Specifically, should the internet service provider (ISP) be able to charge Netflix and others for some of the carriage costs that it incurs? Ziggy also mentioned that access to nbns network might be more expensive to smaller ISPs.

September 29, 2016

GILES PARKINSON. Coalition launches fierce attack against wind and solar after blackout.

The Coalition government launched a ferocious attack against wind and solar energy after the major South Australian blackout, even though energy minister Josh Frydenberg and the grid operators admitthat the source of energy had nothing to do with catastrophic outage.

Frydenberg, however, lined up with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, One Nations Malcolm Roberts, independent Senator Nick Xenophon and a host of conservative commentators, including Andrew Bolt, Alan Moran, theABCs Chris Ullmann,and Fairfax Brian Robinsto exploitthe blackout to question the use of renewable energy.

Frydenberg used the blackoutto continue his persistent campaignagainst the renewable energy targets of state Labor governments in South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, saying that the blackout was proof that these targets were unrealistic.

May 6, 2014

John Menadue. The cost of abolishing the Mining Tax

Just when the mining tax looks like raising some worthwhile revenue, the Coalition proposes to abolish the tax.

The Rudd Government made a mess of the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT). We know from the Henry Tax Review and other commentators that such well-designed rent-based taxes are likely to be more efficient and even out the effects of volatile mineral prices. We also know that such taxes are superior to state government royalties.

February 9, 2015

Greece didn't fail, but the EU's debt moralising did.

It is often said that if you owe the bank $1 million you have a problem. But if you owe the bank $1 billion, the bank has a problem! The EU has that sort of problem with Greece. Joseph Stiglitz, in a recent article (see link below) sets out the problems which the EU now faces. This article was originally published in AlterNet. John Menadue

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/468065/greece-didn-t-fail-but-the-eu-debt-moralising-did

October 31, 2016

JOHN NIEUWENHUYSEN. How Australian Political Leaders Can Abandon and Mistreat Asylum Seekers

Living as a White youth in apartheid South Africa in the 1950s, I often wondered how it was possible for a small minority to dominate and oppress the large majority of the population who were denied the vote because of the colour of their skins.

Much of the answer lay, I believed, in the capacity of the apartheid system to separate the lives of the different racial groups and to ensure that when people met, it was always in the context of White master-Non-White servant relationships. Members of the different defined racial groups were thus hardly ever able to converse ordinarily and to learn of the lives and aspirations of their fellow South Africans of different skin colours.

August 4, 2014

Michael Keating. Australia's productivity performance.

For most of our history too much of Australian business was focussed on rent seeking, rather than the creation of wealth. Manipulating government to obtain protection, or other forms of favoured treatment by way of regulation or taxation, was far too often pursued as the easiest way to increase profitability. While the economic reforms of the 1980s and 1990s put an end to much of this behaviour by denying many of the opportunities for rent seeking, business is still too inclined to look to government; hence the cacophony of calls for government to introduce further reforms, when much more of the responsibility for improving Australias economic performance should lie with business itself.

June 16, 2014

Bishop Bill Morris' book.

On 17 June in Toowoomba, Bishop Bill Morris’ book ‘Benedict, Me and the Cardinals three’ will be launched. Launches will follow in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra and Melbourne.

Bishop Morris was formerly the Bishop of Toowoomba. In November 2006 he wrote an open letter to his diocese about priest shortages. He discussed the possibility of the ordination of women and married or widowed men. In response, the Vatican set in train a process of meetings and apostolic visits that forced him to resign.

October 15, 2013

What's in it for me? John Menadue

Last year in London Joe Hockey said that we had to break free of our culture of entitlement. He said. The problem arises…when there is a belief that one person has a right to a good or service that someone else will pay for. It is this sense of entitlement that affects not just individuals but also entire societies. And governments are to blame for portraying taxpayers money as something removed from the labour of another person He repeated much the same last week in his first visit as Treasurer to Washington. He made it clear that all Australians had to make hard choices and that we couldnt have everything that we wanted.

March 18, 2015

Joseph Stiglitz on the Trans Pacific Partnership.

At a community meeting in New York Joseph Stiglitz drew attention to the risks of TPP. He referred to the secrecy about the whole proposal. He said that TPP ‘is much worse than a blank cheque about trade’. He added that TPP ‘would not only become the law of the land, but every other law would have to adapt to it … and our Congress would have given up all authority in those areas - the environment, worker safety, consumer safety, and even the economy’. For full report of this meeting, see link below. John Menadue

February 27, 2014

Chris Geraghty. The Pell Factor

Sydney is vacant again, and many of the faithful are breathing a huge sigh of relief, though at the back of our minds lurks a suspicion mixed with fear that we will be saddled, for a long time to come, with a little repellent clone of the great man.

George is off to Rome where he belongs. Its a move long overdue. Some years ago, perhaps in anticipation of this journey, he built a home for himself close to the Vatican a suite of rooms in Casa Australiana just waiting for him to appear with his baggage. Rumors have abounded for some years of his imminent appointment to some job or other over there. Now as head of the Vatican Finance Department, a supranational Hockey Joe, he can do little harm, and maybe he can do some good for humanity, for the Church.

April 4, 2016

Cavan Hogue. Malcolm Turnbull, COAG and media confusion.

Turnbull knew what he was doing. The media has turned on Malcolm Turnbull who is accused of ignorance. Media views seem to change even more often than political promises. However,surely the PM knew why he called the meeting with the states. He knew they would reject it which is what he wanted them to do. He now claims the moral high ground in denying their requests for money. Opinions will differ on whether this was a good decision but only time will tell if it worked -whatever the media seesaw comes up with next. Politics has always been a rough business because only people with strong egos go into it so we should not be surprised at the jealousy and infighting that goes on. The electoral mob is fickle but so it would seem is the press and it remains to be seen whose judgment is better.

March 25, 2014

Rod Tiffen. Abbott contempt of court.

After the 2013 election, the ABC satirical program The Hamster Decides responded to an election night comment by the columnist for the Australian Chris Kenny that the ABCs funding should be cut with an animated version of Kenny having intercourse with a dog. Kenny demanded an apology and then sued for defamation.

It is unusual for satirical programs or cartoons to be the subject of defamation actions, and such cases carry dangers for both sides in any litigation. A jurys reaction to something that in ordinary discourse would be bad taste or disproportionate is unpredictable.

February 2, 2014

John Menadue. Sharks and asylum seekers

Over the weekend we have seen thousands of people crowding onto our beaches on both sides of the country to protest against the culling of sharks in Western Australia. I happen to think that the protesters are right, that people who swim in dangerous seas know the risks but are prepared to take them. Compared with the carnage on our roads, the number who die from shark attacks is quite minor.

July 31, 2015

Tim Soutphommasane. Adam Goodes has made some people feel uncomfortable.

Racism comes in many forms: overt and covert, crude and subtle. The harms of racism also come in many forms. We know from a large body of research that racism can lead to stress, negative emotions, psychological damage, even physiological effects.

We don’t always focus, however, on racism’s impact on our civic health. What I mean by this is the impact racism can have on the civility and cohesion of our society. Because when someone is subjected to racism, it can have the effect of undermining their standing as a fellow member of our community, and can have a fundamental impact on their freedom.

December 16, 2015

Michael Keating. The Turnbull Governments Economic Strategy

The Governments Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) released on Tuesday 15 December outlines the Governments economic and fiscal strategy and, equally important, what it expects that strategy to achieve. It is especially significant on this occasion, as it represents the first major economic statement by the still relatively new Turnbull Government. As such this statement allows us to put some more content into our assessment of what, in its short life so far, has principally been an aspirational government.

September 29, 2016

DYLAN McCONNELL. Was the SA blackout caused by wind or wind turbines?

It has everything to do with wind - because thats what blew over the transmission lines. But it has nothing to do with South Australias wind turbines. Transmission lines are large power lines that take electricity from generators to the smaller distribution lines that bring power to our homes.

South Australias energy generation mix is mixture of wind, gas and some solar, and as of this year, zero coal. The state is connected to the rest of eastern Australias electricity market through two inter-connectors, one of which is down for service.

May 27, 2016

Obama and the absence of apology in Hiroshima

**As President of the United States of America, I express my profound apologies for the sufferings inflicted on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atomic bombings.**These, of course, are the words that we are not going to hear Barack Obama speak in Hiroshima on 27 May, when he becomes the first sitting US president to visit the city since the atomic bombings in August 1945. It is sad that we will not hear at least a version of these words. A simple but sincere apology might bring some peace of mind to the survivors and their families, and could have a profound effect on Japanese society.

November 26, 2013

Sexual abuse: two Popes late on the scene. Guest blogger: Michael Kelly SJ

Early in the 20th Century, the French Catholic poet and writer Charles Peguy observed that, at the turn of each age, the Catholic Church arrives a little late and a little breathless.

It was not till the 1960s, at Vatican II, that the Church absorbed and authorized the major influence of the French Revolution that sovereignty inhered in the people rather than the Sovereign when it declared that the Church was the People of God rather than the aristocracy of the Church (the Pope, bishops and clergy).

March 19, 2016

Cameron Douglas. The Thais do many things well governance is not on the list.

Thailand is nearing the end of extended efforts to write a national constitution - known as Constitution 20/2, as it is the second shot at putting together the 20th charter since the abolition of absolute monarchy in 1932.

Thais do many things very well from cuisine to culture to graphic design. Governance is not on the list.

In that same period the country has experienced 21 coups 12 were successful and nine failed. Thailand has had periods of electoral governance but authoritarian rule is the norm, not an exception.

July 29, 2015

John Tulloh. Goodbye Syria.

THE DEAD-END ROADS TO AND FROM DAMASCUS

Fifteen years ago this month, Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father to become president of Syria. Having spent some years studying and living in France and England, he had hopes of a Western-style liberalisation and development and turning his country into the Switzerland of the Middle East. Those ambitions proved naively fanciful and now he finds himself inextricably wedged, the country under his control shrinking and the outlook hopeless.

April 3, 2014

John Menadue. Citizenship and shared experience.

The recent decision by the NSW Government to evict pensioners and low-income tenants from the Rocks in Sydney highlighted for me the importance of mixed communities and shared experiences.

We all benefit in society when we have shared experiences. We can then get to know other peoples aspirations and their problems. We invariably find that we have much more in common than we think. We benefit both as individuals and as a society.

September 30, 2016

GILES PARKINSON. Dumb politics means we may be stuck with an even dumber grid

It was just six years ago when Malcolm Turnbull, then deposed Liberal Party leader, attended thelaunch of the Beyond Zero EmissionsZero Carbon plan for 2020, which suggested Australia should and could attain 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

Turnbull, by all accounts, was an enthusiastic participant, and was particularly excited by solar towers and molten salt storage. There is a real opportunity there, with that technology, to generate baseload power from solar energy something of a holy grail.

February 7, 2025

Arab organisations slam ABC over refusal to acknowledge Lebanese race

Two organisations representing Arab migrants in Australia have slammed ABC managing director David Anderson over his refusal to acknowledge the existence of a Lebanese race during the ongoing Federal Court trial between broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf and the national broadcaster.

December 19, 2016

MACK WILLIAMS. When and how to say 'no'. Darwin?

We cannot remain oblivious to the fact that the creeping incrementalism, which has characterised the Defence Postures relationship, is likely to slip us into positions from which it would become increasingly difficult to say No. We need a line in the sand now to prevent this happening.

September 9, 2015

Peter McNamara. Are all Australians just 'Bad Samaritans', or is it just the media?

I always thought Australians were good Samaritans, welcoming people from all backgrounds, all races, all religions, to their rich and prosperous nation.

It belies belief to see the media reporting that Australian Christians, including Catholic Archbishop Fisher, say that preference should be given to Christian refugees from war-torn Syria. The Australian does not ring true with its leader: Fleeing Christians should go to front of queue - archbishop above Archbishop Fishers photo (The Australian online, Sept 8 2015, Tess Livingstone)

June 7, 2016

JOHN AUSTEN and LUKE FRASER. Urbane transport policy. Part 3 of 3

This article is the third in a series about transport. The first two dealt with topics raised by the Prime Minister; mass transit, 30-minute cities etc and noted some challenges for the Commonwealth.[i]

Urbane Transport policy. Part 1 of 3

Urbane transport policy. Part 2 of 3

The articles draw on public information - the basis for the community trust necessary for effective democracy. Unfortunately, some information has reduced trust. Restoring that trust begins with the top tier of Australian government - the Commonwealth - and depends on how a future Government approaches land transport.

June 6, 2013

Doctors scared Maggie Thatcher. John Menadue

Excuse me for dropping names but at a round table discussion with Maggie Thatcher in the late 1980s that I attended in Sydney she was asked Now that you have fixed the work practices of the miners and the printers in the United Kingdom what are you going to do about the restrictive work practices of the doctors? She replied. I will leave that to the last session in my last term as Prime Minister She never got around to it. And neither have we in Australia.

April 2, 2014

Mack Williams. Abbot's visit to Korea not all about trade!

As Tony Abbotts first time to South Korea (ROK) as Prime Minister this visit carries much more importance than the mercantilist hype in which it has been cloaked. It will certainly will be seen through a much larger prism by his hosts and their brothers across the border. The Korean peninsular is of fundamental strategic importance to Australia as the only place in the world where the national interests of the all major powers intersect and the potential for conflict remains so high. The mozaic of all these interests is extremely complex, demanding close and continuing interest of the highest order and very sensitive management on our part - as the Prime Minister and his team should have learned from the instant and robust reaction not only from China but also the ROK to his incautious remarks about Japan being Australias best friend in the region. This visit offers him the opportunity to appreciate this kaleidoscope of challenges at first hand.

December 21, 2015

Laurie Patton. Data Retention: How not to introduce complex legislation.

One of my first tasks shortly after joining Internet Australia (nee ISOC-AU) was to front the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). Our appearance at the hearing into the (Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act 2015) came at the end of a long day of mostly opposing submissions.

With our president and the head of our policy committee sitting beside me I boldly told the committee that the Data Retention Bill was fundamentally flawed and had clearly been drafted by lawyers who didnt understand how the Internet actually works. How prescient those comments have proven to have been.

April 3, 2014

Kieran Tapsell. Facing prejudice.

Piedad Bonnett, El Espectador, Colombia 5 November 2013 http://www.elespectador.com/opinion/una-injusticia-historica-columna-466919

Summary: Alan Turing was responsible for breaking the German enigma code in the Second World War. He was subsequently convicted of the crime of homosexuality, and given a choice of being chemically castrated or imprisoned. He chose the former and then committed suicide. The Queen has recently pardoned him posthumously.

When, in 1952, the British mathematician, Alan Turing was threatened with choosing prison or oestrogen treatment to cure his homosexuality, the freethinking atheist, who openly admitted his sexual preferences to investigating police, risking public derision, chose what was in effect chemical castration that left him impotent, deformed his body and caused him serious psychiatric problems.

November 21, 2015

John Menadue. Minimising IS will take a while.

We have had a lot of apocalyptic talk about IS we are at war, it is a death cult, it threatens civilisation. Unfortunately these exaggerations dont help a measured and holistic response. These exaggerations play into the hands of terrorists who hope for our over-reaction and the promotion of fear.

We know from experience that terrorism ebbs and flows over the years in intensity. We must be ready for the long haul.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal