January 11, 2016

Vale Malcolm Fraser

Repost from 21/03/2015

I am sure that Malcolm Frasers concerns for human rights were always there. But as he grew and matured, that concern flourished and became obvious to all. He became our moral compass on human rights.

I was first conscious of Malcolms concern for human rights when I listened to his speech in September 1975 at a luncheon in Parliament House Canberra to honour Helen Suzman. She was an anti-apartheid campaigner who for 13 years was the sole opponent of the apartheid regime in South Africas parliament. For the first time that I can recall, Malcolm Fraser spelled out his opposition to apartheid and white rule in Africa. It surprised me. But, I found it very encouraging. It was the beginning of my better understanding of Malcolm Fraser.

August 16, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Turnbull, and the ABC a Faustian bargain

Turnbulls deal with One Nation, to require the ABC to be fair and balanced, looks innocuous at first sight, but if implemented it would see the ABC cast into the wasteland of moral relativism.

September 16, 2015

Bruce Kaye. Refugees in Australia and the Good Samaritan.

When I was a teenager a famous preacher of the day, Dr Gordon Powell, was the minister at St Stephens Presbyterian Church Macquarie Street Sydney. I recall hearing some of his sermons and in particular a sermon from a series of sermons he preached on the Hard Sayings of Jesus. He remarked at the beginning of the series that the really hard sayings of Jesus were not those that were complex or oblique. Rather the hardest sayings of Jesus were those whose meaning was all too clear. The difficulty was in how to work out those sayings in everyday life.

May 12, 2017

IAN MCAULEY. Theres more to Morrisons conversion on debt than appears at first sight

There is nothing novel about Treasurer Morrisons discovery that government debt is all OK provided its applied to funding useful assets. But it may be an indication that the government is disillusioned with monetary policy as a means of stabilising the economy, and is moving back to fiscal policy.

October 15, 2014

Ian Webster. Suicide prevention.

September 10th was World Suicide Prevention Day Suicide Prevention - One World Connected and from the 5th to the 12th October Mental Health Week ran in Australia. The weeks highlight was the ABC’s “Mental as which ran through the whole week. Over three nights Changing Minds the inside story” on ABC TV involved us with the staff and patients of Liverpool Hospitals in-patient mental health unit. It was riveting television. The program portrayed the relationships between staff and patients with disordered minds as they slowly regained their sanity. There was much humanity.

June 6, 2015

Pearls and Irritations - Policy Series and Current Affairs.

Fairness, Opportunity and Security. Policy Series edited by Michael Keating and John Menadue.

With many other people, we are concerned about the policy vacuum and the poor level of public debate on important policy issues. We began aseries of articles on policy issues in Pearls and Irritations on 11 May.They have now all been posted.There are forty-nine articles on fifteen policy areas from over thirty contributors. They are linked to the contributor’s name (below).

December 17, 2014

Michael Keating. The Government's mid-year budget update. Part 2.

Where to from here?

So what is the Governments strategy to return the Budget to return to surplus as the government has promised over the medium term?

The May Budget was almost universally criticised for its unfairness. While restoring fiscal health of the nation may require sacrifices, the evidence clearly showed that in the May Budget the Government did not demand equality of sacrifice (for example, see my comments on the Budget posted on this site last May).

December 18, 2014

John Menadue. Normalising Crime.

I was astounded when I read what Archbishop Antony Fisher told The Australian last week. The report said Australias most senior Catholic cleric has proclaimed that families are more likely than priests to abuse children and rejected a church report that linked celibacy to sexual abuse. Archbishop of Sydney Antony Fisher said that celibacy could not be to blame for abuse, which occurred in every church, regardless of whether it was celibate. The thing about child abuse is most of it happens in families. It is an awful thing we hate to even touch on it, but it cant be about celibacy because you look around society at the moment, its in every church, celibacy or not. Its in many families and their not celibate, generally speaking.

April 16, 2015

John Tulloh. An inconvenient centenary Turkey prefers to ignore.

The Gallipoli battle aside, you can be sure that Turkey will not be commemorating the centenary of another major event in its history this month. A few hours before Australian, New Zealand and other allied forces landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, what has become widely known as the Armenian genocide got under way in Constantinople (Istanbul). But Australians visiting Gallipoli for the other centenary should be careful about what they say. For a Turk to say it was genocide is enough to get punished for insulting the country.

December 3, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. White mans media

The Australian media behave as if Australia is a large island parked off London or New York. Our media is remarkably derivative as a result of media systems laid down over a century ago. It is very unresponsive to the needs of Australia in the 21st Century in relations with our own region. Our media remains North-Atlantic centric.

March 18, 2013

Could this be a John XXIII moment. Guest blogger: Monsignor Tony Doherty

Announced in every news outlet, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinian Jesuit who is the first in his order and the first from Latin America has been named as the bishop of Rome Pope number 266.

In these early hours of the announcement, we are left with the crumbs of his story. Theologically conservative, we are led to believe. Socially active and human left his Episcopal palace and lives modestly, catches public transport, a seventy-six year old who loves to walk, and interestingly cooks for himself. Never underestimate a man who cooks.

November 11, 2017

DOUGLAS NEWTON. Armistice Day narrow nationalist naiveties and voodoo vindications of war

Every year, in the days leading up to Armistice Day, a little crop of opinion pieces appears urging Australians to do more than merely remember the dead of war. Various writers argue that we should also recognise the justice of the cause. These frankly nationalist opinion pieces are based on a nave understanding of the Great War.

June 9, 2014

What to do about growing inequality in Australia.

On Wednesday 11 June at Parliament House Canberra, former Liberal Leader, Dr John Hewson will launch a report on ‘What do do about growing inequality in Australia’. The report has been prepared by Australia21, ANU and the Australia Institute. The report can be found by clicking on below. It is embargoed until Wednesday at 11am.

Final InequalityinAustraliaRepor (1)

If you would like more information please contact CEO Australia21, c/- Lyn.stephens@australia21.org.

John Menadue

April 21, 2015

David Stephens. Atatrks famous words of 1934 questioned

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnniesand the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countrieswipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosomand are in peace after having lost their lives on this land.

February 15, 2015

Don't arm Ukraine.

In July last year, Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop were eager to commit Australian police and Australian troops to Ukraine in the aftermath of the shooting down of MH17 by Russian separatists. Their plan didn’t work out as they hoped.

I have carried blogs by Richard Butler and Cavan Hogue about the geopolitical risks of NATO and the West expanding to the border of Russia.

As the war in Ukraine is now escalating, there have been increasing calls within the US for the arming of the Ukraine. John Mearsheimer in the New York Times of February 8 presents a compelling case for not arming Ukraine. He urges that the best outcome would be a neutral Ukraine. For NY Times article see link below. John Menadue

March 9, 2015

Brian Johnstone. The execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The deaths of these two men now appear to be inevitable. The key argument of President Joko Widodo is that this lethal means (death by firing squad) is justified for the purpose of saving his people from the addiction and death caused by drugs. The Indonesian government claims that, in that country, approximately 50 victims of drugs die every day. The number of persons who die each year as a consequence of drugs in Australia is around 1,500. The damage to lives from drugs is amply documented by the recent book by Dr. John Sherman and Tony Valenta, _Drug Addiction in Australia (_Melbourne, 2015). There can be no denying the harm caused by drug trafficking; the moral question is whether capital punishment is an effective and morally acceptable way of dealing with it.

December 7, 2014

Refugees - some middle ground is opening up.

See below a speech made in the Senate on 4 December by Senator Xenophon. The Senator was one of six cross-bench senators who negotiated with the government for a compromise on the contentious Migration Bill.

Senator XENOPHON (South Australia) (12:17): Australia’s migration policies have always had a long and vexed history. They have been, and rightfully so, open to significant scrutiny from international and domestic courts, independent experts, interest groups and the electorate. It has and will continue to be a passionate debate about a wicked and vexed issue. For me it is always important, always, to remember that we are dealing with legislation that relates to people, our fellow human beings. They are not numbers; they are not the myriad of labels that have been applied to them by all sides of the debate; and they are not political inconveniences, punching bags or props. They are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, friends, neighbours and acquaintances. They are, in short, people just like you and me who have found themselves in extraordinarily difficult circumstancessome, unimaginable circumstances. So I would like to approach this debate with respect, with compassion and with dignity.

May 16, 2024

Over 700 Australian lawyers call for the Australian government to take immediate action to ensure a lasting peace in the Middle East and uphold international law

In another significant show of solidarity by the Australian legal profession, more than 700 Australian lawyers (including practising barristers and solicitors, legal academics and law students) have signed a further letter to the Australian Government calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

December 11, 2016

RICHARD WOOLCOTT. New series. We can say 'no' to the Americans.

The present situation offers the Turnbull Government - or its successor -an opportunity to move beyond policies towards Asia based on fear of China and on compliance with United States wishes.

May 9, 2014

Peter Menadue. Should corporations have political rights?

There is an old legal saying that a corporation has no body to be burnt or soul to be damned. In other words, it is just a legal fiction designed to confer limited liability upon its shareholders.

Despite that, there is an insidious and very dangerous notion abroad that corporations have political rights and should be allowed to make political donations and engage in political advertising. That notion is a terrible threat to the health of our democracy.

March 18, 2013

Next step for Pope Francis. Guest blogger: Michael Kelly SJ

So Pope Francis said to himself when he was elected Bishop of Rome, as he told journalists in Rome on last Saturday, what about the poor? Bishop of Rome means Pope and his question was what does it mean to take the poor seriously as Bishop of Rome?

Thats Pope Franciss question. But its far from clear how Jorge Bergoglio is going to handle the practical consequences of becoming Pope Francis.

November 21, 2016

IAN McAULEY. Opportunity Knocks: The Economics Of A Trump Victory

Theres ever reason to believe Donald Trump policies will hurt Australia. But theres some important differences and insulation.Trumps election has energised Australias far right. Abbott, Abetz, Bernardi, Canavan, Christiansen and Hanson have all said, in one way or another, that Trumps victory vindicates their own policies.

On the day after the election the Telegraph portrayed Trump as Americas saviour, and blamed Obama for everything that has gone wrong in America over the last eight years.

March 1, 2016

Kerry Goulston. Postcard from Vietnam. Health and medical cooperation with Vietnamese doctors and nurses.

In 1998, Dr Phillip Yuile visited Professor Ton That Bach, Rector of Ha Noi Medical University, with a letter of introduction from Professor Kerry Goulston, Associate Dean of Medicine at the University of Sydney who had been appointed by the then Dean,Professor John Young,to explore possible links between the two universities. Subsequently Professor Ton That Bach invited Professor Goulston to Ha Noi to discuss a collaborative association between Sydney University and Ha Noi Medical University which had been established by the French in 1902..

July 8, 2014

Tessa Morris-Suzuki. Another Australia-Japan Relationship is Possible.

Today, Australian Prime Minister Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Abe meet in Canberra, and Prime Minister Abe presents an address to the Australian parliament. This is a historic occasion, and will be remembered as a pivotal point in Australia-Japan relations.

In their discussions, the two leaders are highlighting the crucial economic and security ties that bind Australia and Japan together, and emphasizing the vital role that both countries play as leading democracies in the Asia-Pacific region.

December 2, 2014

Kieran Tapsell: The Holy See, Torture and the UN

On 26 September 2014, the Holy See rejected the demand of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child for it to impose through canon law mandatory reporting of all allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy. The Holy See said its only responsibility under the Convention was for the handful of children who reside within the 44 hectares of the Vatican City. This is despite the fact that since 2001, it supervised or conducted disciplinary hearings against 4,000 clerics accused of child sexual abuse which had no connection whatsoever with the Vatican City. The Holy See further said that to impose mandatory reporting under canon law would be to interfere in the sovereignty of other nations a surprising objection since it does not regard canon laws imposition of the pontifical secret on all allegations and information about child sexual abuse amongst clergy everywhere in the world as interference in national sovereignty.

November 29, 2014

Michael Keating. Capitalism and the Economy.

As both John Menadue and Ian McAuley have argued in recent posts there are good social reasons for governments to intervene to modify the outcomes from a purely capitalist economy. Right now rising inequality and taxation avoidance by companies and wealthy people are priority issues that should be addressed. It is also possible that the impact on the government budget from increasing inequality could have a negative impact on future economic growth.

November 17, 2015

Richard Butler. After Paris

The attacks in Paris were textbook in terms of the philosophy of terrorism: hit publicly, indiscriminately, affecting as large a group of innocent people as possible, attract maximum publicity, generate widespread fear. They also represented a continuation of terrorist actions within metropolitan Europe: Madrid 2004, 191 dead; London 2005, 56 dead; Paris January 2015, 17 dead; and now November 2015 128 dead and still counting. Naturally, statements characterizing this latest outrage have been flowing. It has been described as Frances September 11, and according to President Hollande, as constituting a declaration of war on France. IS has claimed responsibility for the attacks and it seems there is now independent evidence that it directed them.

January 5, 2015

Mary Chiarella. Co-payments, general practice and workforce reform.

If theres a problem in primary health care then nurses are (and always have been) the solution.

Susan Sontag wrote in 1978 Illness is the night side of life: a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick. I was working in palliative care nursing when I first read this and it struck me that, continuing the metaphor, nurses were therefore like tour guides for those negotiating these health care kingdoms of both the well and the sick. We provide the translator services (what did they say nurse?), the coordination of meetings and events (I need an appointment to see); the advice on what to do and how to do it (I dont know how to work this spacer thing), and always, always, always the assistance to do whatever needs to be done when people lack the necessary strength, will or knowledge (Henderson, 1966) to do it themselves.

May 12, 2017

NICK DEANE. Keep Australia out of US wars

In the event of war between the USA and any other nation in our region, Australia could not avoid involvement, because of its alliance with the USA. That is the reality we need to address. To avoid the possibility of war, an independent foreign policy for Australia is urgently required. Mr Trumps presidency only adds to the urgency.

February 5, 2025

Trump floats US takeover of Gaza – after ethnically cleansing Palestinians

Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip,” which would be emptied of Palestinians.

December 3, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. The National Party is silent on rural poverty and poor rural health.

Country electorates have the most disadvantaged people, the poorest health and inferior health services. But the National Party does very little about it.

December 11, 2016

RICHARD BUTLER. New series: We can say 'no' to the Americans.

Australian Foreign Policy; We can say No to the US.

We must end the interpretation of the ANZUS Alliance which leads us to accompany the US in whatever interventions it mounts in international affairs, and we must stop misleading the Australian people on the nature of the Alliance.

June 6, 2016

MUNGO MacCALLUM. A jaded slogan: economic plan for jobs and growth.

Malcolm Turnbulls supporters have been praising him for keeping on his message, which at least has the virtue of simplicity: my government has a national economic plan for jobs and growth.

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, and this is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know, as John Keats more elegantly put it.

March 26, 2015

Andrew Wilson. More hospitals, more hospitals, more hospitals.

As Andrew Wilson points out, all major parties are obsessed with hospitals as the answer to our health problems. The three major shortcomings in health in Australia are mental health, indigenous health and rural health. These problems are best addressed outside hospitals. But ministers, the media and the community seldom think beyond hospitals. For ministers they have an iconic status. Ministers can put their name on the plaque for a new wing or refurbishment. The media thinks that health and hospitals are the same thing. They are not. Reform of our health system must focus on primary care and not on hospitals. The community and the taxpayer would be better served if we can avoid people needing to go to hospital.

September 17, 2013

Julie Bishop fails Economics I. Guest blogger Ian McAuley

In justifying the Coalitions cuts in foreign aid, Julie Bishop said that borrowing from overseas only to hand it back overseas was unsustainable in light of our mounting debt.

That statement has glib appeal, but its a serious misrepresentation.

For a start the Government does not borrow from overseas. Rather, almost all the Commonwealths revenue is sourced from taxation and other charges. The balance, used to finance counter-cyclical deficit spending or to make funds available for capital projects, is funded by Commonwealth bonds issued on the domestic market.

March 11, 2015

Peter Cosier. A healthy environment and a productive economy

Over the next 12 months, the Commonwealth is going to lead discussion on two major areas of reform: to the roles and responsibilities of the Commonwealth and states in the Australian Federation, and reforms to the Australian taxation system.

At the same time we have an adversarial battle raging across Australia between the environment and the economy. Despite the significant advances in environmental policy of recent decades - national water reform, land clearing controls, a price on carbon - the public dialogue in recent years has increasingly shifted to a position that we must now sacrifice the environment to pursue a growing economy.

March 7, 2016

Paul Collins. With leaders like these !

For a committed Catholic George Pells evidence to the Royal Commission was excruciating to watch. It wasnt just Pell himself with his turgid, wooden responses and lack of interest in appalling crimes against those whom Jesus called the little ones. It was also the kind of church his evidence laid bare where all responsibility was upward and accountability to the most vulnerable was non-existent. Here was a divine right, monarchical structure totally out of place in a modern democracy, an institution where everyone colluded to bestow an undeserved sacred status on the ordained.

December 3, 2016

MICHAEL KELLY SJ. Understanding challenges the church in Asia faces.

The Church in Asia can absorb and replicate its hierarchical, tiered cultural surrounds, or leave behind the clericalist conception of the Church, as a tightly run top-down organisation.

It lies at the intersection of local hierarchical cultures and the culture of the church fostered by Rome before Vatican II.

The calm confidence of Cardinal Oswald Gracias that the church in Asia will avoid or at least manage a Left-Right divide in the churchs hierarchy is an optimistic political review of our prospects.

November 21, 2016

ROBERT MICKENS. Ugliness has trumped decency, kindness and goodwill

Pundits have failed or refused to acknowledge the chief motive for Trump’s victory the deep and visceral hatred so many Americans have for the Clintons, particularly towards Hillary Clinton

December 11, 2016

CAVAN HOGUE. New series: We can say 'no' to the Americans?

Of all American allies Australia is the most subservient. A problem is that we have harped on the loyal little ally theme to the Americans so much that they take us for granted but we have not always toed the line. Admittedly, Gough Whitlams’ relative independence caused ructions in Washington but there were special circumstances. In that case, the CIA apparently considered action but nothing was done.

January 31, 2025

A five-minute scroll

Devastation across Gaza as Palestinians return to rebuild makeshift homes. Craig Murray witnesses devastation in Lebanon that shows Israel plans to make more land inhabitable. Owen Jones points out that the world is turned on its head. At home, Peter Cronau calls for interrupters to scrutinise the platforms of Peter Dutton.

August 11, 2013

Foxing with the News, Japan style. Guest blogger: Walter Hamilton

On Wednesday 7 August 2013, Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged that the clean up of the devastated Fukushima nuclear power reactors was beyond the capacity of the operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). It followed the revelation that heavily contaminated groundwater is flowing into the Pacific Ocean at an estimated rate of 300 tonnes a day because of the failure of a perimeter barrier installed by TEPCO. By any measure this was a major news story. So where did it run in that nights one hour, mid-evening news on the national broadcaster NHK? Buried 40 minutes down in the program as a brief RVO (reader voiceover). Had the story broken a year ago, during the tenure of the former government, I have no doubt it would have led the program accompanied by complaints of incompetence. If there had been any doubt that Abe was receiving a dream run from Japans mainstream media, this episode laid it to rest.

March 25, 2013

Judge Murphy and Sexual Abuse in Ireland. John Menadue

The Australian Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse commences its hearings in Melbourne on April 3. If the experience of the four enquiries in Ireland is any guide individuals and intuitions in Australia face ordeals.

Judge Murphy headed the Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. Her report was released in 2009. Only a few months earlier, the Ryan Report was released which dealt with abuse in industrial schools controlled by Roman Catholic religious institutions in Ireland.

October 18, 2013

Why Iranians join the refugee queue. Guest Iranian correspondent Nadia S Fosoul

In my country Iran, many dads take two jobs. They work hard so that their kids can check more items off their wish list. Moms like other moms in the world sacrifice their comforts for the sake of their children. Despite this, according to UNHCR data (immigrationinformation.org) the number of Iranian youth seeking asylum around the world has more than doubled since 2007. In 2012 nearly 20,000 Iranian sought asylum. Iran has thus, laid claim to producing one of the highest rates of brain drain in the world. Simultaneously Iran is one of the world’s largest refugee havens, mainly for Afghans and Iraqis.

May 10, 2014

Michael Kelly SJ. A powerful minority or an elected majority!

In a process that shows no sign of ending soon, Thailands unstable governance has reached another crisis.

The Acting Prime Minister has been tipped out only to be replaced by an Acting Acting Prime Minister who is himself to face judgment for his part in the failed scheme to stabilize the price of rice.

These judicial decisions - seen by many to be actions of courts tainted by their association with the anti Shinawatra, Royal establishment - are now the trigger needed to bring the opposition back onto the streets of Bangkok. However, more prosecutions to come will now follow these latest incidents. Ousted Acting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is to face proceedings over up to another dozen alleged misdeeds.

September 16, 2019

MACK WILLIAMS. Attacks on Saudi Oil Facilities: Trump Locked and Loaded?

Whatever the real story behind the damaging attacks on the Saudi oil facilities, tensions in the Gulf and Middle East more widely have been significantly elevated. US attempts to engage the Iranians in direct and secret dialogue to try to wind back the US extreme pressures on Iran which Trump had claimed were underway when questioned about French President Macrons attempt at mediation are clearly in jeopardy. Whether Trumps tweeted threat that the US was locked and loaded to respond militarily to the attacks heightens concerns about further escalation in the Gulf area have yet to be seen.

October 31, 2015

John Menadue. Malcolm Turnbull and rebuilding the ABC

Our new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull has a chance to repair the damage that was done to the ABC when he was the minister in charge. Malcolm Turnbull was unable to stop Tony Abbotts cultural war on the ABC which was aided and abetted by Rupert Murdoch.

Today, Friends of the ABC published an advertisement in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald calling on the public to support the rebuilding of the ABC (and protect SBS). This advertisement highlights the recent damage that has been done to the ABC

June 16, 2019

Sunday environmental round up, 16 June 2019

A strong emphasis on economic, ethical and equity issues associated with climate change this week. Global warming has increased inequalities between rich and poor nations; tackling climate change and reducing inequalities must occur simultaneously but only rich and powerful nations and individuals have the resources required to do it; even low emitting nations have a responsibility to contribute to global efforts to fight climate change; and action on climate change makes economic sense but we should do it even if it didnt. Is Theresa Mays commitment to reach zero emissions in Britain by 2050 all it seems? And to lighten the load, watch nesting White-bellied Sea Eagles live.

March 7, 2016

John Menadue. Japanese royal family resists war revisionism.

After WWII many people, including me, believed that Emperor Hirohito should bear considerable blame for his complicity in Japans wars of the 1930s in China and in the Pacific in the 1940s.

There is no doubt that the late Emperor Hirohito was traumatized, as was his nation, by the disasters of WWII. But perhaps that experience of war is the reason why Emperor Hirohito, his son the current Emperor Akihito and his grandson, Crown Prince Naruhito are standing as firm bulwarks against the revisionist tide of history in Japan.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal