December 21, 2014

Eric Hodgens. Phillip Hughes - A Christmas Story.

The Phillip Hughes story gripped a nation. So much potential felled in an instant. Grief amplified by promise and love lost. Phillip was a Little Aussie Battler like us. But what promise! Looming all the larger because it is gone.

Pup becomes a tower of strength. We see him in a new light. Rival teams are at one. The game is bigger than the individual. The next test is both contest and tribute. An injured but newly-inspired captain makes the right calls, hits another century and wins; all the more meaningful because of a valiant, striving opponent. David Warner salutes heaven for his century. We intuitively know what he means. A great story.

November 5, 2014

John Menadue. 'No eulogy is equal to such a name'

In a celebratory Mass for Gough Whitlam, Fr Ed Campion recalled the brief inscription to Machiavelli in the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce in Florence. ‘Tanto nomini nullum par elogium, 1527’.

Look around and we see monuments to Gough Whitlam everywhere - Medicare, needs-based education funding, recognition of China, no-fault divorce, university education, land rights, an end to White Australia, and …….A eulogy may be superfluous

December 30, 2016

RAMESH THAKUR. UN rebuffs Netanyahu and Trump.

The United Nations Security Councils pre-Christmas condemnation of Israels construction of settlements in the occupied territories surprised many and infuriated Israel. The move was rebuff to both Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to incoming US President-elect Donald Trump. How did it happen? And what will be thelikely ramifications.

June 2, 2014

Stephen Leeder. Electronic medical records for patients!

Australia embarked on an ambitious journey when it committed to developing a medical record that would go with each patient to whatever health care provider they consulted. The eHealth record system launched in June 2012 is an electronic record for a patient that contains a summary of their health information. http://www.nehta.gov.au/our-work/pcehr

This personally-controlled version, known as PCEHR, was rather akin to establishing a colony on Mars maybe best to get to the moon first. The enterprise was reviewed in depth last year after faltering.

January 9, 2016

Michael Thorn. The Australian cricket captain says its about the brand and not alcohol.

Repost from 24/09/2015

Premier Mike Bairds public comments at last weeks Thomas Kelly Foundation event in Sydney wasnt the first time he has questioned the extent of alcohol advertising in this country, particularly its strong association with big sport.

Baird made the self-evident point that such alcohol advertising has become omni-present and spoke about the need to reduce its presence.

“I find it quite an incredible position where the captain of our cricket team sits there with a big VB on the middle [of his chest],” Mr Baird said.

April 7, 2017

MARK BEESON. What it is to be popular

At a moment when the world needs informed responses to complex problems that transcend national borders, a retreat to nationalist tub-thumping is the last thing we need. Yes, there are important questions about who we are and whom national public policies actually benefit, but they are unlikely to be answered, much less addressed by the current generation of populists.

November 5, 2016

PETER CHRISTOFF. The Paris climate deal has come into force - what next for Australia?

The Paris climate agreement comes into legal force today, just 11 months after it was concluded and 30 days after it met its ratification threshold of 55 parties accounting for at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

By contrast, the Kyoto Protocol, which this treaty now replaces, took more than 8 years to come into force, slowed by the United States persistent and erosive opposition.

At the time of writing, the Agreement has been ratified by 94 parties, including the worlds four largest emitters: China, the United States, the European Union and India. As Climate Analytics reports, these nations account for 66% of greenhouse emissions. Even if the United States were to withdraw its support under a Trump presidency, the Paris Agreement will remain in force.

April 27, 2017

SAMANTHA PAGE. In defence of public investment in childcare

When childcare issues have hit the news lately, its either been about the Federal Governments new $1.6 billion package to help make childcare more affordable, or about massive fraud cases where rogue Family Day Care operators have pocketed millions of tax payer dollars.

May 3, 2016

Peter Gibilisco. A Synergistic Approach to Disability

Here is my proposal for a Dictionary definition of Synergy:

the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

“the synergy between artist and record company” or disability support workers and people with disabilities with high support needs.

In some of my writings I have referred to what I call the “synergistic” outcomes that result from the interaction of people with disabilities and their support workers. These effective working relationships should be given the respect that is their due since they make an indispensable contribution to ongoing efforts to devise effective models of leadership in such workplaces.

August 29, 2016

MILTON MOON. Waiting for Godness -a narrative poem

by Milton Moon.

Im due to die sooner rather than later. My wife of sixty-seven years has already gone, her mortal remains, in ashes waiting for mine. Together theyll go, somewhere as part of the seasons or the tides ebb or flow. She is still with me, I talk to her often, burning incense twice a day and telling her incense is dispersed for the soul of the young girl.

September 12, 2013

Let's hope Albo runs and wins. John Menadue

The ALP needs a ballot for its parliamentary leadership even if it takes a month or so to do so. It will be time well spent. It needs to find the right leader and continue the process of democratisation that the ALP badly needs.

Those who want to rush to a quick decision on the leadership are the faction heavies and union bosses that want to continue to control the ALP and for it to continue on its disastrous course. They want control rather than power on behalf of ordinary working people.

March 24, 2025

A five-minute scroll

ABC’s Jane Norman is called out for repeating Coalition talking points with Jim Chalmers. Overnight reports claim Israel has killed senior Hamas official Salah al-Bardawil and his family. Former First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, calls on the international community to realise Israel is out of control, while the Arab League calls on nations to end economic and military ties with Israel.

April 6, 2016

Richard Butler. Nuclear Security Summit: Washington Finale?

Seven years ago, President Obama spoke in Prague Square and undertook to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. He cautioned that this outcome would be immensely difficult to achieve and may not be reached in his own lifetime, but his speech was heard and widely taken as signaling an enhanced US commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons.

A year later he called the first meeting of a Nuclear Security Summit, to be attended by Heads of State/Government. It was held in 2010 and then followed, in 2012, 2014, and last week, the 2016 Summit, held in Washington DC, was designated as the last such gathering, at Summit level.

August 27, 2014

John Menadue. The Iraq disaster - reaping what we have sown.

The seeds of the disaster in Iraq were sown long ago. We are now reaping a very bitter harvest.

A major contributor to the upsurge in violence, terrorism and extremism in Iraq is the sense of outrage that many young Muslim men feel about the invasion of their country by successive Western powers, including Australia.

The Howard Government and News Corporation which supported our participation in the coalition of the willing must bear a heavy responsibility for the unfolding horror.

May 13, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. An ancient or modern Liberal.

This poster appeared in the Wentworth electorate yesterday. Very pertinent! John Menadue

February 7, 2025

A five-minute scroll

It’s not the first time the Trump administration has imposed sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). Independent journalist Richard Medhurst has been detained by Austrian police and intelligence services. The late John Pilger reminds us what Julian Assange uncovered about media, while Juice Media pulls the rug from under Dutton’s nuclear plans. Another week in our world.

August 19, 2016

CHRIS BONNOR & BERNIE SHEPHERD. When public schools become part of the problem

School education in Australia has been invaded from the west. In 2010 Western Australia added its contribution to free-market orthodoxy by declaring that its public schools would be given greater control over staffing and budgets. From 2010 an increasing number have become independent public schools.

Like many reforms (?) over the last few decades it has a certain resonance and indeed was initially welcomed by a large number of schools. School principals have always complained about excessive bureaucratic control of their schools.

August 17, 2016

CAVAN HOGUE. Handing over our Defence to a foreign country.

The Government has refused to allow a Chinese firm to invest in electricity because it is seen as a threat to our security but it has no difficulty in handing over our defence to a foreign country. Australian defence forces are so integrated with the US that it is hard to see how we can operate independently. Of course the USA is an ally and a friend but it is naive to imagine that the US would ever put Australian interests before American ones. It never has and it would be mad to do so. We, however, have got involved in wars that serve American interests but not Australian ones. Countries don’t have friends, they have interests.

February 3, 2016

Ian McAuley Private health insurance does the lady protest too much?

Sussan Ley, the Commonwealth Health Minister, has hit out at private health insurers bid for a six per cent price increase.

In view of the strong support the Coalition has always given private health insurers, such public criticism from a Liberal Party minister may surprise us. As one-time Prime Minister Tony Abbott said private health insurance is in our DNA.

It would be reassuring to believe that the Sussan Ley has come to recognise private health insurance (PHI) for what it is a high-cost financial intermediary that does nothing to take pressure off public hospitals and that has been largely responsible for diverting scarce health care resources away from areas of need.

April 6, 2014

Ben Saul. Australia's Guantanamo problem.

Ben Saul has written an article for the New York Times about the imprisonment of 52 people in Australia for up to nearly five years without trial. Secret evidence has been presented against them. They have no prospect of release.

Read the full article from the New York Times by following the link below.

Ben Saul is Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney.

John Menadue

http://sydney.edu.au/news/law/436.html?newscategoryid=64&newsstoryid=13274

April 4, 2017

RICHARD BUTLER. Fake news?

Trumps threats against DPRK and Mays against Gibraltar, as reported, are fake news. The US stance on nuclear non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is a fake.

June 9, 2016

KAITLIN WALSH. Nick Xenophon are your ears burning? Maybe they should take a leaf from your book (not put a target on your back)

If once upon a time my enemys enemy was my friend, then bizarrely enough it now seems that my friends enemy is my friend. Confused? Me too. I think I liked it better the way it was before.

Over the weekend, we had the coalition, Labor and that well known bastion of social good, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA), united against ISIS? Donald Trump?

No. Nick Xenophon.

March 22, 2015

Tributes to Malcolm Fraser.

See below, tributes from Fred Chaney and Robert Manne on Malcolm Fraser’s achievements in public life. John Mendue.

Fred Chaney in The Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/malcolm-fraser-a-leader-who-believed-there-is-a-moral-compass-in-our-nations-life

Robert Manne in The Guardian.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/20/frasers-great-conservative-achievement-cementing-whitlams-progress-on-race

November 25, 2024

A five-minute scroll

Israel continue to bomb the homes of civilians in Gaza and Beirut while journalists on the ground investigate the damage under drones. In Pakistan Imran Khan supporters have taken to the streets while in Newcastle climate change activists have paddled in protest on Newcastle Harbour. Clare O’Neil speaks to the housing policy while US Senator Lindsey Graham reveals the rich earth minerals underpinning the Ukraine war.

September 8, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. The new compradors in the China Australia relationship.

In this blog on 14 October last year I wrote.

Compradors are sometimes described as those who help a foreign country exploit their own. I was reminded of this when I read that the ALP Caucus had compromised its concerns over jobs for Australians and was prepared to waive the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement through the parliament with only a diluted list of demands as the AFR put it.

If this agreement proceeds, Australian workers are likely to be much more vulnerable. Not surprisingly the President of the ACTU, Ged Kearney said that this is about Australian jobs so we will keep fighting for those jobs. No wonder the unions are unhappy about the attitude of Labor parliamentarians.

There is a problem; a large Labor elite with fellow travellers whose careers outside parliament as consultants and lobbyists depend on Chinese connections and largesse. They are cultivated with money, travel and entertainment. They cling like limpets to the relationship with China. They have a lot to lose if they upset China. And it shows.

As Upton Sinclair put it so succinctly It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

The above was written almost a year ago. The problem has worsened since then.

February 5, 2016

Frank Brennan SJ. High Court not the answer to Nauru depravity

The moral depravity of Australian funded and orchestrated holding of asylum seekers, including children, on Nauru and Manus Island is to continue.

On Wednesday the High Court made clear that it is in no position to question the retrospective law passed by the Commonwealth Parliament on 30 June 2015 authorising the Australian Government to do whatever it takes to assist countries like Nauru with the detention of asylum seekers sent there by Australia as of 18 August 2012.

March 22, 2016

Evan Williams. 'The Daughter' film review

The ads for the new Australian film The Daughter are proudly informing us that the film comes from the same producer who gave us The Piano and Lantana. And thats some pedigree. Lantana and The Piano were both distinguished Australian films (though the Kiwis shared some credit for The Piano), but whats this about the producer? With all due respect to Jan Chapman, the producer of The Daughter, producers dont make films. They raise the money for them, hire the main players, acquire all the rights and turn up to collect any best-picture gongs on Oscar night, but they dont make the movie. Sam Goldwyn was one of the great Hollywood producers, but he didnt make The Best Years of Our Lives (that was left to William Wyler), and who remembers Goldwyn anyway for Roseanne McCoy or The Adventures of Marco Polo?

December 27, 2016

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Malcolm Turnbull's future.

The Chinese will be celebrating the year of the rooster. But for Malcolm Turnbull it is more likely to be just another year of the chicken. If not the feather duster.

May 21, 2016

SPENCER ZIFCAK. PNG Supreme Court Trumps Detention on Manus Island and Australias High Court too. It is regrettable that Australia does not have a similar Bill of Human Rights

In the latest legal saga to beset the Governments troubled offshore processing program, the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea declared that the mandatory detention of asylum seekers from Australia on Manus Island was unconstitutional. The Court held that the detention of some 900 men on Manus violated the right to liberty guaranteed by PNGs Constitution.

A closer look at the decision discloses just how far the Australian and PNG governments have been prepared to go in conspiring to keep asylum seekers, travelling by boat to Australia, out of the country and incarcerated indefinitely offshore.

June 18, 2016

BRUCE BAER ARNOLD. How Pathology Australia advocates for 'patient care' to achieve big corporate profits.

Each time we go for a blood test to investigate or keep track of an illness, or have a tissue sample from a Pap test or suspicious mole sent off for analysis, the wheels of the pathology industry are put to work.

Pathology in Australia is big business. One company draws an annual revenue of almost A$4 billion. And a proportion comes from the public purse, via Medicare rebates.

The industry features a handful of very large corporations including giants Sonic and Primary Health Care that typically use multiple brands, giving a misleading sense of competition.

Other large groups operate on a commercial basis but have a religious and thus notionally not-for-profit orientation, such as the St John of God group in Western Australia.

There are also a shrinking number of smaller independent operators trying to occupy market niches or leverage personal relationships.

The industry doesnt speak with one voice; different providers have competing interests. The key private sector industry body is Pathology Australia. But it doesnt representPrimary Health Care or religious entities.

April 6, 2016

John Tulloh. Erdogan leads Turkey back to the Ottoman era.

It is the time of the year when we have our annual bout of sentimental reflection on the heroics of the Anzac forces at Gallipoli a century ago. One of the Turkish military commanders whose resistance wore down the Anzacs and other allies was Kemal Ataturk, who went on to be the founder of modern Turkey in 1923. His name remains so revered in Turkey for modernising his country and transforming it into a secular state that insulting his memory is a criminal act.

April 7, 2017

NICK BISLEY. Learning to live with a nuclear North Korea?

North Korea perceives it is isolated in a world that is hostile to its existence. However loathsome the regime may be and however badly it misallocates resources to bolster the ruling elite, the reason for acquiring nuclear weapons is entirely rational: they are a vital means for North Korea to protect itself.

March 16, 2015

John Menadue. A capability review of the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing (DHA)

In this blog I have raised many times my concerns about the major shortcomings of DHA and the barrier it presents to improved health policy and programs… We saw it most recently over the GP co-payment. I argue that the ministerial/departmental model in health has failed and needs review…

Since 2011 the Australian Public Service Commission ( APSC) has conducted a series of capability reviews of Commonwealth agencies. Late last year it released its capability review of DHA. It highlighted many problems in the Department. These include

September 2, 2014

Walter Hamilton. Copy and Paste

The Japanese have coined a new word, kopipe, from the English phrase copy and paste. It featured, for instance, in recent reporting of the discredited stem-cell researcher caught out copying images and data from one research paper to another. But the word kopipe has many possible applications, such as in the ongoing debates about history and Japans expanding security alliance with the United States.

On the matter of history, let me do some copying and pasting of my own from the text of the San Francisco Peace Treaty which Japan signed in 1951 to formally bring to an end the Second World War. Here is what it says in Article 11:

July 8, 2014

Woolworths and Pharmacies.

The response of the Australian Pharmacy Guild (APG) to Woolworths proposal for free health checks was entirely predictable. It was about protecting the territory of pharmacists.

But the APG did have a point. Are the leviathan department stores who sell large amounts of alcohol and tobacco really serious about our health? I dont think so?

But if the challenge of Woolworths would help curb the anti-social behaviour of the APG that would be a real public service.

April 10, 2017

RODNEY TUCKER. The Tragedy of Australias National Broadband Network.

A National Tragedy

Australias National Broadband Network is heavily dependent on a soon-to-be-obsolete technology (FTTN) that most of the world has rejected. The FTTN-based network was sold to the Australian public based on an underestimate of Australias broadband needs (Tucker, 2014), and continues to be justified using incorrect estimates of the cost differentials between FTTN and FTTP.

The FTTN network performs poorly compared to FTTP networks used elsewhere in the world. What is worse is that the NBN does not have a clear and affordable upgrade path. FTTN is of limited value to some users, such as high-end users and small businesses, who require affordable access to higher speeds than FTTN can deliver.

In the meantime, the rest of the world is moving to FTTP and gigabit cities are thriving. Leaders in broadband delivery around the world are already planning for upgrades in their FTTP technology to even higher speeds.

This situation is nothing short of a national tragedy and a classic example of failed infrastructure policy that will have long-term ramifications for Australias digital economy.

April 16, 2015

Paul Komesaroff, Alphonso Lingis, Modjtaba Sadria. Julie Bishop can reach out to Iran now that confrontation has failed.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishops visit to Tehran this week presents a rare opportunity for Australia to take the lead in global diplomacy. The publicly stated goal of the trip has been limited to the dubious intention of convincing the Rouhani government to allow Iranian nationals seeking asylum in Australia to return without fear of victimisation. But the implications of the visit are much more important and far-reaching than that.

The need for a diplomatic initiative to change the dynamic in relations with Iran is obvious. As the mounting crisis in the Middle East reminds us every day, the policy of confrontation has failed. Contrary to the efforts of hawks around the world including in the US Congress a more nuanced strategy of dialogue and engagement is urgently needed.

August 19, 2016

JOHN TULLOH. The uncertain future for Turkey and Erdogan.

My friend! Leave not my homeland to the hands of villainous men! Render your chest as armour and your body as bulwark! Halt this disgraceful assault! For soon shall come the joyous days of divine promise; Who knows? Perhaps tomorrow? Perhaps even sooner!

A verse from the Turkish national anthem.

More than ever before, Australian tourists bound for Turkey and Gallipoli had better be on their best behaviour. They will find this otherwise welcoming and hospitable country to be in a state of growing uncertainty regarding its future. It is part of a concerted move away from secularism in favour of Islamic policies under the increasingly autocratic style of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, its touchy president who tolerates no criticism.

October 1, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Cruelty and evil have become banal

Malcolm Turnbull told the UN that our treatment of refugees is worlds best practice. Only a guilty conscience could allow such self deception.

In her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, published in 1963, Hannah Arendt refers to the banality of evil. Her thesis was that Eichmann was not a fanatic or sociopath, but an extremely stupid person who relied on clich rather than thinking for himself and was motivated by professional promotion rather than ideology. She says The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.

February 14, 2015

John Menadue. Fairness, Opportunity and Security - Filling the policy vacuum

I sense that there is great public concern that both the government and opposition keep playing the political and personal game at the expense of informed public discussion of important policy issues.

We have become concerned about the trustworthiness of our political, business and media elite. Insiders and vested interests are undermining the public interest. Money is unduly influencing political decisions. There is gridlock on important issues like climate change and taxation.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country Introduction

John Menadue - introduction to Ian McAuley Series.

Many have been surprised and even horrified by the Brexit and Trump results. These events are likely to be followed by similar outcomes in elections in other countries this year.

Serious issues have been raised a wave of anti-globalisation, an alleged swing to the right, blaming deplorables, racism and xenophobia. Establishment politics is being challenged. Russia is becoming an insider in Washington!

Some of these reactions to Brexit and Trump are over-simplified, but there is no doubt that we now face complex and challenging times.

Our attention has been focused on the UK and the US, but these issues, although important in Australia, may not take the same acute form here. But one thing we do have in common with Trump and others is the conservative protection of privilege by diverting attention from inequality , unfairness and the power of elites and focus instead on the most vulnerable, Muslims, refugees and welfare bludgers

Against this background I asked Ian McAuley to focus on these issues. His introduction and eight parts follow. Your comments would be welcome. John Menadue.

November 14, 2024

A five-minute scroll

Blinken says that Israel has met their strategic goals for Gaza, while Bisan Owda captures Israeli attacks on day 404 of the genocide. President Bident meets president-elect Trump at the White House and Andrew Napolitano reveals the new US Ambassador to Israel. Nury Vittachi reveals a a US interference plan for Cambodia while AAP Factcheck shows Dutton deceiving the media. A five-minute scroll on X reveals news we won’t see in mainstream media.

October 29, 2014

Eric Walsh. Gough Whitlam - Australia's greatest reforming Prime Minister.

Australian media had never seen anything like it. Suddenly print, radio, television andsocial media were overwhelmed - blanket coverage of a single event.

Edward Gough Whitlam, Australias 21st and greatest reforming Prime Minister, was dead.

Newspapers were turned over to almost complete coverage ,not only of the fact that the former PM had died, but with coverage of the extraordinary series of changes he made to life and living in Australia in a short three years in office more than 40 years ago.

April 21, 2015

Julianne Schultz. The Great War and Australia's future.

The Gallipoli centenary provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the many wartime legacies human, political, economic, military that forged independent nations from former colonies and dominions. Over the next fortnight, The Conversation, in partnership with Griffith Review, is publishing a series of essays exploring the enduring legacies of 20th-century wars.

It seems poignantly appropriate that the web address gallipoli.net.au, which features the logo, Gallipoli: The Making of a Nation, is owned by Michael Erdeljac of the Splitters Creek Historical Group. Splitters Creek is now a suburb on the western edge of Albury, better known for its active Landcare group, and as the home to the endangered squirrel glider.

February 13, 2014

Kieran Tapsell. Sexual abuse in the Church - the failure of the Vatican and Popes

As with so many other things on the sex abuse issue, the Holy Sees response to the findings of the United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child is conspicuous for its failure to acknowledge the central issue raised by that Committee: pontifical secrecy imposed on the Churchs investigations of child sexual abuse by clergy.

The Vatican spokesman, Fr Lombardi complained that the Holy See provided ample written responses under the Convention, but the Committee did not take adequate account of the responses, both written and oral. Lombardi makes the gratuitous comment that the report suggests that it was practically already written, or at least in large part blocked out before the hearing, as if the Holy Sees responses were knock out blows to the matters raised by the Committee. He then claimed that the Committee did not understand the Holy Sees responsibilities. He said, Are we dealing with an inability to understand, or an unwillingness to understand? In either case, one is entitled to amazement.

October 15, 2024

A five-minute scroll

The world is reeling in horror of the people burned alive sheltering inside tents in Al-Aqsa martyrs hospital. First hand accounts and devastation flood our feed. ABC’s media watch chastises Australian media on lack of coverage of journalist’s death. In Britain, Anti-Zionism is now a protected belief. Bob Carr on the power of the Israel lobby.

April 13, 2016

Kerry Breen. What ails the national registration scheme for Australias 600,000 health professionals?

In response to one element of a 2005 Productivity Commission report , the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) decided that the state and territory systems of registration of health professionals, some in existence for over 150 years, would be replaced by a single national scheme . The new scheme, based on a national law adopted by all jurisdictions, is run by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Authority (AHPRA) which commenced operation in July 2010. It now covers 14 health professions and 600,000 health professionals. By the end of 2016, AHPRA will have been subject to two federal parliamentary inquiries (see here and here), one state parliamentary inquiry and an independent inquiry commissioned by the COAG Health Council. Such a record must lead to the question as to what is wrong with the scheme.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 1 Whos been left behind?

In developed countries the benefits of 35 years of economic growth have been unevenly distributed. Many people who once had well-paid manufacturing jobs and many who live in the country have fallen behind. While this has been most starkly manifest in the US, it is also happening in Australia.

June 19, 2018

JOHN AUSTEN. Australian freight policy: after the chainsaw? Part 3

A recent report on freight and supply chains leads Governments astray. This is the last of three articles seeking to put them back on course.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal