April 4, 2017

MUNGO MacCALLUM. Even in Malcolm Turnbull's own terms, it is a fizzer.

Well it wasnt what was hoped for, and certainly not what was required; but it was better than nothing.

January 9, 2017

Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 2 The response of those left behind

It would be hasty to attribute the Brexit and Trump votes to a swing to the right, or to an ill-informed electorate. The most compelling explanations are in terms of protest votes. Peoples anger of electorates has given an opening for political opportunists.

August 24, 2016

PETER JOHNSTONE. A Plenary Synod in 2020 for the Australian Catholic Church

The Australian Catholic Church is planning a national/plenary synod of the Church in Australia. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has announced that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) has decided to conduct a plenary council/synod in 2020. Few Australian Catholics would be aware that synods have been an integral part of church governance since the time of the Apostles. Thats not surprising as no plenary or provincial (roughly State-wide) synods have been held in Australia since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), despite that Council calling for synods to flourish with fresh vigour (Christus Dominus, n.36), and insisting that the laity have an active role in them.

April 27, 2017

GREGORY CLARK. Pingpong diplomacy and Whitlam's first visit to China.

April 2017 is the 46 anniversary of the pingpong diplomacy - an event that changed the future of China. It also changed the direction of Australian politics, leading to the ALP Federal election victory in November 1972. But as I explain in the link to this posting, the change in Canberra could well have not occurred but for a chance telephone call from myself to a small manufacturing firm in Nagoya.

March 26, 2016

What a godsend politicians and journalists are to ISIS.

In The Guardian, Simon Jenkins writes about the way that the ISIS recruiting officers will be thrilled at how things have gone since their atrocity in Belgium. He points particularly to the ‘paranoid politicians and sensational journalists’ who have perhaps unwittingly provided great support for ISIS. Jenkins comments

‘The atrocities in Brussels happen almost daily on the streets of Baghdad, Aleppo and Damascus. Western missiles and ISIS bombs kill more innocents in a week than die in Europe in a year. The difference is the media response. A dead Muslim is an unlucky mutt in the wrong place at the wrong time. A dead European is front-page news. … Everyone involved in this week’s reaction, from journalist to politicians to security lobbyists, has an interest in terrorism. There is money, big money, to be made - the more terrifying it is presented, the more money.’

July 4, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Privatisation of Medicare has been underway for years.

In this blog before the election, I highlighted the risks to Medicare in many posts. See links below:

John Menadue. Privatisation and the hollowing out of Medicare. David Pope. Medicare - Eaten out from within. Ian McAuley. Bill Shorten is right: Malcolm Turnbull is a major threat to Medicare. Lesley Russell. It is disingenuous of the Coalition to claim it has no intention of privatising Medicare. John Menadue. Facts on the $11 b p.a. private health insurance industry subsidy.

May 20, 2016

IAN McAULEY. The more we examine the Coalition's 'plan' to cut corporate taxes, the more is revealed of its economic shortcomings.

The more we examine the Coalitions proposal to cut corporate taxes, the more is revealed of its economic shortcomings.

Many have commented on the inequity of cutting corporate taxes while tightening eligibility for disability support, reducing benefits for new welfare recipients, freezing Medicare rebates, and inadequately funding health and education.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 3 Globalization takes the rap, unfairly

Globalization has been only one of the developments that has led to widening inequality and social exclusion. Countries that have globalized have also introduced a raft of neoliberal domestic policies, against which people are reacting.

June 10, 2020

GEOFF MILLER. 'G5-Eyes': a very strange economic grouping.

According to a report in The Australian of 8 June Treasurer Frydenberg has led the push and succeeded in establishing a series of regular and formal economic dialogue meetings among the countries that make up the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group.

April 20, 2016

Ian McAuley. Are Conservatives better economic managers?

Heres a short quiz.

Over the last fifty years Australia has had 17 federal treasurers. Which two have won the coveted Euromoney Finance Minister of the Year award?

As a memory jogger, below is a list of treasurers in chronological order.

William McMahon (Lib) Leslie Bury (Lib) Billy Snedden (Lib) Frank Crean (Lab) Jim Cairns (Lab) Bill Hayden (Lab) Phillip Lynch (Lib) John Howard (Lib) Paul Keating (Lab) John Kerin (Lab) Ralph Willis (Lab) John Dawkins (Lab) Peter Costello (Lib) Wayne Swan (Lab) Chris Bowen (Lab) Joe Hockey (Lib) Scott Morrison (Lib)

April 2, 2016

Chris Bonnor. Malcolm abandons the middle in schooling

Two plus years of conservative government has given oxygen to a number of strange solutions to ill-defined problems. Malcolm Turnbulls proposal to have the States alone fund government schools, leaving the Commonwealth to look after private schools, is the latest.

As a serious suggestion it has been widely condemned, but it would be premature to dismiss it as a piece of spontaneous kite flying. Conservatives have been playing in this space for some time. In April 2014 the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) flagged having wealthy parents paying fees for public education. Around the same time Tony Abbott commissioned another Tony (Shepherd) to come up with ideas, including about funding for schooling. Most of his suggestions were wisely ignored - but issues arising from having schools funded by two levels of government struck a nerve.

December 9, 2024

Synagogue attack: The unashamed trashing of the rule of law by news outlets

The attack last week on a Melbourne synagogue is undoubtedly a criminal offence. But according to the News Limited media outlets, many in the Jewish community and the broader pro Israel movement, and now the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it was an act of terrorism.

April 7, 2017

ANNETTE BROWNLIE. Keeping Australia out of US wars

It is time we, the people, asserted our sovereignty, took control of our foreign policies and reviewed the presence of U.S. bases and troops in Australia. It is time we started promoting genuine peace and security, human rights, a sustainable environment and our independence.

April 28, 2016

Ray Cassin. No moral mystery to 60 Minutes child snatch disaster.

The mystery of the 60 Minutes child snatch that went so disastrously wrong is that there is no mystery, although some people want to contrive one.

Ethically there are no shades of grey here. We know what happened, and we know that what 60 Minutes and TCN Nine agreed to do by helping Sally Faulkner abduct her children in Beirut violated a fundamental tenet of journalism.

That tenet can be simply expressed: don’t make yourself a player in the story, especially not by paying other players in the story. Because if you do, your audience has no reason to trust your account of what the story is.

June 18, 2016

JOHN AUSTEN. High speed rail where to? Competing with airlines or cars?

This article proposes a change in focus for the high speed rail debate. Rather than seeking to compete with airlines, rail should contribute to settlement that eases pressures on capital cities. This change of focus does not require ego stoking thousand kilometre distances at 350kph plus speeds, but trains for comfortable commuting between second tier cities and capitals. Costs would be lower and demand higher. Newcastle-Sydney is the obvious first candidate.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 4 Issues re-framed

Contrary to some interpretations, the trend in developed countries is still towards social and economic liberalism. But there is a strong reaction against the social exclusion that has accompanied liberalization. The economic models that guide public policy are not up to the task of dealing with exclusion.

February 19, 2025

A five-minute scroll

Francesca Albanese addresses a group in Berlin amidst challenges from the police. The City of Sydney passes a motion for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS), while Patricia Karvelas calls out the facts on Angus Taylor.

September 25, 2024

A five-minute scroll

A five-minute scroll of X uncovers abhorrent settler behaviour, questions about Peter Dutton’s nuclear platform, South Africa speaking out for Palestine in the UN, Chris Sidoti on the Israeli Army, Genocide Tourism and news of Julian Assange.

May 27, 2014

Chris Geraghty. Potiphars Wife The Vaticans Secret and Child Sex Abuse.

A few weeks ago the Roman Church gathered its heavenly forces, summoned her faithful from around the world to assemble in the eternal city, and in the midst of extravagant Renaissance-style splendor, infallibly declared two of her recent CEOs to have been translated into the presence of Almighty God, amid hosts of angels and Archangels on high. Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II were enrolled in the official canon of saints by Pope Francis, in the presence of his predecessor Pope Benedict and a gaggle of episcopal turkeys. Business as usual in Rome. Crazy triumphal ceremonial. A vial of papal blood in one reliquary, a sliver of Popes skin in the other. You have to admit that in view of what was happening down in the dungeons under the Vatican and the scandals unraveling in parishes and schools, the Roman Church was exhibiting a high degree of religious chutzpah. To engage in such a public display, she had to have real balls and no brains. CEOs giving each other a brotherly leg-up, encouraging pats on the back, colorful ribbons, medals and badges, while in hot-spots throughout the world the company was coughing up blood.

February 17, 2025

A five-minute scroll

Bisan Owda shares how Israel is violating the ceasefire from Gaza. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in London, marching for Palestine. Gideon Levy writes in response to Palestinian prisoners on their knees wearing Israeli T-shirts stating “we will not forget nor forgive”. UK Palestine Mental Health Network says there is no PTSD in Gaza, it is ongoing trauma.

November 29, 2024

A five-minute scroll

“This should be frightening for everyone” said Dr. Tanya Haj Hassan in an eye-witness report of the genocide in Gaza at the UN on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 26th. In Pakistan, snipers are shooting Imran Khan supporters as they protest. Indigenous people confront settler colonial narrative on Thanksgiving, while the President-elect addresses his message to the radical left. Australia breaks international law in every US war we support.

November 16, 2014

John Menadue. We pass by on the other side.

We are one of the richest and most privileged people in the world but our recent performance on Ebola, foreign aid and refugees tells the world a quite different story.

On Ebola, our response has been grudging and slow. We tendered one excuse after another. We moved quickly however to commit our military to combat again in Iraq and Syria. Our Medical Assistance Teams which we have deployed in humanitarian disasters like the typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines were ready to go to West Africa. They had volunteered and had vaccinations. The AMA urged us to get cracking. After a very lengthy delay the government decided to outsource our assistance. Our tardiness was in stark contrast to the response of countries such as the UK and the US. All the advice from experts was that the best way to address the Ebola outbreak was at its source. We knew that the medical and health facilities and hospitals in Liberia and other countries in the region were closing because the qualified staff were contacting Ebola and dying. Several hospitals were bereft of any staff. Healthcare in West Africa was near collapse but we delayed. Liberia has an income per head of $US454 p.a.; ours is over $US68,000. It is hard to recall a situation where our response has been so miserable.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 5 How we lost trust in government

We have lost trust in our governments and in mainstream political parties. Politicians, the media and corporate interests have been responsible for alienating governments from the people who elect them, creating fertile ground for populists.

May 2, 2016

Richard Broinowski. Australia's maritime espionage

According to The Australian’s defence editor Brendan Nicholson, an Australian submarine twice penetrated the Cam Ranh Bay naval base in Vietnam in 1985. Nicholson’s claim appeared in an article in the newspaper on 27 April 2016 analysing Canberra’s decision to build French Barracuda submarines in Adelaide. HMAS Orion’s first intrusion resulted in ‘brilliantly clear’ footage of sonar and other hull fittings on a Soviet Charlie-class nuclear submarine. On the second, it shadowed a Soviet Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruiser and monitored its communications.

June 29, 2016

JOHN MENADUE: 'Plan for a strong new economy'

As a voter in the prime ministers electorate of Wentworth, I have received two letterbox drops from Malcolm Turnbull on a 5-point plan for economic growth and jobs.

This 5 point plan is the centre piece of Malcolm Turnbulls national campaign. It is a very flimsy plan which the media has not seriously examined.

March 7, 2015

Alex Wodak. The current imbalance between public and private interests.

The public interest,meaning the welfare or wellbeing of the general public, has always competed with private interests. Furthermore, public and private interests will always be in competition. What is so unusual about the current tension is the extreme imbalance: these days, private interests almost always get what they want. The policy domination by huge companies and extremely wealthy individuals has severe adverse consequences for the community in areas such as health, social cohesion and the economy. The current extreme imbalance between private and public interests is now not merely an Australian phenomenon but is also international. Examples of this policy imbalance abound in Australia and include mining, alcohol, fast food, transport, taxation and gambling.

September 9, 2024

A five-minute scroll

We took a five-minute scroll through X this morning and this is what we saw in relation to issues impacting the world today, in Gaza….

September 27, 2016

ANDREW FARRAN. 'We must get out of Syria'

A comment in support of Richard Woolcotts blog: Australias Shambolic Policy on Syria Up Shiite Creek Without a Paddle. We must get out of Syria

Richard Woolcott has stated with clear reasons why we should get out of the Middle East conflict which threatens to broaden and involve us in an expanded war that is not in our interests. One wonders how any times these points need to be made to the government before it acknowledges the folly of its situation in Iraq/Syria.

June 4, 2014

John Menadue. Have we too many doctors?

There are no international comparisons that I can find that show that we have a shortage of doctors in Australia. In fact, we may be moving into a situation of having a surplus of doctors. In its Health at a glance the OECD found that we are above the average in our supply of doctors. The OECD provided details of practising doctors per 1000 of population in 2011 for over 40 major countries. The OECD average was 3.2 practising doctors per1000 of population. Australia was slightly above the average with3.3 practising doctors per1000 of population. For the Netherlands it was 3.0, for the UK 2.8, for NZ 2.6 and Canada 2.4. The top four countries with over 4 practising doctors per 1000 were Greece, Russia, Austria and Italy. The OECD is quite explicit about trends in Australia It says in several countries (e.g. Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK) the number of medical graduates has risen strongly since 2000 reflecting past decisions to expand training capacityIn Australia the number of medical graduates has increased two and a half times between 1990 and 2010 with most of the growth occurring since 2000

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 6 Who exploited discontent and how

A turning point in Australian political life was the 2013 election when Abbott set about destroying what remained of trust in government and of trust in social and political institutions, including traditions of dispassionate and objective inquiry.

October 1, 2016

NATALIA NIKOLOVA, ROBYN JOHNS, WALTER JARVIS. We need to change more than pay for executives to do better.

The pay of executives of a company, whether in salary, bonuses or other types of remuneration, is usually justified as an incentive to improve the financial performance of a company. This has led to ever more complex performance packages with increasing percentage of variable, performance-based payments.

But what is increasingly evident is that this definition of a role of an executive needs to change, as do the incentives, to act not only in the best financial interests of the company but to focus on how it serves the wider community.

August 23, 2016

PAUL COLLINS. Sniffing the Ecclesiastical Wind

Theres one thing you have to concede to Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane: he can unerringly sniff the direction of the wind in the Vatican; mind you, hes a frequent visitor to Rome. Hes spotted that Pope Francis is big on synods or gatherings of bishops, clergy and laity to set policy for the church, so he told his diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Leader (17 August 2016) that hes persuaded the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to hold a national synod of the Australian Catholic Church in 2020.

Unlike the Anglican and Protestant churches, Australian Catholicism is not big on synods. The last one was in 1937 and the three before that (1885, 1895 and 1905) were only attended by bishops, senior priests and theologians. The present bishops are not really enthusiastic about a synod either. The danger is you get people together and you never know what might come-up.

June 9, 2016

PAUL BUDDE. Can we please cut out the political NBN noise?

With all the kafuffle around the NBN it is very difficult for most people to see the big picture in all of this. The issue has been so incredibly politicised that it is almost impossible to cut through all the noise.

I will stick to what I believe is at the heart of the issue the future of our national telecommunications infrastructure. We are spending close to $60 billion dollars on our national digital economy infrastructure and we need to do it wisely and effectively.

This has nothing to do with doing things cheaper and faster; as a matter of fact I would argue for slowing it down, to make sure we do it right.

September 1, 2014

Cavan Hogue. Stick versus Carrot in Ukraine?

A major problem with the situation in Ukraine is that you can’t believe anything anyone says because they all have their political agendas to push and don’t hesitate to lie.

Crimea, Odessa and the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine have Russian majorities who would produce a majority for being part of Russia in any free and fair plebiscite. So the issue is one of self-determination versus territorial integrity. There is also the question of Russian minorities elsewhere but only where they occupy a definable territorial area.

May 14, 2013

Does Catholic Health really want to destroy Medicare? John Menadue

In his submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration on February 15, 2013 Martin Laverty, the CEO of Catholic Health wrote. Another option (to achieve a single funder in health) would be to embrace the Medicare Select proposal put forward by the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission. Medicare Select would enable Australians to choose a health and hospital plan best suited to their needs. They would be able to be insured by Medicare or instead opt out to be insured by a private health insurer or one operated by a non-profit organization

April 9, 2014

Michael Kelly SJ. The canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII - an event of telling significance.

Pope Francis may need some help from Our Lady The Untier Of Knots

On April 27, we will witness an event that will tell us more about what to make of Papa Francesco and what to expect in his papacy. He will canonize on the same day both Popes John Paul II and John XXII. Each represents contrasting styles and records as Bishops of Rome: John XIII who convoked the Vatican Council and opened up the Church; John Paul II who stiffened and straightened the Church when some thought it was out of control.

August 21, 2020

Attorney General Christian Porter breaches law over three years, claims it was a mistake

Since taking the top legal job in Australia in 2017, Christian Porter has been in breach of Commonwealth safeguard legislation by neglecting to table crucial reports documenting his use of secretive national security (NSI) orders. Kieran Adair reports.

June 19, 2017

MUNGO MacCALLUM. The Australian again supports Trump against Turnbull.

Lets face it, it was hardly surprising to find Malcolm Turnbull taking the piss out of Donald Trump. For starters, just about everyone does it indeed, for much of the time The Donald seems to be doing it himself.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 7 The left went AWOL

Contrary to right-wing conspiracy theories, there is no significant anti-business force in Australia. In fact the left has never been weaker: the traditional unionized left has been weakened by structural change, and the progressive left has dealt itself out of contention by abandoning economics.

September 9, 2015

John Menadue. A one-off increase in the humanitarian program rather than a safe haven is now possible.

In this blog several of us have advocated a safe haven arrangement, as was the case for the Kosovars, to meet the present Syrian refugee crisis. It was then clear that the government was not going to do much at all. That has now changed. The government has been reluctantly dragged along by state premiers, the backbench and the community generally. A part of the change has been the heart-rending photos of the young toddler lying lifeless on a beach in Turkey.

May 27, 2014

Elaine Pearson. Cambodia: A poor choice for Australias refugee resettlement

“It’s not about whether they are poor, its about whether they can be safe,“Australias Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said in defence of Australias plan to resettle refugees currently housed on Nauru to Cambodia. It appears Cambodia and Australia are in the final stages of signing such an agreement.

But is Cambodia a safe place for refugees?

Not if youre from China. In 2009, under pressure from China, Cambodia forcibly deported 20 ethnic Uighurs back to China. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had already issued persons of concern letters to the Uighursmost had fled China for Cambodia after July 2009 protests in Urumqi that the Chinese authorities brutally supressed. We know some of those returned to China have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

December 8, 2018

ABUL RIZVI. Dutton Sets New Asylum Seeker Application Record

Why did 50,000 asylum seekers arriving by boat represent a crisis for our border sovereignty while the arrival of a similar number over the past two and a half years by plane is just ho hum? Peter Dutton in 2017-18 has set a new record for the number of asylum seeker applications received. His record surpasses that set in 2012-13 under the Rudd/Gillard government. This is the result of a crisis in our visa processing system (see here) which is likely to be creating a honeypot for people smugglers. The new record will likely be exceeded in 2018-19 as Home Affairs is reducing frontline staff and IT contractors (see here). Outsourcing visa processing will make the problem worse. Tackling the chaos in our visa processing system will cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars, possibly north of a billion dollars and take many years. Is the Governments border protection mantra a diversion from its real border protection failings? (Note: Please print this post to obtain a clearer view of the tables)

July 9, 2014

Elenie Poulos. Morrison's Vision of the 'National Interest' Does Us No Good.

The parable of the Good Samaritan from the Bible (Luke, chapter 10) has become common place and almost clichd in Christian conversations about the current Australian Governments increasingly cold-hearted and abusive responses to asylum seekers. Christian conversations in the public space about this issue matter because the Minister for Immigration has made much of his Christian faith over the years (his first speech to the Parliament is worth a read). The Samaritan, of course, stopped to help a Jewish man (a traditional enemy) who was robbed, beaten and left by the side of the road to die. Two Jewish priests had already crossed the road to avoid the beaten man. We can confidently assume that the priests crossed the road because they deemed it not in their interest to stop and help. It was a foreigner, an outsider, who provided the care that was needed.

March 29, 2018

MICHAEL THORN. Cricket Australia crisis is an opportunity to remove the booze culture.

Australia loves to cut down its tall poppies.

Just a few months ago, Australian cricket captain Steve Smith was being compared with the Don himself, Donald Bradman.

In the aftermath of the weekends ball-tampering controversy in Cape Town, the Australian media were after his head, with a fervour normally reserved for murderers and sex offenders.

And now we have the verdict. Guilty as charged with 12 month sentences for Smith and David Warner, and a nine month sentence for Bancroft.

Unfortunately, any punishment meted out to Smith, Warner and Bancroft, no matter how punitive, would always be futile when the noxious culture that ultimately led to the cheating scandal began not with the players, nor the coach, but is arguably embedded deep within Cricket Australia.

May 28, 2014

John Menadue.The vendetta against the ABC and the cost to Australia

Tony Abbotts vendetta against the ABC is prejudicing Australias regional diplomacy.

The ABC is the most trusted media organisation in the country but Tony Abbott wants to bring it to heel. He has grown used to the fawning Murdoch media.

According to Essential Research, 70% of Australians have a lot of or some trust in ABC TV news and current affairs. For commercial news and current affairs, it is 38%; for news and opinion in daily newspapers it is 48% and for commercial TV news and current affairs it is 41%.

April 4, 2017

BOB BIRRELL and DAVID McCLOSKEY. Sydney and Melbourne's housing affordability crisis: no end in sight.

Our projections show that, on these demographic assumptions, new migrants will add about 64 per cent to the need for extra dwellings in Sydney over the decade 2012 to 2022 and 54 per cent in Melbourne.

March 7, 2025

A five-minute scroll

The Chinese Embassy in the US underlines the country’s differences with the US. Marco Rubio and Boris Johnson refer to the war in Ukraine as a proxy war, while Rubio also reaffirms Trump’s warning to Hamas. Ohad Kozminsky of the Jewish Council of Australia shares his views on Western colonialism and Gaza.

May 21, 2016

EVAN WILLIAMS. 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'. Film Review 4.5 stars.

Here is that rarest of cinematic pleasures a fine story, beautifully told, acted to perfection by a first-rate cast, with a screenplay consisting mainly of intelligent conversation between adults of mature years, and with no recourse to car chases, explosions or gratuitous four-letter words. And with all of coming in at a little over an hour-and-a-half, it isnt a moment too long. I can recommend The Man Who Knew Infinity, a British film written and directed by Matthew Brown, to cinemagoers of all ages as a necessary antidote to the likes of X-Men: Apocalypse and Captain America: Civil War (in 3D).

January 10, 2017

BRUCE THOM. Agonies of an American scientist under Trump.

A truly great nation must be compassionate, loving, kind, rational and celebrate diversity.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal