June 19, 2017

CAVAN HOGUE. Our white mans media.

For our media, the UK and the US are more or less down town.

January 12, 2024

Fears of wider war as US, UK reportedly plot 'imminent' attack on Yemen's Houthis

One prominent critic warned that renewed U.S. strikes on Yemen mean that not only will the Houthi attacks “not be stopped, but the broader war that Biden seeks to prevent will likely become a reality.”

October 7, 2024

A five-minute scroll

We start the week reminded about Gough Whitlam standing up against Israel, protests across Australia and around the world seek ceasefire, Richard Marles on the ABC, A statement from the Jewish Council of Australia, and IDF soldiers reveal their own identities when they post their crimes on social media. Spanish actor Javier Bardem has spoken out against the situation in Gaza and his considered comments are being shared across the world, while Israel continues to bomb Beirut and bombs an orphanage in Gaza.

August 3, 2015

Andrew Pridham. Adam Goodes and Rosa Parks.

Before last weekend’s match between the Sydney Swans and the Adelaide Crows, the Chairman of the Sydney Swans, Andrew Pridham, gave a very challenging speech about Adam Goodes and racism in Australia. He said that recent events are a seminal moment in our history. He commented that Adam Goodes ‘has shaken the nation’s conscience’.

He added ‘Change only occurs when someone takes a stand. Rosa Parks, who in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to stand for a white person in the coloured section of a bus. She was arrested. She was later to become the face of the civil rights movement and heralded for her actions. Despite this, she faced massive discrimination - she was fired from her job, she regularly received threats … media of the day claimed it was her own fault, she was divisive. She was uppity and she was refusing to conform to the good ways of society. Does that sound familiar?It does to me.’

August 23, 2016

'Racists aren't welcome here: how we kicked a racist passenger off the bus.

A nice story from The Guardian ‘Our better angels’ . See link below. John Menadue

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/19/racists-arent-welcome-here-how-we-kicked-a-racist-passenger-off-the-bus?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

May 27, 2014

Caroline Coggins. Art and prayer

What do we pay attention to, what do we look for? It sounds like such an innocent question, yet it is a reflection of who we are, and how we have been shaped.

I went to a Matisse exhibition when I was in London recently. What struck me was a comment the artist made as an older man, with only fourteen years of life left to him, that it was only now that he had tolearnthow to ’ see’. And this seeing would take him on a totally other path, and would revolutionize what was considered art.

April 21, 2015

Bruce Kaye. Corporate Tax and Ethics Dodging

The Senate committee hearings with testimony from high profile executives from some very large corporations have brought to notice the strategies to shift profits in order to avoid paying taxes in Australia. The companies claim that they are acting legally. The counter claim is that such manipulation of the law is unfair it is not ethical.

I am not competent to deal with the all complexities on tax law or the international agreements that are relevant to this problem. But even those who are competent do seem to suggest that there are problems largely arising from the failure of the law to keep up with changing technology in relation to the jurisdictional character of a nation state. Trevor Boucher has provided such a contribution on this blog.

January 9, 2017

IAN McAULEY. Brexit, Trump and the Lucky Country 8 Dont wait for a leader: we need leadership.

We have many hard issues to confront but our present political elites are adept at avoiding them. Its futile and dangerous to wait for a leader who will solve our problems. The task of leadership is one that falls on anyone who has voice.

September 26, 2016

LINDA JAKOBSON. Beware the China alarmists out there

The quandary over what to do about Peoples Republic of China government influence in Australia has burst on to the political scene. For the past months there has been ongoing media commentary about the consequences of political donations by businessmen with Chinese connections; and a piece in_The Australian Financial Review_claimed that hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese citizens in Australia are gathering information for Chinese authorities.

These are contentious issues, ones that cause unease within the government, among public servants and citizens at large.

June 20, 2016

SIMON SCHAMA. Brexit vote a choice between the past and the future.

In this article from the Financial Times, Simon Schama (BBC’s ‘A History of Britain’) provides an historical and relevant background as to why the UK should remain as part of Europe. He highlights the narrow mindedness and divisiveness of those who favour leaving the EU. His comments also have relevance for Australia in the divisive and short-sighted debate that we have seen on refugees. See link to article :

https://next.ft.com/content/7c7f2dbe-3474-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153

September 6, 2017

KATHARIN R. LESTARI. Indonesia speaks up as global support for Rohingya grows

The Indonesian government has stepped up its support for ethnic Muslim Rohingyapromising humanitarian aid and a new hospital in their homeland inMyanmar’s Rakhine State as the military continues to torch villages while battlinghomegrown insurgents.

April 20, 2016

Geoffrey Harcourt and Peter Kriesler . The case for taxation.

We were happy to sign the Australian Institute letter on taxation cuts in the Sydney Morning Herald (12/04/2016).We now would like to set out the general philosophy that lay behind our support.

We have always argued that taxes have two main functions: first, the relative structure of taxation types and rates should reflect philosophical views on equity as between different groups in society. Secondly, the total tax take should impact on the need to achieve high levels of employment and activity, after taking into account the other main sources of overall demand at any moment of time – expected expenditures on consumption and investment, current and capital government expenditures, and net exports. Meeting these two criteria implies that sometimes the government will be in deficit, sometimes in surplus, so that neither achieving a deficit or a surplus or a balance at a moment in time or over time should be the criterion of fiscal policy, but the residual outcome of attempting to achieve these other fundamental aims.

December 4, 2013

Bella Figura and the Vatican. Guest blogger: Kieran Tapsell

Bella figura, writes Bishop Geoffrey Robinson in his book, For Christs Sake, pervades the Vatican. In Italian, it means putting on a good appearance, and never admitting mistakes what we might call spin. Its opposite, bruta figura means looking dreadful. Bella figura can quickly turn bruta as Sir Walter Scott reminded us: Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

In 1983, Pope John Paul II promulgated the 1983 Code of Canon Law that made it virtually impossible to dismiss a paedophile priest. He had already abolished the simpler administrative trial, leaving only the impossibly complicated judicial trial. In 1988, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to the Churchs senior canon lawyer, Cardinal Castillo, asking for a simpler method. Castillo refused, saying that it would diminish the rights of priests. Never mind the children who were being abused.

February 7, 2019

ERNST WILLHEIM. Secret Trials: The illegal bugging of the Timor Leste Cabinet and the extraordinary prosecution of Bernard Collaery and Witness K

Australians reading about secret trials in foreign countries tend to content themselves in the belief that in Australia we have an open court system and an independent judiciary. After all, freedom of speech, the rule of law and an open and independent court system are basic bulwarks of our democracy. Arent they? This brief paper challenges that comfortable assumption.

August 27, 2018

JOHN MENADUE. Julie Bishop Foreign Minister or Senior Consular Officer A repost from 16 May 2018

In this blog and elsewhere, Geoff Raby, a former Australian Ambassador to China, has pointed out that Australia’s relationship with China is unlikely to improve until Julie Bishop is sacked as Foreign Minister. The departure of Julie Bishop as Foreign Minister is necessary, but it is unlikely that Malcolm Turnbull will act. If he did so, it would imperil his own tenuous hold on Liberal Party leadership.

Almost two years ago on 14 June 2016, I wrote about Julie Bishop’s continual and serious failings as Foreign Minister. Those failings have increased since then particularly with the management of our relations with China and more and more major cuts in ODA

That article of two years ago is reproduced below

December 27, 2016

OLIVER FRANKEL. Exploiting our under-used housing capacity a way to ease the affordable housing crisis

The substantial under-used capacity within our existing residential built environment offers a quick, and capital light, opportunity to ease the affordable housing crisis. … There are an estimated 90,000 properties empty in Sydney and 83,000 in Melbourne.

March 28, 2016

Chris Bonnor and Bernie Shepherd (researchers). School Myths Busted.

What_My School_ really says about our schools. (Text of press release of 28 March 2016)

In the wake of the latest version of My School two researchers have published a startling account of what the numbers behind the website actually show. Former school principals Chris Bonnor and Bernie Shepherd have revealed new findings which challenge myths about Australias schools.

While reports are frequently about the drift to the private schools Bonnor and Shepherd have found that the drift could be equally seen as one from low socio-educational advantage (SEA) schools to higher SEA schools. As recently reported on Lateline, they show that enrolments are increasing in higher SEA government schools, but declining in low SEA government schools.

June 6, 2016

LESLEY BARCLAY. Diagnosing rural health gaps in the election.

It is timely as the federal election approaches to consider whether all Australians are getting the healthcare they need. Approximately 30 per cent of Australians live in rural and remote areas.

Arguably they do not get a fair go in relation to their healthcare compared to the rest of us.

Rural and remote Australians are disadvantaged by social circumstances that influence their health status and ripen them for avoidable chronic disease when compared to counterparts in Australias major cities.

May 27, 2014

John Falzon. Time to stand and fight

There are measures in this Budget that rip the guts out of what remains of a fair and egalitarian Australia. These measures will not help people into jobs but they will force people into poverty.

You dont help young people or older people or people with a disability or single mumsinto jobs by making them poor. You dont build people up by putting them down.

This Budget is deeply offensive to the people who wage a daily battle to survive. The content of the Budget is offensive. The lies told to justify the Budget are offensive.

October 10, 2024

A five-minute scroll

A journalist takes on the US state briefing, a Palestinian captive takes on his captor. David Shoebridge takes on the government’s immigration policy and the Deputy PM in Belgium speaks out. Ben Gvir draws a gun in the West Bank, while Palestinian journalists flee drone fire. A personal view on destruction in Lebanon. Our five-minutes on X.

April 11, 2013

Fear of Asia. John Menadue

This fear has been with us since European settlement a small, relatively wealthy white community living on the rim of the large populations of Asia. This fear stunts our own human growth and is an obstacle to trusting relations with our own region.

Although we have broken the back of white Australia, fear of Asia and the yellow peril is still alive. We see it in so many ways.

Our uncritical alliance with the US and formerly with the UK stems from the fear of our region and the need for a strong external protector.
Politicians such as John Howard, Pauline Hanson, Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison, see fear of Asia and particularly demonising of asylum seekers as a potent political weapon.
The hostility to a small number of skilled workers on 457 visas.
The campaign against Chinese investment by Barnaby Joyce and others which is really a re-run of the campaign by Pauline Hanson against Japanese investment 25 years ago.

These campaigns against our Asian neighbours are designed to appeal to our emotions, our feelings our prejudice. They are not directed to our intellects.

July 25, 2024

American obeisance

I have just witnessed the most pathetic and humiliating hour which I, as an American, have experienced in my lifetime.

November 24, 2016

RICHARD BUTLER. Our white man's media.

In this blog, I will be posting occasional pieces under the title ‘our white man’s media’ about the inadequate coverage of important issues in world affairs and in particular, in our region. So much of our media coverage reflects the interests and views of the US.

Is the Wretched situation in Yemen of no interest to Australians?

The civil war in Yemen has been underway for over a year. In 2015 Saudi Arabia led a coalition of 3 other Arab states and Pakistan in invading and attacking Yemen, its southern neighbor. Saudis role was the significantly largest one and by now virtually the only one. What tied this group together was their interest in opposing the growth of Shia influence in the region stretching from Bahrain in the Gulf to Syria in the west. In plain geopolitical terms, the growth of Iranian influence.

The invasion was assisted by the US, mainly through air assistance.

May 17, 2017

NICOLE GURRAN and PETER PHIBBS. Policy sentiment rather than substance in housing policy

The Federal Treasurer clearly understands the housing affordability pressures facing moderate and low income renters and Australias growing homeless. His budget speech set the scene for a package of measures to boost affordable housing supply and recalibrate demand settings. A record number of new and recycled measures recognise the spectrum of crisis housing to home ownership, but theres little in the way of substantive policy change.

September 24, 2016

CHRIS BONNOR. Institutionalised farce: funding Australia's schools.

The nations education ministers have just had a day together to sort out school funding. There was considerable posturing but little agreement. And they managed to sidestep real problems and urgent solutions. They do have some awareness of the institutionalised inequality created, in part, by school funding - but no real will to fix it.

In a new report Bernie Shepherd and I outline the problem, starting with the contrasts between the schools in Albury and Wodonga, two of our most prominent border towns. One school on the NSW side is Albury Public School. Across the Murray is Wodonga Primary School with students who are less advantaged. After all the talk about equity youd expect the strugglers at Wodonga to be better supported. Quite the opposite: while NSW annually provides over $8000 for each of the students at Albury Public, those in the Victorian school make do with $2000 less.

July 9, 2014

Kieran Tapsell. Rolf Harris and the Vatican.

Rolf Harris, aged 84, was found guilty of sexual assaults on children in the long distant past, and was sentenced to 5 years jail. The judge took into account his age in determining the sentence. Many people still thought it was inadequate, and there is talk of an appeal by the Attorney General to increase the term.

The policy widely accepted in society and reflected by the courts is that the sexual abuse of children should be punished severely, even if it occurred a long time ago, and the convicted man is in his eighties. That view seems to have little traction in the Vatican. The harshest punishment that the Vatican can impose on a priest under canon law is his dismissal from the priesthood, whose secular equivalent would be striking off the rolls or register for a lawyer or doctor.

October 28, 2024

A five-minute scroll

Francesca Albanese warns the entire population of Gaza at risk of genocide, while the Israeli army herd Palestinian men in Jabalia and a child trapped in rubble waits for help. Courage to continue to help the injured from Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyah, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital whose son died in the attack and horror from Al Shati refugee camp attacks. Jeffrey Sachs asks where is western civilisation while tens of thousands are massacred before our eyes and Seyed Mohammad Marandi sets the BBC straight on Israel and Iran while Woody Harrelson sets the record straight on the US.

March 23, 2016

Ian McAuley. The government says that tax cuts are good for workers!

Arthur Sinodinos suggestion of a cut to the corporate tax rate doesnt seem to be the smartest way to start an election campaign.

For a start, its not clear how such generosity would be funded. Earlier this month there was a flurry of excitement when iron ore prices rose. For a few days the idea that higher commodity prices might boost the governments tax revenue was getting kicked around. But that commodity price rise was short-lived.

July 8, 2014

Joanne Yates. The G20 and the C20.

The G20 has become regarded as the premier forum for the promotion of economic cooperation. It is comprised of 19 nations and the EU and together account for 85% of global GDP, 75% of global trade and two thirds of the global population. As a consequence, its policy decisions have a significant impact on the well-being and life prospects of all citizens, but particularly on the poorest communities in the world, including those contained within G20 nations themselves.

April 6, 2014

Ian McAuley. Inequality in Australia.

A_Financial Review_article on March 24 claimed Inequality in Australia has not deteriorated over the last 25 years, according to Reserve Bank of Australia research that undermines claims the gap between rich and poor has worsened

The essence of the argument is that while, between 1993-94 and 2009-10, the distribution of income has become more unequal, we have all increased our consumption what we spend on food, transport, housing health care, recreation etc by the same amount. Therefore we arent becoming more unequal.

January 29, 2015

John Menadue. Health Policy Reform: Part 3 Principles for reform

In Part 1 of this series I described the areas in our health sector that need reform. In Part 2 I spoke of the obstacles, particularly those imposed by vested interests in the health sector to protect their own interests by delaying or stopping reform. In this article, I will be suggesting ways in which we can overcome these obstacles to health reform. But make no mistake: it will be hard without political leadership and political will.

July 14, 2014

Creating a Long-Term Framework for Asylum Seeker Policy

Last Friday 11 July 2014, I attended a roundtable at Parliament House, Canberra to discuss possible actions that could be taken to find a way out of the present divisive and harsh treatment of asylum seekers. The media release following that roundtable is reproduced below. The roundtable drew on discussion paper ‘Beyond Operation Sovereign Borders’, prepared by Peter Hughes and Arja Keski-Nummi. That discussion paper can be found by clicking on my website at the top of this page. The paper is described on the website as ‘Final Policy Paper - Beyond Operation Sovereign Borders’. John Menadue.

June 12, 2014

Nicholas Carney. Advancing the Australia-India relationship under Prime Minister Modi

Narendra Modi’s ascension to the prime ministership of India has sparked interest around the globe, including here in Australia.

The world is right to pay attention to Mr Modis rise. In the recent Lok Sahba (House of the People) election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he leads took 282 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sahba. The result gives the BJP a majority for the first time in its history, and India its first majority government since the 1984 election. The new governments majority rises to a commanding 336 seats if those won by the BJPs coalition partners in the National Democratic Alliance are included.

February 1, 2016

Ian Webster. Alcohol and Sport.

The facts about alcohol should stop politicians in their tracks. But they are unmoved.

A quarter to a third of the work of a general hospital is alcohol-related. On Australia Day one in seven ED attendances were caused by alcohol; in some EDs it was one in three. The Senior Australian of the Year, Gordian Fulde, time and time again, has described the carnage at St Vincent’s Hospitals ED late on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights; as many as 70 percent of cases at peak periods are intoxicated.

January 23, 2013

Rio Tinto - Corporate Governance and Asia

Since 2007 RioTintohas written off $US 35 billion in failed investments. It must be a world record. There are probably more write-downs to come with its investments in Mozambique coal and in aluminium in North America.

TomAlbanesehas been sacrificed but the remainder of the RioTintoboard are apparently unscathed. They have been too lax with shareholders money that they have washed so comprehensively down the drain. The boards of some of our mining companies in the mining boom must think that they are playing with monopoly money. Booming commodity prices and demand lulled them into being careless on major investment decisions. They became very gullible. Not only have they been lax in investment decisions but they have been careless in allowing costs to balloon.

May 7, 2015

The British Election

The Observer newspaper in the UK has an interesting background piece on the issues facing people in the UK. It raises many of the questions that concern Australians about the disfunction and the loss of trust in our political institutions. See link to article below. John Menadue

http://gu.com/p/48435/sbl

April 20, 2016

Douglas Newton. The hard questions we should face on Anzac Day 2016.

On Anzac Day 2016, the centenaries of 1916 should loom large. In April 1916, the Australian divisions that had been mauled at Gallipoli were being despatched to the Western Front. The industrialised kill-chain at the Somme awaited them. Other centenary moments from 1916 are coming: of diplomatic deals that escalated the war, and of lost opportunities to end the war.

The cataclysm of that war for Australians ought to prompt hard questions beyond the nationalist obsession over whether the mettle of the men shone bright on the battlefield.

June 18, 2014

Out-of-Pocket Costs in Australian Healthcare and the $7 Co-payment.

In my blog of May 12 on health co-payments I set out my objections to the proposal including that we already have a very high level of co-payments, that they are a dogs breakfast and that the proposal on its own would be unfair. The debate has moved on since then which raises further concerns about a proposal which covers not only GP consultations but pathology and radiology tests and pharmaceutical prescriptions as well.

May 17, 2017

ANDREW FARRAN. More troops to Afghanistan: at best a patch job; at worst perpetuating futility

Whereas economic globalisation might seem for a time to be on the wane, in the military sphere globalisation is on the rise. Regional alliances are being transformed into global alliances. ANZUS has been merged de facto into NATO, and where NATO is persuaded to go so shall we. Australia has been involved in Middle East conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and is now under pressure to expand its Afghanistan commitment. We should be clear about the purpose and intended outcomes of such commitments.

April 18, 2016

Tony Wood. The $50 b. submarine project.

Jon Stanford’s papers on the submarine project make an important contribution and deserve widespread circulation particularly among our decision makers. The replacement submarine decision has profound implications for all Australians. Its intention is to provide a deterrent to “potential adversaries”, but also to offer to the young members of our defence force weapons at least comparable with those they might face in opposition. To achieve this it is proposed we spend more on this project than we have ever spent before on military equipment.

April 16, 2015

Marilyn Lake. Fracturing the nation's soul.

You might be interested in this repost. John Menadue.

During World War 1 Australia lost its way. Its enmeshment in the imperial European war fractured the nations soul.

World War I had consequences for individuals as well as nations. HB Higginss life would be deeply affected by the British decision to invade the Ottoman empire in early 1915. As a member of the new federal parliament in 1901, Higgins had opposed Australian participation in the Boer War, fearing that this would set a terrible precedent for involvement in other imperial wars, whose purpose, goals and strategy would always be determined by other powers. He also doubted the legitimacy of the European war, writing to his friend Felix Frankfurter, Professor in Law at Harvard, What do you think of it? … [T]here are higher ideals than attachment to a country because it is my country. I blame our British jingoes Higgins was deeply troubled when his only child Mervyn elected to join British forces fighting in the Middle East.

October 1, 2016

JULIE WALKER. Australia should compare CEO and average worker pay like the US and UK.

Australia should follow the lead of the United States in requiring public companies to disclose how much their CEO makes each year directly compared to an average rank and file employee. Ballooning executive pay contributes to income inequality and the CEO pay ratio provides a measure of the extent of the pay gap between the top and bottom income levels in the economy.

US companies will be required to disclose from 1 January 2017 the ratio of pay of a CEOs annual total remuneration to the median annual total remuneration of all company employees. UK companies are also subject to a variation of the CEO pay ratio rule, with relevant regulation requiring disclosure of the CEOs remuneration compared to their employees. In Australia companies dont have to disclose this ratio, although companies do disclose information about remuneration for executives.

August 13, 2013

Minimizing PNG and Nauru. John Menadue

Before I outline what I suggest we should do after the federal election let me first raise a few important background issues.

The Indo China program

In working with Malcolm Fraser and Ian Macphee I was actively involved in the Indochina refugee program under which Australia took 240,000 people, including family reunion. It was a successful humanitarian program which most Australians now look back on with pride. It also broke the back of White Australia but did not fully banish it. It still shows up to today in a de facto form, in hostility and demonization of asylum seekers.

January 7, 2016

John Tulloh. The Cost of the star-spangled arms banner.

Repost from 05/10/2015

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O’er the ramparts we watched, we’re so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

March 17, 2017

HANS J OHFF. A Future Submarine bonanza for France

Seen through the eyes of an engineering contractor and shipbuilder I suggest that the French have hit the jackpot. They will be falling over themselves to sign the proposed Framework Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic concerning cooperation on the future Submarine Program.

May 17, 2017

JEAN PIERRE LEHMANN. Conspicuous Western & Japanese Absence from Belt & Road Initiative Summit is a Big Mistake

The conspicuous absence of the heads of state from the major Western economic powers and Japan at the 14/15 May Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) in Beijing is a big mistake and a missed opportunity for enhancing dynamic and cooperative globalisation.

August 23, 2016

IAN WEBSTER. Malcolm Turnbull and homelessness - reaching mentally ill people

This week our PM, Malcolm Turnbull, was admonished when he gave $5 to a homeless man in Melbourne. He was sorry if people thought he should not have done this. He said, I felt sorry for the guy.there but for the grace of God go I.

George Orwell wrote after being down and out in Paris and London, “Still I can point to one or two things. I have definitely learned by being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny, nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.”

June 9, 2017

MICHAEL KELLY. Time to think outside the square for the Church in China

Joseph Jiangs timely essay on the Church in today’s China will annoy some but asks all the right questions.

July 17, 2013

Joining the dots on Asia. John Menadue

The advocates of stronger ties with Asia spend a great deal of time with seminars and press statements about the importance of the region to our future. They are correct but they refuse to join the dots and advocate the changes on the really important issues impeding our relations with our region. Some of those impediments are symbolic and some are real. They include:

How can we expect our region to take us seriously when we have an English Queen as our head of state? Many Asians that I have spoken to are polite but shake their head with bemusement that we have a foreign head of state living in London.
Many in Asia are sceptical about our dependence on the US and allowing our foreign affairs and defence policies to be determined very largely by our relationship with the US at the expense of relations with regional countries. They have not forgotten John Howards reference to Australia as being the USs deputy sheriff in the region. Regional countries do place importance on the continuing role of the US in our region, but not in the slavish way that we do.
We have a clubbish Anglo-Celtic business sector that espouses better relations with the region but closes its ranks against persons with serious Asian experience or competence in the language.
The continuous demonization of asylum seekers is a disingenuous re-run of White Australia appealing to our fear of the foreigner which was the key driver of White Australia in the past. Malaysia is continually bashed by the Greens, the Coalition and NGOs when it offered the prospect of building a regional arrangement for asylum seekers.
Our media reflects our overwhelming ties to the UK and the US. Just look at the inflated coverage of the Boston bombings compared with the civil war broken out in Iraq with thousands of bombing deaths. By our own involvement in the Iraq war we have contributed to this catastrophe. But three deaths in Boston is much easier and cheaper TV footage.
We give lip service to the importance of Asian languages, but we are not prepared to fund it.
Working holiday programs with countries in our region which provide opportunities for young Australians to live and work in the region have been largely stalled for the past twenty years.

So much of the public debate about our relations with the region is froth and bubble. We avoid the hard issues. If we address them we would really show a genuine determination to build our future in our own region.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal