January 29, 2017

TIM LINDSEY. Indonesia's inconvenient truths.

Concerns regarding Australian military teaching materials and remarks uncovered late last year have placed strain on relations with Indonesia. The strange affair of our on-again-off-again defence cooperation arrangements with Indonesia continues to confuse most observers.

November 23, 2016

CHRISTIAN DOWNIE. Why China and Europe should form the world's most powerful 'climate bloc'.

Filling the void created by Donald Trump!

It seems almost certain that US President-elect Donald Trump will walk away from the Paris climate agreement next year. In the absence of US leadership, the question is: who will step up?

Sadly this is not a new question, and history offers some important lessons. In 2001 the world faced a similar dilemma. After former vice-president Al Gore lost the 2000 election to George W. Bush, the newly inaugurated president walked away from the Kyoto Protocol, the previous global pact to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

December 21, 2014

John Menadue. What does it mean?

We have all been moved by the outpouring of grief and emotion by the deaths in Martin Place, the school children killed in Peshawar and eight children murdered in Cairns. The flood of floral tributes has been remarkable. We saw it only a few days earlier with the untimely death of Phillip Hughes. There was an even more remarkable outpouring with the death of Princess Di in 1997.

But what does our response mean? How do we interpret these events?

May 13, 2015

John Menadue. The Budget and Liberal economic management.

Current Affairs: The Budget

Opinion polls and the public generally seem to believe that the Liberal Party is a superior economic manager to the Labor Party. There are also signs that the Liberal Party believes this about itself.

But the somersault in last night’s budget was extraordinary. I don’t think I have ever seen a government repudiate so quickly - what it had been telling us for years - how it was necessary to ensure our future. We had dire problems of debt and deficit that the former government had bequeathed to the Abbott/Hockey government.

August 6, 2014

'The real danger to Israel comes from within' interview with Eva Illouz and De Spiegal.

This interview in De Spiegal is of interest and merit on the Gaza crisis. See link below. John Menadue.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-sociologist-eva-illouz-about-gaza-and-israeli-society-a-984536.html

August 23, 2016

RICHARD BUTLER. Nuclear disarmament - Australia’s Profound and Cynical Failure.

In 1995 Prime Minister Keating established the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. He did this because he was appalled at the intensity of the, mainly US/USSR, nuclear arms race. He wanted to find a safe way in which nuclear weapons could be eliminated, to which international agreement might be given. The Commission was composed of 16 eminent persons from relevant fields. Keating appointed me as Convenor of the Commission.

In 1996, Keating having lost the national elections, I presented the completed Commission Report to Prime Minister Howard. His demeanor was as if I was handing him a funnel web, but I had taken with me to the meeting, Commission member Sir Josef Rotblat, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. I asked Joseph to make the speech. Howard was obliged to be polite to him.

A month or so later, in New York, Australia broke a deadlock on the text of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was then adopted by the General Assembly. It makes illegal the conduct of all nuclear explosions, in all environments, for all time.

A month later it was signed by all Permanent Members of the UN Security Council – the recognized Nuclear Weapon States. I was present at the table when President Clinton signed for the US. Although its terms are being observed by all signatories, CTBT has not yet formally entered into force because it has not been ratified by a few essential states, including the US.

Last week, in Geneva, a negotiation involving all state members of the UN Conference on Disarmament, came to an end. The agreed report, to be sent to the UN General Assembly, proposed that the Assembly institute a multilateral negotiation on a Treaty to ban all nuclear weapons.

It had been understood in Geneva that the report would be adopted by consensus. It had been the subject of much negotiation and compromise. At the last moment, Australia’s representative, objected and insisted that there be a vote. The vote had the following result: 69 in favour, 22 against, (all 7 nuclear weapon states ),13 abstentions. Although there was deep concern, indeed some anger, that Australia had insisted on a vote, the result was considered to be clear enough. So, the proposal of a Ban negotiation will go to the General Assembly. It is considered certain that the Assembly will adopt the proposal and establish a negotiating mechanism to commence work, next year, on a Ban Treaty.

March 14, 2013

Habemus Papam. Guest blogger Chris Geraghty

The signs are hopeful, but the challenges are herculean.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a good, simple man. As Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires he used to cook his own meals and catch the bus to work with the other workers. These are good signs. His feet are on the ground, his toes in the dirt and his mind in the street. We can expect him to turn his back on Renaissance dress and Byzantine ceremonial, to take off the red shoes and cast aside the ermine and feathers, and return to the values of the Gospel – to simplicity, a marked preference for the poor and downtrodden, to justice for all, to healing and to a loving freedom from the harshness of the law. Francis I may even prove a force hostile to Wall Street, to the extravagances of greed and extreme capitalism, to corruption inside and outside the Vatican, and a champion of the fair-go for all.

September 28, 2016

BOB KINNAIRD. The Coalition’s Backpacker tax and work rights package

The Coalition’s backpacker policy announcement yesterday focussed on tax rates but also includes a significant expansion of work rights under Australia’s working holiday maker program (WHM or 417 and 462 visas). …. The Coalition’s main aim is to provide an increased supply of cheap and captive foreign labour to the agricultural sector on a long-term basis. But the new policy applies to WHMs in all sectors.

September 29, 2013

One-liners won't work in Jakarta. John Menadue

In his meeting with President Yudohono tomorrow, Tony Abbott will find that his one-liners that have been so successful in Australian politics will not have traction in Jakarta. It will require a lot more subtlety than ‘stop the boats’ and ‘axe the tax’.

Our Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop has already been shown how Indonesian society and politics work. She was outflanked by the Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marty Natalegawa, who completed a doctorate at the Australian National University in Canberra. He understands Australia and Australian politics very well. At her meeting with Marty Natalegawa in New York, Julie Bishop failed to appreciate that the rhetoric of the coalition about border protection will not work in the complex environment of Indonesia.

August 4, 2015

Warwick Elsche. Bronwyn, the captain’s pick.

The loss of Bronwyn Bishop from the role of Speaker in the Federal Parliament is a blow to the Abbott Government.

Bishop was not the least talented in a Government which – despite the supposed neutrality of the office – she seemed never to cease to be a part.

In her chaotic 22 month reign as Speaker of the House of Representatives she was, in the eyes of long-time parliamentary watchers, the least competent, least impartial and most disruptive person ever to hold that office.

June 25, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Brexit and a failure of leadership – a sad, sad day.

There are lessons for many, including Australia, in Brexit and in the demise of David Cameron.

That demise resulted from a failure of leadership. He pandered to the extremist Eurosceptic in his party. Instead of dismissing them and telling them politely to jump in the Thames – and showed leadership in what he believed in – the UK in Europe – he offered them a plebiscite that gave a platform to little Englanders on so-called sovereignty and immigration.

April 22, 2016

Rob Nicholls. NBN - election issue or fizzer?

Cable competition

NBN Co has let a contract worth $1.6 billion for Telstra to construct the hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) network in the mainland state capital cities. The deal has the ACCC on edge with Rod Sims expressing concern that Telstra will get a retail edge. As he said in a media release: “It is important that Telstra doesn’t get a head-start selling retail services over the NBN just because its technical expertise is being used in the construction and maintenance of the NBN”.

October 16, 2013

The Mideast Road to Nowhere. Guest blogger: John Tulloh

If ever there were a news story which goes nowhere, it must surely come under the heading of ‘Middle East peace talks’ with specific reference to the Israelis and Palestinians. Google the topic and you will find no less than 84,800,000 references at last count.

Mediators come and go, the protagonists gather at the White House and Camp David, optimistic speeches are made, governments change, the Oslo accords were agreed, detailed ‘road maps’ reached, fresh initiatives made, the UN has been involved and international leaders have descended on Israeli and the Palestinian capitals with high-minded intentions and yet nothing really changes.

November 14, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Donald Trump – a false prophet and implications for Australia.

Trump prides himself in being a change-agent, but he really wants to restore the past and protect privilege. He will also do a great deal of social damage.

Analysis of the US election tells us that many American ‘working class whites’ were sick of elites, whether they were in business, the media, Wall St, the banks, political parties, government and Washington with all of its special interests. These Americans in the rust belt states around the Great Lakes felt that the elites were not listening to them and that the political left was more concerned about culture wars and gender politics than the dignity of work. They knew that globalization and trade agreements brought great benefits for the 1%, but they were left behind.

April 27, 2014

Walter Hamilton. Anti-climax in Tokyo

Three words for Shinzo Abe––and for history. Three words: ‘…including Senkaku islands’ (was Obama’s omission of the definite article ‘the’, one wonders, part of a subconscious hesitation?). Thus a US president for the first time explicitly committed his country to defend Japan if it should come to blows with China in their territorial dispute.

Barack Obama affirmed that the islands were covered by Article V of the Japan-US Security Treaty which states: ‘Each Party recognizes that an armed attack against either Party in the territories under the administration of Japan would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional provisions and processes.’

June 12, 2014

John Menadue. Joe Hockey and class warfare.

In his speech to the Sydney Institute last night, Joe Hockey said that the criticism of the budget was unfair and reminiscent of ‘class warfare’ of the 1970’s.

Joe Hockey was right on one thing. There is class warfare and he is waging it particularly against the young and the aged in Australia. Warren Buffet a multi billionaire put it pungently in the US recently ‘There is certainly class warfare going on and my class is winning it’.

August 23, 2016

ANDREW MACK. ‘National security’ and the Ausgrid bid

On 19th August Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison confirmed his earlier decision to block the NSW government’s planned lease of 50.4 per cent of the New South Wales Ausgrid electricity distribution network to two Chinese companies: the Chinese government-owned State Grid Corporation of China and Hong Kong listed Cheung Kong International (CKI). Morrison based his decision on the Foreign Investment Review Board’s advice that these companies represented a threat to the ‘ national interest…on the grounds of national security’. When asked at a press conference what specific security threat was posed by the Chinese bidders Morrison replied: The only person who’s security-cleared in this room to hear the answer to that question is me’.

The Treasurer’s cryptic media release and public comments leave many crucial questions unanswered. In particular, was the security issue the most important factor or were there other important considerations at play? What was this ‘exhaustive process’ and the major parameters applied?

May 27, 2024

BREAKING: Horrendous images of burnt children after Israel bombs Rafah refugee camp [Graphic content]

Hours ago Israel bombed a refugee camp in Rafah, an area Israel designated as safe four days ago, setting it ablaze - tents housing families and including the UNRWA office.

April 22, 2016

Richard Eckersley. The mismeasure of progress: Is the West really the best?

Western liberal democracies dominate the top rankings of progress indices. But are they the best models of development when their quality of life is, arguably, declining and unsustainable.

The measures of human progress and development that we employ matter. Good measures are a prerequisite for good governance because they are how we judge its success. They also influence how we evaluate our own lives because they affect our values, perceptions and goals. Measures both reflect and reinforce what we understand development to be: if we believe the wrong thing, we will measure the wrong thing, and if we measure the wrong thing, we will not do the right thing.

August 23, 2014

John Menadue. The Bishop and the Prime Minister

In August 1987 The Bulletin published an account by Tony Abbott of why he left the seminary. A link to Tony Abbott’s account is below. Following Tony Abbott’s account, Fr Bill Wright on August 25, 1987, replied. He was a priest at that time in the Archdiocese of Sydney and Vice Rector of St Patrick’s College, Manly. He is currently Bishop of the Diocese of Maitland/Newcastle. He is mentioned as a possible successor to Cardinal George Pell in Sydney.

July 29, 2014

Ben Saul. The Occupation of Palestine.

There is very partisan criticism of Hamas for firing home-made rockets into Israel. But the core problem is not rockets. It is the occupation of Palestine by Israel and the imprisonment of two million Palestinians in a sliver of land called ‘Gaza’.

I often think how we should or could respond if our country was occupied by a foreign power. Surely there would be resistance to that occupation. That is fundamentally what the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is about.

February 13, 2013

The Bad Samaritan. Guest blogger Greg at Cottesloe

You don’t have to be Christian to get it about helping sick or injured strangers but the parable of the kindly Samaritan does have its limits. What happens when the Samaritan notices the packet of smokes and the crumpled betting tickets? Irritation then becomes outrage - could that be a bottle of liquor in his pocket? And how can anyone be reading rubbish like that? “Thank God I stopped to help him. We’ll fix him up in no time. Let’s start with…….” Most people have started to feel uneasy before this point, sensing that simple kindness is changing into a darker something else.

July 14, 2015

John Menadue. Q&A – Why bother with Ministers?

The ABC has tied itself into a knot in trying to appease the government and get ministers back on Q&A. But why bother? If ministers aren’t allowed or don’t want to go on the program, so be it. They would not be missed and neither would most members of the shadow ministry.

I must confess that I am only an occasional viewer of Q&A. It is not for me. It unfortunately follows the adversarial and confrontational approach that is so debasing so much of public discussion in Australia on important issues.

December 15, 2023

CNN goes to Gaza

CNN’s Clarissa Ward and her crew became the first western journalists to enter Gaza independent from Israeli forces since October 7, briefly visiting a 150-bed hospital that was recently constructed in a soccer stadium by the United Arab Emirates in the southern part of the enclave before leaving to report on the footage from Abu Dhabi.

October 17, 2018

BOB CARR. How the Israeli Lobby operates.A repost

The letter was in the bulging file marked ‘Premier’s Invites’. The invitation was to an annual dinner where a peace prize was presented to a person chosen by the Sydney Peace Foundation at Sydney University. This year they had decided to present the award to Hanan Ashrawi. I knew her from CNN and had been impressed by her dignity.

April 22, 2016

Adrian Bauman & William Bellew. Does a spoonful of sugar help the medicine go down?

“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”, according to Mary Poppins. Many more spoonfuls of sugar currently pervade our lifestyles and unconscious food choices. The recent media focus on sugar has been remarkable, but the media frenzy has sought a single solution, a quick fix, to what is in reality a complex problem: childhood and adult obesity. Rapid increases in obesity rates have occurred since the late 1980s in Australia and in many other countries, and even if starting to plateau, still leaves 63% of adult Australians overweight or obese.

April 15, 2014

Patty Fawkner. An Easter story

If we think about it, each of us has an Easter story. Mine goes back to the death of my father.

Dad died when I was a young nun. It was my first experience of the death of someone I deeply loved. Where once the word “loss” seemed a somewhat evasive euphemism, it was now acutely apt. I felt empty and fell into an abyss of grief, a grief that had begun eighteen months earlier, the day Dad was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He was 57.

July 3, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. Conservatives have set the gold standard in scare campaigns.

After following politics and elections for over 60 years, it is quite extraordinary to see the Liberal party complaining about the Medicare scare campaign. In a downcast and confusing speech on election night Malcolm Turnbull spoke of the ‘well funded lie campaign on Medicare.’

In fact, I think the ALP is right on the threat to Medicare, although I would have used different arguments.

July 1, 2013

What should Prime Minister Kevin Rudd do about boat arrivals? John Menadue

The new government has indicated that it will be reviewing current policies on such issues as carbon reduction and boat arrivals. I have written extensively about asylum seekers and refugees. I suggest that in the short term, the PM should consider the following on boat arrivals.

We need some perspective in the political debate. We should acknowledge that there is a political problem but there is no need to panic. We are a nation of immigrants and refugees. Our wealth is built on it. We had about 16,000 asylum seekers in 2012, although there has been a surge in recent months in boat arrivals (7,500 in the March quarter) compared with air arrivals (2,200 in the same quarter). In 2012 the US had 82,000 asylum claimants. In Germany it was 64,000, in France 55,000 and in Sweden 44,000. Our borders will never be completely secure but as an island continent and country we are much more secure than almost any other country and the number of asylum seekers coming to Australia is quite small compared with other countries. There is a world-wide problem of refugee flows eg Syria and we cannot isolate ourselves from the problem. Apart from our migration program of about 200,000 persons per annum, we have over 700,000 foreigners who can work in Australia under various temporary resident permits, e.g. 457, working holiday and student visas.

August 11, 2015

John Menadue. Parliamentary reform and the new Speaker.

In my post of 12 May this year ‘ Democratic renewal and our loss of trust in institutions’, I wrote about our loss of trust in so many institutions including our parliament and political parties. If Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten want to improve public debate and restore some faith in our public institutions the election of new speaker Tony Smith provides an opportunity to change course.

The most trusted of our institutions are all public institutions; the ABC, the High Court and the Reserve Bank. The least trusted are political parties and the expenses mess triggered by Bronwyn Bishop will add to that lack of trust.

July 3, 2016

JOHN MENADUE. A hung parliament could be a good thing.

We have been warned time and time again about hung parliaments and the chaos that follows. The media which is so often more concerned about politics and personalities than good governance, joins in the chorus about the risks of hung parliaments.

The claims that minority governments are disastrous are nonsense.

November 8, 2015

Michael Keating. The role of government in policy renewal.

In thanking Ross Gittins for launching ‘Freedom, Opportunity and Security’, Mike Keating explains the reasons why he and I decided to launch this series, first online and now in a book. Mike Keating’s book launch notes follow. I will also be posting Ross Gittins’ comments. John Menadue.

Thank you Ross Gittins and thanks to you all for coming

Why we embarked on this project

Concern about the poor quality of public debate on many public issues
The failure of political leadership to change that situation, or even be willing to try

Instead we think there is a role for public conversation in developing and prosecuting a genuine reform agenda

December 14, 2016

RICHARD WOOLCOTT. A declining Australia.

With dropping levels in education and a fading economy Australia is in a decline. What we need is a clear focus on our own area, Asia and the South West Pacific.

February 13, 2018

RICHARD KINGSFORD. The Darling River – up the creek without a political paddle.

Once again, the Senate is poised this week to decide the future policy course of the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. The critical decision for senators is whether or not to accede to the recommendation by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority that environmental flows in the Darling Rivers’ catchments be cut by seventy billion litres a year. The Greens are opposed and Labor is _wavering while seeking a deal_ on the promise of delivering four hundred and fifty billion litres to the River Murray. The Darling River could once again be the poor sibling of the Murray-Darling family.

February 2, 2015

John Menadue. Tony Abbott at the National Press Club

In his speech today, Tony Abbott recycled many of his one-liners that we heard at the last election. Let’s examine several of them.

First, he said that his government was a low-taxing government and that it would reduce the budget deficit by reducing spending, rather than increasing taxes. But the most recent mid-year economic forecast shows that tax receipts are increasing substantially as a result of allowing budget creep as people move into higher income tax brackets. Government receipts/taxation are projected to increase by 2% from 22.8% of GDP in 2012-13 to 24.8% in 2017-18. Further the coalition said it would reduce debt. At the end of 2013 actual net debt was $178 b. The Department of Finance tell us that at the end of 2014 the net debt was $239 b, an increase of $61 b or 35%

October 16, 2014

John Menadue. Post-script from France.

My wife and I and quite a few members of our family, have been summering in France for a week or two.

We have enjoyed the history, the architecture and the beauty of the countryside. Not for nothing, France has 37 sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Many other Australians also feel the attractions of France. We heard a lot of Australian accents in Paris.

But this year France seemed chillier and I am not just referring to the weather. I sensed a growing malaise particularly with unemployment stuck at around 12% and double that for young people. I did not sense any confidence that France was going to break out of its malaise.

May 16, 2015

Stephen Morey. How 37% of the vote in the UK resulted in 51% of the seats.

Current Affairs. UK election

On Thursday, May 7 2015, the Conservative Party won the national election in the United Kingdom – despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of ballots were cast for other candidates. With only 36.9% of the vote - some 3% more than opinion polls predicted - the Conservative Party won a 50.9% absolute majority of seats, 331 out of 650, in the House of Commons.

The 61.1% of voters who supported other candidates will thus be represented by a minority in the Commons. There have been public protests at an outcome that some feel was not a democratic expression of voters’ will.

September 30, 2015

John Menadue. Murdoch is losing his touch.

Two weeks before the fall of Tony Abbott, Rupert Murdoch tweeted “Abbott, far the best alternative”. The Liberal Party ignored his tweet and chose Malcolm Turnbull.

Rupert Murdoch’s declining influence is becoming plain to see.

At the last SA state election, the Adelaide Advertiser backed the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party lost.

At the last Victorian state election, the Herald Sun backed the Liberal Party and the Liberals lost.

In Queensland, the Courier Mail backed the Liberal-National Party at the last election and there was a record swing which tipped the LNP out of office.

May 16, 2014

Jennifer Doggett. Budget 2014 - Primary Health Care

While some commentators are calling this Budget ‘The end of universal health care’ others are seeing some opportunities to improve health system performance, in particular through better collaborations with state-funded health services and programs.

The most high profile Budget measures in the primary health care sector are the introduction of new co-payments for bulk billed GP services and increased charges for related tests and medicines. There will be caps for high level users and some support provided for people on low incomes but overall these changes will result in higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers.

April 22, 2014

Brian Howe - Raising the Retirement Age

The Labor Government planned to lift age of eligibility for the aged pension from 65 to 67 between 2017 and 2023 and now the conservatives are considering raising it to 70 by 2029. Unless there are very big changes in the demand for older workers these changes must increase numbers on other payments such as Newstart or the Disability Pension. In the case of case of Newstart it would add to the hundreds of thousands of people living at least twenty percent below the poverty line.

October 22, 2015

David Combe. Tony Abbott’s soul-mate has gone.

After the second longest campaign in Canadian history – 11 weeks – finally Federal Election Day for Canadians had arrived on Monday, October 19.

When I was moving to Canada 30 years ago, Gough Whitlam said to me that “There are no two peoples in the world who are so similar, have so much in common, and get on better than Australians and Canadians”. For some months, I could not see it, but after 4 years I knew it to be so true……except that the Scottish heritage of Anglophone Canadians makes them more reserved in expressing what they really think. Get to know them well enough and they will tell you, for example, what they really think of their southern neighbours! Their humour, like ours, has a large dose of self-deprecation at its base.

October 23, 2015

Sam Bateman. US muddle in South China Sea.

Strong calls continue to be made in Washington for the US Navy to increase its freedom of navigation (FON) activities in the South China Sea. This is despite apparent differences of view between the Pentagon and the White House about the wisdom of such action. The US has done little in 2015 to ease concerns about whether it knows what it’s doing in the South China Sea. If anything, the rhetoric coming out of the Pentagon, and the US Navy in particular, has become stronger.While extensive land reclamations in the South China Sea have not helped China’s image, none of its current actions justify deliberate provocations by the United States. It’s not clear just what Washington is protesting in the South China Sea. There are three possibilities, some or all of which may apply.

May 9, 2015

Ken Henry. Fairness, opportunity and security.

The policy series ‘Fairness, opportunity and security’ begins on Monday May 11.

_‘_I can’t recall a poorer quality public debate, on almost any issue, than what we have had in Australia in recent times.’ Ken Henry

In December 1983 the $A was floated and restrictions on the free international movement of capital were abolished. On 1 July 2000 a broad-based goods and services tax replaced a plethora of highly inefficient, inequitable and unintelligible indirect taxes. These events ‘bookended’ an extraordinary period of policy reform that ‘opened up’ the Australian economy, transforming just about every aspect of microeconomic and macroeconomic policy and institutions.

May 24, 2015

Marion Terrill. Budget infrastructure spending serves mainly political gains.

Current Affairs

Tony Abbott famously told Australians he wanted to be known as the infrastructure prime minister and in the 2013 election campaign committed to “retain and strengthen the role of Infrastructure Australia, to create a more transparent, accountable and effective advisory body”.

In contrast to last year’s $11.6 billion Infrastructure Growth Package, this budget has only three big transport infrastructure announcements. One is the claw-back of $1.5 billion from Victoria for the shelved East West Link, while offering to provide the full $3 billion the Commonwealth originally promised if any Victorian government decides to proceed with the project. Another is the decision to give $499 million to Western Australia, nominally for road infrastructure but effectively replenishing state coffers after the Premier complained about a shortfall in GST revenue. The third is the decision to establish a $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility with concessional loans for ports, railways and electricity.

March 31, 2015

ICC Cricket World Cup: Alcohol-drenched culture needs to change.

Many media outlets today have drawn attention to the alcohol influenced behaviour of Australian cricketers as they celebrated winning the International World Cup. At the celebration in Federation Square in Melbourne yesterday morning, the Australian captain Michael Clarke seemed to be proud of the fact that all the team members had hangovers.

In the link below Michael Thorn, the chief executive of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, in today’s SMH, draws attention to the influence of the alcohol lobby,the alcohol consumption of the Australian cricket team and advertising. See link below.

December 28, 2015

John Menadue. Drownings at sea.

Repost from 22/04/2015

The recent tragic loss of 800 Libyans in the Mediterranean has given once again an opportunity for the Government to infer that Australia’s refugee policies are designed particularly to stop people drowning at sea.

It is self-deception or worse for the Government to suggest that its policies towards refugees have been motivated by humanitarian concerns and not political advantage. Perhaps with guilty consciences self-deception is necessary.

In Opposition the Coalition was not interested in stopping the boats to save people drowning at sea. Its political objective was to stop the Labor Government stopping the boats. That is why the Coalition with cooperation from the populist Greens voted in the Senate against amendments to the Migration Act which would have allowed the Malaysian Arrangement to proceed and curb boat arrivals, in cooperation with UNHCR. By frustrating the government, the Coalition showed no interest in stopping drownings at sea.

September 3, 2015

Suffer the little children

The lifeless body of a child near the Turkish resort of Bodrum, early Wednesday 2/9/15 (Huffington Post)

December 19, 2014

Brian Johnstone. How to Respond to Terrorism?

How can we make sense of the contemporary situation of increasing violence? Some groups engage in terrorism against other groups and these engage in torture as a means of defeating the terrorism of the others? In liberal states torture is condemned as immoral; some seek to prohibit it by law, others defend it as a necessary and effective means to defend freedom. Historical experience suggests that torture will continue.

Paul W. Kahn, in Sacred Violence: Torture, Terror and Sovereignty, (Ann Arbor, 2011) argues that secular, liberal philosophy and the theories of rights that it has developed, cannot deal with these issues. The key is a religious notion that he calls “sovereignty.” By this Kahn means a notion of ultimate reality. Both sides of the contemporary war on terrorism appeal to an ultimate reality. For the jihardist this may take the form of a distorted notion of “god.” But western, liberal states have their own conceptions of a sacred reality. We may call this “our freedom.” To defend this, these states send their young women and men to kill terrorists and to be ready to sacrifice their own lives in the service of the sacred reality. Once we begin to speak of “sacrifice” we move into the realm of religious experience and religious discourse.

May 16, 2014

Kieran Tapsell. The Vatican at the UN: Who is fossilised in the Past?

The Holy See has found itself before the United Nations once again, this time in relation to the Treaty on Torture. According to Reuters, Archbishop Tomasi told critics of its sexual abuse record that it had developed model child protection policies over the last decade and that its accusers should not stay “fossilised in the past” when attitudes were different. He said that the “culture of the time” in the 1960s and 1970s viewed such offenders as people who could be treated psychologically rather than as criminals, but this was a mistake, and it is all in the past.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal