November 6, 2017

BOB SORBY. Of Pipes and Pipedreams

Life is an equation in hydrocarbons was a favourite aphorism of the late RFX Connor, Minister for Minerals and Energy in the Whitlam Labor governments of 1972-1975. The phrase belied a deep understanding by Connor of the Australian petroleum and natural gas industry at the time together with a suggestion of big ideas waiting to be explained. One big idea that Connor had was the need to develop Australias natural gas deposits to maximise their economic return in the international market and secure sufficient gas reserves to satisfy Australias domestic requirements, both domestic and industrial, for the foreseeable future.

April 18, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. Appealing to our Better Angels. A repost from 30 June 2011

In an appeal to Secessionists in his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln appealed to the better angels of our nature. Today we lack the bi-partisan leadership on refugees that would appeal to our better angels. I have yet to hear Julia Gillard make an informed case for generosity towards refugees who are amongst the most vulnerable people in the world. She competes with Tony Abbott to show how tough she can be. Tony Abbott in his opportunism appeals to our darker angels. The Holy Family was indeed lucky when it fled as refugees to Egypt that the Pharaoh did not have a policy to stop the donkeys.

August 17, 2018

WANNING SUN. New Model of Public Diplomacy Is Needed in the Digital Era.

The Department of Communications is now reviewing submissions on the issue of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia-Pacific region. In my submission, I argue that public diplomacy in the digital era requires not simply a rejigging of the current broadcast transmission model; it also requires a complete paradigm shift.

October 15, 2018

ANTHONY PUN: A response to PM Morrison's speech in Hurstville concerning Australia/China relations.

The Chinese Community Council of Australia welcomes PM Morrisons olive branch on community relations and the China-Australia relations at face value and with goodwill. However, we reserve judgement pending resolution of issues with the Chinese Australian community.

January 16, 2018

LINDA SIMON. What has happened to enrolments in the TAFE sector?-The creeping commercialisation of education.- A REPOST from October 6 2017

Enrolments in the TAFE sector have dropped in many qualifications. Tracing the reasons for this change at a time when Australia needs more skilled technicians and paraprofessionals is complex. They appear to be tied to the overall changes in funding of tertiary education, the increase in student fees as well as the status of the VET sector.

April 25, 2019

JERRY ROBERTS. The dumbing-down of politics, religion and trade unions

Getup! is campaigning in Western Australia against Attorney General Christian Porter. In the parochial West, as in Peter Duttons Queensland seat, this foreign presence may favour the incumbents. By the same token the trade union campaign to change the rules by changing the government could help the Coalition. The present government is not responsible for the decline of trade unionism which goes back to a time before anybody had heard of Scomo. Dumbing down politics (and religion) works against the Left and favours the Right.

July 27, 2018

KIM WINGEREI. The stakes are too high - the party is over!

Listening to journalists and commentators on the hustings this week, the apathy of the electorate stands out more than ever. As seasoned political commentator Laura Tingle said on the ABC’s 7:30 report: “we are seeing a level of disillusion and disengagement that I haven’t seen in 35 years of federal political reporting.”

The national papers are also showing little interest in the ‘Super Saturday’ by-elections. Four out of the five seats are held by Labour and one - Mayo in Adelaide - by The Central Alliance (previously known as the Nick Xenophon Team). As the balance of power in the House of Representatives is not at stake, nobody outside those electorates really cares.

One could argue that nothing is at stake, except for the careers of those being elected (or not).

July 17, 2019

International Relations are foreign to Morrison

Prime Minister, Scott Morrison appears out of his depth with foreign policy. There is a readiness to follow Donald Trump. From the Middle East to China and the Pacific, Morrison gives the appearance of not having done his homework and of not much enjoying the subject.

April 29, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. The Greens-- good policies and poor politics.

_The Greens have correctly directed criticism at the cruel policies of the ALP and the Coalition on refugees in Manus and Nauru. They are also rightly critical of the major parties on climate change._But on both issues the Greens have not been very helpful .

June 13, 2018

TRAVERS MCLEOD. Fog of law in war not the Australian way

We will never forget that 100 years ago a young and brave nation on the other side of the world made history by writing our history. Lest we forget.

So ended French Prime Minister douard Philippes tribute to the Anzacs in April this year at the opening of the Sir John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneux.

April 3, 2018

MAX HAYTON. Kiwibank lessons for Australia.

Its not unusual for big banks to be accused of greed, unfairness, poor service and corruption. The answer often proposed is to create a government owned bank. This has been suggested as a solution in Australia. New Zealand has already built one, but its experience shows public ownership doesnt necessarily fix all the problems.

August 11, 2019

The changing face of planet Earth

With atmospheric CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas concentrations now_above 500 ppm and average global warming approaching 1.5oC, there is a clear_ shift in the worlds climate zones, displayed for example onmaps of the expanding wet tropical zones_,_ drying sub-tropical latitudes and polar-ward migration of temperate climate zones. Large parts of southern Europe are suffering from droughts, heat waves and fires, the Kalahari Desert is encroaching southward and much ofsouthern Australia is affected by warming and droughts.And yet the worlds governments and media fail to accord these problems the priority they merit.

February 19, 2015

John Menadue. Cover-up in the health system.

There is an unacceptable refusal by many in the health sector to publish data and information about how services are delivered. There is a cover-up by powerful providers who don’t want transparency and exposure about the way they work.

At the Bundaberg Hospital some years ago it was clear that surgeons had little confidence in surgeon, Jayant Patel. But they sat on their hands and did little to protect the public. It was left to nurses to blow the whistle and risk their careers.

September 30, 2018

JOHN THOMPSON. Private schools don't pay rates and taxes.

While most attention is focussed on the level and distribution of funds paid directly to non-government schools by the Commonwealth Government, little attention is given to the very substantial financial concessions and benefits that the private school system obtains from all levels of government in Australia. The millions of dollars of revenue foregone by local, state and Commonwealth Governments in relation to non-government schools as a result of their anachronistic status as charities are simply not taken into account when funding decisions are made. This post uses one Victorian municipality to identify the type of financial benefits provided to private schools by all levels of government in Australia and indicates the scale of such benefits.

April 4, 2018

FRANCESCA BEDDIE. Wanted: politicians who inspire and creative public policy (Part 1 of 2)

I watched Ken Loachs film I, Daniel Blake again recently. Again, I cried. A sick bloke with talent and decency ends up dead before he can argue his case to be treated not as a client, customer, service user or national insurance number but as a citizen, no more no less. Surely our citizens can expect more from governments and public servants than mindless process and indifference. In the age of automation ought not compassion be precious? In the age of big data, shouldnt it be easier to tailor public services to the individuals who pay, or have paid, taxes? This essay explores the malaise in our polity (part one) and argues for doing things differently (part two).

September 16, 2018

KIM WINGEREI. The responsibility of free speech.

I dont like what Steve Bannon has to say. I find Nigel Farrages attempts at shrouding his anti-immigration messages in Judeo-Christian values abhorrent. But I am also quite certain that neither pose more nor less of a threat to Australia than Chelsea Manning does. The idea of picking and choosing who gets to speak is what we should be afraid of.

August 25, 2019

Battles, campaigns, and wars

The United States Studies Centres latest publication, Averting Crisis: American strategy, military spending and collective defence in the Indo-Pacific, contrary to its title, offers up a path to crisis. While the report draws attention to the fading of the previously unchallengeable military dominance of the US, the recommendations for Australia are flawed.

July 1, 2019

KIM WINGEREI The NBN is wrecking a whole industry

NBNCo is not just a costly technological failure, but a policy debacle that has cost Australias taxpayers billions of dollars that should have been better spent, as well as contributing to the severe devaluation of a whole industry.

October 26, 2018

MARTIN WOLF. Latest climate change report shows inaction is shameful (Financial Times 25 October 2018)

It is five minutes to midnight on climate change. We will have to alter our trajectory very quickly if we wish to have a good chance of limiting the global average temperature rise to less than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. That was a goal of the Paris agreement of 2015. Achieving it means drastic reductions in emissions from now. This is very unlikely to happen. That is no longer because it is technically impossible. It is because it is politically painful. We are instead set on running an irreversible bet on our ability to manage the consequences of a far bigger rise even than 2C. Our progeny will see this as a crime.

April 4, 2017

Building a regional refugee framework.

The Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration (ADFM) expanded its membership, deepened its policy contributions to the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) and developed its connection to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at its meeting in Jakarta from 5-7 March 2017.

January 18, 2018

TIM HOLLO. Democracy is in crisis. Long live democracy!

The consensus around liberal democracy is collapsing, in Australia and around the world, as citizens are being systematically disenfranchised and disconnected from our democratic role. Unless we radically reinvent and re-embrace much deeper forms of democracy, we stand to lose it altogether.

September 18, 2018

MEREDITH DOIG. Open Letter to Scott Morrison upon becoming Prime Minister.

Dear Prime Minister,

The Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) congratulates you upon becoming the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. We have two concerns we would like to raise with you: firstly, your Governments response to the Ruddock Report, and secondly, your urging Australians to pray for rain in drought affected areas.

June 25, 2019

DAMIEN CAVE. She's 83 and a Famous Nun. Australia's Catholic Leaders Want Her to Stay Away

Sister Joan Chittister, a well-known American nun, feminist and scholar, was looking forward to speaking at a Catholic education conference in Australia next year, figuring there would be plenty to discuss in a country where Catholic schools educate roughly one in five children.

June 5, 2018

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR. Russia pushes back at US on North Korea (Asian Times 4 June, 2018)

Foreign Minister Lavrov asserted Russias role in the current process as a stakeholder in the stability of northeast Asia; he flagged the need to revive six-party talks; it also seems Putin will meet Kim Jong-un soon.

[If President Trump thinks that the DPRK issue is one for the US alone to determine, he will be deluded. As the article below indicates, there is a very strong historical link between Russia and the founder of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung. John Menadue]

June 30, 2019

The Facts About School Funding in NSW

The reputation of the NSW Government for fully implementing the Gonski funding model is totally unwarranted. The NSW Government took the opportunity of increased Commonwealth funding for public schools during 2013-2017 to cut its own inflation adjusted funding of public schools while maintaining funding for private schools. This continued the trend from earlier years.

October 23, 2017

WALTER HAMILTON. When Nothing Happened in Japan

After Sundays election, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would be entitled to quote Mark Twain: ‘Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Political death, that is. His ruling coalition threw back all challengers and retained the crucial two-thirds majority in the lower house required for a constitutional amendment.

April 29, 2018

DAVID JAMES. Governments have stopped governing and financiers have become our de facto rulers.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about the reaction to the Royal Commission into the banks is that anyone is surprised. Banks are by their nature parasitic, and the discovery that they are treating their customers as prey to be exploited whenever possible should shock no-one. It is the institutional position of power that financial institutions enjoy and we put them there.

August 27, 2018

ABUL RIZVI: Scott Morrisons Record on Immigration

While Scott Morrison earlier this year publicly disagreed with Tony Abbott on immigration levels, he eventually gave way to Duttons ruse about greater scrutiny leading to the migration program ceiling not being delivered in 2017-18. Will he continue to compromise with Abbott and Dutton on immigration or has he drawn a line in the sand by appointing a moderate in David Coleman as the new immigration minister?

December 9, 2018

JENNIFER RANKIN. Group led by Thomas Piketty presents plan for a fairer Europe (The Guardian 10.12.18)

A group of progressive Europeans led by the economist and author Thomas Piketty has drawn up a bold new blueprint for a fairer Europe to address the division, disenchantment, inequality and rightwing populism sweeping the continent.

August 22, 2018

FENG ZHAUKUI. Joining B&R can open up new opportunities for Japan.

Recently, more and more Japanese companies have taken actions that show their positive attitude about participating in the Belt and Road (B&R) initiative, and Japanese leaders have also made some positive gestures.

November 7, 2017

PETER HUGHES. Citizenship for "them" and citizenship for "us"

There is great irony in the fact that the citizenship weapon which the government so recklessly aimed at migrants ended up blowing up in the face of its own parliamentarians.

July 20, 2018

BARACK OBAMA ... to young people, keep believing, keep marching, keep building, keep raising your voice (Nelson Mandela Lecture)

And while globalization and technology have opened up new opportunities and driven remarkable economic growth in previously struggling parts of the world, globalization has also upended the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in many countries. Its also greatly reduced the demand for certain workers, has helped weaken unions and labors bargaining power. Its made it easier for capital to avoid tax laws and the regulations of nation-statescan just move billions, trillions of dollars with a tap of a computer key.

April 30, 2019

CAVAN HOGUE. The panda versus the grizzly bear.

Our actions and public statements on Huawei and other Chinese investments clearly identify China as a potential threat which logically makes it an enemy. We do not apply the same standards to other countries which have the same technical capability. The US has been pressuring other countries to follow its lead in banning Huawei. How does American pressure differ from Chinese pressure? Our answer presumably would be that one is an ally and the other is a potential threat? This sends a clear message to China which so far has had a limited effect on our trade and other relations but how long will this last? It could be argued that the only reason China would have to be hostile towards Australia is because of our close alliance with the USA.

September 7, 2018

DAVID JAMES. Industry superannuation, banks, competition,capitalism and socialism

The bullish speculations by Mark Carnegie (see below) about industry super funds clawing back their share of the superannuation market from the banks, and potentially capturing a quarter of Australias mortgage and business lending, certainly got attention. It is worth some closer examination, including his claim that it would mean Australias financial system might more resemble German-style participatory capitalism, whereby workers take part in the ownership and supervision of the companies that employ them.

September 30, 2018

KERRY GOULSTON. A personal view on our current treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

There is growing concern across Australia about the current policy for Asylum Seekers and Refugees, particularly those on Nauru and Manus Island.

February 14, 2019

MARIE McINERNEY. Labor would set up Aust Health Reform Commission if it wins 2019 poll (Croakey).

Labors announcement on Wednesday that it would establish a permanent Australian Health Reform Commission has been welcomed though all eyes will of course be on the detail and the funding commitments to emerge in the leadup to the next federal election.

November 3, 2019

Schadenfreude, thy name is Tony Abbott: No one is above the law

If a law can be abused, it will be. This is as true of laws enacted in the name of national security and anti-terrorism as any other law. Why is this simple reality so hard for politicians to grasp?

July 18, 2019

MARK BUCKLEY. Words Have Meaning

When a politician speaks we should be able to decipher what he or she is saying. Most of them, at least these days, have an education of sorts, and presumably when they use words they use them in a way that their listeners understand. So no should not have a special meaning; and neither should yes. They should mean what most people think they mean.

September 16, 2018

HYLDA ROLFE. Protection v exploitation Uncertain outlook for National Parks in New South Wales

A common framework for crime fiction builds on the notion of a heavy character leaning on target persons in order to encourage them to fund the provision of protection from even heavier characters. Hoping for security, the targets oblige and meet more and more demands, until at last they baulk. So then the heavies appear with some attendant thuggery, and the protection turns out to be a bit of a myth. It was really only exploitation.

April 18, 2019

BEVAN RAMSDEN. Do the US Marines in Darwin pose a risk to our peace and security?

A recent US war exercise involving US Marines landing, capturing and securing an island off the coast of Okinawa is touted as a new US military strategy to use in its challenge to China in the South China Sea. Is the imbedding of US marines in war exercises on HMAS Adelaide, which has been fitted with amphibious landing gear, part of US strategy to involve Australia in future hostile actions in the South China Sea ?

January 18, 2015

Michael Keating. The Financial System Inquiry. Part 1: Resilience of the Financial System.

I am reposting this important article in case you missed it during the holiday period. John Menadue

With its budget stalled the Abbott Government has often appeared to be floundering and devoid of any long term economic plan or strategy. But this appearance may be deceptive. In fact the Abbott Government has established major inquiries into the financial system, federalism and taxation. Taken together these reports could provide the basis for a comprehensive package of major reforms for the Government to at least announce, even if not complete, before the next election. Ideally that reform package would also include a review leading to a better integration of policy for retirement incomes; where many of the relevant issues have already been touched on by the recently released report on the Financial System and by the Henry Tax review (released five years ago, but except for the ill-fated mining tax, largely ignored since).

May 9, 2019

ELIZABETH SAVAGE. It's hard to find out who Labor's dividend imputation policy will hit, but it is possible, and it isn't the poor. (The Conversation 8.5.2019)

Labors proposal to end cash refunds of unused dividend imputation credits is highly targeted.

July 9, 2017

RICHARD TANTER. The global nuclear ban treaty: criminalising all nuclear weapons

Former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon got it right about the latest North Korean nuclear weapon outrage: neither Kim Jong-un nor Donald Trump are a safe pair of hands for nuclear weapons.A majority of the worlds governments agree with him, and have created a global nuclear weapons prohibition treaty declaring all nuclear weapons and threats of their use inhumane, illegitimate, and criminal.

February 17, 2019

Wait for it! Dutton's Army!

Dutton’s Army

May 29, 2018

RICHARD TANTER. Pine Gap electricity supply and the Ausgrid controversy

The giant Pine Gap intelligence and military base outside Alice Springs consumes a great deal of electricity to operate its intelligence-gathering and analysis operations.

It now appears that the Turnbull governments rejection of a $25 bn. bid for the NSW-government owned Ausgrid electricity distribution company on national security grounds from the Cheung Kong Consortium (CKI), owned by Asias second richest man, Li Ka-Shing, and State Grid of China (SGC) was prompted by concerns about Pine Gap, possibly including its electricity supply.

April 25, 2018

MACK WILLIAMS. North Korea - it's summit time!

The pace of developments on the Korean peninsular in the past month or so has been breathtaking matched by the plethora of pundits who have sought to interpret what it all means and where we may be headed. Not surprisingly given the history and geography and the stakeholders involved much of coverage has been confusing and often contradictory. Facts are hard to come by as also has been reliable inside information. But it is all about to kick off with the two Korean leaders holding their summit later this week in the DMZ. So what do we know?

September 16, 2019

KIM WINGEREI. Defining bribery is more important than an ICAC

As much as we should welcome the long overdue Federal ICAC, without redefining what should be the limitations of political influence it will be another toothless body which will struggle for relevance and fail in its intent.

April 20, 2018

GARRY EVERETT. Importance of seeing the big picture.

Failing to see or accept the big picture is a condition that is currently affecting many organisations in our world, says Garry Everett, and four particular organisations stand out as having significant problems in this regard.

October 26, 2018

LIONEL ORCHARD. Hugh Stretton in retrospect and prospect: reflections on Graeme Davison's selected writings.

Graeme Davison has edited a new selection of Hugh Strettons writings. Strettons work is widely admired but how relevant is it now? Davison presents an assessment. A response follows.

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal