February 10, 2019

JOHN DWYER. Health care reforms and the Federal election: A guide for voters

Our health care system provides, at least for metropolitan based Australians, world class management of medical emergencies. A stent in a coronary artery in the middle of the night can save a heart in danger and our dedicated stroke units routinely dissolve blood vessel blockages that could have proved fatal or caused major permanent disabilities. While we can be grateful for these interventions the reality is that the management of the majority of health issues that trouble us do not meet this standard of excellence.

September 21, 2018

GEORGE BROWNING. HOMO SAPIENS - REALLY?

Along the evolutionary trail we have somewhat ambitiously called ourselves homo sapiens, or humans who are sapient knowing or wise. The truth of the matter is tragically far from this: we seek to resolve difference through violence rather than dialogue; we give greater weight to possessing rather than being (our other species name); we assume winning to be an achievement of the individual rather than the community, thus imposing losing on others; we claim exceptionalness for our momentary place in history and we constantly appoint leaders who show absolutely no aptitude for the task.

April 2, 2018

BOB DOUGLAS. Changing drug law and practice to help rather than harm.

Last week Australia21, (www.australia21.org.au ), hosted a summit of experts on drug treatment, drug law and the social impact of drug use in Australia.

The signatories included a former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, people who have been actively engaged in research into alcohol and drug use for periods as long as 40 years, researchers into the criminal justice system, prisoner rehabilitation, domestic violence and child protection, as well as church agencies working in various aspects of the welfare space.

November 8, 2017

EVA COX. The non-economic causes of political trust deficits - What is to be done. Part 2 of 2

It was not so long ago that the functions of more social democratic nation states were legitimated and visible because they represented wide public ownership of many physical resources and delivered many essential and community services. Whether that form has elements in it that would allay current problems and improve future governance needs to explored. What is clear is the need to reverse and reform the causes of deep distrust.

October 7, 2014

Kieran Tapsell: The Holy Sees Newly Found Sensitivity to National Sovereignty

In January 2014 the United Nations Committee for the Rights of the Child criticized the Holy See for the secrecy imposed by canon law over allegations of sexual crimes against children by clergy. It demanded mandatory reporting to the civil authorities in all cases, and not just where there were civil laws requiring reporting. On 22 May 2014, the Committee against Torture repeated that demand.

The Holy Sees response of 26 September 2014 criticized the Committee for overlooking the distinctions between the Holy See, the Vatican City State and the universal Catholic Church, stating that in signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it only had responsibility for the children resident in the 44 hectares of the Vatican City.

June 16, 2019

NOEL TURNBULL. Remember the Alamo, remember the Maine etc etc etc

Remember the Alamo, remember the Maine, remember the Gulf of Tonkin, remember the weapons of mass destruction and now remember the Kokuka Sangyo tanker.

May 27, 2018

DER SPIEGEL STAFF. Italy's New Goverment Is Bad News for the Euro.

Two populist parties are set to take over the governmentreinsin Italyand about the only thing they seem to agree on is their desire to spend huge amounts of money. That’s bad news for Italian finances and terrible news for the eurozone.

August 8, 2019

DENNIS ARGALL. The Pompeo view

US Secretary of State Pompeo said a couple of things in Sydney recently that were wrong in fact. He articulated an absurd philosophy about foreign investment, unaware that hed just accused China of thinking something similar. His utterances of high-minded principles in the Australia-US relationship and US strategic policy mask very dark realities.

September 30, 2018

LAURIE PATTON. Common sense prevails in battle over Internet domain names service.

Despite a nasty and at times irrational campaign by a small dissident group, the future of Australias Internet domain names system was secured last week. A meeting of members overwhelmingly approved a new constitution and consequential governance changes to auDA the company that oversees management of our domain names service.

October 9, 2017

PETER DAY. One of us: the sanity behind an act of insanity

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the Right of the people to Keep and Bear Arms shall not be infringed.” (U.S. Constitution, 2nd Amendment)

Thanks to the literalist and, thus, intellectually corrupt interpretation of this archaic 18th century sentence, there are more guns in the United States today than there are citizens over 300 million. Indeed, the 2nd Amendment gundamentalism that abounds continues to wreak havoc on its people. The U.S. is at war with itself; a war in which only the innocent are being targeted.

July 25, 2018

JOHN CARMODY. Current British Politics.

Political time seems absurdly compressed at present. Everywhere. It used to be that a week is a long time in politics: currently, in Britain, even a day seems long and bafflingly eventful. Writing about those events let alone actually understanding them seems almost impossible. Is it because modern politics induces otherwise sensible people to rampage into irrationality? Around the world, the art of the possible has become the indulgence of zealotry, the yearning for monoculture and scorn for compromise.

August 27, 2018

GREG LOCKHART: Tearing down our heroes.

The Director of the Australian War Memorial (AWM), Dr Brendan Nelson, has inappropriately used his position to criticise Fairfax Media over its reporting of allegations that former Special Air Service (SAS) Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC has committed war crimes. The Director says the allegations are an attempt to tear down our heroes and that unless there have been the most egregious breaches of the laws of armed conflict, we should leave it all alone. On recent reports of a domestic violence incident involving Roberts-Smith, the Director says they constituted one of the lowest blows I have ever seen.

April 26, 2018

LINDA SIMON. A Royal Commission for the finance sector? What about VET?

The stories of vulnerable people being deceived through corrupt practices in the financial services sector are currently part of a Royal Commission. But surely of no less concern are those stories that continue to be highlighted around students being left with enormous debts and no training due to some corrupt government funded training providers. Do we place less value on our VET system?

May 13, 2018

MICHAEL KEATING. 2018 Budget comment; Part 3: The Turnbull Governments Priorities as revealed in the Budget

In this final Part 3 of my comments on the 2018 Budget I discuss what this Budget reveals about the Governments values and priorities, and its performance compared to those targets.

September 16, 2018

FRAN BAUM and TOBY FREEMAN. Time for the reform of primary health care in Australia: a ten-point plan (Croakey, 12.09.18)

12 September)marks 40 years since the World Health Organization member countries gathered for the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and signed off on the declaration of Alma-Ata.

April 3, 2019

IAN McAULEY. A budget to entrench economic vulnerability

Even from a whats in it for me viewpoint, the budget is a failure, because tax cuts would soon be wiped out by higher charges for education, health care and transport. More importantly it does not address structural weaknesses in the Australian economy.

July 23, 2019

VIC ROWLANDS. Israel Folau - a line in the sand.

If Israel Folau cannot find a way to qualify his homophobic interpretation of the Bible so that it does not cause hurt and offence to other people, his reputation as a person may well be the main casualty of his wilful disrespect.

December 27, 2018

M.K.BHADRAKUMAR. Trump made the right decision to quit Syrian conflict (Asia Times 21.12.2018)

Despite the criticism, there is a strong argument that the US president has done the right thing by withdrawing his forces from Syria

If 700 days out of US President Donald Trumps 1,461 days of presidency seem a wasteland of unfulfilled promises and expectations in foreign policy except, perhaps, on the Korean Peninsula things dramatically changed on December 19 when he announced the troop withdrawal from Syria.

Taken together with Washingtons hurry to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban, it appears that Trump is, finally, on the move as a man of peace, fulfilling the pledge of Candidate Trump to prioritize nation-building over extravagant military adventures in faraway lands.

May 29, 2019

JOAN STAPLES. Hawkes environmental legacy - a personal reflection.

There has been much written on Bob Hawkes legacy following his death. None has fully celebrated his monumental environmental record nor touched on his unique relationship with the environment movement.

April 23, 2019

KIERAN TAPSELL. Anzac Day and apologies for the sins of the past.

Apologies for the sins of the past have always created controversy. If it is accepted that nations are entitled to glory in the great achievements of their individual members, then it is also appropriate that they regret what other members have done.

May 16, 2019

MIKE SCRAFTON. Unquantifiable strategic madness of war on Iran

There have been reports that President Trump is less enthusiastic about attacking Iran than his advisers. For the moment, an unanticipated source of sanity. The current US posturing against Iran seems confected. It also seems mad. A US attack on Iran would be blatant and naked aggression. The knock on consequences could have strategic dimensions that are difficult to fully comprehend.

September 30, 2018

WILLIAM BRIGGS. Strange Bedfellows: The Tasmanian Greens and ultra right in the China panic.

What do the Tasmanian Greens and Australia First Party have in common? While its unlikely to pop up in any trivia night, what they say is by no means trivial. What shouldnt happen is very nearly happening. Recent statements from the leaders of the two parties almost converge as they wade into a vigorous, and highly questionable anti-Chinese rhetoric. It truly is a strange connection between the Tasmanian Greens and the Australia First Party. According to Wikipedia, James Saleam , a far-right activist is the current chairman of the Australia First Party

September 18, 2018

JAMIE LINGHAM. The changing face of Australian immigration.

Now more than ever we need to work together as a nation to address the immigration department and the mechanisms of safe passage, and put a stop to Australia’s unacceptable practices and inhumane treatment of individuals.

May 23, 2019

JOHN DWYER An open letter to Minister Greg Hunt

The majority of Labors plans for our health system were greeted with enthusiasm herein and elsewhere as they addressed major current inadequacies that diminish the equity and cost effectiveness of the health care available to Australians. Labor did seek and act upon advise re health reform priorities provided by health professionals and informed consumers. They took to the election an ambitious plan (too ambitious say many post election pundits) that would have facilitated needed structural reforms (An Australian Health Care Reform Commission) and address a range of imperatives I present here in an open letter to health minister Greg Hunt

January 3, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. The Best of 2018: Sydney Metro: A Forty Billion Dollar Deception?

Like all our big cities, Sydney needs better public transport. The Governments responsibility is to secure this with the best system, for the best price. But as a minimum, new investments cannot be allowed to threaten the productivity and growth potential of our existing public transport system and its commuters.

Sydney Metro Rail is starting to show clear signs of failing us on all these counts.

The Royal Commission into Banking shows us how official stories can change dramatically once confronted with a process where evidence can be compelled and witnesses protected.

On its first day in government after the next NSW election the new government should establish an enquiry into the developing rail mess.

October 26, 2017

ROGER SCOTT. Hanson and Queensland Politics - Explaining the Phoenix

Pauline Hanson has been a magnet for the media and for academic analysts since she burst on the scene in 1996 as the federal member for Oxley and her party won eleven seats and potentially the balance of power at the 1998 state election. Now, like the legendary phoenix, she seems to have suddenly risen from the ashes.

August 22, 2019

All the way with Trumps USA this time into the Strait of Hormuz (New Daily, 21 August 2019)

_Here we go again joining an American military adventure created by Donald Trump, an adventure that has no end in sight._Nobody with a sense of history and Liberal Party politics can be surprised that Prime Minister Scott Morrison is donating Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force personnel and assets to a flashpoint created by President Trump and his cabal of warmongers.

October 8, 2017

LEONID PETROV. Imagining the catastrophic consequences of a new war in Korea.

The 1953 Armistice Agreement brought a sustainable halt to the Korean War, but has never ended it. Nor did it transforminto a peace regime. During the last sixty four years the North and South Koreans have lived in conditions of neither war nor peace, which has certain advantages and downsides for both regimes separated by the Demilitarised Zone.

January 27, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. Australia Day reminds us that we can overcome the fear of foreigners and 'boats'.

The Australia of today is vastly different to the Australia of my childhood with its widespread racism and sectarianism. It was socially suffocating. For those changes I am very grateful. There is a lot that we can be proud of. No country has integrated newcomers as well as we have.

But there have been failures and remedial action must be taken. We are yet to be reconciled to our indigenous brothers and sisters who watched the European boat arrivals in 1788. We are yet to take our share of responsibility for the displaced and persecuted people of the world particularly for those displaced by our involvement in futile and disastrous wars in the Middle East which triggered the enormous refugee outflows.

September 22, 2019

ALLAN PATIENCE. Complacency is the opiate of the Australian masses.

So, QANTAS CEO Alan Joyces annual salary is now some $24 million dollars. This is over three hundred times the average Australian salary. Other CEOs are also being paid well into the tens of millions of dollars. Meanwhile the wages of the vast majority of Australian workers are flat-lining as the cost of living relentlessly heads upwards.

May 27, 2018

QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Australias sledge hammer to crack foreign influence pedlars.

New laws to protect Australias democratic governance and economy are about to be determined, now with heightened fear about Chinese influence.

Draft bills before federal parliament cover electoral funding, cybersecurity and espionage and a new enforceable regime of self-registration for transparency of foreign influence.

April 26, 2018

LINDSAY MURDOCH. Former Islamic cleric could be Malaysia's kingmaker.

Unlikely election alliance between PAS and UMNO could result in the country taking a stronger Islamic direction.

January 18, 2018

ANNE HURLEY. The Government just doesnt get it when it comes to the NBN debacle

As I was writing this article in response to Paul Buddes speculation about life following the NBN roll-out in 2020, the Government released its response to the first report of the Joint Standing Committee on the NBN. Sadly, if predictably, the Government seems to still be clinging to the forlorn hope that somehow things will work out in the end.

June 20, 2019

GAY ALCORN. Call to arms: how can Australia avoid a slow and painful decline? (The Guardian)

Australia has been warned it risks drifting into the future if it fails to respond to challenges in a fast-changing world

September 7, 2018

JOHN QUIGGIN. Our financial system only works for the 1%. It will take another crash to fix it (The Guardian, 03.09.18)

The royal commission into banks has uncovered fraud and misconduct on a massive scale, amounting to nearly $1bn and perhaps more. The usual defences of bad apples and rogue advisers have fallen apart as it becomes evident the problems are systemic, driven by relentless pressure from the top to maximise profits at all costs.

January 17, 2016

Allan Patience. Can We Continue to Afford Australias Federal System?

Australians are facing a gruelling 2016. A growing revenue crisis is placing severe constraints on the budget, meaning the government will probably be contemplating cuts in services and other soft target areas like pensions, child care subsidies and related welfare measures. The neo-liberal vandalizing of the countrys manufacturing sector, and the short-termism that is now a fixed feature of economic policy-making in Australia, mean that employment prospects are bleak, especially for school leavers and recent graduates. The consequences of climate change are becoming more apparent by the day as the country struggles through a summer of heat waves, droughts, floods, and bushfires. The cost of the countrys military involvements in the Middle East is mounting at a high rate. Maintaining the Manus Island and Nauru asylum seeker gulags is costing Australian taxpayers billions. China is no longer the cash cow it was during the squandered resources boom. Globally, the major capitalist economies continue to stagnate while burdened by debt levels greater than those preceding the 2008 global financial crisis. Meanwhile, since 2012 the Lowy Poll has been charting a growing dissatisfaction among voters with the countrys politicians and political institutions. This trend is particularly noticeable among 18-29 year-olds. The most recent Lowy Poll found that 37 percent of that age group believes that a non-democratic government could be preferable to the one we have at present.

June 17, 2019

RICHARD BROINOWSKI. Inverting Reality in Persian Gulf

US assertions that Iran mined two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman on 13 June is as unconvincing as blaming Iran for attacks on three tankers in the same area on 12 May. Iran has no apparent motive, but the United States and its regional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, clearly seek to portray it as an aggressive nation and the world’s greatest terrorist threat.

September 28, 2019

PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 29 September 2019

Six deep transformations in the structure of society will be required to meet the SDGs and the Paris goals but are the proposals deep enough? Net zero emissions is Mission Possible though for the hard-to-reduce industrial and transport sectors of the economy, even if the Trump administration is hell bent on reducing environmental controls, including on the rapidly rising methane emissions.

September 18, 2018

MASSIMO FAGGIOLI. Flirting with Church schism.

The right-wing effort to delegitimize Pope Francis is continuing.

March 18, 2018

LUKE FRASER. Australia is not "full" but lazy infrastructure policy strengthens the notion

The Australia is full immigration argument suggests we have our infrastructure planning and investment settings quite wrong.

Debate is now re-emerging about the need for Australia to consider new cities.

October 5, 2017

JOCK COLLINS. How refugees overcome the odds to become entrepreneurs

Refugees face monumental challenges when starting a business. Many lack formal education, capital, social capital (relationships in the community), English language skills, and knowledge of the local market and regulations.

August 27, 2019

Hong Kong and the ghost of Tiananmen

Michael Shoebridge of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has artfully given the appearance of logic to a melding of fact, supposition and obsession in order to reach the conclusion that it is time for the international community to step up to prevent a foreseeable massacre that will further cleave Chinaand other authoritarian regimesfrom the rest of the world. The protests in Hong Kong are his launch platform but his target is always President Xi and the CCP.

February 6, 2019

JOHN MENADUE. How and why corporate regulators have failed us. And not just bank regulators.

The surge yesterday in bank shares was no surprise. Investors at least concluded that Kenneth Hayne ’s slap on the wrist would not really disturb the bank’s business model. His report did not go to the heart of the abuse, the vertical integration of financial product and financial advice. The conflict of interest will remain.

I did not expect much from the Hayne Royal Commission. I was not disappointed. But it was good theatre. For me the most important revelation was the way people behave when incentives are all there to get rich quick starting with greedy bank CEOs

What the Royal Commission showed us was that we need to embark on a re regulation of our economy to curb the spivs operating at senior levels in our major companies. Our politicians must address this need for re regulation to protect the public interest. Under the guise of ‘cutting red tape’ regulations to protect the public interest have been whittled away..

But in emphasising the need for regulators to lift their game Kenneth Hayne reveals his naivety. These are just the people who have failed us.

The banks will keep there heads down for a month or two, while rolling out lobbyists and PR people to minimise any change.

December 27, 2018

ALLAN PATIENCE. Anthony Fishers message of ill will at Christmas tide

The archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher OP is the nominal head of the Australian Catholic Church despite the fact that Melbourne is the largest and arguably the most intellectually lively diocese in the country. Fisher is seen by many as an authoritative spokesperson for his brother bishops, priests and religious. So, his 2018 Christmas message offered him a golden opportunity to reach out inclusively, positively and generously to his fellow Catholics and to all people of good will across the wide brown land. In the event, he managed to disappoint, even anger, just about everybody except for the small reactionary clique gathered around him and around like-minded cronies in the hierarchy.

July 8, 2018

ANDREW FARRAN. Brexit: All in the National Interest

British PM Theresa May is presently holding the strategic high ground on Brexit after the day-long meeting with her whole Cabinet at Chequers last Friday. To her formerly disputing colleagues she could announce that evening: Collective responsibility is now fully restored.

November 18, 2018

JACK WATERFORD. Frydenberg will pick up the election bill (Canberra Times 16.11.2018)

If I were a Labor warrior, thinking cautiously ahead about political warfare from mid-2019 after Labor had taken government - I might be judging that no present preparation could repay the investment more than a very strong focus on Josh Frydenberg, Scott Morrisons Treasurer.

October 4, 2018

JERRY ROBERTS. Is Ken Wyatts position tenable?.

Ken Wyatt is one of the few high-class acts in a low-class environment known as the Australian Federal Parliament. If he is driven out of the place it will be the Parliaments loss, not Kens

June 27, 2019

FRANK BRENNAN. Our Church or Our Museum? Contributing to a confident, humble, listening, and questioning Church.

Even with changes to governance and participation, the Catholic Church remains at a cross roads between life and death, between relevance and irrelevance, between a Church and a museum in our post-modern world.

December 28, 2017

JERRY ROBERTS. Neoliberalism, Neoclassical Economics, Twinkle-toes Turnbull and a New Years Resolution

We have put the gender issue to bed. The priests have had their five years of infamy. The electors of New England and Bennelong have told the High Court where to stick the dual citizenship clause. Is there an opening for the Parliament and the press to consider the only issue that matters the problem that causes all the other problems the galloping inequality, the public squalor and private splendour of a neoliberal, deregulated capitalism?

Pearls and Irritations

John Menadue's Public Policy Journal