Stuart Revill, then Manager of ABC London, wrote a letter to his mother-in- law, Ethel Brunton Gibb on the occasion of being invited to Buckingham Palace for lunch, c. 1978. (more…)
John Menadue
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Memo to the Productivity Commission: fixing inequality is the key to productivity
Every five years the Productivity Commission is charged with examining everything that can be done to lift Australia’s productivity. (more…)
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US hypocrisy knows no limits on war crimes by US presidents
President Biden’s condemnation of Russia at the UN on Wednesday, where he claimed Russia had violated the UN Charter by invading Ukraine, a country he ludicrously said posed “no threat” to its larger neighbour, is epic hypocrisy coming from the leader of a country that not long ago invaded and destroyed Iraq based on a total fraudulent claim asserting that country was developing or even already had weapons of mass destruction. (more…)
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In The Australian Wars, Rachel Perkins dispenses with the myth Aboriginal people didn’t fight back
First Nations people please be advised this article mentions colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. (more…)
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The best journalists are persecuted and despised
The best western journalists are overwhelmingly despised while the worst are acclaimed millionaires. Western civilisation is built on lies, dependent on lies, powered by lies. Don’t seek widespread approval. It’s worthless. (more…)
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The US empire is accelerating toward global conflict on two fronts
The situation is very serious. Since 1700 three people have tried to take Moscow: Karl XII who lost his Swedish empire, Napoleon who lost his, Hitler who lost his… and now NATO / AUKUS, in which we are mindlessly participant. The US budget year begins with 830 billion for defence, 600 billion for nuclear refurbishment. Not news in Australia. (more…)
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Xi and Putin vow mutual support, but military backing unlikely, analysts say
Leaders of China and Russia agree to expand cooperation in areas such as trade and agriculture, but no mention of armed forces. (more…)
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Biden keeps pledging direct US war with China over Taiwan
The president of the United States has once again committed the US military to direct hot war with China in the event of an attack on Taiwan, a commitment that was once again walked back by his White House handlers. (more…)
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What drives the Chinese Party of China to success?
Editor’s note: Since its founding more than 100 years ago, the Communist Party of China has led the country in making remarkable achievements at home as well as contributing to global development and peace. Combining political theory and practice to make those remarkable achievements, the CPC has set a great example for the world. Three experts share their views on the CPC’s governance philosophy with China Daily. (more…)
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Vanguard behind the country’s achievements
The past century has witnessed the Communist Party of China leading a revolution, founding the People’s Republic and relentlessly pursuing economic development and social change for the better. The Chinese people have changed their fate, made great contributions to humankind, and are now on way to realising national rejuvenation. (more…)
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Leadership has improved China’s global standing
China is facing the most immoral and unprecedented attacks from myriad quarters because of its ability to remove the obstacles to its economic growth at a time when almost all other countries are encountering economic downturn, which began with the global financial crisis. (more…)
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Caitlin Johnstone: It’s not okay for grown adults to say the Ukraine invasion was “unprovoked”
On a recent interview with the Useful Idiots podcast, Noam Chomsky repeated his argument that the only reason we hear the word “unprovoked” every time anyone mentions Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the mainstream news media is because it absolutely was provoked, and they know it. (more…)
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After Queen Elizabeth II’s death, Indigenous Australia can’t be expected to shut up. Our sorry business is without end
When the Queen first visited Australia in 1954, my mother almost did not get to see her. (more…)
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Caitlin Johnstone: Ukraine crawling with CIA & Co
The previously unthinkable idea that the U.S. is at war with Russia has been gradually normalised, with the heat turned up so slowly that the frog doesn’t notice it’s being boiled alive. (more…)
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Symon Hill: ‘Who elected him’ and the arrest that followed
I was arrested after asking “who elected him?” at the proclamation of King Charles.
“What other freedoms can be suppressed in the name of monarchy? Who else will be arrested under the vile Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act?”
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Donald Rothwell: Is Australia in danger of becoming the US’s ‘deputy sheriff’ in the South China Sea?
Recent comments by Defence Minister Richard Marles about Australia, China and the international law of the sea raise the spectre of Australia acting as an Indo-Pacific “deputy sheriff” for the United States, enforcing the rules-based international order. (more…)
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Jon Richardson: NATO and Ukraine: once more into the breach…
Professor Graeme Gill has written a detailed response to my own article in P and I on NATO and the origins of war in Ukraine. I argued the latter were to be found in Russia’s post-imperial angst and domestic authoritarianism rather than in any threat presented by NATO expansion or Western policies. (more…)
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Caitlin Johnstone: It’s gross to live under the US empire and spend your time criticising Russia and China
The other day an Australian journalist was giving me a hard time for not criticising Russia and China the way I go after the US empire, calling me “morally bankrupt” for not criticising all governments equally. He said the ethical thing to do would be to criticise the US, but also criticise the governments the US doesn’t like for balance. (more…)
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Graham Maddox: The undermining of conventions on responsible government by Kerr and Morrison
The solicitor-general’s response that Morrison’s secret swearing of himself into five extra government portfolios was not illegal has done us no favours. On the 7.30 Report, Laura Tingle announced that Stephen Donaghue’s findings were not about ‘the legality or constitutionality’ of the findings, although Donahue’s report did go on to say that ‘the principles of responsible government are fundamentally undermined’. (more…)
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Ruan Zongze: US must stop sleep walking in the Taiwan Strait
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of China’s territory. Although the two sides have been politically against each other for a long time, China’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity has never been split. (more…)
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Joelle Gergis: Friday essay: ‘I feel my heart breaking today’ – a climate scientist’s path through grief towards hope
I have spent hundreds of hours trawling through countless UN reports and scientific papers until my eyes sting and I can no longer absorb any more information. I feel overwhelmed and saturated with sorrow. As a sensitive person with a difficult background, sometimes I find the reality of the world we live in unbearable. I just can’t understand why we inflict so much pain on each other and our planet. (more…)
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Caitlin Johnstone: US invades Syria, kills people, claims self-defence
The US is an occupying force who is there without the permission of the Syrian government, without having been attacked by Syria, and without any valid claim to be defending itself from anyone in Syria. (more…)
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Ann Marie Murphy: Ukraine war highlights differences between Indonesian and US foreign policy frameworks
To many Americans who view Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an unprovoked war that must be opposed, Indonesia’s high levels of public support for Russia may be perplexing. But divergent US and Indonesian views should not come as a surprise. The United States and Indonesia tend to perceive international events — and one another — through distinct ideological and normative frameworks due to their different international positions and historical experiences. (more…)
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Jon Richardson: No, NATO expansion didn’t cause the war in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has met with opprobrium in most quarters. At the same time, commentators of diverse stripes still argue that Western policies, particularly NATO expansion, should bear part or much of the blame for these events. (more…)
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Jessica Corbett: Pentagon contractors in Afghanistan pocketed $108 billion over 20 years
Military contracting “obscures where and how taxpayer money flows,” and “makes it difficult to know how many people are employed, injured, and killed,” said the Costs of War Project report’s author. (more…)
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John Queripel: The blind side to western wars and western war crimes
The calls mount for the Russian leader to be dragged before a War Crimes Tribunal, while everyone from international sporting bodies to businesses and banks is busy sanctioning Russia. Yet, the three world leaders responsible for the illegal Iraq war of 2003 have still not been held to account (more…)
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Dismantling global white privilege: Book by Chandran Nair-Equity for a post-western world
One of the few uplifting political trends of the past decade has been the growing strength of movements for gender equality and, even more surprisingly, the demand for racial justice. But a higher-level structure of discrimination governs both racism and sexism: The global dominance of a white power elite in virtually every arena of human activity. (more…)
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Sarah Raymundo: Why the US pivot to Asia means war for Filipinos
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Philippines to meet the newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. just as the Rim of the Pacific exercise, or RIMPAC, ends. As the world’s largest maritime military exercises, RIMPAC has intensified the militarisation of the Asia-Pacific region since 1971 and has further strengthened the alignment of the newly-minted Marcos Jr. regime with U.S. military interests. (more…) -
Caitlin Johnstone: China threatens the US Empire, not the US
So many empire apologist arguments depend on pretending the US empire doesn’t exist; pretending the US is just a normal country sitting there minding its own business. (more…)
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Marwan Bishara: Why Israel hates the Palestinians so much
Israel’s hatred of the Palestinians is shaped and driven by three basic sentiments. (more…)