American Catholics have traditionally supported the Democratic Party, but a combination of episcopal intransigence, Democratic abortion policies and a primitive cast to US society have brought about a change. (more…)
John Menadue
-
TIM LINDSEY. Jokowi’s dilemma: turning Islamists into civil rights heroes?
Indonesia’s emergency law, enacted in response to the growing disruptive influence of Islamist hard-liners, could be a blow to the open, liberal democracy that Indonesian reformers have been trying to build ever since the fall of Soeharto in 1998. And it has the ironic result of forcing civil society groups that are usually against the hard-liners into their camp. (more…)
-
BEN NEWELL, CHRIS DONKIN, DAN NAVARRO. worried about shark attacks or terrorism? (Repost from 21 April 2017)
The world can feel like a scary place. Today, Australia’s National Terrorism Threat Level is “Probable”. Shark attacks are on the rise; the number of people attacked by sharks in 2000-2009 has almost doubled since 1990-1999. Travellers are at a high risk of getting the Zika virus in places where the disease is present, such as Brazil and Mexico.
-
JOHN MENADUE. Malcolm Turnbull – Mr. 300%. (Repost from 18 November 2016)
Malcolm Turnbull has announced a submarine building program that has an effective rate of protection of 300%. Yes 300%. That is the additional cost we will pay compared with buying at best price in the international market. (more…)
-
JOAN STAPLES. Environmental NGOs, Public Advocacy and Government
Environmental NGOs fear the Federal Government is moving to limit their public’ advocacy by requiring them to spend 50% of their income on practical environmental tasks such as tree planting. (more…)
-
Big business influence wanes as public rejects ‘bizonomics’
In this article in the Fairfax media on 24 July 2017, ROSS GITTINS refers to the debate in Pearls and irritations about neoliberal economics. John Menadue
The collapse of the “neoliberal consensus” is as apparent in Oz as it is in Trump’s America and Brexitting Britain, but our big-business people are taking a while to twig that their power to influence government policy has waned. -
RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Government policies have made us less safe.
The establishment of an enlarged Department of Home Affairs under the ministerial control of Peter Dutton is an unnecessary mistaken policy. (more…)
-
JOHN MENADUE: Privatisation is costing consumers and damaging economic reform. (Repost from 26 July 2016)
‘Privatisation is costing consumers and damaging economic reform’ said Rod Sims, the Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, recently. He added ‘Poorly regulated privatisations are driving up prices and have little to do with economic reform … this situation is getting worse and as the main concern of governments with privation is maximising proceeds from the sale by fighting against effective regulation. … A sharp uppercut is needed. [Privatisation] is increasing prices. … The whole idea of asset sales is that the private sector can run them more cheaply than the public sector. … Very bad reform implementation [of privatisation] has been a big part of the current backlash against any economic reform’
-
CESAR JARAMILLO. Canada’s opposition to the nuclear weapons ban treaty has degraded its reputation on disarmament, at home and abroad. An open letter to Justin Trudeau on the banning of nuclear weapons
Dear Mr. Trudeau,
You recently dismissed this year’s multilateral process to negotiate a legal prohibition of nuclear weapons as “useless.” I’m afraid you were misinformed: it was anything but. (more…)
-
MARGARET O’CONNOR. Reforming the Catholic Church: it’s up to the laity
The task of reform of the Catholic Church has to fall to the Church’s laity. This work is too important to be led by media figures and personalities with their twitter accounts, large public platforms and endless opinions. (more…)
-
JOHN MENADUE. Rupert Murdoch’s abuse of power. (Repost from 7 August 2013)
Controlling 70% of Australia’s metropolitan newspapers, one would hope that Murdoch would exercise some responsibility in the use of that power. But none of that responsibility for Rupert Murdoch! (more…)
-
Aleppo and Fallujah. (Repost from 30 December 2016)
In light of the civilian disaster unfolding presently in Aleppo, it is timely to revisit the uncontradicted claims unwarranted action against civilians in Fallujah supervised by Australian military commander, Jim Molan. This piece was first published in 2008. If correct, the claims are an indictment on Australia’s military presence back then in Fallujah. What now passes for legitimate military action when civilians are so exposed? John Menadue.
The report from On Line Opinion, 4 August 2008, follows: (more…)
-
JIM COOMBS : Bean Counters Stand Up and Be Counted
Budget problems arise for governments who don”t control spending. Where are their financial advisers when gross overspending takes place. No business could survive the profligacy of our government’s spending. (more…)
-
JOHN MENADUE. The litany of failed privatisations. (Repost from 20 March 2017)
Ideologues ,the self interested bankers and accountants and lawyers still persist with their fixation with privatisation despite the fact that it is failing in one area after another and the electorate shows very clearly that it does not want it. (more…)
-
LESLEY HUGHES. Solving the climate crisis: one city at a time
Although Trump has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, many cities in the US (and in Australia) are taking climate change matters into their own hands, thumbing their collective noses at ideological-driven policy paralysis at the federal level. (more…)
-
GREG AUSTIN. Australians have little to fear from terrorism at home – here’s why. (Repost from 24 October 2016)
According to an ANU poll, more than half of the country’s adults are concerned Australia will be a target for terrorism at home and strongly believe the government needs to introduce greater preventive measures to combat it. But the reality is less alarming.
More Australians have died at the hands of police (lawfully or unlawfully) in ten years (50 at least from 2006 to 2015) or from domestic violence in just two years (more than 318 in 2014 and 2015) than from terrorist attacks in Australia in the last 20 years.
Although Australia’s terrorism threat level is set at probable, the likelihood of an individual being killed or wounded from a terrorist attack in this country is extremely low. (more…)
-
PETER DAY. Show me the money!
Cricket’s two most powerful bodies have reached an impasse over pay. The enmity between the two runs deep – blinking first ain’t an option. Thus, all our elite players (230+) are currently unemployed. HOWZAT for a dilemma? (more…)
-
DAVID MACILWAIN. Truth buried is truth denied.
Seymour Hersh’s latest revelations, that US intelligence knew Assad didn’t use chemical weapons in Khan Shaikoun in April are earth-shattering, and of crucial relevance to Australia and our military commitment in the war on Syria. We cannot allow them to be buried. (more…)
-
KELLIE TRANTER. Different country, different rules
Leaked reports of clandestine operations by our elite special forces in Afghanistan have given us some insight of the way a protracted war affects all involved – soldiers and civilians. By keeping us in blissful ignorance of the cold hard facts about deaths and injuries in our military campaigns our government avoids the soul searching we should be going through.
(more…) -
TONY KEVIN. Australia has been enlisted by Trump’s Washington opponents
Australia has now been enlisted in Trump’s war against the Washington elite. There are costs and risks to Australia in this development. (more…)
-
STEPHEN CORBETT After the Grenfell fire in London
The fire in the Grenfell tower in London has heightened awareness of fire risks in tall buildings in Australia. The pressure to increase height limits and urban density, and to create sustainable and efficient buildings, must not lose sight of the fundamental engineering and design requirements for fire safety, and of the need for robust regulatory oversight of these standards. (more…)
-
GEORGE YANCY AND NOAM CHOMSKY (INTERVIEW). On Trump and the State of the Union
Is Russian hacking really more significant than, for example, the Republican campaign to destroy the conditions for organized social existence, in defiance of the entire world? (more…)
-
JOHN MENADUE. The Catholic bishops don’t understand their responsibility and accountability. (Repost from 27 February 2017)
In any other walk of life or area of public administration, admission of criminal neglect would be a prelude to the tendering of resignations. The criminally negligent are not fit and proper persons to hold senior administrative responsibilities. Not so in the Catholic Church because it’s all someone else’s responsibility. (more…)
-
KEITH JOINER. Australia’s 13th Submarine: The Barracuda “F model”
In building our new submarines there is a choice between a fast process with comparatively fixed designs and a rolling design processwhich would be slower but would be more likely to match Australia’s evolving defence requirements and provide more continuity and retention of expertise. (more…)
-
Health Ministers may be in office but health providers are in power. Think medical specialists fees! (Repost from 19 April 2017)
‘Perhaps [we could consider] a review of what Pierre Trudeau and his government (in Canada) did in 1984 when they took on a system not dissimilar to ours – uncontrolled fee for service – and legislated that doctors could charge what they liked BUT unless they adhered to the fee negotiated between the provincial government and the profession (on an annual basis) the doctor lost all access to a Medicare reimbursement. The system still works today in Canada and few doctors opt out of it. Now there is a thought and a significant game-changer.’
(more…) -
CHARLES LIVINGSTON. Victorian pokies “reforms” may impose big costs on population
The Victorian Government has announced that it will extend existing poker machine licences until 2042, freezing the total number of machines available in pubs and clubs at 27,342 (there are another 2,658 at Crown Casino). The Minister made much of this in her announcement, lauding this as a ‘harm minimisation’ measure. Yet these ‘reforms’ may impose significant opportunity costs on the Victorian population. (more…)
-
ALICE FABBRI, LISA BERO AND RAY MOYNIHAN. Vested interests -Who’s paying for lunch? Here’s exactly how drug companies wine and dine our doctors
Now you can find out who’s wining and dining our doctors, nurses and pharmacists with publicly available data of drug company funded events. (more…)
-
JOHN MENADUE. Making housing affordable. (Repost from Housing Series)
Pearls and Irritations recently posted a series of articles on the theme Making Housing Affordable. The series focuses on Australia’s housing affordability crisis. Most of the articles were posted just before the Federal Budget, but a few were posted afterwards, by way of a reflection on the relevant Budget reforms (or lack thereof). The date of publication of each article on Pearls and Irritations appears after the title. (more…)
-
TONY KEVIN. Hamburg G20 : Much was achieved
Angela Merkel’s firm and statesmanlike chairmanship steered the Hamburg G20
to a content-rich, global economics and climate change-dominated leaders’ declaration https://www.g20.org/gipfeldokumente/G20-leaders-declaration.pdf. (more…) -
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 world’s 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. (more…)