Australia’s coal-fired generation capacity could be little more than a twinkle in Tony Abbott’s eye by as early as 2050, when it will have been all but snuffed out by cheap renewables and battery storage, and household energy investments. (more…)
John Menadue
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DER SPIEGEL Italy Sends a Jolt Through Europe.
Euro-skeptic Italian populists are posing a serious threat to the European Union. Following the drama over Greece and Brexit, the political situation in Rome could throw Europe into its next major existential crisis. (more…)
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LEE JEON-HO. China adds to nuclear arsenal amid military modernisation drive
China now has 280 warheads, according to think tank, which calls nuclear states’ renewed focus on deterrence and capacity ‘a very worrying trend’ (more…)
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LOWY SURVEY-Donald Trump a ‘critical threat’ to Australia’s interests as trust in US hits record low.
Australians’ trust in the United States as a world leader has dropped to a record low as two out of five people consider President Donald Trump a “critical threat” to Australia’s interests, according to the latest Lowy Institute poll. 43 percent of those surveyed thought that Chinese President Xi Jinping would act responsibly compared with only 30 percent for President Trump. (more…)
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CAROL GLATZ. Dictatorships begin with taking over media, warns pope
Individuals are tempted to destroy by spreading scandalous news, Pope Francis said during Mass. Media outlets are also put in the hands of unscrupulous people. (more…)
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GARRY EVERETT. The Catholic Church at the crossroads.
The cross has long been a radical and confronting symbol among religious groups. In a similar way, at the crossroads of life, we are challenged by choices which will lead us to either good or ill. The Catholic Church in Australia has reached the crossroads and there is an urgency to the choices that must be made. The old ways have run their course and new ways must be found. (more…)
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ATUL ANEJA. India rebalancing ties with Pakistan to open path to Eurasia
In a significant gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain shook hands and exchanged pleasantries after a press conference by the leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here on Sunday. (more…)
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ISHAAN THAROOR. Is Trump gaslighting the world on North Korea.
Critics of President Trump routinely accuse him of “gaslighting” — that is, of deliberately repeating misinformation to the extent that the public starts doubting verifiable facts and believing in Trump’s self-serving talking points. Trump told us after the Singapore Summit that ‘I may stand before you in six months and say “hey, I was wrong”. I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that,but I’ll find some kind of an excuse’ (more…)
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German chancellor’s tense standoff with hardline interior minister “endangers existence of gvernment as substantially as the stability of the country”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing strong pressure to tighten her country’s refugee policies to avoid the collapse of her coalition government as the heated row over the handling of migration intensifies. (more…)
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KEN MOAK. US-led naval operation will not change China’s posture.
At the 2018 Shangri-La Dialogue, the defense ministers of France and the UK announced that their governments will send warships to join those of the US in challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea (Naval Today, April 6). However, they did not specify how many ships the two European powers will commit to the US-led FNOPs (freedom of navigation operations) or whether they will sail within the 19-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ), suggesting that neither country wants to irk China. (more…)
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STEVE RINTOUL AND STEVEN CHOWN. Antarctica has lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice in 25 years. Time is running out for the frozen continent.
Antarctica lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2017, according to a new analysis of satellite observations. In vulnerable West Antarctica, the annual rate of ice loss has tripled during that period, reaching 159 billion tonnes a year. Overall, enough ice has been lost from Antarctica over the past quarter-century to raise global seas by 8 millimetres. (more…)
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RANALD MACDONALD. The threat to public broadcasting in this country becomes more menacing by the day.
Those who say that the ABC will be around for years to come have their heads truly in a world of denial.
On top of the Government’s huge cuts to funding, with 1000 less employed today than four years ago, continual harassment and criticism, now the Federal Liberal Council meeting in Sydney (June 16) has, on a 2 to 1 vote, sought the selling off of the ABC. (more…)
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ANDREW LEIGH. Rising to the challenge of inequality.
Thomas Piketty and his colleagues have used new data to track inequality and sharpen the choices we face. (more…)
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North Korea: Beyond Charismatic Politics, an Interview with Byung-Ho Chung
The following is an interview of Byung-Ho Chung Professor at Hanyang University and President of the Korean Society for Cultural Anthropology, conducted by AAA Executive Director Ed Liebow. (more…)
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ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ. A peace treaty to end the low-intensity guerilla campaign against the indigenous population.
Australia is a nation and a state established on grounds belonging to Indigenous owners, through a war which has never ended. (more…)
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JOHN MOLONY. A review of Race Mathews, Of Labour and Liberty: Distributism in Victoria 1891–1966
Many years ago, I tried to review Ronald Knox’s lifelong study of the numerous minor sects or branches of post-Reformation Christianity. He named it Enthusiasm. Despite my own enthusiasm for the treasures amassed in the book, I was unable to write a review. The riches were so abundant and differed so much that ten reviews would not have done justice to its totality. (more…)
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ANDREW HAMILTON. Triggs champions common compassion (Eureka Street 12/6/2018)
Common compassion is an aspiration more widely praised as a gift of Western Civilisation than accepted and practiced. But once government trash it with impunity we are all the losers. (more…)
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KARL HOWARD. The importance of community .
Communities are a fundamental requirement for the human condition; they consist of a group of people with shared interests, similar attitudes – often with aligned social values -resulting in delegated responsibilities. A community is a product of independent actors joining together, operating in a specific habitat, whether a neighbourhood, a gym, a workplace, or a place of worship. The single key tenet is that collective identity enriches the experience of each and every person, the members of that community. (more…)
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HANS ZOLLER SJ. Protecting children in the Catholic Church
The issue of sexual abuse of minors committed by clergy is constantly returning to the forefront of media attention. (more…)
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ALISSA J. RUBIN. An era of French strikes is ending (AFR 13/6/2018)
Nowadays, we have people who are too rich,” he said. “In the United States you do not care so much about equality, but we care about it,” says Bodiou, a retired civil engineer.“It does not mean we all have to have the same amount of money, but we all should get the same respect.” But, he adds, summing up a feeling that seems to be shared by many on the street around him: “Macron does not speak to those who are poor, who sleep on the ground; he speaks to the people in the digital world, to the entrepreneurs, to the educated.”
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JOAN STAPLES. Foreign interference bills threaten civil society freedoms.
The government’s urgent pursuit of foreign interference bills prior to the July by-elections aims to wedge Labor for short term electoral gain. However as Labor agrees to support the bills, yet more of our political freedoms are being destroyed at great loss to our democracy. (more…)
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JOANNE McCARTHY. Australia’s bishops still don’t get it – things have changed (SMH 13/6/2018)
Everything changed on December 15, 2017 when the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse presented its final report and recommendations to the Australian public. It’s a shame Australia’s Catholic bishops missed the memo. (more…)
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SIMON ROUGHNEEN. How Beijing is winning control of the South China Sea (Nikkei Asian Review 13/6/2018)
Erratic US policy and fraying alliances give China a free hand.
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PAUL KRUGMAN. Debacle in Quebec. (New York Times, June 9,2018)
For all their pomp, most multilateral summit meetings are boring and of little consequence. I once spoke to a State Department official who had a role in putting these meetings together; he described his job as “policing the nuances,” which gives you an idea about how much is normally at stake. (more…)
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DANIEL RUSSEL. A Historic Breakthrough or a Historic Blunder in Singapore?
Kim Jong Un May Have Outwitted Trump at the Summit. (more…)
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PEPE ESCOBAR. The key word in the Trump-Kim show
By reaffirming the Panmunjom Declaration, the US President has committed to bringing its military back from South Korea and thus a complete denuclearization of the South as well as the North. (more…)
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HANS HENDRISCHKE and WEI LI. Chinese investment in Australia falls as political debate hits confidence
Chinese direct investment in Australia has declined, according to a new report by the University of Sydney and KPMG. In 2017, the value of investment fell by 11% in US dollar terms, from $11.5 billion in 2016 (A$15.4 billion) to $10.3 billion (A$13.3 billion). (more…)
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NICHOLAS GRUEN. All finance requires is an upgrade for the internet age
The Financial Times has published a letter from Nicholas Gruen in response to Martin Wolf’s column about the Swiss ‘sovereign money’ referendum, previously reprinted on this blog). Mr Gruen’s letter is as follows:
Given the resounding ‘no’ from the Swiss Vollgeld or ‘sovereign money’ referendum, and notwithstanding Bob Sleeper’s relief, Martin Wolf’s central question from last week’s column remains. A decade after the devastation, where’s the “radical rethink” of finance?
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GARETH HUTCHENS. Australia should not join US in South China Sea operations, says retired defence chief (The Guardian 21/2/2017)
Activities in the South China Sea continue to be in the news. Published below, are comments made in February last year by Sir Angus Houston, who was formerly Australia’s defence chief. John Menadue. (more…)
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THE LOCAL. Italy demands apology for France’s ‘hypocritical’ criticism on migrants.
Italy on Wednesday summoned the French ambassador and postponed planned finance talks, in an escalating diplomatic spat with France over the handling of a migrant crisis in the Mediterranean. (more…)