Our business sector lacks the skills to do business in Asia. And instead of improving, the situation is getting markedly worse. (more…)
John Menadue
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PM Albanese promises to restore trust in democracy
But his record does not give grounds for confidence. In his National Press Club address, PM Albanese referred to the “trust deficit” in other democracies such as the US. The clear inference is that Australia does not have a “trust” deficit. (more…)
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Our retreat from Asia has become a rout
On almost every measure, Australia has gone backwards on engaging with our region, and particularly with China, and it is time to do something about it. (more…)
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Weaponisation of ‘antisemitism’ hides primitive savagery of Palestinian genocide
As expressed in the UN General Assembly, the vast majority of the world’s governments and peoples agree that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and now the West Bank. (more…)
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Medicare’s much-needed reform held hostage by vested interests: Michael Lester in conversation with John Menadue, AO
Access to affordable primary healthcare through GPs has collapsed, forcing more people to rely on overcrowded and understaffed public hospitals. These hospitals, meant to be a last resort, have instead become the costly default option. (more…)
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Beijing ‘won’t be threatened’ into changing Taiwan plans, analysts say
China’s foreign ministry lodged ‘stern representations’ with the US after President Joe Biden again said American troops would defend the island if the PLA attacks. (more…)
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President Abbas at UNGA: Why is Israel not punished for violating international law?
Who is protecting Israel from being held accountable? Why these double standards when it comes to Israel? (more…)
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West’s ‘divide and rule’ culture a great threat to development
The latest 2021/22 Human Development Report was recently released. Titled “Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World,” it “paints a picture of a global society lurching from crisis to crisis, and which risks heading towards increasing deprivation and injustice.” This is a big shock to those of us who aspire for a world of shared prosperity. (more…)
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John F. Copper: Where are the Chinese students going?
According to recent data published in China and admission reports from U.S. universities, the number of Chinese students applying for study in American institutions of higher learning in recent months has fallen markedly. (more…)
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Neil Hauxwell: Toward a great TAFE revival
The most important outcome from the Jobs and Skills Summit must be some federal government leadership. Our Vocational Education and Training system, including TAFE, is in urgent need of a major reset. (more…)
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Everett Bledsoe: The US military empire. How many US military bases are there in the world?
The Pentagon does not know how many bases it has around the world so it relies on academics to tell it. The US bases are gated communities which replicate US suburbs, shops and amenities to the exclusion of local people. (more…)
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Bill Armstrong: National security through community engagement. Fail to honour people and they will fail to honour you. (Lao Tsu 2000 years ago)
We are living through a change of era on planet earth. Huge changes are ongoing. There is no doubt that the recent federal election gave a mandate to the incoming Government to RESET the way we do business at many levels. (more…)
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Eva Bartlett: The West is silent as Ukraine targets civilians in Donetsk using banned ‘butterfly’ mines
The use of PFM-1 explosives against civilians is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions—but this evidently isn’t stopping Ukraine. (more…)
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Alan Pears: Climate action will drive disruptive change, but we can build on past experience…
Election May 2022 – a new beginning for climate and energy policy? (more…)
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Andrew Bacevich: American Imperium – Untangling truth and fiction in an age of perpetual US wars (Repost from 1/1/2018)
‘Republicans and Democrats disagree today on many issues, but they are united in their resolve that the United States must remain the world’s greatest military power. In its most benign form, the consensus finds expression in extravagant and unremitting displays of affection for those who wear the uniform. Considerably less benign is a pronounced enthusiasm for putting our soldiers to work “keeping America safe.” This tendency finds the United States more or less permanently engaged in hostilities abroad, even as presidents from both parties take turns reiterating the nation’s enduring commitment to peace.’
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Katrina Watson: How to save General Practice
I’m a recently retired specialist doctor and I keep an eye on medical affairs. They affect all of us, especially as we get older, and people still ask what I think. (more…)
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Manlio Graziano – United States: the end of an illusion of omnipotence
“I do not accept second place for the United States of America.” That simple statement, delivered to rousing effect by Barack Obama in his first State of the Union, in January 2010, managed to summarize the current American strategic horizon in a single sentence. (more…)
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CRAIG MURRAY. Biden works to prolong Ukraine war
Why we live in a world where the goal of nations is to damage the lives of inhabitants of other nations is a question which continues to puzzle me. (more…)
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Peter Tait: Vote Independent? If that doesn’t work, then what?
Voting independent needs careful preferencing. If your independent doesn’t get up (or you don’t have that option), you can try Active Democracy (more…)
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David Van Deusen: No love for Putin: No guns for Nazis in Ukraine
Ukraine in fact has a serious Nazi problem. (more…)
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Tobias Debiel and Herbert Wulf: Escalation and de-escalation in the Ukraine War-A German perspective
Demonization and humiliation do not pave the way to the negotiating table. (more…)
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The shabby treatment of nurses by medical doctors.
A collection of recent articles about the dismissal of the key role of nurses by the Medical Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce. The doctor dominated Taskforce is determined not to understand that nurses hold the health system together (more…)
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GARRY EVERETT. Sex Only??
The recent Hollywood movie, On the basis of sex, tells the story of the first successful court case argued by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 9th Circuit Court. The subject matter was discrimination by the Federal Tax Laws, against a man who was denied a tax concession as his mother’s carer, on the grounds that only women were regarded as carers. It was the early 1960s, and one wonders how such an antiquated view could have still prevailed in the USA legal system.
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CHAS W. FREEMAN JR. After the trade war, a real war with China
[T]he greatest danger of a [real] Sino-American war is Taiwan. Taiwan is a former Chinese province that was recovered from its Japanese occupiers by Nationalist China at the end of World War II. In 1949, having been defeated everywhere else in China, Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist forces retreated to it.
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STEPHEN de WEGER. Clerical sexual abuse of adults. Another blind spot.
In 2013, after working as a research assistant project into clergy sexual abuse of children, I decided to undertake an exploratory study into clergy sexual misconduct against adults. During this study I came across what I believe should be a strategic document regarding the understanding of the clergy sexual abuse crisis we are witnessing right now – Sipe’s 11-point thesis. (The late Dr Richard Sipe was a note US psychotherapist and acknowledged expert in the psychosexuality of Catholic clerics).
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FRANCIS SULLIVAN. Pell conviction blows apart bishops’ mantra
Yesterday’s announcement of the conviction of Cardinal George Pell has been shattering for many and a relief for others.
The fact that the most senior cleric in Australia has been found guilty is devastating on many levels. Not the least because he was such a high-profile proponent for the safeguarding children in the church and its provision of compensation to victims.
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BARNEY ZWARTZ. George Pell has fallen, but the cardinal’s legacy casts a long shadow
So Cardinal George Pell – by far Australia’s best-known church leader of the past 25 years, the highest-ranked Australian ever at the Vatican, a confidant of prime ministers – faces a jail sentence for child sexual abuse. The dispenser of God’s grace (through the sacrament) has surely reached the nadir of human disgrace.
