Peace on Earth
Peace on earth. Goodwill to men,
Echoes like Sullivan’s Great Amen:
The chord he lost when sitting by,
His brother as he watched him die. (more…)
John Menadue
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ANDREW AILES. Peace on earth – the children of Aleppo.
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PETER DAY. Grandpa’s favourite Shepherd
This Christmas child won’t give you discounted goods … rather he’ll invite you to be humble, other-centred.
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GERALDINE DOOGUE. Connections in our lives.
Underneath the jollity and frantic end-of-year scurrying, I detect a wistfulness about the lack of certainty of connections in people’s lives these days. (more…)
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ROBERT MANNE. Yes Virginia, there is a solution to Australia’s asylum-seeker problem.
A new chapter of humanly decent policy with regard to asylum seekers, more reflective of the many fine and generous impulses in our history of welcoming refugees, can at long last be opened. For pity’s sake, let it be.
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HENRY SHERRELL, PETER MARES & ANNA BOUCHER. Another obstacle on the road to citizenship?
Making migrants ‘provisional’ risks Australia’s multicultural success. (more…)
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Shakespeare on refugees, strangers and inhumanity.
In a series of speeches written by Shakespeare, Thomas More makes the argument for the humane treatment of those forced to seek asylum after being expelled from their homeland. This is a repost from August 23, 2016. (more…)
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JOANNE WALLIS. Hollow hegemon: Australia’s declining influence in the Pacific
Australia has vital strategic interests in the Pacific but comparatively less influence with which to pursue them. Pacific states are largely unwilling to accept Australian leadership.
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ROSS BURNS. After Aleppo.
The international community remains hopelessly divided and in many cases incapable of assessing the real dynamics of the conflict in the face of its gut-wrenching humanitarian dimensions.
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Putin interferes in US election. In the past the CIA interfered in Japan.
The following is a New York Times Report of October 9, 1994. In a major covert operation of the cold war, the Central Intelligence Agency spent millions of dollars to support the conservative party that dominated Japan’s politics for a generation. (more…)
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ROBERT MANNE. The Australian’s attacks on Gillian Triggs.
The attack launched by the Australian on Gillian Triggs and the Human Rights Commission has been obsessive, petty, relentless, remorseless and ruthless. (more…)
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DAVID CHARLES. The Re-emergence of Industrial Policy – Theresa May and Donald Trump Style
One of the consequences of the UK Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump as the next US President is the association with the re-emergence of industrial policy in both countries which are important for the development of policy thinking in Australia. This comes at a time when Australia is dealing with the economic transition associated with the end of the mining boom. (more…)
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BRIAN McNAIR. The empire strikes back.
Just five short years after (literally) eating humble pie live on national TV for presiding over the most corrupt, criminally minded, bin-raking, sleaze-mongering crowd of press hacks ever to spread their poison in the English-speaking world, Rupert Murdoch is back at the door of Sky in the UK, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf of yore. (more…)
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STEPHEN GRENVILLE. Australia’s AAA credit rating under threat, but who cares?
Five year ago the Financial Crisis Enquiry Commission, set up by the US Congress following the Global Financial Crisis, described the rating agencies as ‘essential companies in the wheel of financial destruction’ and ‘key enablers of the financial meltdown’.
Closer to home, Stephen Grenville, a former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, expressed similar reservations in this blog (see repost) John Menadue (more…)
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. Julie Bishop – supporting bad policies.
The Foreign Minister’s outrage was highly selective … her speech was indeed strong on talk, but weak on effective action. (more…)
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. A declining Australia.
With dropping levels in education and a fading economy Australia is in a decline. What we need is a clear focus on our own area, Asia and the South West Pacific. (more…)
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KELLIE TRANTER. FOI documents expose Australia’s unlawful invasion of Syria.
‘Make no mistake: we unlawfully invaded a sovereign state.’~ Kellie Tranter
Not one journalist in the country – although I am happy to stand corrected – asked either the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Attorney General or the Defence Minister to explain how the Government of Syria was ‘unwilling or unable’ to prevent attacks.
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GARRY WOODARD. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
We have said No to the Americans: Robert Menzies
Saying No to America was not an upfront characteristic of Menzies’ foreign policy, based as it was on supporting and attracting the support of ‘great and powerful friends’. Supplementing that was his politically profitable propaganda about threats from Asia. (more…)
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. New series. We can say ‘no’ to the Americans.
The present situation offers the Turnbull Government – or its successor -an opportunity to move beyond policies towards Asia based on fear of China and on compliance with United States wishes. (more…)
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FRANK JOTZO. Trump and Climate – but new opportunities for China.
The Trump Presidency is a fork in the road for climate action. While it may set back global climate efforts, an inward-looking US government that ignores climate change provides new opportunities for leadership elsewhere, Frank Jotzo writes.
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BRUCE ARNOLD. Open Government, Open to interpretation
If we are indeed open to Open Government a salient demonstration would be facilitating Australian Human Rights Commission access to what is happening on Australia’s behalf in offshore detention centres. That would be a fine national Christmas present from Turnbull, Dutton and Brandis, with or without tinsel.
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We need a transformational foreign policy.
The following submission to the Hon. Julie Bishop for the White Paper on Foreign Affairs and Trade has also been sent to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Senator Wong, as well as selected MPs and Senators.
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JOHN THOMPSON. Privatising Medicare by stealth.
Like the frog in hot water, Medicare’s privatisation by stealth can only result in an unfortunate end – despite the current government’s protestations of innocence. (more…)
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BOB KINNAIRD. Indian IT professionals on rock bottom 457 wages undermine Turnbull’s ‘innovation’ dream
The Coalition’s cheap labour 457 visa wage policy is destroying jobs for young Australians lured into studying IT courses under the Turnbull government’s high profile ‘Innovation’ push… Indian 457 visa IT workers are being approved at much lower rates than experienced Australian IT professionals and even new IT graduates. (more…)
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DAVID PEETZ. The battle over the Building and Construction Commission isn’t finished yet
Now that the ABCC will mostly be a mere shadow of its former self, the Building Code becomes an even more important point of distinction. … It is the identity and ideology of the Director of the ABCC that matters a lot more than the underpinning legislation.
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WALTER HAMILTON. Education as a way of life
The OECD-endorsed rankings of educational proficiency recently released give the lie to those in Australia who attribute outcomes solely to levels of spending. Throwing more money at the Education Establishment will not automatically produce smarter students. (more…)
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SAM HURLEY. Outsourcing doesn’t help our neediest citizens.
Outsourcing of employment services has failed to make significant headway on better outcomes for the most disadvantaged clients.
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TRAVERS McLEOD. General Mattis, the new US Defence Secretary – the right choice for an ahistorical President
With General Petraeus, General Mattis changed the mindset of the US military. Let’s hope that if duty and ethics call, Mattis can change the President’s mind too.
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REG LITTLE. Understanding cultural differences between Australia and China.
Australia’s most urgent challenge today is overcoming two centuries of ‘false education’ about China. Western thought culture tends to be characterised by assumptions, abstractions, rationalities, theories and belief. In contrast, Chinese thought culture tends to be holistic, fluid, intuitive, reflective, strategic and practical. (more…)
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WALTER HAMILTON. When all else fails, try Pearl Harbor
Prime Minister Abe of Japan is running out of tricks, but there is no viable alternative.
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HAZEL MOIR. Evergreening of patents and the cost of pharmaceuticals.
A low standard for granting patents can mean lengthy delays generic medicine availability. In one case this is shown to have cost taxpayers almost $A3 billion extra in Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme outlays. A solution is to grant patents only for inventions that embody a significant increase in what is known. (more…)