John Menadue

  • DEAN BAKER. The Green New Deal is happening in China.

    One of the Trump administration’s talking points about global warming is that we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while the countries that remain in the Paris accord are not. Well, the first part of this story is clearly not true, as data for 2018 show a large rise in emissions for the United States. The second part is also not very accurate, as most other countries are taking large steps to reduce emissions. At the top of the list is China. The country has undertaken a massive push to convert to electric powered vehicles and clean energy sources.  (more…)

  • PETER SMALL. A Royal Commission on the Murray-Darling.

    In response to an excellent article by Michelle Pini “Something stinks in the Coalition and its not dead fish” Pearls and irritations 18/01, I posted a comment. “Yes a Royal Commission with forensic capacity to peel away each layer of vested interest. Politician, scientist and industry”. Sounds a bit rough on scientists but let me explain…….. (more…)

  • JANE GOODALL. A plague of political idiots.

    Increasing awareness of distortion and deception in news media is accompanied by rising levels of anger about what amounts to an intelligence crisis in public communication. People with opposing views accuse each other of being useful idiots for the propaganda merchants, and failing to see the realities. Politicians are caricatured as idiots and clowns, glove puppets for oligarchs and corporate enterprises. This rhetorical trend may be a signal that we refuse to be taken for fools, but a growing obsession with the stupidity of others may itself be becoming a toxic influence. (more…)

  • LISA NANDY. Patriotism and the Left (New Statesman).

    A speech on the Left, patriotism and solidarity.

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  • MICHELLE ALEXANDER. Breaking the silence on Palestine (The New York Times International Edition).

    Like Martin Luther King Jr. did, we must speak out about the grave injustices of our time. (more…)

  • CIARA MORRIS. Seeing China Through a Washington Lens

    Balancing relations between China and the US is arguably Australia’s greatest foreign policy challenge in the 21st century. But is Australia getting it right?

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  • JOHN HEWSON. She won’t be right: the economic storm our leaders ignore. (SMH 18.1.2019)

    It’s the economy, stupid” – a slogan and a focus that largely won the US presidency for Bill Clinton in 1992. He then went on to reap the benefits of Bush senior’s economic management, not yet evident at the time of the election.

    The issue of economic management is usually a significant issue at our federal elections, with polling consistently suggesting the LNP has an edge as “better economic managers”.

    Perceptions matter in politics, but realities are ultimately determinant. Even though both our major parties have warned recently of global storm clouds ahead for our economy this year, neither is actually prepared to spell out the full significance of the risks, particularly systemic risks, and neither is the Reserve Bank of Australia or Treasury.  

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  • JOHN QUIGGIN. Socialist utopia 2050: what could life in Australia be like after the failure of capitalism?

    From four-day weeks to unconditional basic income to free education, it’s possible to imagine a future where society’s focus has moved from consumption to quality of life. (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. We are paying an enormous price to keep Christopher Pyne in Parliament

    The Coalition Government ended our car manufacturing industry which had an Effective Rate of Protection of 8%. It employed 200,000 people. We are told by the Government that the void in SA will be filled by building the new French submarines in Adelaide. The won’t. There will be only about 2000 new jobs in SA and the Effective Rate of Protection for the submarines will be 300%

    Our economy and defence would be far better  off  if we had kept our car manufacturing industry,imported new submarines ‘off the shelf’ and maintained them in SA

    Who said that conservatives are good economic managers and are the best to keep us safe?

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  • VINCENT MAHON. Will the Greens learn from the Victorian election?

    The Victorian Greens entered the State election with eight MPs. It ended with only four, losing fifty percent of its parliamentarians. The Greens prioritised lower house seats to the detriment of the five upper house seats it held where it exercised the balance of power. There was no net gain in the lower house retaining three seats (Brunswick gain offsetting Northcote loss) while it lost four of its five upper house seats. To say this was a poor campaign for the Greens is an understatement. Yet the spin from the Greens is that its vote basically held and fault lay with the usual suspects, absolving itself of any major responsibility. If the Greens actually believe their own spin then that doesn’t bode well for the federal election or its future. (more…)

  • ALAN BOYD. Morrison misconnects across the South Pacific. (Asia Times 19.1.2019)

    “I urged your predecessor [Malcolm Turnbull] repeatedly to honor his commitment to clean energy. From where we are sitting, we cannot imagine how the interests of any single industry can be placed above the welfare of Pacific peoples and vulnerable people in the world over.

    “Consensus from the scientific community is clear and the existential threat posed to Pacific island countries is certain,” Bainimarama said. Pacific island nations are on a precarious front-line of the climate change debate as rising sea levels sink portions of their land masses and wreak havoc on their coastlines. (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. Private Health Insurance is a con job. Is Labor being conned again?

     The ALP does not seem to understand its own creation- Medicare- and that the $11 b taxpayer subsidy to PHI is like a Damocles sword that  hangs over  Medicare.  Ian McAuley in  Medicare under threat from Labor  points out that Labor in its”consultation document’ on a proposed reference of PHI to the Productivity Commission  suggests not only retaining PHI but strengthening it.

    This may only be a stratagem to get the PHI lobby of  Labor’s back in the run up to the next election. But Labor’s record on PHI is not at all reassuring. Has there been a deal done with PHI as Kevin Rudd did before the 2007 election? (more…)

  • PATSY MCGARRY. Church response to modern abuse scandals ‘same as 30 years ago.’

    Marie Collins claims lessons of abuse in Ireland not being used to change policy elsewhere ‘The church reaction is a mirror image of what we were hearing here in Ireland 30 years ago.’   (more…)

  • MICHELLE PINI. Something stinks in the Coalition and it’s not just dead fish (Independent Australia 17.01.2019)

    The sight of close to a million dead fish in one of Australia’s most important waterways may herald the end for the Morrison Government.

    For this is hardly the first time this Coalition Government, under its various iterations, has spat in the face of Australia’s precious resources.

    For now, however, let’s look at the Murray-Darling disaster and how we got here.   (more…)

  • MICHAEL NIMAN. Five Forces Driving the Rise of Fascism in 2019 (Truthout).

     Immigration has become a weapon in the arsenal of fascists who work to sow fear of the “other” in populations they wish to control.There are four other forces behind the rise of fascism (more…)

  • ANTONY GREEN. Why independents won’t matter so much at the next election (ABC News).

    Despite predictions that independents will be an important factor in the result of the coming federal election, two important factors suggest otherwise. (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. We are paying to protect an industry that no longer exists.

    We see it almost every day in the media; rent-seekers extracting benefits for themselves through political influence and lobbying at the expense of the broader community. It has very little to do with markets. It is about political favours for the powerful. No wonder that more and more people around the world are concluding that the economic and political system works for the influential and powerful insiders and not for the general community. (more…)

  • GRACE BLAKELEY. The Latest Incarnation of Capitalism (Jacobin, September 2018)

    Financialization isn’t a perversion of an otherwise well-functioning system. It’s just capitalism’s latest survival mechanism. (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. The myth that Liberals are better economic managers. A repost from 25 July 2018

    Malcolm Turnbull has made it clear that his mantra of ‘Jobs-and-Growth’ will be at the forefront of his campaign in the next election. This week he will be talking about the growth of a million jobs in 5 years, but there is nothing really remarkable in that on average over the last 15 years about 200,000 new jobs have been created each year. Further, it is less impressive because our population is growing by about two million every five years.  (more…)

  • KAREN ELPHICK. United States Senate shows President a red light on war powers as Labor promises a war powers inquiry in Australia (Australia Parliamentary Blog 21.12.2018)

     

    For several years, Yemen has been in a state of civil war between a Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni Government and Houthi forces. The US armed forces are not directly engaged in Yemen but have been supporting Saudi military efforts with aerial targeting and intelligence sharing.

    On 13 December 2018, the United States (US) Senate passed Resolution S.J. Res. 54 – 115th Congress (Res. 54) directing the US President to withdraw US Forces from hostilities in Yemen. Res. 54 provides (emphasis added):

    This joint resolution directs the President to remove U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in or affecting Yemen within 30 days unless Congress authorizes a later withdrawal date, issues a declaration of war, or specifically authorizes the use of the Armed Forces. Prohibited activities include providing in-flight fueling for non-U.S. aircraft conducting missions as part of the conflict in Yemen. This joint resolution shall not affect any military operations directed at Al Qaeda.

    The President must submit to Congress, within 90 days, reports assessing the risks that would be posed: (1) if the United States were to cease supporting operations with respect to the conflict in Yemen, and (2) if Saudi Arabia were to cease sharing Yemen-related intelligence with the United States.   (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. Our intelligence agencies are out of control -An edited repost

     It seems  likely that the prosecution by the Commonwealth Government  of former spy (Witness K ) and his lawyer Bernard Collaery will be heard in closed court. What a travesty of justice this is. Those who authorised the illegal bugging of the East Timorese Cabinet for the commercial benefit of Woodside Petroleum and those who subsequently covered up their activities have not been pursued.. Some of them have been promoted. 

    We need intelligence agencies that are both competent and accountable. We have neither at the moment. We have witnessed the abject failure of bank regulators.Regulatory failure in the intelligence sector is even more in plain sight.  

    There are particular problems for agencies which operate in secret and with few public checks. In an abuse of power ASIO and its collaborators have been campaigning  overtly and covertly to force a change in Government policy towards China.

    There is no effective supervision in the public interest of the Hastie/Lewis partnership . Here we have the parliamentary supervisor of ASIO (Hastie) and the head  of ASIO(Lewis) on a joint ticket. Old SAS colleagues. It is extra- ordinary and dangerous. (more…)

  • SANG JIEJA. Tibetans get home decor order: Hang Xi, Mao portrait

    Dalai Lama images removed from temples, monasteries as Party reinforces iconography of its ‘heroes’; households next

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  • JOANNE SIMON-DAVIES. Community attitudes towards violence against women. (Commonwealth Parliamentary Blog 5.12.2018)

    The National Community Attitudes toward Violence against Women Survey (NCAS) is the world’s longest-running survey of community attitudes towards violence against women. Results from the latest survey are mixed; levels of awareness have generally risen but there are still areas of concern.   (more…)

  • RICHARD KINGSFORD. The catastrophic fish kill on the Darling River– decades in the making

    The plight of the Darling River shocked the nation last week, when up to a million fish were killed by lack of oxygen, accompanying the disruption of a blue-green algal bloom on a forty kilometre stretch of the river near Menindee, southeast of Broken Hill. This followed a similar kill of tens of thousands of native fish in December.

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  • JON FINER and ROBERT MALLEY. Trump is right to seek an end to America’s wars (The New York Times International Edition).

    The president’s desire to disentangle the country from costly overseas conflicts must be encouraged. (more…)

  • JOHN MENADUE. Joined at the hip to a very violent and dangerous ally . An update

    We are a nation in denial that we are ‘joined at the hip’ to a dangerous ally that is becoming even more dangerous with the increasing privatisation of the US ‘war complex’  The complex is less and less under civilian control. Arms companies in the US and particularly drone manufacturers have powerful interests and the means to keep the US perpetually at war.

    Retiring US Defence Secretary Mattis complains that President Trump should show more respect for allies. But the US shows most respect for allies that do what they are told or supinely comply.It has been thus for decades with one US mistake after another and one US President after another.

    Apart from brief isolationist periods, the US has been almost perpetually at war; wars that we have often foolishly been drawn into. The US has subverted and overthrown numerous governments over two centuries. It has a military and business complex, almost a ‘hidden state’, that depends on war for influence and enrichment. It believes in its ‘manifest destiny’ which brings with it an assumed moral superiority which it denies to others. The problems did not start with Trump. They are long-standing and deep rooted.

    Unfortunately, many of our political, bureaucratic, business and media elites have been so long on an American drip feed that they find it hard to think of the world without an American focus. We had a similar and dependent view of the UK in the past. That ended in tears in Singapore.  Conservatives rail about Chinese influence but we are immersed and dominated by all things American,including the Murdoch media. (more…)

  • ‘CHRIS HARRINGTON. Care? The scourge of the ward station’

    The professionalism in hospitals may have contributed greatly to better data collection and use of technology, but after a visit to a hospice and an ICU unit recently, I wondered what has happened to care. Our system is failing us.

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  • JEFFREY SACHS and others.- Fully Filling the Global Fund.

     

    In a world divided by conflict and greed, the Global Fund’s fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria is a matter of enlightened self-interest and a reminder of how much humanity can accomplish when we cooperate to save lives. For public and private donors, that means providing the financing needed to eliminate all three scourges by 2030.

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  • LORRAINE CHOW. Ten grim climate scenarios if global temperatures rise above 1.5 degrees celsius.

    The (Northern) summer of 2018 was intense: deadly wildfires, persistent drought, killer floods and record-breaking heat. Although scientists exercise great care before linking individual weather events to climate change, the rise in global temperatures caused by human activities has been found to increase the severity, likelihood and duration of such conditions.  (more…)

  • PETER BROOKS. If specialists cannot be fair in their fee charging – should we not be supporting a Royal Commission into medical fees

    Well done John Menadue for starting 2019 off with something that must strike at the heart of all Australians- out of pocket medical expenses. Some of the highest in the world and showing no sign of slowing and driven by – let’s be honest – greed on the part of some of our most highly paid doctors. Despite comments over the last few years from some of the Colleges saying that they do not support the significant fees charged by some doctors (and remember it is not a small minority),  little has changed. Comments from the Colleges have stopped and out of pocket expenses continue to increase. Australians are opting out of health insurance, placing strains on both the public and private systems. How long should Australians put up with this behaviour from the medical profession which seems hell bent on destroying the ‘golden goose’ (uncapped fee for service – i.e. charge what you think you can get away with) that has funded their lifestyle.   (more…)