The grand jury report of Catholic priests’ predations in Pennsylvania is enough to make one vomit. The terrifying fact that hundreds of priests were preying upon over a thousand victims in that state alone makes one shudder at the thought of how many hundreds and thousands of abusers there are elsewhere in the nation, elsewhere in the world. It is time to stop waiting for more reports to accumulate, hoping that something will finally be done about this. Done by whom? By “the church”? If “the church” is taken to mean the pope and bishops, nothing will come of nothing. They are as a body incapable of making sense of anything sexual. (more…)
John Menadue
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ALESSANDRO DEMAIO. An evidence-based five-point plan to tackle child obesity in Australia.
Few challenges are a greater threat to the health of Australians than obesity. Weight gain has now become the norm—the biological and social path of least resistance. Within a decade and without significant government intervention, more Australians are expected to be obese than normal weight. Opportunities to stem the tide of obesity do exist – we have the evidence and largely we know what to do. Here is an evidence-based five-point policy plan, a lifeSPANS approach, that focuses on our kids to move the health agenda forward. (more…)
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PETER SMALL. National Party and Climate
Why farmers who are at the forefront of the impact from climate change, continue to support the National Party, a party of climate sceptics?
After a week of unfathomable machinations in Canberra, a decade of climate wars and the “death” of five Prime Ministers we are no nearer to a policy on climate or energy than we were 10 years ago.
As a 77 year old farmer, who has lived amongst Country and then National Party and Liberal supporters all my life, I will try and shed some light on this complex and intriguing issue. (more…)
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TRISTAN EDIS. Turnbull was knifed by a lie: Renewables are already bringing prices down.
Australia has replaced yet another Prime Minister mid-term via a leadership coup. (more…)
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WALEED ALY. Dutton’s au pair drama shows hypocrisy of immigration policy (SMH 31/8/2018)
“As a discretionary and humanitarian act to an individual with ongoing needs, it is in the interests of Australia as a humane and generous society to grant this person a tourist visa.”
That’s Peter Dutton, then immigration minister, in the official document by which he intervened to allow an au pair to enter the country.
And what an incredible sentence it is! A humanitarian act. An individual with ongoing needs. A humane and generous society. So … a tourist visa? What humanitarian situation serious enough to require intervention from the immigration minister himself can be relieved by a spot of tourism? (more…)
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JANE CADZOW. The watchman – Scott Morrison (Sun Herald, 3 November 2012)
Accused of inflaming racism, Scott Morrison insists people have the wrong idea about him. Jane Cadzow meets the Liberals’ immigration spokesman. This article was published in the Sun Herald on 3 November 2012 .
In his maiden speech in 2008 Scott Morrison said ‘From my faith, I derive the values of loving kindness, justice and righteousness’ (more…)
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DAVID GOLDMAN. Europe, Japan, China and Russia line up against US.
Investment patterns are shifting in response to America’s new assertiveness. (more…)
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CNN Interview with New York Mayer BILL de BLASIO (DEM) on Rupert Murdoch’s media
BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: Welcome back to RELIABLE SOURCES. I’m Brian Stelter.
If you asked New York City’s mayor what lies behind a lot of the negativity and the divisiveness creeping this nation, he’s got a simple answer for you. He says it’s the media empire of Rupert Murdoch that’s at fault. Bill de Blasio has long been a critic of the hometown “New York Post” newspaper. Murdoch has owned it for years. He says it’s right-wing propaganda.
Now, he’s also been talking about Fox News as well, of course on a week when Laura Ingraham’s hateful comments are on the news. … (more…)
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JAMES FERNYHOUGH. Climate change action off the agenda under Morrison government.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has unveiled a new energy policy focused exclusively on reducing electricity prices, in a strong signal the Morrison government will abandon all efforts to lower carbon emissions. (more…)
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NEAL BLEWETT. Establishing, defending and improving Medicare.
Neal Blewett AC delivered the Hayden Oration at Ipswich on 15 August 2018.
Neal Blewett as Minister for Health from 1983 under the Hawke government, and later Minister for Community Services and Health, implemented the Medicare universal health scheme, disability services, campaigns to reduce tobacco and alcohol abuse, and a national strategy to combat AIDS/HIV. They were all remarkable achievements.
In this oration, Neal Blewett records the development of Medicare and the unremitting hostility of conservative politicians, the AMA and others to Medicare. From page 11 of the oration, he outlines how Medicare could be strengthened and expanded to include dental care and other improvements.
See link below for full text of the oration. John Menadue. (more…)
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ANDREW JAKUBOWICZ A multicultural whirlwind blowing up for the next election
Turnbull’s gone and with him, hopefully, his recurrent but incorrect mantra of Australia as the most successful multicultural society in the world. With the next federal election now just over the horizon, understanding how the ethnic vote delivered the last election to the Coalition may help us to understand how Australia’s multicultural present could shape the next government. Moreover the concerns of these over 150 different ethnic groupings, a mishmash of cultural, familial, human rights and political worries, may become vitally important once more at the tips of the voting tails.
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E. TAMMY KIM. Moon Over Korea (New York Review of Books 16.08.18 Issue)
Moon Jae-in eui Unmyeong [The Destiny of Moon Jae-in]
by Moon Jae-in
Seoul: Bookpal, 488 pp., ₩15,000
In Singapore on June 12, as Donald Trump vigorously shook hands with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the man behind this improbable meeting leaned forward in his chair and smiled. South Korean president Moon Jae-in, just thirteen months into his five-year term, had helped arrange the first-ever summit between an American president and the leader of North Korea. Yet Moon was careful to keep a respectful distance. He watched on a television monitor in the Blue House, the presidential compound in Seoul. It was, however symbolic, a goal he had pursued over two decades in politics, and it brought him a step closer to healing familial and national wounds. Moon is a child of the Korean War, the son of refugees from the pre-division North. But unlike Trump and Kim, who swapped boasts and missile threats just months before their handshake, Moon didn’t feel the need to take credit. (more…)
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TONY KEVIN. Australian politics: There has not been nearly enough change.
Reflections on last week’s political bloodbath and on what needs to happen now.
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JOHN CARMODY: The Catholic Right
While Malcolm Turnbull’s own manifest lack of political skills and understanding has played a major role in his downfall, he and others are perfectly correct to recognise that “outside forces” – including some journalists and other media figures who seek to be “players” rather than simply observers and commentators – have also contributed significantly to his fate . (more…)
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ANTONIO SPADARO SJ. The prosperity gospel-dangerous and different
SCOTT MORRISON is described as a devout Christian who worships at Shirelive, an American style Pentecostal Church in Sydney.. He formerly belonged to Hillsong. An essential feature of the ‘prosperity gospel’ of Pentecostalists is that prosperity, success and good health is a sign of God’s favour. And the lack of faith leads to poverty and sickness. On this reckoning God does not care for the poor,the sick and refugees.
In the article below Antonio Spadaro describes the origin and spread of the prosperity gospel. These are extracts from an article in La Civilta Cattolica of 18 July 2018. The full article can be found here. John Menadue (more…)
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SCOTT BURCHILL. Anti-Americanism and moral panic in the West
After a similar challenge posed by George W. Bush following popular opposition to his invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Trump presidency is another reminder to America’s allies of the dangers that emerge when individuals, rather than economic and political structures, are considered significant agents of change. (more…)
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JAMES KYNGE. The US cannot halt China’s march to global tech supremacy.
The moment may one day be glorified in propaganda art. As the mist rolled off the Yangtze River, Xi Jinping stood on top of the Three Gorges hydropower dam in Yichang, a proud symbol of engineering prowess, and proclaimed that China would blaze its own trail to become a technology superpower. (more…)
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DAVID HUTT. Does China really dominate Southeast Asia?
Widespread reports of China’s hegemony over the neighbouring region miss the nuance of fast-shifting political and strategic dynamics. (more…)
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BRUCE WEARNE. Has the Party Ended?
“I’m not doing anything until I get legal advice as to whether his (Dutton’s) membership of the Parliament is constitutional.” (more…)
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GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND
A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. (more…)
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JANE McADAM, JOHN CHURCH. Rising seas will displace millions of people – and Australia must be ready
Sea-level rise is already threatening some communities around the world, particularly small island states, as it exacerbates disasters resulting from storm surges and flooding. (more…)
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RODNEY TIFFEN- How Turnbull shrank in the job
The most important date in the history of the Turnbull government was December 1, 2009. That was the day Tony Abbott defeated Malcolm Turnbull after a revolt by the right wing of the party defeated Turnbull’s support for an Emissions Trading Scheme to address global warming. (more…)
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JOHN WHITE, PETER FARLEY, DAVID GILLETT, CHRIS STOLTZ.- Wasted Capital in Major Project Development.
The establishment of the Australian Public Service (APS) Review Panel is a powerful opportunity to examine the state of play of project development at the federal government level and kick-start a positive step change in performance. This will apply pressure to state governments and business to achieve similar step changes in performance. (more…)
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NATALIE ACTON. A revolution that starts in the heart.
An afternoon at the Sydney Writers’ Festival had delivered me an unexpected and precious gift. I think I’d experienced what Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister names as having an “unboundaried heart”, writes Natalie Acton. (more…)
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DENIS MULLER. How the right-wing media have given a megaphone to reactionary forces in the Liberal Party.
The polarisation that is devouring Australia’s politics is reflected in the increasingly stark polarisation of the country’s professional mass media. (more…)
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BRUCE GUTHRIE. Hello Rupert, bye-bye Malcolm (The New Daily 23/8/2018)
Anyone who doubts Rupert Murdoch’s role in the political chaos that has played out in recent days has never worked for him at a senior level.
Murdoch’s annual visits to Australia invariably trigger seismic events both in and outside News Corp, the company he’s presided over for decades.
So is it any surprise that Malcolm Turnbull is facing his political demise less than a fortnight after Murdoch arrived here? Of course it isn’t. (more…)
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TIM COLEBATCH. Let the voters decide (Inside Story, 23.08.18)
An early election is the only solution to the chaos in the Liberal party room. (more…)
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LARRY ELLIOTT. Think our governments can no longer control capitalism? You’ve been duped.
In reality there has been a class war, in which the right has spent decades using the state to undermine workers. We can fight back.
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VIC ROWLANDS: Where on earth are we going?
John Howard could smell political advantage under water. Tampa changed politics in this country for the worse and made any future rational discussion of immigration and refugees thereafter political poison. Howard was in Washington when the Twin Towers were struck and it understandably had an immense impact on him, but it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he also sensed opportunity. The “We will decide” 2001 campaign speech fed into the world wide climate of fear and enabled him to set in place refugee policy which became a race to the bottom in the treatment, detention and demonising of refugees and their children. Underpinning this policy, supported shamefully by both sides of parliament, was and is, whether we like it or not, racism . (more…)
