The Albanese government is arguably the most timid Labor Government in our history. (more…)
Noel Turnbull
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Bad news for the media
The latest Reuters Institute and University of Oxford report on media in Australia and the world has been published – and it’s bad news for almost all the media – and to some extent the reading public. (more…)
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UK water industry still about investors and not consumers
One oft-proven way to make money is to pick up a few gems among a pile of discarded mining rubble. (more…)
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“The Sun has won”: exponentially growing solar destroys nuclear, fossil fuels on price
It’s not known if Peter Dutton reads The Economist but if he does, he must probably think from time to time that it is sometimes dangerously left wing. (more…)
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Meta and media minnows
It is hard to know whether the bleatings of the major media outlets about losing the Meta $70 million payments under the media bargaining code are pathetic or laughable. Indeed, perhaps both. (more…)
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How Dutton’s HALEU nuclear power could lead to nuclear weapons
If a future Prime Minister Dutton was able to get the fuel for a HALEU power station, would you be absolutely confident that he might not want to also dabble in some nuclear weapons procurement as well? (more…)
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Who prepared Dutton’s report on nuclear power?
The Canberra Press Gallery is not a homogenous group although its members do seem to suffer from a fair amount of groupthink; preference for gotchas and speculation about what might happen next in politics; and heavy dependence on leaks and drops for copy. (more…)
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“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality…”
“Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.” (more…)
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Dutton’s nuclear dream
In the unlikely event that Peter Dutton could manage the succession of problems with nuclear power stations – persistent massive cost overruns; State legislation banning nuclear; and NIMBY backlashes – he would still have a big problem – lack of staff to run the plants. (more…)
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What’s wrong with the media?
If you are in Melbourne and travel though the CBD along Collins Street on the 109 tram you pass a nondescript building called Collins House. (more…)
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Banned books, manifestos and a better way of reading
At last weekend’s Victorian Writers Festival three authors – two of them also bookshop owners and one of them an author and enthusiastic supporter of bookshops – talked about books and the threat to reading. (more…)
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Australia: the land of lost revenue
Australia once thought of itself as a country of opportunity and innovation – economically and socially. Like most countries self-beliefs, the thought was not always matched by reality. Indeed, it would arguably be better to see Australia as a land of lost opportunities with many of those losses being biggest and most damaging in recent decades. (more…)
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The UK’s Thames Water and Macquarie Group rip off
The UK’s Thames Water – infamous for pumping raw sewage into waterways – parent company has now defaulted on its debt. (more…)
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The age of eco-anxiety
Back in 1947 the W.H. Auden poem, The Age of Anxiety, was published a year after he renounced his British citizenship for US citizenship. (more…)
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Focus research beat ups
In journalism and politics there are beat ups every day of the week. But some are so outrageous that they make a zephyr breeze look like a tornado. (more…)
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Dutton’s new form of climate denial
When Twiggy Forrest, Private Eye, The Financial Times and Bloomberg all describe why nuclear power is not the answer you have to wonder why Peter Dutton can’t hear the message. (more…)
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Weathering the storm: support for multiculturalism resists politicians’ frenzied divisiveness
Reading the latest Scanlon Foundation social cohesion report makes you aware that there are two quite distinct images of Australia. One – totally dark and doom laden – is depicted in the mass and social media and the other – clear-eyed about both serious problems and opportunities – is depicted in the 2023 Scanlon Foundation annual Mapping Social Cohesion report. (more…)
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Genocidal wars dominate US history
US politicians and others are always boasting about the US being the greatest in just about any category you can think of – from the record for eating hot dogs in a given time to their so-called democracy. (more…)
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Spruiking armaments manufacturers at Last Post ceremony: beyond the pale
If anyone ever imagined that commemoration of our war dead was not an opportunity to make political points look no further than the Daily Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial at the recent opening of Federal Parliament. (more…)
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Three Nos at the Memorial make no sense at all
Divisions on the Australian War Memorial Council and political pressure are putting Memorial staff in a difficult position over the depiction of Frontier Wars. This has become clearer as time passes and more evidence becomes available. (more…)
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Who leaked sensitive legal material to a Murdoch columnist?
In the 20th century a series of UK investigations, including the Leveson Inquiry, demonstrated that Murdoch newspapers had engaged in phone hacking, police bribery and resort to dodgy private investigators. (more…)
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Can Dutton wage culture wars and chew gum at the same time?
As Australia Day looms it’s not surprising that Peter Dutton has yet again found another culture war to prosecute – this time against Woolworths’ decision not to stock Australia Day themed goods. (more…)
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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price among most trusted politicians
The latest Roy Morgan Most Trusted & Distrusted Leaders research has bad news for Anthony Albanese but worse news for Peter Dutton. (more…)
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What does climate denialist Abbott think of the monarchy now?
Now what on earth will those staunch monarchists and climate denialists – John Howard and Tony Abbott – say about their new king, Charles III, and his very strongly held environmental views? (more…)
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What was Parliament doing as the earth boiled?
On the day on which the Earth recorded a global average surface temperature of more than 2 degrees centigrade for the first time since records began what was the Australian Parliament and media doing? (more…)
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A satisfying cricket win – and not just for sporting reasons
For a former cricketer (one time Port Melbourne Cricket Club thirds all-rounder) and keen participant in politics it was immensely satisfying to see Australia winning the ICC World Cup while the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was there in the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad to witness it. (more…)
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Defending Country campaign exposes the truth about Australia’s longest war
For decades the Australian War Memorial Council denied the need for the full recognition of Australia’s first and longest wars – the Frontier Wars – despite the overwhelming evidence of actions which today would be regarded not only as crimes but also in many cases war crimes. (more…)
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Dutton’s Pyrrhic victory
Certainly, Dutton has demonstrated that disinformation, division and some outright lies can confuse and motivate large sections of the community. (more…)
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On equality, business needs to get its own house in order
Business is always telling governments, and the rest of us, that Australia would perform much better if we and our rulers took their advice. (more…)
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The RSL – from a power lobby to poker machine empire
The RSL was once one of the most influential lobby groups in Australia. Today it is better known for the number of poker machines it operates. (more…)