Category: Politics

Scott Morrison’s slogan of the week was congestion busting —  he was in favour of it. (more…)

On Monday morning two days after the Victorian state election the ALP had 51 seats, the LNC 24, the Greens 1, other independents 1, with 11 still in doubt, but the outcome of which will not affect the Labor Party’s massive majority.  No doubt there will be considerable speculation as to the causes of this landslide. Even at this early stage we can ask whether it represents a general skepticism about the impression the Murdoch press has been trying to create about the lawless state of Victoria and the corruption of its Labor politicians. (more…)

The Victorian election is the latest instalment of a five-year trend that has seen the Liberal Party lose ground in every state and federal election. What’s going on? (more…)

The long-running ‘Palace letters’ case over the Queen’s secret correspondence regarding the 1975 dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam heads back to court on Wednesday 28 November, with an appeal hearing before the full bench of the Federal Court in Sydney.  (more…)

The UK is facing its Brexit cliff and will only have itself to blame if it stumbles over. The EU has done its best to accommodate UK requirements but has now lost patience. No renegotiation is in prospect. However a path to a mutually beneficial modus vivendi is now clear if the UK will take it. (more…)

The quest for a right wing opponent to GetUp! has been going on for almost as long as the quest for a right wing Phillip Adams at the ABC – and with about as much success. (more…)

That the ALP won the Victorian election was not really a surprise. The magnitude of that victory certainly was. Tea-leaves are being read and many a goat has had its entrails threatened as the political class and the media search for understanding. Something is happening out there and that something is being reflected across the globe. It is in the drawing together of a web of interconnected causes and effects that we can understand the Victorian result and all of those other ‘somethings’ that are shaking our world. (more…)

Would you be willing to kill people to win a state election, to be Premier of Victoria? Such a large price to pay for such a small prize. (more…)

Recent polls have reported that roughly half of young Australians do not think democracy is the best form of government.  There have been other expressions of concern in the media about the state of democracy in Australia and indeed the world. This reflects a widespread dissatisfaction with Australian politics and politicians. Democracy is a faith like any other and is not the end process of some kind of Darwinian inevitability. If we want to convert others to our views on democracy and human rights we need to do a better job of it and perhaps show more respect for the rights of minorities who don’t agree with the prevailing majority view. (more…)

I was recently in Croatia with representatives of Caritas members mostly from Eastern European countries. I was a speaker and a facilitator for these newer members of the largest aid, development and social service network in the world attending the conference about advocacy and humanitarian action, whether domestic or overseas. There was a European Union flag in front of the podium since the EU had paid for the conference. I made reference to the EU badge I was wearing because, as I said, I was a proud European who came from a country, Scotland, which objected to being dragged out of the EU against its will after having its vote 62% to remain in completely ignored. Milling around afterwards, delegates from Georgia, Armenia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia, Albania and elsewhere registered their astonishment that Scotland had voted against independence when it had the chance in 2014, citing the economic success and sense of dignity that had followed their moves to freedom. “Ah”, I sadly whispered, “you didn’t have the Scottish Cringe to contend with!” (more…)

A regular collection of links to writings and broadcasts covered in other media. (more…)

We are changing our Saturday postings.

We will continue to post hyperlinks to ‘good listening and reading’   that we feel will be of interest over the weekend.

We will also give timely notice of the contents of Geraldine Doogue’s Saturday Extra. Her program starts at 7.30 am, but our email has been going out on Saturday after noon.

We will now be posting the Saturday content at 7am each weekend.

The ABS has released its latest population projections, updating those it produced in 2012 (see here). So what has changed and how should we interpret these in terms of current policy? (more…)

In my experience as head of my country’s government and previously a health minister, as a former senior official at the United Nations, and more recently as a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, I’ve found debates on drug policy tend to be divisive and passionately ideological. On one point, however, there is a clear and growing consensus: Around the world, the so-called “war on drugs” is failing. (more…)

As we decry what many say is the most incompetent Government in living memory, it’s important not to fall into the trap of just waiting for it to be replaced, thinking all will be well henceforth. We need to look at how to avoid Australia ever having to experience this kind of dysfunction again. Just electing another party is not enough – like peeing in your pants to keep warm, feels good for a while until it goes cold or smelly or both. (more…)

It has come to this for the Australian government: With no leadership, no mettle and no political capital to spend, difficult decisions are outsourced, and responsibility for decisions that might offend is spread far and wide. (more…)