Category: Politics

The French playwright Jean Giradoux once said something to this effect: “If you can fake sincerity, you’ve got it made.” (more…)

The past, they say, is a foreign country – which is just the way Scott Morrison likes it. (more…)

As the Morrison government stumbles from fumble to bungle on a daily basis, Labor leader Bill Shorten is keeping a low profile. Would this not be his turn to shine, or is he just biding his time? (more…)

A recent report on outer urban public transport by IA  provides some interesting information .But much better understanding and analysis is needed before more resources are wasted and communities made worse off .  (more…)

Ten days before the midterm elections in America, murder came to the Tree of Life. Shouting “all Jews need to die”, a neo-Nazi gunman with an animus against the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society slaughtered 11 Jews gathered at their synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. Two days earlier, pipe bombs had been sent to 14 critics of Donald Trump by a man who had turned his van into a rust-bucket shrine to MAGA and its great apostle. One day previously, Gregory Bush, thwarted in his attempt to enter a black church in Louisville, Kentucky, had shot and killed two African-Americans at a local supermarket. Before he was arrested, he shouted “whites don’t kill whites”. All three perpetrators believed they were engaged in saving white America.   (more…)

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

The governing principle of the Trump administration is total irresponsibility, a claim of innocence from a position of power, something which happens to be an old fascist trick. As we see in the president’s reactions to American rightwing terrorism, he will always claim victimhood for himself and shift blame to the actual victims. As we see in the motivations of the terrorists themselves, and in the long history of fascism, this maneuver can lead to murder. (more…)

Five days before the Wentworth byelection, when Liberal candidate Dave Sharma was starting to claw back support in the seat Prime Minister Scott Morrison was desperate to save, Facebook and Twitter lit up with a warning: if local doctor Kerryn Phelps doesn’t come second, the Liberals win.   (more…)

“Enhanced telecommunications connectivity, data insights, digital planning practices and innovation districts” will underpin the creation of so-called ‘smart cities’. That’s the theme of a Code of Practice released this week as part of Smart Cities Week Australia. Developed by leading smart cities advocacy group the Smart Cities Council and the Green Building Council of Australia the voluntary code is designed to shorten the ‘transformation’ cycle and is aimed at both government and industry players. (more…)

In America 2018, whataboutism is the last refuge of scoundrels, and bothsidesism is the last refuge of cowards. In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a wave of hate crimes. (more…)

It’s Google versus News Corp Australia in a battle over the way algorithms can be controlled to drive internet search engine traffic. (more…)

The Queensland Supreme Court has dismissed Aurizon Network’s application for judicial review of a draft decision by the Queensland Competition Authority on rail access, with costs awarded in favour of the QCA. Former QCA Chair and now Chair of the Port of Newcastle Professor Roy Green comments. (more…)

As much as we like to talk about the failures – or absence – of political leadership in Australia over the last decade, there is an equal dearth of responsible and accountable leadership in both the business sector and elsewhere in society. (more…)

Scott Morrison is ploughing on regardless, business as usual. There is no need to change direction – rather the imperative is to go on pretty much what we are doing, but more aggressively. (more…)

The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned his successor against moving the Australian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem after meeting with the Indonesian president on Monday. (more…)