Category: Politics

Remember Daniel Ellsberg, author of The Pentagon Papers?  Peter Hannan, Environment Editor at the Sydney Morning Herald has written a review of his new book The DoomsDay Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. Ellsberg recounts the occasions during the Cold War when the world came close to a catastrophic all-out nuclear war, triggered not by politicians but by technical errors and misinterpreted signals. Attention has been focussed on North Korea, but there are at least seven other states with nuclear weapon capability – France, India, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Writing in the New Yorker, John Cassidy compares Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium with the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Act, a misguided protectionist policy that contributed to rounds of retaliatory actions by other nations, aggravating the damage of Depression, and in turn contributing to the tensions that led to the 1937-1945 War.

“The term ‘sovereign risk’ is the kind of econobabble bullshit that is destroying public debate” writes Richard Denniss in the Fairfax media. In trying to stymie economic reform, powerful interest groups put up the bogey of  ‘sovereign risk’ as an argument to preserve their privilege.

Trump’s new Secretary of State has received most money from Koch Industries – RenewEconomy

Trump and Abe: Golf and Gold – New York Review of Books.

Mismanagement and corruption have left the Darling River dry – the Age.

How Barnaby Joyce came undone – the ABC. He’s been described by colleagues as a loner, a genius, authentic, and a narcissist. Here’s the story of how the former Nationals leader ended up on the backbench.

The guns crisis in the United States – New York Review of Books

Saturday Extra, March 17^th Geraldine Doogue is looking at how the issue of human rights can be discussed diplomatically in international dialogues such as this weekend’s ASEAN meeting with Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch; Rajesh Walton, AUSTRAC’s Director of Innovation discusses the challenges facing the region in combatting cyber-attacks, terrorism financing and money laundering; Vladimir Putin and his foreign policies and interactions and how will he handle this area in his new term with Ivan Nechepurenko, a Moscow based writer and journalist and Leonid Petrov from the ANU; R& D in Australia, budgets and attitudes with Bill Ferris, Chair of Innovation and Science Australia and Alan Finkel, Australia’s chief scientist and continuing with our March series, historian Billy Griffiths on his book about this ancient land or ours, Deep Time Dreaming. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/

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Australia has a housing affordability problem. There’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, one of the reasons the problem has become so entrenched is that the policy conversation appears increasingly confused. It’s time to debunk some policy clichés that keep re-emerging. (more…)

As vexations flowing from record high net overseas migration mount, supporters of the permanent entry program have had to dig deeper to defend it.These supporters include the Treasury and the Reserve Bank as well as business and property interests. They say that any major cut to the migration program would put in jeopardy Australia’s 26 years of unbroken nominal economic growth. The Treasury emphasises that Commonwealth taxation revenue would also diminish, putting further pressure on the budget deficit. (more…)

On March 17-18, 2018, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will host government leaders from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Sydney at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. The summit will be preceded by a business summit and a counterterrorism meeting to “strengthen our joint contribution to regional security and prosperity, including by addressing shared security challenges and securing greater opportunities.” (more…)

Labor’s policy on tax refunds for shareholders released on 13 March 2018 is a stark reminder that policies addressing the huge gaps in Australia’s revenue base are necessary.This is a media release by Cassandra Goldie

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So-called “populist” parties in recent European elections have all but wiped out established social democratic parties.  The exception was Britain where Labour improved its position under the uncompromising social-democratic leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.  Two questions arise at home.  What fate awaits our social democratic party, the Australian Labor Party?  More importantly, what is populism? (more…)

The Italian election has shown, very clearly, that ordinary voters are deeply angry with mainstream politicians and political parties. What is true of Italy is also true of Australia. The political class sneeringly dismisses voter anger as “populism”, blindly believe it will evaporate once voters come to their senses. They’re wrong. Anger is mounting exponentially across the country. Voters are looking for alternatives – any alternative – than to vote for the narcissists currently governing us. This poses a serious danger to the political system – but it also offers a golden opportunity for Labor. (more…)

In just under three weeks time, unless either there is a major miracle or The Australian imposes censorship, Malcolm Turnbull will confront his 30^th successive losing Newspoll.  So what happens then? Actually, not much. As Christopher Pyne has pointed out with the unarguable logic of arithmetic, our Prime Minister still has the numbers. When Tony Abbott hit the same target in 2015, he did not, and there is the difference.   (more…)

On Eureka Street Fatima Measham interviews Clare O’Neil, Federal Member for Hotham and Labor Shadow Minister for Justice. O’Neil explains how our economy is failing most people: the benefits of economic growth are not being shared. She explains the idea of inclusive growth, (Audio 27 minutes)

Writing in the Fairfax Press, Jessica Irvine outlines the findings of a survey on younger (aged 16 to 40) women’s attitudes to work – a survey released in time for International Women’s Day. Being “treated with respect”, job security, good pay and interesting and socially useful work are all ranked highly. The full report is available from the Australian Women’s Working Futures Project at the University of Sydney.

Also on women’s work experiences, on the ABC’s Religion and Ethics program Andrew West talks with Sister of Mercy Dr Margaret Beirne about the life of nuns with aspirations to help the poor as teachers, doctors or social workers. But many end up “cooking dinner, scrubbing floors and ironing shirts” for cardinals. Sister Beime suggests that because an article on this issue appeared in an official Vatican magazine this issue may be of concern to the Pope. (Audio 12 minutes).

South Korea has brokered a meeting between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump to take place by May. Writing in The Atlantic Uri Friedman takes is into the political background to this meeting. Although the meeting has taken the world by surprise, North Korea’s strategy follows a familiar pattern.

“Beware the green dragon, not the red one” writes Crispin Hull in the Canberra Times.  China’s plan for a renewable energy future will see it achieve moral and economic leadership. Hull warns that “it is disturbing to see the democracies allow a totalitarian state take leadership on the greatest threat to peace and prosperity – climate change”.

A guest on the ABC’s Late Night Live last week was Professor Geoffrey Robinson of the University of California, LA. He reminds us of Indonesia’s “anti-communist” purge in in the mid 1960s, in which the army, with help from religious groups, and possibly parties outside Indonesia, arranged for the slaughter of half a million people. Presenter Elizabeth Jackson reminds is that it’s one crime against humanity that’s been largely overlooked. (Audio 20 minutes)

You have probably read Mungo MacCallum’s Pearls and Irritations piece on the power of the pokie industry. If you would like to support pokie-free hotels there is a website Pokie Free Pubs. You can follow the links to your state to find a list of pubs without pokies. The site is still under development: it has long lists of pokie-free pubs in Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT. The New South Wales entry is a little clunky, the South Australian and Northern Territory entries are “coming soon”, and of course there is no need for a list in Western Australia – all pubs are pokie free.

From a frontline clinician:  here’s what’s wrong with private health insurance.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/07/from-a-frontline-clinician-heres-whats-wrong-with-private-health-insurance

On Saturday Extra with Geraldine Doogue this 10^th March, trouble in Ethiopia, the African continent’s second most populous and strategically important country with Awol Allo professor of law at Keele University and Ahmed Soliman, Chatham House; Andrew Hughes from the ANU research school of management on political advertising outside campaign time; North Kore and the US to meet, what’s it all about with Dr Leonid Petrov, visiting fellow at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific; the future of the National Party with Jack Archer, CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, Gabrielle Chan, author of a forthcoming book on regional Australian attitudes and John Daley CEO of the Grattan; former NZ Prime Minister Bill English on challenges facing Australia and New Zealand and historian Ian Tyrell, an environmental take on the history of Sydney’s Cook River. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/

In Foreign Policy Analysis in 2010, Amy L. Catalinac reviewed the events that led to New Zealand withdrawal from ANZUS and the reasons for it.  She said:

In 1985, a dispute over nuclear ship visits led the United States to formally suspend its security guarantee to New Zealand under the trilateral ANZUS Treaty. In this article, I conceptualize this dispute as a case of intra-alliance opposition by a small state toward its stronger ally. I generate four hypotheses from the literature on alliances in international relations to explain why New Zealand chose to oppose its ally on the nuclear ships issue. Using new evidence, including interviews with 22 individuals involved in the dispute and content analysis of debates in the New Zealand parliament from 1976 to 1984, I conclude that a desire for greater autonomy in foreign policy was the driving factor behind New Zealand’s opposition.

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‘Open and transparent’ could scarcely be claimed as the style of Australian executive and bureaucratic rule. But even by our poor standards, the saga of the Office of the Information Commissioner has been a disaster of huge proportions. (more…)