For all its atrocities in the 1930s and 1940s, Germany has become an exemplar country promoting prosperity and peace. Angela Merkel stands out as a world leader more than any other. By contrast, Japan has again become a divisive country in its region and its Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has been acquiescing and promoting an ultra-nationalist cause. Germany quickly came to terms with its past. Japan has refused to.
Category: Politics
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CHRIS MIDDLETON. ‘The Church’s teaching, if it isn’t expressed in terms of love – then it’s got it wrong.’
The postal vote on same-sex marriage will no doubt generate much discussion within families and communities, and, in particular, will play on sensitivities in Catholic circles where an understanding of sacramental marriage is so strong. (more…)
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GERMAN LOPEZ. Imagine if the media covered alcohol like other drugs
What if the media covered alcohol like it does other drugs? This was a question that came up in my coverage of flake hka, a synthetic drug that made headlines after law enforcement blamed it for people running in the streets naked in delusional paranoia. What follows is a satirical attempt at capturing that same type of alarmist reporting, but for a substance that really causes widespread and severe problems. (more…)
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Captain Cook.
For months we have had to endure war on all fronts – the class war, the gender war, the religion war, the equality war, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war against political correctness, the war on the ABC and of course the perennially convenient war on terror. (more…)
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JOHN AUSTEN. Infrastructure advice – worse than expected.
Previous articles in this blog suggested serious problems in Australia’s infrastructure assessment and approvals arrangements – upon which tens of billions pivot. The recent Sydney and South-West Metro Rail review by Infrastructure Australia provides troubling evidence of this problem. (more…)
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‘Theresa May. Hang your head in shame.’
From Dublin to the Somme: How the Death of an Irish priest exposes the tragedy of Brexit, by Robert Fisk. (more…)
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Our Prime Minister needs to become more prime ministerial.
From bollocks one week to bollards the next. Malcolm Turnbull’s response to everything that went wrong with the last session of parliament was to ramp up the terrorist threat to install aesthetically pleasing road blocks to deter truck driving terrorist and then disappear into the outback. (more…)
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John Menadue. The burqa and hijab – public space must be neutral and secular.-a repost
The burqa and the hijab are stale news in France.
There has been an important debate and discussion on Muslim head and body covering in France for many years. The simple head dress or hijab, turbans and kippas have been banned in French schools since 2004. The burqa has been banned in public spaces since 2010. The French approach has a wide consensus across the political spectrum. (more…)
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RICHARD BUTLER. Trump’s “Principled Realism” : details withheld
President Trump’s speech on a new Afghanistan strategy was partly designed to mitigate the extreme harm he did by his Charlottesville outbursts. Apart from claiming that the US would win in Afghanistan, no details were given. He bashed Pakistan, embraced India and made clear that allies, such as Australia, would be expected to support the new tack by contributing military assets and money. (more…)
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BOB CARR. Tribute to Johno Johnson. ‘Keep the faith…both of them’
The separation of church and state was not a fetish of John Richard Johnson. He adored the Cross on Calvary. And rallied to The Light on The Hill. (more…)
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. The Trouble with Section 44: the constitutional provision afflicting our Parliament
It’s been quite a month. At least seven members of the Federal Parliament have been referred to the High Court to determine their eligibility to have been elected, and there is a real prospect of an outcome that could cost the Turnbull government its House of Representatives majority. The stakes are very high. (more…)
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PAUL COLLINS. Marriage equality – some thoughts for the perplexed.
Throughout human history all types of arrangements have evolved to nurture children, of which a common form is a reasonably stable relationship between woman and man. Whether or not this was seen as marriage varied widely. So, use of the term “traditional marriage” is a misnomer. What the Catholic hierarchy is presenting as “traditional” is really a romantic, bourgeois understanding of marriage. (more…)
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MUNGO MACCALLUM. The good news.
The good news for Malcolm Turnbull is that his government is not in immediate danger of falling – at least, not any more than usual. (more…)
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RAMESH THAKUR. China and the North Korean nuclear challenge
On a superficial reading, China is feeling the squeeze to take effective action to bring North Korea to heel over its rogue nuclear program. On a deeper reading, China’s gains from the crisis exceed the costs. On a wider reading, Washington daily vindicates Pyongyang’s nuclear choices. (more…)
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RANALD MACDONALD. ABC deal comes back to haunt the Government (Episode Two).
Last week I began my summary of the Government’s complex negotiations aimed at getting its Media Reform Bill through the Senate with the words: “Make a deal for political expediency and then unforeseen consequences usually follow. The ABC and its future is not a ‘bargaining chip’ for the Government to use to pass legislation in the Senate. Yet a deal brokered by Communications Minister Fifield to gain Liberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelm’s vote some months back, has already come back to haunt it……..”. Well, the ‘haunting’ continues. (more…)
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JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN. Why the West and Japan should stop preaching to a rising China
Jean-Pierre Lehmann says the imperialist powers of old should acknowledge their own bloody history of plunder and exploitation, and work with Beijing to find a path to a peaceful rise, which so far is unprecedented. (more…)
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GRAHAM FREUDENBERG. “Which of us is safe?”
Graham Freudenberg, of German, Scottish and Irish descent, whose Prussian-born grandparents were declared enemy aliens in 1915 after 50 years prolific residence in Queensland, has recently held a séance with King O’Malley (an American pretending to be a Canadian and Peter Dutton’s early predecessor as Minister for Home Affairs) and Prime Ministers Chris Watson (born in Chile, son of a stateless Swedish sailor), Billy Hughes (a London-born Welshman), Bob Menzies (‘British to the bootstraps’) and Malcolm Fraser (part-Jewish and therefore with a citizen’s right of return to Israel whether he wanted it or not) and writes: (more…)
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MICHAEL SAINSBURY. Religious and ethnic persecution sours ASEAN’s birthday party
Against the backdrop of a rising China, positive news out of the region is being undermined by several major crises. (more…)
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MICHAEL KEATING. Is it legitimate to pay for a postal plebiscite using the Advance to the Minister of Finance?
This article questions the legitimacy of by-passing the need for Parliament’s approval by using the Advance to the Minister of Finance to pay for the Government’s postal plebiscite regarding attitudes to marriage equality for same-sex couples. (more…)
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JOHN AUSTEN. Infrastructure in Australia- the continuing policy confusion and advisory mess.
Infrastructure Australia’s ‘reform’ reports and its updated priority list – which assesses particular projects – add to evidence about problems with infrastructure advice. This article deals with the latest reform report – corridor protection – and the resulting depressing high speed rail humbug. (more…)
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JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN. Aug 15: A day to mark Western imperialism
The date marks the 70th anniversary of the independence and partition of India, an event that has its roots in Western colonial conquest of the Indian sub-continent. It should also be remembered by the imperialists who plundered the planet. (more…)
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RICHARD BUTLER. Has Bishop’s time come?
The publication by a leading journalist of an extraordinary puff piece on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and her leadership skills, is bound to set political hares running. But, where to? (more…)
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TERENCE BEED. Turnbull’s postal “plebiscite” and the Australian Bureau of Statistics: next step in its fall from grace?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has another debacle approaching brought on by its direction to conduct the government’s proposed postal plebiscite on same sex marriage. Little more than an outmoded postal survey it will be flawed from the start, plagued by biases both known and unknown. The survey will seriously erode the public’s confidence in this once peerless official statistical agency. It needs to start work now to salvage what it can of its reputation for trust and integrity. (more…)
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Strong leaders carry out their promises – Malcolm Turnbull.
It is impossible to imagine Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating or even John Gorton being so cowed by the vengeful has-beens and disgruntled bigots who are now calling the shots in what is laughingly described as the government. (more…)
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RICHARD BUTLER. Turnbull’s Appalling Statement
Australia is not compelled to accompany the US in a war on North Korea, as PM Turnbull has asserted. His recent statement would seem to reflect his need to distract attention from the serious disputes within his government. That it has resulted in his endorsing the possible use of nuclear weapons is a profound moral failure. Trump seems dug in and maybe that’s where the deep state wants him. (more…)
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SUSAN RYAN. Tent City, Martin Place.
The Berejiklian government in NSW showed this last week that it could act fast. To deal with the reported discomfort of the Premier, caused for months by a tent city of the homeless situated in Martin Place just opposite the Parliament, a new law was passed, peremptorily. The Sydney Public Reserves (Public Safety) Act empowers NSW police to order people out of Martin Place. There was no dallying. Within a couple of days of this enactment, the embarrassing tent city was dismantled and its occupants cleared away. Is the Premier now free of discomfort? (more…)
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JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN. The Empires continue to strike back as international order continues to collapse
…as the international order continues to collapse. The best check is a return to a liberal, rules-based, multilateral order. (more…)
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BOB CARR. The Case for Recognition of Palestine
A speech given by the Honourable Bob Carr at the NSW ALP Conference on 30 July 2017 (more…)
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John Menadue. Rent-seekers and the hollowing out of democracy (Repost 12/2015)
‘Rent-seeking’ is a term understood by most economists. It refers to the ability of powerful groups to extract special concessions and favours at the expense of the wider community. (more…)
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. Malcolm Turnbull and Eric Abetz in furious agreement on same sex marriage.
The recalcitrants will call it a backdown and it will certainly be a change: but, as John Maynard Keynes memorably said: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” But then, for much of his life Keynes was gay. Abetz can and will ignore that kind of dangerous advice. (more…)