If you had any doubt that global power dynamics are shifting, one image from the past week put paid to that. (more…)
Category: Politics
-
Seven hundred days of genocide: Israel attempts to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will fail
September 4 marked 700 days since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which began on 7 October 2023. (more…)
-
Trump and the post-American world
Donald Trump’s blatant campaign for a Nobel Peace Prize has a new claim for his resume – his “diplomacy” is contributing to a new world order. (more…)
-
Yes, freedom of information laws need updating, but not like the government is proposing
The issue of open government and Freedom of Information (FOI) is again in the news, after the federal government proposed major reforms to the system. (more…)
-
The speech we are still waiting for Anthony Albanese to deliver
Last week, rallies were held under the banner of “March for Australia.” (more…)
-
New NAPLAN results demand better deal for public schools
The latest NAPLAN results reveal the size of the challenges facing Australia’s school system. (more…)
-
From public good to corporate enterprise: The financialisation of universities (Part I)
In recent months, Australian universities have faced increasing scrutiny over their role in the economy, particularly regarding their growing emphasis on financial sustainability. (more…)
-
The headlines Australians read – and what we’re told to feel
Most people don’t read past the headlines of news articles, either because they don’t have time or because the article itself is paywalled (for example, in Australia, News Corp and Nine websites). (more…)
-
China hysteria masks Australian insecurity
The recent China panic stories raging across the Murdoch media, the Nine newspapers, the ABC and even the usually steadier Guardian are remarkable. (more…)
-
The good, the bad and the stupid
When Sergio Leone made The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he showed how flawed characters chasing the same prize could blunder their way into folly and missed opportunities. (more…)
-
Greta Thunberg ‘disgusted’ by global silence on Gaza genocide
“I am ashamed as a human being,” said the Swedish human rights and climate activist. (more…)
-
Environment: Australian Government misleading people about our emissions reductions
Ignore the government rhetoric, Australia’s actual emissions are not falling. NSW Forestry Corporation facing 29 charges of illegal logging. Swift parrot habitat continues to be logged in three states. Trump swimming against the energy tide. (more…)
-
Health workers in the US are demanding the resignation of Robert Kennedy Jr
When I worked in the US, I visited the Centre for Disease Control on a number of occasions. The faculty members were extraordinarily competent and influential, because of the universal and deserved respect for the CDC. (more…)
-
When Australia defied US nuclear plans. Part 2: Sovereignty at stake
Declassified US. Pacific Command Histories, which provide much of what is now known about the Australian B-52 terrain avoidance and maritime surveillance missions, reveal that the Fraser Government was far from transparent with the public about the true stakes of the B-52 deployments to Australia – and perhaps not fully cognisant itself. (more…)
-
People dumping in the Pacific
Australian governments of all stripes have long maintained a commitment to secure borders and an orderly migration program. (more…)
-
Palestinian memory: Between ink and blood
Imagine if every pen in Gaza stopped moving, every victim’s voice faded into silence, and every image was erased from collective memory. (more…)
-
‘Let her voice echo’: Hind Rajab film receives record-breaking standing ovation at Venice Festival
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s harrowing drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab” left not a dry eye in the house on Wednesday night, earning over 20 minutes of standing ovation after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. (more…)
-
Southeast Asia pragmatic on China’s rise
In China this week, the former Australian foreign minister on the global power shifts changing the world, and regional responses. (more…)
-
What’s behind the rioting in Indonesia? And will the much-loathed political elite back down?
For many Indonesians, the violent riots currently wracking Jakarta and other cities across the archipelago are eerily reminiscent of the riots of 1998 that accompanied the fall of former dictator Soeharto and his New Order regime after three decades in power. (more…)
-
Kathleen Folbigg and the failures of the justice system
Two remarkable women, Kathleen Folbigg and Tracy Chapman were applauded in a room so crowded that only a little standing room was left at the back. (more…)
-
Speaking terrorism Part 2: Evading reality, atrocities and self-image
When the study of history, politics, and society is policed by regimes which limit, or even discourage, freedom of speech in general and academic freedom in particular — and the current wars in the Middle East, which attract criticisms of Zionism and the policies of Israel, are a few cases in point — the preconditions for quietism and scholasticide – are established. (more…)
-
Australian writers shocked and ‘disgusted’ by closure of 85-year-old literary journal Meanjin
After 85 years of continuous publication, Meanjin, Australia’s second-oldest literary journal, is closing. (more…)
-
SSN AUKUS – Heading for a quagmire (Part II)
In the first part, I identified the factors mitigating against the sale of 3-5 Virginia class submarines to cover the gap until the arrival of the British designed SSN AUKUS. (more…)
-
When Australia defied US nuclear plans. Part 1: B-52s over Australia in the 1980s
It wasn’t always like this. For a brief moment Australia stood apart. (more…)
-
The real death toll in Gaza
The widely “accepted” figure for Palestinian deaths in Gaza is more than 63,000. That is horrific enough , but the number is more likely nearer 300,000. And our media don’t care. (more…)
-
Neo-Nazis and racist rallies: why it’s important the Australian media call them for what they are
If there was any doubt about neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell’s racist and anti-democratic attitudes, they were dispelled on the morning of 2 September when he gatecrashed a press conference by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes. (more…)
-
Miners want to go green, then we hear News Corp’s ‘China!’ scream
Another week, another national security threat, cooked freshly with local ingredients, News Corp’s signature technique, a lot of aged China-threat cliché, and a hint of unprofessional typo. (more…)
-
Speaking terrorism Part 1: The things we forget
Recent events in Australia and elsewhere have returned the word terrorism to prominence in the discourse of political violence. (more…)
-
‘Greatest corruption in presidential history’: Trump family reaps US$5b more in crypto profits
“Your family gets higher energy prices and cuts to healthcare. His family gets billions,” said Rep. Greg Casar. (more…)
