Archives: Letters to the Editor

So many risks with AUKUS:

The Australian public has been given no proper explanation of the strategic rationale behind the AUKUS deal. There is the enormous financial cost, the great uncertainty of its success, and the fact that it will distract and divert money from us adequately addressing global heating.

The agreement ties us to a country that is becoming divided, dysfunctional and politically unstable.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has repeatedly used the word “seamless” to describe the degree of closeness required in our relationship with the US for the AUKUS deal to be successful.

I fear that Marles, without fully realising it, is well on the way to achieving a “seamless” transfer of Australian sovereignty to an unstable United States.

It is not impossible that the deal will be trumped.

Ian Bayly, Upwey

While in agreement with the substance of Allan Patience’s powerful denunciation of the morality – or lack thereof – in the No case against the Voice, his final argument is unconvincing. Patience makes a forceful statement of the moral imperatives propelling the Yes case – indigenous marginalisation, the frontier wars history, the stolen generations, and the still-unclosed Gap in life outcomes for our First Nations’ peoples. Responsibility for these lies squarely in the hands of our colonial forbears and ourselves. The No argument, led by Peter Dutton, has sought, as Patience explains, to undermine the referendum for the short-term political interests of the Liberal Party, not for concern for the health of our society.
Patience’s claim, however, that ‘most Australian citizens are white supremacists’, does not ring true. Modern Australians come from many backgrounds and cultures. We may have a significant minority with strong racist opinions, but most people are not ‘white supremacists’; they simply get little or no exposure to First Nations’ peoples or culture. They’re not that interested in a group in our society with whom they have little or no involvement, and the lacklustre Yes case is yet to inspire them to support the referendum.

Pearls and Irritations articles are a standout and bring uniquely unparalleled journalistic information to the public domain. P&I has contributed immensely to presenting independent and honest journalism otherwise dominated by some malign MSM. May I wish P&I great success in bringing educative and pragmatic insight and knowledge to the mainstream population. (more…)

P&I deservedly prides itself on publishing diverse, non-mainstream viewpoints while encouraging civil debate. However, I found Jon Richardson’s article “A twentieth century Terra Nullius: Crimea, Canards and Confabulations” quite disturbing to read. In his apparent zeal to demonstrate that Russia does not have a valid claim over Crimea, Richardson refers to “mythical Nazis in Kyiv”. His denial of the existence of this detestable ideology in Ukraine appears to extend to his previous contribution.

It has been established beyond reasonable doubt that Nazis not only exist in Ukraine, but have amassed a great deal of power in Kiev/Kyiv. Even the mainstream media widely acknowledged this prior to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine’s frozen civil war in February 2022. One might attempt to counter this with the assertion that Nazis only had a relatively small representation in Ukrainian politics and that President Zelensky has Jewish ancestry. This view ignores the fact that Nazis have historically exercised outsized influence through the use of intimidation tactics and political violence.

In light of this, I urge readers to examine Mr. Richardson’s narrative with a critical eye.

He is quite right saying Wen Wei Po is not an anti-Beijing newspaper. So I too was most surprised to discover it was the source of the phoney New York Times June 12 article about machine guns in Tiananmen Square mowing down protestors.

The only explanation I can find for this egregious aberration says that at the time the energy of the protestors had triggered even strong pro-Beijing elements to go honest and admit previous regime mistakes (like the Cultural Revolution) had discredited the government to the point where they too were allowed to hope something better would emerge from the protests.

So for a brief moment even pro-Beijing sources like Wen Wei Po had been willing to go along with anti-regime propaganda. But they quickly changed their minds when they discovered how anti-regime elements with help from dubious US sources had used the protests to incite extreme violence against the unarmed soldiers originally sent in to pacify the protestors.

Check Wikipedia for full details about the strange events surrounding Wen Wei Po’s editorial stance during the Tiananmen protests.

Gregory Clark, Tokyo

We all need to become planetary citizens. (more…)

I, of course, endorse Jafar Ramini’s thoughtful article written with great sorrow and passion. Occupied Palestine is, of course, the 51st state of America with all the support and benefits available to other US states, So we will not get any positive reaction to the mayhem currently facing the israeli government: it is a great pity though that this supposedly liberated and free thinking Government in Australia continues to support and recognise the rogue state called israel and refusing to honour an election promise to recognise the State of Palestine. We, like America, pander to the Jewish lobby in our respective countries and I ask why are we so gormless?

In the late 1970s I was unwittingly involved in the wrongful conviction of Charles Splatt for a murder in Port Adelaide. I was a public servant and a police sergeant asked me for advice about a crucial forensic matter of which I had some knowledge, but not much. With great reluctance I provided the sergeant with a formula that appeared applicable, but told him that I would not use the formula myself, and if called I would tell the court I was not an expert in the matter.
It turned out that Mr Splatt’s subsequent conviction hinged in part on the sergeant’s incorrect use of the formula. He had apparently told the court that he had checked his calculation with “an expert in the Health Commission, who agreed with me” – meaning me. I only found that out several years later when interviewed for the Royal Commission that recommended the conviction be quashed. Mr Splatt was released and paid compensation and the police sergeant’s career was ended.

My experience leads me to agree strongly with the authors about this matter.

It is not just wrongful decisions by DHS and DSS which have had a major impact on people’s lives, but also cruelly poor administration by what is now Home Affairs. (more…)

If war in the Ukraine has taught us something it is that drones, missiles and intelligence are the future weapons of choice.

Submarines, whether conventional or nuclear powered are not in the mix and thinking we might rely on six submarines or Abrams tanks, for that matter, to defend Australia is risable.

The nuclear option is surely untenable, surely.

That leaves us with drones and missiles based in Australia controlled from Australia as our best hope of surviving.

But best we use discussion to bargain our way out of war.

In his article Mr Austen, makes no reference to where responsibility falls. It is the Minns Labour government who won the May Election? or is it the fault / failure of the former LNP government? I would suggest that it is the former LNP government, who under Gladys B. wrecked the Sydney suburban rail system by wholesale changes to time-tables. The Bankstown / Liverpool/Campbelltown line. Express services on the Bankstown line were significantly reduced. Trains no longer used the Bankstown line to Liverpool and Campbelltown. The LNP governments unsuitable ordering trains from Spain – and more!!

Catholics are missing the point when talking about the failure of the Catholic Church. If it has failed and is irrelevant – get rid of it. (more…)

Chris Bonnor argues that ‘It is always important that public debate on schools reflect what we know rather than what we’d like to believe.’

It’s a great shame that Bonnor undermined his otherwise excellent article by the use of an example which was not relevant to his thesis.

As a former school executive, I have no doubt that Ross Fox gilds the lily when claiming credit for improvements in educational outcomes in Canberra-Goulburn Catholic systemic schools result from the Catalyst program, and exaggerates the contribution of systemic schools in providing for students with behavioural and educational difficulties, perhaps to distract from his neglect of teacher pay and conditions.

But to use a comparison between Marist College and Melrose High as an example of the disparity between systems is just silly: Marist is not a system school under the control of Fox (it is one of the Territory’s wealthier independent schools), and Melrose High lies in an area of great socio-economic advantage.

A better comparison for Bonnor’s argument might have been to use schools in Tuggeranong Valley, and ensure that one was comparing apples with apples.

The situation between school sectors is not satisfactory, but this article just muddies the waters.

Inventor and climate activist, Saul Griffith, in his recent Quarterly Essay “The Wires that Bind”, describing the urgency of essential action, wrote: “Real climate action in Australia and globally, must happen at the level where citizens interact with their local infrastructure and invest in their homes, businesses and communities. We need a new social contract such that every Australian can join the game.”

Cribb’s 2023 book “How to Fix a Broken Planet” brings together in a short and highly readable volume, his conclusions about the survivability of the human species. It offers the reader a sensible and practical path to rescue us from early extinction, and offers detailed actions for individuals, community groups and governments.

An important proposal about the development of an “Earth System Treaty” that began with Cribb, has been offered to The Australian Prime Minister’s Department for consideration.

Griffith is focussed on what we can and must do about carbon emissions through widespread electrification and the opportunities which Australia has, to be a world leader in this endeavour. His 2022 book “The Big Switch” and 2023 Essay outline the exciting benefits that can flow to all Australians from a systematic approach to this challenge.

How can political leaders everywhere continue to pretend that we humans are not in crisis? And how can they ignore the enormous benefits that will flow to every Australian If we act speedily on the huge challenges and opportunities that lie ahead?

Having carefully read these products of both authors I’m satisfied that both of them have vital messages for our leaders, that must be heard and acted upon.

Em Prof Bob Douglas AO is a retired public health academic and a Director of the Think Tank for The Public Good, Australia21

Recently Professor Cribb asserted that “nobody has a Plan for Human Survival.”

This is not a true statement. PLAN E, introduced in this journal last year, is a concept for an emergency response to the hyperthreat of climate and ecological crisis. Professor Cribb has previously argued that PLAN E does not address his list of 10 mega threats. In fact, PLAN E does account for these and more.

The hyperthreat encapsulates all forms of climate and environmental problems (threats 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 on his list).

The overall ‘Grand Strategy’ takes an “entangled security” approach – it creates a high-level framework to concurrently address planetary, human, and state security dimensions. Thus, AI and nuclear threats, among others such as sexual violence and human trafficking are sub-sets of these larger three categories. Further, addressing specific threats relates to reducing drivers for conflict at their source and PLAN E focusses upon that aspect.

In his other article, ‘The Age of Women’, Professor Cribb writes that current perilous times requires women’s leadership. For women to have any such influence, the first step is to include and listen to their unique ideas and concepts.

Many thanks to Margaret Reynolds for such a forthright criticism of Australian subservience to the US in matters of foreign policy and defence. That the United States takes this subservience for granted and has the capacity to compel subservience if ever it was questioned has been made clear in the comments of an (unnamed) retired US Admiral to the editor of the Australia Pacific Defence Reporter, Kym Bergmann. Kym quotes the Admiral’s words in his most recent 20-minute podcast, which should be listened to in full. It is a chilling account of our subservience, and adds to the thrust of Margaret’s observations. It can be heard here.

Thank you, Jack Waterford, for publicising your contempt and rejection of the police and justice system in the ACT when it comes to protecting the privacy and dignity of women rape survivors.

Of course, it’s not just in the ACT that this happens but, in the male-dominated legal system generally. All the right words are used to suggest that everything is being done to help the victim but very little action is taken to prevent the perpetrator from verbally violating his victim over and over again in and outside of the court. In this, he uses his legal accomplices ruthlessly and without remorse.

When I studied law, the case that stood out for me was R v David Norman Johns (1993) where Justice Bollen said, ‘a measure of rougher than usual handling’ is acceptable behaviour by a husband seeking consent to sexual intercourse from his wife. In that case the husband had raped his wife several times before she reported him to police.

Public outcry resounded against Bollen’s comments. Other such cases followed. Women are still being brutally violated and their lives destroyed by police and court officers making a killing.

Why?

But it is important to emphasise that China’s apparent lead is largely due to its very large population about four times that of the United States. GDP/capita is the measure that determines the stage of development. By this measure the World Bank (there are slight differences between institutions who measure this because of different methodologies) calculates China’s GDP/capita as $23,382, and the US as $80,035.  the United States is ranked No. 8 and China is ranked No. 73 (quoted in Wikipedia).

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (which is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing) would have us believe that China leads in a range of. technologies.  These may be the truth but not the whole truth.  They have been selective in their choice of indicators. Their apparent aim is to present to Australia that China is a threat.

More independent sources paint a different picture.  For example, Bloomberg Innovation Index which is probably the most comprehensive, ranks in seven different areas: Research and Development, Manufacturing, Hi-Tech companies, Education, Research Personnel and Patents.  The overall index places South Korea in the lead, the United States 5^th Australia 13^th and China 22^nd.

Similarly, the Global Innovation Index places Switzerland first overall, the United States second and China 11^th.

The two independent indices vary in their results as might be expected with different methodologies but one thing they have in common is that China is well down the list. This accords with China’s own assessment of its level of development.

The other relevant measure of course is defence spending.  The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates total defence spending. For the United States it is $877 billion or 2,579 per capita (Melvin A Goodman P&I 19^th June 2023 puts it even higher at 1,200 billion).  China’s spending is estimated at $292 billion or $208 per capita.  The conclusion is clear. China’s spending is only a third of the United States and on a per capita basis is more than an order of magnitude lower than the United States.

What are we to conclude from the above? My contention is that ASIO numbers are being selectively presented to make China appear as a threat to the United States.  Even if it were shown that China has hostile intent, and there is no evidence of this, the conclusion from independent analysis is that China is not a significant threat to the United States.

No country should feel threatened by another’s advancement. It is called competition.  Australia should acknowledge this new reality and benefit from it as it has done in the past, even if the United States is slow to do so.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gregory Clark’s article and would like to circulate it to my friends. Unfortunately, his assertion that “Wen Wei Po was a weak Hong Kong newspaper known at the time for extreme anti-Beijing positions”. Everyone in Hong Kong knows that, while it is not exactly a top selling daily, it’s always been a diehard pro-Beijing paper.

Like all newspapers at the time, without independent verification of the various stories bandied around, the Wen Wei Po just parroted the Tiananmen Massare stories. After all, there were a few fake eyewitness accounts doing the rounds at the time. The chief editor of the Wen Wei Po definitely believed in the fake stories at the time and he simply put a four-word Chinese proverb as its editorial which says: “Deplore greatly with a broken heart!”.

Kevin Rudd has tackled the issues well in his book The Avoidable War, while fully cognisant of defects on both sides of the US China divide. He proposes the need for agreed guardrails to minimise escalation of incidents, while accepting strategic competition. China talks of its redlines. We need Australian institutions which are involved in collective security discussions which include not just military but economic aspects and representation which includes China.
The democratic deficit is clearly on show, after the gross deception of the Australian public, by DFAT and Defence, in September 2021 after the Paris 2+2 meeting, a deception in which Labor was fully complicit. The deficit continues with the report of JCFADT on war powers reform, despite a large majority of submissions in favour of “before the event” reform.
We need to be careful in our selection of military contractors as one was recently alleged by former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich to be a contributor to Trumpista candidates, who if elected can influence the US electoral college.
So the election of a US government with Putinesque views on democracy in 2024 may be a wake-up call for our government, as pundit Bruce Wolpe is currently suggesting.

In answer to Alan Patience’s “Anticipating a Post-Capitalist World”, one of the obvious solutions is to do away with ‘workers’ and ‘bosses’ by forming as many work places as possible into cooperatives.
In this way workers become the owners and elect the ‘bosses’ thus forming a truly democratic workplace.
Corbyn was going to encourage that in the UK had he got in. It could only be sponsored from a labour-socialist party which unfortunately Australia has no longer got. Maybe the Greens will get powerful enough to subsidise/encourage a big push to cooperatives. Its one of the few hopes we have.