Rewarding incompetence – yet another scathing report about Dutton’s department
The 2014 National Commission of Audit decided there were “too many government bodies in Australia” and suggested abolishing, merging or privatising 99 of them. One […]
Politics
Dark Precedents: Matteo Salvini, the MV Tampa and Refugees
In August 2001, Australia’s dour Prime Minister John Howard demonstrated to the world what his country’s elite soldiers could do. Desperate, close to starvation and […]
Pushing Huawei Out: Australia, the Solomon Islands and the Internet
Be wary of the Chinese technological behemoth, goes the current cry from many circles in Australia’s parliament. Cybersecurity issues are at stake, and the eyes […]
The law should not be a plaything of the government
From the beginning, the Coalition government has shown an unhealthy disregard for the law, using it for political purposes when it suits them and ignoring […]
Meeting on the Island of Death From Behind: The Kim-Trump Summit
Everything about this summit is in the showy warm-up run. “I am on my way to Singapore,” tweets US President Donald J. Trump, “where we […]
We have forgotten what is important let alone how to fight for it
The trouble with neoliberalism is it focuses on the how and not on the why. The result of this headlong pursuit of continuous growth is […]
The Merchants of Venality
By Ad Astra Venality: the quality of being open to bribery or overly motivated by money. Wherever we look, venality flourishes. Attune yourself to it […]
With Abbott and Joyce gone we have an opportunity for a reset
For almost a decade, Tony Abbott and Barnaby Joyce have been hugely instrumental in the destruction of bipartisan support for action on climate change (and […]
The Ramsay Twist: Australian University Funding and Western Civilisation
There is a lot of tattle going on about why the Australian National University rebuffed, after a series of talks, the offer for the establishment […]
Nothing but blue ties from now on? Or academic and democratic freedom?
Blue ties Smiling at me Nothing but blue ties Do I see (With apologies to Irving Berlin) “Blue ties … nothing but blue ties” […]
Elite Atrocities: Australia’s Special Forces in Afghanistan
“Further into the Afghanistan mission, after multiple deployments, soldiers began to refer to members going ‘up the Congo’.” (Chris Masters, The Sydney Morning Herald, Jun […]
Two female NSW Ministers for Women oppose women’s health, safety and well-being
It says a great deal about our society and nothing much good, that women attending clinics and hospitals providing abortions are subject to harassment and […]
We are mired in the gutter of character assassination for political purposes
The Coalition’s political strategy has been, for some time now, to attack individuals in relentless smear campaigns. This does absolutely nothing to advance policy. It […]
Malcolm Turnbull and ‘the $100 Billion Porker’
By Michael Griffin One would expect that the Treasurer of a nation entrusted with the duty of protecting a nation’s accounts and economy would be […]
Truth or dare
I was talking with a couple of smokers the other day after a meeting and in the general conversation about life, the universe and everything, […]