The Trans-Tasman Spat Show: New Zealand-Australian Tensions
It was an awkward moment for Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop. News had arrived that a New Zealand government had been formed after a lengthy […]
Articles by Dr Binoy Kampmark
Australia’s Citizenship Bill Fails
This is a government that takes pride in its hard headedness and faux populism. Knowing it would have to brave a sceptical, even baffled Senate, […]
Climate Change Insurgent: Tony Abbott’s Crusade
He is the inimitable, true political ugliness, the bad boy with a mistimed punch. While not quite professorial in his lunacy (that honour will have […]
Big Batteries: Elon Musk and Powering South Australia
At the end of last month, Tesla boss Elon Musk held a party in South Australia’s mid-north. It seemed premature, but Musk was typically confident. […]
Protesting Against Adani: The National Day of Action
Melbourne. “Be careful, you might get run over.” So squawks an administrator from the local RMIT University as she dashes towards Princess Park, Melbourne. The […]
Nuclear Weapons, ICAN and the Nobel Prize
“There are no right hands for the wrong weapons.” (Beatrice Fihn, ICAN Executive Director, Oct 6, 2017). Few times in history show the remarkable gulf […]
The Face of Surveillance: Malcolm Turnbull’s Recognition Database
Never miss an opportunity in the security business. A massacre in Las Vegas has sent its tremors through the establishments, and made its way across […]
What’s in a Word? Terrorism in Las Vegas
“We don’t know what his belief system was at this time.” Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, Oct 2, 2017. Those gathered at the Route 91 […]
Macklemore and the NRL Grand Final: The Politics of Sports
One cultivated myth of human endeavour is the creaky and far from convincing idea that politics and sport are strangers, gazing indifferently from distant across […]
The Intolerance of Tolerance: Tony Abbott’s Head Butt Episode
“This was a violent and criminal act, nothing whatsoever to do with the point of view of those of us who favour a yes vote.” […]
Benjamin Netanyahu, Penguins and the United Nations
“That’s why Israel’s policy regarding the nuclear deal with Iran is very simple: Change it or cancel it. Fix it or nix it.” (Benjamin Netanyahu, […]
The Demise of Civic Journalism: The Xenophon-Turnbull Deal
It was never spectacular, but the Australian mediascape is set to become duller, more contained, and more controlled with changes to the Broadcasting Services Act. […]
The Genuine Article in Australian Politics
He was there with his entourage, a face unmoved bar the occasional muscle flex. “There’s Malcolm Turnbull!” exclaimed drinking companions at the Curtin on Melbourne’s […]
The CIA Wins: Harvard, Chelsea Manning and Visiting Fellowships
It all began with an announcement, made public on the website of the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics at Harvard University. Chelsea Manning would be […]
Energy Chaos in Australia: Closing the Liddell Power Station
Australia is having an energy crisis. A country with such abundant resources is incapable it seems, of handling matters of reliable supply, either in terms […]