In answer to Chas Freeman’s devastating question: “Does Israel deserve to exist?” 9 JUNE—Chas Freeman’s question has haunted me since he first articulated it three months ago in a conversation with Aaron Maté and Katie Halper on Useful Idiots podcast: Does Israel have a right to exist [is] a rather strange question because it does Continue reading »
politics
The Australian Republic Movement has been silent on the need for major constitution renewal. The reason for that no doubt is that it is considered to be too difficult given the many failed constitutional amendments. This article proceeds from the position that the many failures could well be a major cause to block the Republic Continue reading »
Noel Turnbull correctly writes that media coverage of the federal opposition’s nuclear power proposal is superficial. There is a very wide range of as yet unanswered issues. First, who will build and operate the proposed nuclear power stations. Many years ago, when the Commonwealth proposed establishment of a nuclear power station, it settled on Jervis Continue reading »
Why is opposition leader Peter Dutton campaigning on nuclear energy for Australia at this time? Michael Lester discuss with Professor Ian Lowe, Griffith University, with decades of experience in the nuclear industry and in academia, author of the benchmark book ‘long half life: the nuclear industry in Australia (Monash University Publishing). Lester and Lowe talk Continue reading »
What is it about the Australian Jewish community, Australian Jewish ‘faith’ schools and Israel? Israel is another country, with its own raison d’être, decidedly blood-soaked. The young Israel had been created out of settler colonialism and terrorism in a country with a majority indigenous non-Jewish population. Australian Jewish families are Australian with a long history. Continue reading »
The Communist Party of China has said the upcoming Third Plenary Session of its current 20th Central Committee will focus on “deepening comprehensive reform to advance Chinese modernisation.” Based on past practice and some recent public reports, Beijing is drafting its agenda now, but details are hard to come by. To piece together potential changes, Continue reading »
As the Ukrainian war appears to be nearing its conclusion, the question is what a peace could look like. 1.The Worsening Situation. The window to a compromise peace with Russia is fast closing. Western hardliners are urging Ukraine to expend its remaining military resources in the vain hope of stopping and reversing Russia’s most recent advances, Continue reading »
After meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last April, New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters, said that the two countries had pledged “to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests.” In recent moves exemplifying this support, New Zealand has deployed a targeting team to a United States-led Continue reading »
Since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office in 2022, Australia has returned to a more rational path of seeking pragmatic cooperation with China. Despite starting from a low base, the relationship between China and Australia has improved significantly, said Mark Beeson (Beeson), an adjunct professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney, in an Continue reading »
The Holocaust was racist genocide of an unprecedented scale of industrial organisation. The ensuing term Never Again applies to all humankind and resonates with Jewish conceptions of justice. This moral value is now in jeopardy, impacting on Australians of conscience. Changed the national conversation. Now a range of pundits have positioned themselves as experts by Continue reading »