The recent Beyond the Mainstream Media essay series spells out the urgency for Australia to come to grips with our deficit in China knowledge. China is not going to decline or disappear, and the frictions and problems that remain in our bilateral relationship impact all of us in many different ways. We must find ways Continue reading »
politics
October 7 did not occur in a vacuum. It was the result of decades long Israeli occupation, never ending violence and oppression of Palestinians. The pressure cooker exploded! A slightly updated post from December 19, 2023 Supporters of Zionism highlight the horrors of October 7 , ‘never again’ to divert attention from the continuing genocide Continue reading »
The – Australian Election Study (AES) – is the “leading study of political attitudes and behaviour in Australia” and has been running for 35 years. It provides a great time series for investigating electoral trends. The most recent analysis covers the period of the most recent federal election (May 2022). The data shows that Labor…
Bipartisan support for temporary extra government spending to preserve businesses and jobs through JobKeeper was one of the few positive outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognition that the long-term damage caused by short-term economic crises far exceeds the cost of temporary government spending to avoid it underpinned that consensus. It’s worth considering now whether the Continue reading »
After letting net migration blow out to around 518,000 in 2022-23, the Albanese Government has announced it wants to bring net migration down to 375,000 in 23-24 and 250,000 in 24-25 Home Affairs Minister O’Neil insists these are ‘estimates’ rather than ‘targets’ – presumably trying to avoid criticism of the blow out in net migration Continue reading »
Indonesians have just witnessed a messy, badly produced TV ‘debate’ between the politicians jostling to run the world’s fourth largest democracy facing a national election in less than two months. Just a few weeks ago it seemed Indonesian politics was edging towards modernity by recognising that half the voters are women with different values, needs Continue reading »
Trumpian populism has not yet taken hold here. Why? Perhaps because this country’s not quite as unequal as others. One good thing about taking a break from work is that it gives you time to let your mind wander from all the pressing concerns of our fast-moving world – the preoccupation with this ‘‘crisis’’ and Continue reading »
The latest Japanese political scandal involving at least four top government ministers and numerous junior officials is widely seen as a fatal blow to the prime minister Fumio Kishida already dogged by a weak image and record low popularity polls. It is worsened by LDP party’s seeming inability to decide on the economic policies needed Continue reading »
More than 100 health, legal, social, community services providers, advocates and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations have stepped up pressure on the nation’s Attorneys-General to raise the age of criminal responsibility nationally to at least 14 years old, with no exceptions. Their joint statement was released ahead of a meeting of the Continue reading »
For those who had hoped Australia might bring a more constructive approach to issues of peace and security, year’s end cannot come soon enough. 2023 has seen a succession of armed conflicts – from Ukraine to Nagorno-Karabakh, Sudan, Myanmar and Israel-Palestine – and countless humanitarian crises fuelled by civil war, insurgencies, and the ravages of Continue reading »