politics

Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:50
It is hard to gauge the importance of the Trumpist Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event that took place in Sydney this weekend. There were more high-profile figures speaking than previously, and several currently serving politicians alongside white supremacists and antisemites. CPAC’s budget did not allow the recreation of the Nazi “odal” rune stage shape Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:54
Australian governments are now amongst the biggest users of external consultants on the planet. Our country has seen the privatisation of core government tasks at an extraordinary level over the past decade along with an increase in spending on private service providers that is hard to believe. While decent public sector jobs have languished in Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:53
“Extensive media coverage has suggested… that Mr [Shaoquett] Moselmane was a suspect in serious criminality. This was incorrect. … The committee does not form a view on the propriety or otherwise of the conduct of the AFP or sections of the media. However, in these circumstances, the committee urges the AFP to ensure sufficient resources Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:55
In the early 1960s, the then USSR started building missile sites in Cuba, near enough to Florida for endurance swimmers. This almost led to the Cold War turning flaming hot. Now Australia is to buy more than 200 US missiles and stage them close to Indonesia. The Arafura Sea is too wide to swim, but the Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:56
Richard Marles said the quiet bit out loud ahead of the ALP conference AUKUS debate while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seems to have been, er, “economical with the truth”. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Defence Minister had been “urging colleagues to back the statement and prove to Australians that Labor is the better party Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:57
The morning of the ALP National Conference on 18 August, ABC online news led with two ‘Bad China’ stories. One about whether China is building an airstrip on a contested island, the other likely to cause great discomfort and anxiety to Australians because it showed the level of China’s spying on Australia via hundreds of Continue reading »
Created
Thu, 24/08/2023 - 04:58
The sexual connotation of support for AUKUS should be obvious. An apparent fascination with phallic symbols as large as nuclear submarines, plus language describing how to dominate and penetrate enemies shows notions of security which reflect a top down, masculine interpretation of power. The AUKUS fanning of an us and them idea of opposing forces, Continue reading »