The atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The ‘end’ of the Korean War. Two anniversaries that almost intersect. At the end of WWII, a new order was imposed on the world. Today, as those anniversaries are marked, there is little to celebrate. Seventy years ago, on the 25th July, the Korean War technically came to an end. Continue reading »
politics
Espionage, surveillance and monitoring in a society require guile, judiciousness, and care. Secrecy matters. Inserted agents assume roles for years as friends even as they are purloining your secrets. They are the charming thespians of treachery. Then come those who work in plain sight, drawing salaries from foreign powers, yet tolerated for the services they Continue reading »
What do the governments of other US allies, including Hungary, Norway, the Philippines, and the former puppet government of Afghanistan, possess that Australian governments do not? The answer is a conception of genuine sovereignty, and obligations to transparency that are foreign to Australian governments, particularly the incumbent Albanese government. In November 2011, Prime Minister Julia Continue reading »
From the FrameLab Newsletter: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis broke a major rule of authoritarian politics at the very moment he launched his 2024 presidential campaign. Now his campaign is going broke, stalling in the polls and laying off staff. His most enthusiastic supporters, like the Fox channel’s Rupert Murdoch, are abandoning him. The political press, having served […]
Since the Lowy Institute’s first Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities survey was published in 2021, Australia’s relations with China have undergone significant upheaval. The COVID-19 pandemic, the rupture in Australia–China relations, the election of a Labor government and the turbulence in both countries accompanying their re-openings after their COVID-19 lockdowns has placed Chinese Continue reading »
Two years ago a group of us gathered beneath the pandanus and fig trees in pouring rain near Main Beach, Byron Bay NSW. We had come together to commemorate Julian Assange’s 50th birthday. As we discussed the latest developments in Julian’s situation up to that point in time, we didn’t think we would have to Continue reading »
Some politicians have decided to do what is better for them and their re-election and position rather than what’s good for Australia. They think the smart thing to do is trash the whole idea of the Voice. Ego, power, position and privilege have nothing to do with the Voice. It has to do with Australian Continue reading »
Accountancies have bolted on non-accounting services in the same way pharmacists dispensers bolted on front-of-house sales of cosmetics and liquorice. Like tinkers of old they knocked on the doors of organisations: ‘Any jobs we can do for you?’ Craftsman: Definition. One proficient in a craft or trade. (One who knows how to fix their stuff Continue reading »
Peter Dutton incessantly declaims about the cost of living crisis, blaming the government. But what would he do instead? First, we need to remember that the Albanese Government inherited the cost of living crisis. Indeed, like Dutton does now, Labor similarly complained about the cost of living crisis when they were in Opposition. The difference Continue reading »
Any activity trying to create an inherent ‘goodness’ about engaging in warfare is in no way an admirable activity. Creating game-play interactives of real-life devastation of civilians that invite children to ‘compete’ is reprehensible. Doing so with no realistic acknowledgement of the human cost is utterly, deeply contemptible. Andrew Fraser’s very noteworthy article recently in Continue reading »