Large-scale immigration programs have contributed substantially to Australia since 1947, bringing much needed skills and demand into the economy. They have also helped make Australia a more culturally sophisticated country. In the 1970s, the oppressive policies of assimilation and integration were replaced by the policy idea of multiculturalism. Today, Australian politicians boast that Australia is Continue reading »
Government
A few days after the Hamas breakout from Gaza last October 7, I raised the question of how far Israel might be permitted to advance along the road to moral turpitude. After almost a year now, there is no doubt that the answer is: a very long way indeed. With few exceptions Western countries, led Continue reading »
If the government and Opposition think they will not be held accountable, they should think again. The government and Opposition are disregarding the year-long protests of millions of Australians against Israel’s war on Palestinians and now the Lebanese people. Moreover, they are completely disregarding numerous petitions signed by thousands of Australians, including current and former Continue reading »
The context to my article below is today’s extreme media, and Dutton’s and the Albanese government’s hysteria regarding the appearance of the Hezbollah flag at this week’s protest against the Gazan genocide and bombing of Beirut in Melbourne. Unbelievable. The Albanese government is engaging in totalitarian newspeak and doubly so, has the hysterical Victorian Premier Continue reading »
The Australian Electoral Commission has announced proposed redistributions of the boundaries of federal election seats with NSW losing a seat (North Sydney), while Victoria and Western Australia each gained a seat with the average number in a NSW seat, increased from the current 118,000 to 121,000 and expected to grow to about 130,000 by 2028. Continue reading »
Peter Dutton’s campaign to make Palestinian refugees into figures of fear mirrors the provocations to the recent UK Islamophobic riots. These were inspired by politicians such as Nigel Farage as much as by far-right influencers. Both examples are connected to Donald Trump’s debate amplification of the far-right American lie that Haitian immigrants are eating the Continue reading »
Cameron Stewart recently attempted to vaunt the virtues, so to speak, of the AUKUS nuclear submarines via an article in The Australian newspaper. In part, it’s threaded together with tufts of intellectual fluff from Kim Beazley, his one-time offsider, Paul Dibb, Peter Dean from the United States Study Centre in Sydney, Mike Pezzullo formerly of Continue reading »
I’m guessing that anyone who reads Pearls and Irritations knows that Land Forces, Australia’s largest weapons expo, was held in Melbourne from 11 to 13 September in the face of strong opposition. Given the blanket coverage, it’s likely the great majority of those in the city also knew this was happening, as well as a Continue reading »
The changes to, and challenges confronting, representative government as we know it have been canvassed by a number of journalists, most recently Niki Savva in the Nine Entertainment newspapers. Like others, Savva correctly identifies the “drift” away from major parties and the “repudiation” of politics as we know it. But, like others, Savva gets it Continue reading »
A crisis in house prices and availability has been raging for years, particularly the dearth of low cost housing to rent, or buy. Is this housing crisis really a result of market forces, or is it created by previous government tax policies? [read more] Continue reading »