As the former managing director and editor in chief of The Age newspaper (and founder of the Australian Press Council), this is a hard piece to write. In my view the mainstream media – journalists and commentators – have failed this country during the debate on the Voice. I have needed time to consider this Continue reading »
politics
Following Hamas’s heinous attack on innocent Israeli civilians, senior Israeli military strategists are threatening the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. This would be another Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), akin to the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948. If Israel commits massive war crimes in Gaza in the face of global calls for restraint, Continue reading »
Six years ago New Zealand’s Sixth Labour Government aimed to make New Zealand a better place in which to live. Its first term of three years was almost a dream run. It didn’t last. Disruption by outside influences including the COVID Pandemic and international inflation, and a disciplined election campaign by the political opposition combined Continue reading »
Australia’s biased friendship towards Israel undermines peace and forsakes justice for Palestinians, while serving neither Australian nor Israeli interests, writes Ben Saul. Former prime minister Gough Whitlam wrote in 1985 that while Australian governments always claimed to take a balanced approach to Israeli-Arab disputes before his own government was elected, “in practice they were thought Continue reading »
Progressives hope the resolution, which comes after Israel has killed nearly 3,000 Palestinians, will create an opening for other members to follow suit.
The post 13 House Democrats Call for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza appeared first on The Intercept.
The speech by former Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison in Taipei on Wednesday 11 October, 2023, was clearly designed to undermine the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Albanese to Beijing. It continued to drive forward the American objective of goading China into war over Taiwan. His assertion that “the status of Taiwan is deliberately ambiguous, Continue reading »
Israel has spoken of “erasing Gaza”. Don’t turn away. Stop. And think about what that might mean. It is important for us to see what is happening here. The wider context must be understood to enable decisions to be made that are correct. And so, the wider context. This current crisis did not start on Continue reading »
Mainstream Western coverage of the recent Hamas foray into Israel and its aftermath has been marked by sensationalism, lack of historical context, and superficial moralising. The decision of Hamas to attack Israeli towns and villages can be fairly described as ethically indefensible and strategically senseless. Resistance against oppression is a right and a duty. The Continue reading »
Can Australia reconcile the American and Chinese strands of its foreign policy? Soon the Prime Minister will be meeting the heads of government of the two contending great powers of the Asia-Pacific: China and the United States. What will the background be? Many years ago, when the Timor crisis was at its height, I felt Continue reading »
The Great Australian Silence Continues Continue reading »