It was OK with ASIO, the Defence Department, the Treasury Minister of the day (Scott Morrison) and it was definitely OK with the Northern Territory government to lease the Port of Darwin to a Chinese contractor. It was even OK with the Obama Administration who would have vetoed it for sure if they had a Continue reading »
politics
The RSL was once one of the most influential lobby groups in Australia. Today it is better known for the number of poker machines it operates. Back in the day, as they say, they were knocking on doors in Canberra where the people they met to lobby often had returned service badges in their lapels. Continue reading »
Commentary on the tenure of Secretaries of Commonwealth Government departments is becoming perilous territory as those wading into it continue to make basic errors of fact. Geoffrey Hawker is the latest to do so (“Tenure and its Troubles”, Pearls and Irritations, 17 September 2023). Let’s take four of Hawker’s statements. “The trajectory from Whitlam through Continue reading »
If stress has its own Richter scale, the people standing outside political offices of late seem to be under massive pressure. Vigils by stranded refugees have been ongoing for the past fortnight outside the Victorian electoral offices of Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. These events have been characterised by chants, music, heart signs Continue reading »
My mates and I, growing up in our happy, homogenous and very white suburbia in the 1960s and 70s, would probably not have met an indigenous Australian but for playing footy. Without our great game, we might, at least as kids and teenagers, have remained stuck in the fearful ignorance that was pretty common at Continue reading »
In the final of this three-part series, I explore why China’s emphasis on expanding land and naval forces suggests its focus is on defence of its borders and seaborne trade, not offence. In the first two articles of this series, I explored how US narratives on the ‘China threat’ have become entrenched in Western security Continue reading »
The lawyer behind Texas's bounty hunter abortion ban is retaliating against people who get abortions and those who help them.
The post Texas Anti-Abortion Crusader Demands Abortion Patient Information In Court appeared first on The Intercept.
Over 4.5 million people will not be submitting comments because they are dead.
The post George W. Bush Is Building a Memorial to the War on Terror. He Wants Your Feedback. appeared first on The Intercept.
One Mike Pezzullo a coup does not make. But a few such characters pose a serious question to the health and ticker of democracy. If Canberra’s most powerful bureaucrat can entertain thoughts about swimming deeply in a political process he should be viewing from the sidelines, then we are no longer dealing with appointees who Continue reading »
Besides settling and securing its borders, China has no claims on other nations. Countries with grandiose territorial ambitions make no secret of them. This second article in a three-part series explores why China is not planning to conquer and occupy any other nation. In the first article of this series, exploring how US narratives on Continue reading »