Long departed architects of media laws have left a lasting stain on the media landscape and the intellectual and cultural milieu of Australia. In Battlestar Galactica there is a memorable line that should be etched on the political tombstone of every Australian politician who has been responsible for the media portfolio. ‘All of this has Continue reading »
politics
Despite their occupation of our continent for over 60,000 years, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not recognised in the Constitution, the document on which our nation is founded. It is high time to repair our national record and complete our national story by providing that recognition. Enshrinement in the Constitution of an Continue reading »
Leaders of the AUKUS nations, all once pronouncing ambition on addressing the climate crisis and lording the mantle of global leadership, are now each in turn forgoing their international commitments, carving out excuses and worse. AUKUS, the recent defence agreement between Australia, the UK and the USA, is demonstrating a surprising quirk: joint-failure to lead Continue reading »
All of us here can probably agree that we are currently living in a time of greater strategic uncertainty and challenge than at any time since the end of World War II, and certainly since the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. China is seen as being at the epicentre of this. Continue reading »
It’s not the big, glaring, obvious lies that get you. The New York Times is the world’s most destructive propaganda outlet not because it publishes giant ham-fisted whoppers, but because it appears trustworthy. Its reporting looks authoritative. Children are taught in school that it’s what credible news media looks like. This lets the well-crafted propaganda Continue reading »
Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers who tried to cross the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023. Saudi officials are killing hundreds of women and children out of view of the rest of the world while they spend billions on sports-washing to try to improve Continue reading »
The Actuaries Institute of Australia has just confirmed what many Australian households already know – home insurance is increasingly unaffordable. It found average premiums climbed 28% in the year to March, while premiums for higher-risk properties, such as those in flood-prone areas, climbed 50%. The institute also found 12% of Australian households – 1.24 million – are Continue reading »
The Jewish University Experience Survey of the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) and the Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) was prepared by the Social Research Centre, owned by the Australian National University. The Survey has gained lurid headlines in local Jewish media, the ABC, and around the world. The Social Research Centre has a Continue reading »
At our present rate we won’t make our 2030 emissions reduction target; Opinion polls are still weak for the Coalition; and Ken Henry on our intergenerational obligations. Read on for the Weekly Roundup of links to articles, reports, podcasts and other media on current political and economic issues in public policy. Economics The Intergenerational report Continue reading »
The future is already upon us. The forty-year Intergenerational Report (IGR) is a divertissement. The population, participation, and productivity template of Treasury economists (3Ps framework) is inadequate and unsuited to the already changed world. As is the obsession with growth. How far out does it seem reasonable to project? In terms of climate, Australia is Continue reading »