The Jewish Council of Australia has said it opposes many of the recommendations made by a Parliamentary panel into antisemitism released on Wednesday. It said it was strongly opposed to universities being asked to adopt a definition of antisemitism based on the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Association Working Definition of Antisemitism. The Parliamentary joint panel Continue reading »
politics
Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has publicly claimed eight times that the Catholic Church practises “zero tolerance” towards child sexual abuse by clergy. At worst, this is simply untrue, and at best, like Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland, he makes the expression mean whatever he wants it to mean. The term “zero Continue reading »
In assessing which Trump appointment is more dangerous, Russell Vought freshly confirmed to helm the Office of Management and Budget is a contender for the worst. Vought wrote one of the chapters from Project 2025 (an “authoritarian incubator”), but his other revelations expand on the threat. As director of the OMB, Vought has “total control Continue reading »
The low regard in which the Global West is held is intensifying. The second Trump administration is not the cause of this. It is simply accelerating this ominous process by openly embracing a lawless, imperial contempt for primary international and metropolitan governance rules, norms and conventions in response to the persistent retreat of American global Continue reading »
Never has there been a greater need for Australia to turn away from its military alliance with the United States and forge an independent and peaceful foreign policy. This would necessarily mean an alternative self-reliant defence policy and the forging of friendly and mutually beneficial relations with the fraternity of non-aligned/neutral nations. Even before the Continue reading »
The depth of Australia’s slide into an irrelevant and untrustworthy minnow on the global stage was demonstrated when distinguished UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese described the Australian prime minister’s refusal to criticise Donald Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a neo-colonial capitalist venture for the benefit of his family and friends, as “pathetic”. Her justifiable Continue reading »
The ABC’s Andrew Greene has found an Australian link to Chinese AI platform DeepSeek, a Chinese national who holds post-graduate degrees from Monash University and the University of Adelaide. No surprise, ASPI is lurking in the background of the sinister allegations against an Australian educated PhD, while that researcher, Dr. Zizheng Pan, is hiding in Continue reading »
Peter Dutton says he wants to increase government efficiency, but beyond wanting to cut public service numbers, he won’t tell us how until after the election. We all want government to be more efficient – to deliver higher quality government services and enforce well-designed and targeted regulations at the lowest cost. But mindless, ideological cutting Continue reading »
The Gaza ceasefire (if you can even call it that) is already in grave peril. Hamas has announced that it will be postponing the release of any more Israeli hostages in response to repeated ceasefire violations by Israel and consistent failure to meet its terms of the agreement. The IDF has been routinely killing Palestinians Continue reading »
Concerns across social media for Palestinian medical doctor Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, held captive by Israel. Australian media’s role in legitimising the Palestinian genocide and the war of words regarding safety/unsafety of students. Peter Dutton’s claims of the growth of the Canberra-based public servants not backed by data. Concerns for Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, detained Continue reading »