The Australian media’s favourite politician, Peter Dutton, has demanded that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese call an election so that he (Dutton) can use the current welfare budget to invest in a hot stock tip. ”The sooner that Albo calls the... Read More ›
politics
When power oppresses, civil society must hold it to account. Like media and the arts, university campuses in Australia have become sites of censorship and suppression of free speech on the question of Palestine. In fact, the level of repression faced by pro-Palestine staff and students, and the stifling atmosphere, have led to the establishment Continue reading »
The melodramatic media story about the small Chinese naval flotilla exercising with “live” ammunition off the Australian and New Zealand coasts has run solid for more than a week. I’m beginning to suspect the Chinese military may have a sense of humour. Here the political snafu, led by the ABC, has been fixated by the Continue reading »
Politicians, media commentators and academics routinely assert that Australia is a middle power. They assume that while their country is not a great power, it has a loftier status than smaller states around the globe, enabling it to “speak louder than the latter and to exert some influence on the former”, as John Campbell once Continue reading »
Daniel Levy, president of the US/Middle East Project, addressed the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. A video of the session from UN TV can be can viewed below. Daniel’s statement is from minute 22.00 to minute 34.40. Text of statement Thank you to the Council and Continue reading »
In 2023 Kathleen Folbigg was pardoned and released after 20 years of wrongful imprisonment; soon after, her convictions were quashed by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal. There remain two further actions before this sorry saga can be declared closed: (a) the awarding of proper compensation and (b) a full inquiry, best done by a Continue reading »
For a self-promoted tough guy — particularly if it involves refugee women and children — Peter Dutton’s career has been marked by many instances of being missing in action. Abul Rizvi (P&I 6/2/20) wrote that: “For years now Peter Dutton has boasted of his border protection achievements. But a brief examination of the detail of Continue reading »
The 2025 school year is under way, and every young Australian is sharing the experience of renewing friendships and the routines of school and learning. But, these days, students are far less likely to be sharing the same type of school, as we are increasingly herding students into schools which have less in common than Continue reading »
The English often sing There’s Always Been an England. For America the song would probably be something along the lines of there will always be an enemy. In the case of the US, it would be a combination of enemies — real and imagined — from both outside and inside the country. First Nations people, Continue reading »
I don’t know if you noticed, but the federal election campaign began on Sunday. The date of the election has yet to be announced – it may be mid-April or mid-May – but hostilities have begun. And they began with an issue that’s been big in election campaigns for 50 years: Medicare. On Sunday, Anthony Continue reading »