President Bush declared the War on Terror in 2001. Dr Alison Broinowski AM, Australians for War Power Reforms (AWPR), former diplomat and Author, argues that America and its Western Allies including Australia have been involved in multiple ‘never ending’ foreign wars with no declaration in sight of victory. US President George W. Bush declared the Continue reading »
Podcast
The Australian Electoral Commission has announced proposed redistributions of the boundaries of federal election seats with NSW losing a seat (North Sydney), while Victoria and Western Australia each gained a seat with the average number in a NSW seat, increased from the current 118,000 to 121,000 and expected to grow to about 130,000 by 2028. Continue reading »
The largely unrecognised risk to Australia that our powerful ally will strategically collapse through internal political stresses is greater than the much discussed threat of war with China. Allan Behm, Director, International & Security Affairs Program, The Australia Institute, in conversation with Michael Lester about his new book The Odd Couple: The Australia-America relationship (Upswell Continue reading »
Corporate culpability under law relies on a”Where’s Wally” logic to identify a natural person within a corporation to hold responsible for corporate wrongdoing but finding the “smoking gun” has proven elusive. Professor Elise Bant, Private Law and Commercial Regulation, University of Western Australia, Professorial Fellow, Law school, University of Melbourne, and author of the book Continue reading »
Australia is blanketed in a climate of secrecy with over 800 secrecy offences criminalised with jail terms and large fines under nearly 200 pieces of legislation. Peter Cronau, investigative journalist, former producer for ABC’s Four Corners, Gold Walkley winner, co-founder of the website Declassified Australia, independent publisher, discusses largely hidden stories that reveal the big Continue reading »
Restoring trust and integrity in the Australian Public Service requires tackling the corrosive effects of past politicisation (secretary contracts) and externalisation (professional consultants) that have undermined capacity and independence, as highlighted by the Royal Commission on Robodebt fiasco, and parliamentary committee revelations around the extensive engagement of major consulting firms. Former public service commissioner Andrew Continue reading »
John Menadue AO eminent former public servant, ambassador and businessman – now independent founder, publisher and Editor in Chief of the online public policy journal ‘Pearls and Irritations‘ – offers an in depth conversation about how Australian public policy is making us more vulnerable in dangerous geopolitical times, by compromising pursuit of our sovereign interests, Continue reading »
With no formal constitutional provisions or bill of rights the right to protest in Australia relies upon common law judicial interpretations, is heavily politicised and proscribed by governments in legislation, and relies for administration in a highly discretionary manner by police. In my in depth conversation with Anastasia Radiewska, protest rights campaigner, Australian Democracy Network. Continue reading »
The housing crisis will not be solved for those who are suffering the most by the mish mash of half hearted, small steps, and policy responses currently favoured by governments. They lack the courage to commit to direct government intervention on a sufficient scale in the failed housing market in the form of publicly funded, Continue reading »
The Australian government needs to stand up against growing global protectionism and make some hard budgetary choices between guns and butter, defence and welfare, and the need to reform taxes if it is to avoid taking on too much at once in a world economy characterised by uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, and in an Australian Continue reading »