One of the many, many signs that Australia is nothing more than a US military and intelligence asset is the way its government has consistently refused to intervene to protect Australian citizen Julian Assange from political persecution at the hands of the US empire. In a new article titled “Penny Wong moves to dampen expectation Continue reading »
Government
For a public servant of my acquaintance, the new and emerging problem of public administration is dealing with what she called activists and advocates. Apparently, it was not a problem, or as much of a problem, before as it is now. Now it threatens good government. And she’s not talking about the unnatural influence on Continue reading »
At the last election, the Labor Party adopted a climate policy of “Swimming between the Flags”. This resulted in electoral success but it represented an unthinkable future for humanity. “Swimming between the flags” was Albanese’s policy of safety from attack by the Coalition government and their media supporters at the last election. Policy did just Continue reading »
Why is Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong vocal about Australian-Chinese journalist Cheng Lei, jailed in China, but silent on Australian journalist Julian Assange, jailed in the UK? Senator Wong tweeted on 31 March 2023, “It is one year since Australian citizen Cheng Lei faced a closed trial in Beijing on national security charges. She is Continue reading »
There are some important lessons for the Liberal Party to learn from their recent series of election losses. There is no necessary law of political gravity which means that a party which has entered a losing sequence needs or will continue to do so. But if you keep making the same mistakes it is most Continue reading »
The United States’ issue with TikTok is uncannily reflective of its ongoing problem with China. It grew too fast for their comfort, is too economically and technologically successful and so deeply enmeshed in their lives that they felt the impulse to disengage. It evokes the same suspicion that engaging with something Chinese in origin must Continue reading »
This front-page story in The Australian on the blow out in net migration has created a frenzy of finger pointing, most of it ill-informed. It is true net migration is currently running at levels Australia has never before experienced – we are in uncharted waters as net migration for the 12 months to end March Continue reading »
By some strange reasoning NATO, the US and the pundits seem to think the current war between Russia – Ukraine is a precursor to hostilities they expect to see between Taiwan and China. It is an unlikely scenario. Travel between Taiwan and China is frequent. Official Taiwan figures for people permitted to work in China Continue reading »
One of the world’s oldest unresolved international issues, Kashmir, has experienced many stark vicissitudes over time. In 2019, it made headlines due to India’s controversial revocation of Article 35A and 370, which essentially eliminated Kashmir’s special status and autonomy. This led to overarching vehemence amongst Kashmiris who protested in droves. To subdue them, thousands of Continue reading »
Britain’s Oxford Dictionary and America’s Webster’s have moved quickly to shut down further nominations for the 2023 “Word of the Year”. They’ve declared “aukustrate” the unbeatable winner. Unsurprisingly, Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary found no reason to disagree, and fell into line. The announcement followed the Global Public Relations Institute giving its Marx/Goebbels Award for the Propaganda Continue reading »