The excessive use of consultants and contract labour was one of the most damaging injuries sustained by the Australian Public Service in the 10 years or so before the 2022 election. It was self-inflicted, arranged by departmental secretaries, agency heads and the Public Service Commission with the tacit approval of Ministers. An excuse has been Continue reading »
Government
The US national security establishment has long-standing, pervasive and influential linkages with civil and military bureaucracies throughout the world who see their primary role not as serving their own governments but subordinating them to the interests of the United States. There is need for constant vigilance against this enemy within. It’s a familiar story, and Continue reading »
Demand is exploding for materials used in clean technology and IT. Amid worries that China dominates supply of many of these, Australia is developing a $4 billion program to expand their mining and processing. In Washington, our PM and the President announced a joint “Compact” on critical minerals. There are hazards here, including possibly tying Continue reading »
In January 2021, the Morrison government changed the way university fees are set with the Job-ready Graduates scheme. The idea was to steer students into courses that would lead to “the jobs of the future”. So the scheme made some fields (such as history and journalism) more expensive and some (such as nursing, teaching, computer programming and engineering) Continue reading »
No one who cares about basic human rights, or a sense of honour and of honouring, should be remotely intimidated by the sickening “success” of Dutton’s typically self-serving, cruel and mendacious campaign. The Voice did not fail. Australians failed the Voice. It’s exactly a month since the much-anticipated referendum was held to recognise First Nations Continue reading »
In Australia, whistleblowers are feebly protected. They tend to muddy the narrative of perfect institutions, spoil the fun of having illusions, and give the game away. Despite recent amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth) regarding, for instance, the creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, public sector employees remain vulnerable to prosecution. The Continue reading »
Commercial lobbying is a multibillion dollar industry in Australia. A code of conduct which allows our Defence Minister to discuss defence business with a global contracting firm in cabinet, then take a job with that firm nine days after leaving politics, is a code which is corrosive of public trust in democracy. Edited transcript of Continue reading »
It is, alas, far too early to proclaim the end of Australia’s barbarous and inhumane refugee management system. But a series of recent High Court decisions cutting back, on constitutional grounds, the arbitrary powers of immigration ministers and bureaucrats may well be later seen as the moment that the tide turned on a nightmare that Continue reading »
The recent treaty with Tuvalu opens the way for a more generous treatment of Pacific people. In an interview on Insiders (12/11/23) Foreign Minister, Penny Wong was absolutely right when she said that the recent treaty between Australia and Tuvalu is the most important Pacific decision our nation has made since the independence of Papua-New Continue reading »
It was only in March this year that The Sydney Morning Herald claimed in a series called Red Alert that Australia “faces the real prospect of war with China within three years that could involve a direct attack on our mainland”. There were no grounds to believe this then and even fewer after Anthony Albanese’s Continue reading »