The Government has foreshadowed that it will soon release its new migration strategy. Most of what has been leaked to date is sensible fine tuning of employer sponsored visas which will have little impact on net migration levels. But I fear the migration strategy will be largely silent on the big issue of net migration Continue reading »
Government
Journalists from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Sixty Minutes have at last exposed the efforts by Mike Pezzullo, Secretary of Home Affairs, to influence government in favour of conservative politicians and by insisting that press freedom be stifled. In addition to undermining Ministers and public servants, this powerful Secretary has for years displayed Continue reading »
When Anthony Albanese addressed his federal electoral council on July 6 he rebutted criticism of AUKUS by saying Labor governments always have to prove themselves on national security. This was an explanation for Labor acquiescing in the Scott Morrison plan in 2021. It was the justification for not reopening the issue eight months later when Continue reading »
Mike Pezzullo must be removed to restore integrity and protect our democracy. Recent revelations of highly inappropriate political behaviour and interventions by Mike Pezzullo, the Secretary of the powerful Home Affairs Department, have sent yet another shockwave through the Australian Public Service (APS). They are symptomatic of systemic issues plaguing the APS. And speaking from Continue reading »
2025 America won’t be like 1933 Germany and they won’t be wearing brownshirts. But the program of the reactionary forces in America is as radical as that of the interwar fascists. And they have a plan for taking over. The Weimar Republic provides an example of how quickly a determined, organised group can subvert and Continue reading »
The next few weeks could be Ukraine’s last chance to grasp the flower of safety from the nettle of war by negotiating a compromise peace with Russia that would safeguard its future statehood and sovereignty. The strategic failure of Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive signals it is locked into a losing war of attrition with Russia that Continue reading »
One question relating to the upcoming referendum on ‘The Voice’ that has recently come to prominence concerns the question of sovereignty. Who or what is ‘sovereign’ as the term is applied to the governance of Australia? Is there any such thing as Indigenous sovereignty? Might it be said that in Australia sovereignty is or could Continue reading »
Will the Mike Pezzullo case be a line in the sand? The case of the Head of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo, now stood down on full pay, is an extreme manifestation of the fact that in our democracy, too often public servants flout what the High Court said in 2019 is essential: Continue reading »
The Australian Government has a big problem with its security narrative. Preparing for a putative war with China is the nation’s top security priority, while the government’s knowledge of the growing existential threat of climate disruption and their security consequences remains a closely-guarded secret. It is embarrassing for the government that it will not share Continue reading »
During Australia’s Covid-19 pandemic response, some companies received billions in contracts made without tender, sometimes by ministerial intervention. It would be too much, of course, to hope that anything the inquiry into the pandemic response does to address this issue will be taken up with any enthusiasm by the Albanese government. It seems to have Continue reading »