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Australians should be clear that the “Future Gas Strategy” released last week is not in the national interest. It represents the greatest capitulation of any Australian government to the demands of the fossil fuel industry. It is the latest form of climate denial which is happening globally as fossil fuel companies and state national energy Continue reading »
The way that the government has permitted the opposition and the Murdoch media (and even the ABC and Fairfax media) to push it around on issues such as climate and immigration policy raises the question: Does modern Labor have any moral bottom at all? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is an excellent negotiator. He won’t be Continue reading »
12½ years ago I wrote, in a column published in the Fairfax (now Nine) mastheads, that “the surest way to gain acceptance for policy proposals that former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry might have called ‘frankly, bad’ is to wrap them in a ‘security’ blanket”. That is, I went on, “if you want a government to Continue reading »
Labor’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has a strange attraction to muddying the political waters in areas that are going well, such as its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Serious gains are already occurring in the efficiency of battery storage of electricity from solar, wind and pumped hydro sources. Bigger gains seem likely as breakthroughs Continue reading »
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a chant being used frequently today in rallies around the country in support of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza. More relevantly, for the purposes of this paper, the chant is being used in university campuses, where protestors are active, to the point of Continue reading »
It’s time we reckoned with what it means to become a corporatocracy. Our governments exist to enact the desires of their corporate masters. Some of these politicians, like Madeleine King, appear to do so with alacrity, while others appear lost in the perceived demands of party and pressure groups. The end result will be an Continue reading »
This year our federal members of parliament will vote on a new National Schools Reform Agreement (NSRA). Before voting they might consider what happened to the schools they once attended. Their alma maters reveal what went wrong. Public interest in where MPs went to school isn’t new and often comes with judgments based on the Continue reading »
Last month Prime Minister Albanese cheerfully welcomed the Chinese government’s removal of import duties on Australian wine. Following numerous government-to-government talks held in Canberra and Beijing over recent months, it was seen as a positive step in a new era of Australia-China relations. For winemakers, it was merely a small win on the journey back Continue reading »
This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies’ staff were on the compound. While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas. The UNRWA headquarters has on its Continue reading »
Australia’s recent vote to increase the status of the State of Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly is as welcome as it is historic. The positive vote recognizes that Palestine is qualified to join and recommends to the U.N Security Council that it reconsider the matter favorably. Many human rights advocates were concerned that Continue reading »