Journalism and other writing
A paradoxical realignment is under way in Australian and US politics.
Until recently, the Republican Party in the US and the Liberal Party in Australia were the parties of business, entrepreneurs, the professions, and the relatively wealthy. And the Democrats and Labor were the parties of the worker. The Democrats and Labor were always wary of new technology because it invariably costs jobs.
Continue reading “The paradox of recent politics”
Expect the unexpected in Ukraine. Events on the ground and, more importantly, on and below the surface of the sea suggest as much.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then a comedian who played a fictional Ukrainian president in a TV series, unexpectedly ran in the 2019 election and unexpectedly won in a landslide against the political establishment.
Continue reading “Ukraine: expect the unexpected again”
“I can’t go to work to earn an income unless I pay for childcare.”
This was a woman taxpayer’s plea at an Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearing I was reporting on in the early 1980s. No, no, said the tribunal, that is a personal expense.
Forty years later, childcare is still not tax deductible.
Continue reading “Dine out on this pathetic tax policy”
The notion that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton cannot win this year’s election unless he moves more to the centre to recapture the seats lost last election to the teals, independents, and Greens is misguided because it defies electoral arithmetic.
In fact, Dutton’s divisive, polarising, attention-grabbing politics provides a more likely path to victory for him than moving to the centre. It is unfortunate, but true.
Continue reading “Numbers stack up for Dutton’s hard right push”
At the end of World War I, everyone thought it was the war to end all wars. Not so. Along came Hitler. At the end of World War II everyone thought hostilities would be over. Not so. Along came Stalin.
At the end of the Cold War everyone thought that the triumph of free-market capitalism and democracy meant the whole world would progress that way. Not so. Along came Putin and Trump.
Why didn’t free-market capitalism and democracy spread to the peoples of the world who were so obviously desirous of it? That is a good question to ask at the beginning of 2025 and at the beginning of the second Trump presidency.
Continue reading “Democracy, liberty and capitalism”
The 2024 award for the biggest disjoin between the importance of a story and the coverage it got must surely go to the science briefing on Antarctica and Sea-Level Rise published by the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership and the ARC Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science.
Continue reading “Scientists should break the ice”
Peter Costello, as Australian Treasurer, did a splendid thing when in 1998 he steered trough the Charter of Budget Honesty Act. The aim was to inform Parliament and the nation about the cost of policy proposals from politicians from left, right and centre and to produce reports which show how much various tax and spending policies cost the Budget each year.
Continue reading “Fix tax, fix society’s growing inequality”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s announcement on nuclear energy last week contained a welcome development. For the first time since about 1989, the Coalition has acknowledged that only governments can do some of the really big-ticket items.
Since about 1990, the Coalition has said, Private Sector Good, Public Sector Bad. But with the program to build seven nuclear power stations, the Coalition acknowledges that only the public sector can do it.
Continue reading “6m have solar and will vote”
A big key to what has been happening in Australian politics recently is respect.
The major parties have become so hopelessly beholden to corporate interests that they have to defend the indefensible.
Continue reading “Penalty for defending the indefensible”
As Bob Dylan sang: “The Germans now, too, have God on their side.” More obscurely, unionist activist Florence Reece wrote the song “Which Side Are You On?” – made less obscure by Pete Seeger.
Well, yes, the people and nations on each side change from time to time, but more pertinently this century the nature of the sides themselves has changed. No longer do we have left v right; labour v capitalists; communist v the west; US v China.
Continue reading “Unstoppable march of autocracy?”