Letters to the Editor
Where will the nuclear waste be stored?
September 19, 2024
There is rarely any mention that a (temporary) nuclear waste storage facility will be required in both WA and SA shipyards which are located close to well-populated areas. The people of SA and WA didn’t get to vote for that. Given the secrecy and imbalance surrounding the deal and the fact that the US and UK are having difficulty storing their own nuclear waste, how long will it be before a secret storage facility is built on one of the increasing number of US-owned bases in Australia? My guess is that it’s only a signature on the official...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: independence-too-big-a-price-for-aukus-fantasy/
Australian targets from AUKUS participation
September 19, 2024
In Gareth Evans' article, he posits: The conversion of Stirling into a major base for a US Indian Ocean fleet will mean Perth now joining Pine Gap and the North West Cape, and probably the B-52 base at Tindal, as a potential nuclear target. In the early-mid 1970s, I studied the strategic situation of potential nuclear conflict, with occasional guest tutorials given by Des Ball, an acknowledged world expert on the subject – his analysis is credited with the (nearly!) deceased POTUS Jimmy Carter as having prevented WWIII. At one stage, he asked the tutorial class: What is the...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale NSW
In response to: Independence too big a price for AUKUS fantasy
A climate tipping point is not a game on TV
September 19, 2024
The Earth has enjoyed 12,000 years of uniquely stable climate. It has arrived at this after aeons of instability; climate volatility is the norm. That exceptional stability has given us the ability to establish agriculture and civilisation. These are now, within the foreseeable future, coming under threat. By continuing to pump carbon into the atmosphere we are hastening Earth’s return to climate instability. The risks we face have been characterised as tipping points. As Peter Sainsbury observes, a tipping point occurs when natural processes begin to exacerbate problems previously caused by human activity. Once these natural processes start, they...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Environment: Earth system tipping points threaten our stable environment
The Russia-Ukraine war and NATO
September 18, 2024
Graeme Gill continues his diatribe against NATO. For him, NATO was the real villain behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He, and other P&I contributors, seem to have little regard for the Ukrainians killed and wounded in the Russian invasion. There is no mention of the true character and origins of Vladimir Putin’s autocratic, oligarchical crony regime. Jeffrey Sachs' role is shown in his early support for this regime as an adviser for Boris Yeltsin’s shock therapy on Russia’s post-Soviet peoples, evidenced in Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: Gorbachev's eclipse by Yeltsin, and the consequent history is a story...
Andrew Mack from SURRY HILLS
In response to: The Russia-Ukraine war and NATOBy Graeme GillSep 18, 2024
Pacta sunt servanda
September 18, 2024
Yes, well said former minister for foreign affairs. However the mention of ANZUS does raise an historical question. Since when has NZ been put back into that post-WWII agreement? If they are back, why haven't we been told? It was the ridiculous cooperative action of the Australian and US Governments to kick New Zealand out of ANZUS on the spurious flapdoodle that David Lange's Government had violated the agreement. No, and in fact New Zealand's ban of nuclear ship in response to the clear wish of the New Zealand electorate, actually anticipated the end of the Cold War. It'd...
Bruce Wearne from BALLARAT CENTRAL
In response to: Independence too big a price for AUKUS fantasy
The risks of nuclear power
September 17, 2024
Michael Edesess questions the “mistaken conventional wisdom about nuclear energy”, arguing that nuclear is pretty safe. In 2021, Thomas Wellock, historian of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, produced Safe Enough? A History of Nuclear Power and Accident Risk, the sixth in a series of authorised volumes. The historian/journalist Daniel Ford, reviewing Wellock’s work, writes: “In 1982, I wrote… about the risk of another major accident following the one at Three Mile Island… The numbers suggested that another major nuclear accident would come due in about three years. The Chernobyl disaster occurred roughly on schedule, four years later, in 1986....
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: The mistaken conventional wisdom about nuclear energy
A debate that could really matter
September 16, 2024
Imagine juxtaposing two of the five items in this week’s scroll. I suppose in the current circumstances it would be political death for Kamala Harris to do anything but strongly back Israel. Still just imagine if someone in the world’s press could bring about a face-to-face discussion between Kamala and the young woman in another of the five videos, Razan Ahmad AlRifi from El Tuffah in northeast Gaza. She has just lost her sister, nephew and brother to US-Israeli bombing policy. What would Kamala say to her? .
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: A five-minute scroll - Pearls and Irritations
Putin's real intentions
September 16, 2024
Percy Allan, like all commentators, has read Vladimir's Putin’s intentions in Ukraine wrong. NATO’s eastward expansion was a useful pretext because it draws attention to American lies about NATO expansion. But, given the expansion already undertaken — eg Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — that buffer had already been lost. Putin’s nostalgic musing about Russia’s former glory fed into the deception that he wants Ukraine. America’s coup and breaches of the Minsk agreements, causing the deaths of around 14,000 in ethnically Russian eastern Ukraine, adds to the pretext for war. At the start of the conflict, Russia made a...
Warren Kennedy from Mullumbimby, NSW
In response to: Are America’s right and left converging on foreign policy?
All things being equal when you add profit
September 16, 2024
How to define equal should be the role of an elected government and it should change with public circumstances. At present, we don’t live in a democracy, we live in a capitalist society because the link between private and public is too blurred. Consider the results of privatisation of our state-owned banks. Consider the topics of today (interest rates, public housing, bank closure, housing affordability etc). With a state-owned bank in the market place as a defacto regulator of credit card interest rates, housing loans and bank closures etc with public good as its mandate, the other banks would...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: population-growth-capitalism-the-environment-and-context
US foreign policy
September 12, 2024
It is well worth reiterating the comments from Al Haig, a former American Secretary of State, during the US acquisition of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago: You just give me the word and I'll turn that fucking little island into a parking lot. More recently, the late British playwright, Harold Pinter best described US foreign policy as Kiss my arse or I'll kick your head in.
Bernard Corden from Spring Hill Brisbane
In response to: Nelson Mandela warned us that ‘the US has committed unspeakable atrocities in th
Subscribing to the absurd
September 12, 2024
The natural end point of those who accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism is believing that Israel is beyond criticism. Yet that is absurd. No nation on earth is perfect, all could, and should, do better. But Julian Leeser MP, in proposing his Private Member’s Bill to establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities, clearly subscribes to that absurdity. He fails to distinguish between antisemitism and criticism of Israeli genocide. Perhaps he is incapable of making that distinction. Many are ... because of the IHRA's nonsensical definition. What Leeser and those who think like him, both Jewish...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn
In response to: Sanctioning universities for failing to address antisemitism
The truth at last about the record of the US
September 10, 2024
I have always remained an admirer of John's willingness to speak truth to power. This article confirms my belief.
Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Nelson Mandela warned us that ‘the US has committed unspeakable atrocities in th
Rebranding logging undermines true custodianship
September 10, 2024
Thank you for highlighting yet another attempt to undermine the true custodianship of our lands and waterways. It is deeply disappointing that industrial logging continues under the guise of “forest gardening,” despite the Victorian Government’s claims that it has ended. These logging operations, even when rebranded, continue to damage forests, destroy habitats, and contribute to climate risks. Such practices only undermine efforts to restore the natural environment. True restoration can only be achieved by empowering First Nations peoples to lead through their Traditional Knowledge. They have sustainably managed these lands for millennia, and it is time to let...
julia Paxino from BEAUMARIS, VICTORIA
In response to: Logging by another name – ‘Forest Gardening’
Climate science education can inform us all
September 9, 2024
Australia's federal election is within the next eight months and voters should understand the major issues including the climate emergency. Climate advocate Ken Russell is concerned that the main problem is lack of knowledge in the community about the climate problem. So Russell urges creation of an expert group to drive the communications campaign. In view of the popularity of Peter Dutton's nuclear idea, it does seem that we need to educate the public and also MPs about the science. Fortunately, our nation has at least four climate experts who would qualify for such a group: Tim Flannery...
Barbara Fraser from Burwood, Vic
In response to: Scientists must participate in the climate debate
Albanese's old boys club needs a Kamala injection
September 9, 2024
Anthony Albanese’s focus seems to be less on delivering societal reforms in the spirit of the Labor movement than in working to keep government in the hands of Labor and the Coalition, and minimise the influence of Independents and the Greens. In the name of bipartisan agreement he is creating a political “old boys’ club”, negotiating legislation in agreement with the Coalition – the secretive NACC, modified Stage 3 tax cuts, AUKUS. Albanese’s justification may be that he wants his legislation to endure, but kow-towing to the Coalition now provides no guarantee of this. It looks more likely that...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills
In response to: A minority Labor Government is likely after the next election
Mike Lyons' article of 6 September on China
September 6, 2024
Perhaps more pieces like the Mike Lyons P&I one of 6 September, as powerfully informed and as unapologetically free of the genetics of American-led political and evangelical bias as it is, could help us break through the dominant news-for-profit Western media. Access to a less cowardly political platform in Australia would help, but ....
howard debenham from Maroochydore
In response to: From Deng to Xi, the China miracle
Garland lengthens the road to peace in Palestine
September 6, 2024
I commend Mahir Ali for reminding us of the historic context of the present war in Palestine. However, US Attorney-General Merrick Garland does absolutely nothing to advance the cause of a peace agreement by now lodging an extra-territorial charge against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: The Gaza conflict: nothing comes out of the blue
Lacking the ability to think
September 4, 2024
Be it propaganda, capitalism, politics, social media, media in general, advertising or religion, the issue is not what we are being told, but our ability to think logically. If we take the time to think logically, the above have minimal influence on the way we behave or what we believe. Take you pick: it’s your local politician spouting forth the party line on climate change, war, China, renewable energy or EVs. Or it could be the politicians who run the US, the man out the front at your chosen religion or the games that your local supermarket and their...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: censorship-on-media-bias-and-the-war-in-ukra
What market forces are driving the war against EVs?
September 4, 2024
The war on EVs is driven by the fossil fuel industry which includes car manufacturers. On every level, if you consider the complexity of manufacturing an electric motor and variable speed drive to a piston engine and gear box, the electrical components are far less complex. They take up far less space, have by far less moving parts and are far more efficient, both in manufacturing and operation. Yet because the benchmark price is set by the traditional car manufacturers, the cost of EVs are similar to petrol, diesel and, in particular, hybrid vehicles. The tariffs will need to...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: burning-the-ev-bridges-with-china-is-risky/
China and Taiwan
September 3, 2024
Jerry Grey's article is excellent. I have just one addendum: It is recorded in Chiang Kai-shek's diaries that at the time of the Nixon negotiations, he indicated that he was open to a two-state solution for China, along the lines of North and South Korea. China, at that time, was much smaller than it is today, in economic terms. So yes, the decision to opt for a one-state solution was made in Washington, no doubt with input from boardrooms in the US from corporations eager to get their hands on the China market.
David Holm from Taipei
In response to: Rewriting history will not serve Australia well
Deaths in Gaza
September 3, 2024
The Australian Government, and the parliament as a whole, has failed to loudly and clearly condemn the “indiscriminate retaliatory behaviour of the Israel Defence Force”. It has also “failed to make any statement..about the deaths of 40,000 Palestinians”. A recent study reported in The Lancet did not arrive at a precise figure for Gaza, but estimates “around 186,000 deaths were attributable to Israeli actions since October 2023, and “most of these were not attributable to bombardment or execution”. The Lancet authors based their figures on indirect deaths observed in other conflict zones: “In recent conflicts, such indirect...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Albanese ignores humanitarian disaster in Gaza
Eckersley urges revolt against corporate power
September 3, 2024
Richard Eckersley accuses governments of shocking irrelevance in view of the cascading global challenges of climate extremes, especially rising heat, and huge consequences including crop failures and rising seas. After decades of worldwide procrastination, Eckersley now considers that humanity urgently needs an all-out revolt against the power of corporations, some of whom should be charged legally with crimes against humanity. Yes, corporations do need to become aware and socially responsible. Also, it is promising that soon the world has important UN and other international meetings; national elections such as ours; and ongoing efforts to stop wars and instead...
Barbara Fraser from Burwood, Vic
In response to: Fiddling while the world teeters on the brink
Peter Dutton and nuclear power
September 3, 2024
This letter is principally for Jim Coombs, author of the above article. Peter Dutton doesn't really want nuclear power for Australia. It's just another wedge for Anthony Albanese, like Scott Morrison's original AUKUS deal. Dutton wants to keep coal-fired power stations operating as long as possible, kowtowing to the coal industry and his Coalition climate change ignorants But he has to be seen to be on board with renewables and non-polluting electricity generation to win any support from the electorate. One of his advisers must have said, what about nuclear Dutto; ticks all your boxes; Albo couldn't be...
Keith Simpson from Canberra ACT
In response to: Dutton’s nuclear vision is distorted by ignorance (or worse)Gaza genocide protes
The sisterhood reads Pearls and Irritations
September 3, 2024
In my article published last week I referred to my tram-driver grandfather and my home duties grandmother, but instead P&I amended it to read my tram-driving grandfather and my grandmother who did not work. Nothing could be further from the truth. My second wave feminist friends and I were incensed and rightfully so. My grandmother did work, but not in the paid workforce; she, like her contemporaries, was described as Home Duties in the print and electronic media, on electoral rolls and other public documents. This is a lesson for young editors.
Jane Timbrell from Canberra ACT
In response to: Retirement villages: are they really a safe haven for retirees?By Jane Timbrel
Private hospital care
September 3, 2024
I read with interest Peter Breadon's recent article on private hospitals. He doesn't go nearly far enough – we need radical change and pronto! As a recently retired health professional who worked in both the public (mostly) and the private sector, I can suggest a solution to the problems associated with private hospital and health care – just get rid of it completely! Nationalise it – lock, stock and barrel. The private health insurance industry is a parasitic blight and private hospitals are no better. Government funding already massively subsidises these rorters. I have been paying huge premiums forever...
Royce BENNETT from Baxter, Victoria
In response to: End the private hospital blame game by exposing the cost of careBy Peter Bread
Omar Khayyam’s guide to the climate crisis
September 2, 2024
“Lo, the moving finger writes and, having writ, moves on …”. The climatic warning signs grow ever more critical. Our politicians take some steps to address them, but always with an eye back to those whose interests that action might compromise. Fossil fuel industry lobbyists keep that retrospective eye focused on their industry’s interests. Our governments seem to succumb to this, or else, as Mark Beeson observes, “…they are incapable of grasping the immediacy of the problem or the scale of the necessary response needed to avoid catastrophe. This inadequacy of government response gives a Khayyamian inevitability to...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: There are alternatives to Anglo-American capitalism, however unlikely they may s
A chance for a new PMA
September 2, 2024
Madeleine King recently had a chance to retain for the people a fair share of our mineral wealth. (Path not taken: the Petroleum and Minerals Authority at fifty) The Australian Government could have partnered with Equinor, the 67% Norwegian Government-owned oil and gas company, to develop our potential Southern Ocean oil and gas fields. Instead, they have been auctioned off to private companies.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Path not taken: the Petroleum and Minerals Authority at fifty
Acclaimed journalist charged with ‘anti-semitism'
September 2, 2024
That is a good think. She and others who have these views are not above the law. Let's see what the Australian courts decide.
Mike Lyons from Sydney
In response to: Acclaimed journalist charged with ‘anti-semitism’
Lucky you didn't bet the farm on it, Malcolm
September 2, 2024
Malcolm Fraser stepped on a rainbow a while ago, but this reminder of his faith in the US' honesty with its allies is both quaint and germane to the whole AUKUS idiocy. At the AWM, I occasionally chatted with some of the chiefs of each branch of the ADF. During one such chat, a chief (who shall remain nameless) confided in me that shortly after being promoted to that position, he randomly, and without prior warning, would visit the various establishments under his command. On one visit to a base situated in the numerically lower latitudes of Australia,...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale NSW
In response to: ‘They will tell me.’ Malcolm Fraser’s Cold War nuclear heterodoxy
Flattening moral distinctions
September 2, 2024
The moral distinction between liberal democracies and dictatorships is being flattened by the carnage in Gaza. (Suhas Chakma) Apologies to the peoples of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya. You have to wait for Gaza for the moral distinction to be flattened.
MAX LE BLOND from BALGOWLAH HEIGHTS
In response to: How human rights are disappearing before our eyes
Grate unexpectations
August 27, 2024
Given this morning's (27 August) release of polling figures showing Albanese at -10% approval and extremely likely to plunge headlong far further, Jack Waterford's article is totally apposite. I will be concise. When we elected the Albanese Government, we did not expect Albanese to be another Gough Whitlam (for whom I voted). Gough had a statesman's vision. But we did not expect Albanese to have no breadth nor depth of vision beyond getting elected again. We did not expect Albanese, and much less Richard Marles, Pat Conroy and Matt Keogh to be defence strategy policy nerds, but...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale NSW
In response to: Labor on the AUKUS battleground
Attack dog Chalmers runs rings around Dutton
August 27, 2024
Jim Chalmers on ABC AM this (27 August) morning, sounding very prime ministerial, should at least take on the role as attack dog if Anthony Albanese is to remain prime minister for stability's sake.
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: Labor-on-the-aukus-battleground
Careful with That Axe Eugene
August 26, 2024
Borrowing the title of a Pink Floyd number, in whichever way you interpret the track, it may just about represent the predicament of how Australians and New Zealanders face in having to divorce from the West. We are, however, eastern countries and it's high time we faced that fact!
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: Exiting Pax Americana could save our bacon
The Americans now have the Country Liberal Party
August 26, 2024
The Americans will be happy that the Country Liberal Party has won in the NT. Very convenient if they wish to use their military base in Darwin to threaten China. The Americans cannot move more of their military out of the Middle East until they get the Saudis to sign a normalisation agreement with Israel and an AUKUS-type agreement with the US, something the Saudis seems to be resisting doing. Everyone is waiting to see the election results in the US in November, but I am sure that it will be a win for Kamala Harris and Tim...
Louise O'Brien from Wollstonecraft
In response to: Accusations of US regime-change operations in Pakistan and Bangladesh warrant UN
Mismanagement of Australia's monetary system
August 26, 2024
The Commonwealth Government should manage the complex levers of the economy, and can do so, given our laws. and the RBA currently does not suck money from the economy, nor pump it in directly. The Commonwealth, by law, could control the monetary levers just as it does control the fiscal levers; in the past this was done, but was abandoned decades ago. As the recent action by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia reducing mortgage rates for new borrowers shows very clearly, the RBA cash rate does not determine mortgage rates. Will that now cause our experts to...
John Kampert from Waikiki WA 6169
In response to: Managing the economy: sharpening a blunt instrument
ABC laying responsibility for any war on Iran
August 26, 2024
The ABC seems to be in full-on propaganda mode, following the Israeli 100-jet strike on southern Lebanon, saying that responsibility for any ensuing war rests with Iran. Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken, and Lloyd Austin are responsible for what happens to Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, and for the response that has happened there since October.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Middle East accountability
One way or the other, we're facing a reality check
August 23, 2024
Over the years since 1945 there has been a marked decline in religious belief in developed countries as our standards of living have risen. For many, now there is no need to wait for the next life to realise heavenly benefits; Heaven has arrived on Earth. Our planet is on the cusp of environmental collapse, as Ted Trainer observes, from our blind obsession with affluence and growth from over-consumption and over-production. We need major changes to global environmental management, and drastic lifestyle changes, to avoid the catastrophic crises foretold. The World Call to Action from the Club of...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: A critique of ‘a world call to action’ on the multiple crises now enfolding huma
The elephant in the room
August 23, 2024
Ted Trainer, in his critique of the report of the Roundtable on the Human Future's report, manages to overlook the mainspring of the human emergency: overpopulation. Global material consumption is currently about 110 billion tonnes/year, on track to reach 170 billion tonnes by 2050. This is 5 to 10 times what the Earth can sustain, long-term, as numerous scholars have pointed out. Even if everybody on Earth could be persuaded to halve their material consumption — a doubtful contention — civilisation would still be headed for collapse. While human numbers remain impossibly high, so too will over-production, over-consumption and...
Julian Cribb from Canberra, ACT
In response to: A critique of ‘a world call to action’
Just how badly can Australian politics be driven?
August 23, 2024
It is a sad indictment on the Liberal Party and Australian politics in general that this process should be driven by comments by Peter Dutton, a man whom one would not trust to drive a police paddy wagon on a dirt road.
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: dutton-gaza-and-why-we-need-an-emergency-protection-fram
National security?
August 22, 2024
Just how much is hidden behind “national security”? (The military Americanisation of Northern Australia) Very little actual information is released for the voters to make an informed decision on national security. We are pawns in expensive political gamesmanship. How many billions of dollars have been wasted on national security? Hardly a month goes by without talk of another failed defence contract which the voters have no say in because of national security. Even with the secrecy of national security and the poor quality of mainstream media, any thinking person must question the rationale behind AUKUS / U-SUKA (M Brune...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: The-military-americanisation-of-northern-australia/
The economy
August 22, 2024
Chris Mills’ take on the economy is comparable to most in that it tinkers at the edges of Australia’s economy. The COALition in its time in office took the economy from the gutter into the sewer. Labor has been doing its utmost to lower it even further. Ten years of abstemious economic activity on top of a dig-it-up-and-flog mentality have left Australia reeling, with all tax-paying Australians feeling the pinch. All social indicators are on the back foot as our quality of life deteriorates. Equality has gone out the back door as Australia’s young are left holding the can....
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: Managing the economy: sharpening a blunt instrument
Not listening?
August 22, 2024
When I got to the final sentences of Henry Reynolds' pertinent explanation, I felt a chill similar to what I experienced hearing the advice offered by Eyre-Crowe (PA to the British Foreign Secretary) to his boss as the THIRTY-SEVEN DAYS rolled on to the outbreak of WWI. Crowe confided something like the following to Grey: But Foreign Secretary, can we be sure Ambassador Prince Lichnowski is even being listened to in Berlin? It would be nice and reassuring to think that Richard Marles and Penny Wong would take note of this article by an eminent public intellectual who has...
Bruce Wearne from BALLARAT CENTRAL
In response to: The military Americanisation of Northern Australia
Would MSO have cancelled Yehudi Menuhin?
August 20, 2024
Yehudi Menuhin, when receiving the Wolf Prize some years ago, addressed the Knesset saying: The wasteful governing by fear by this Government, by its contempt for the basic needs of life, the steady asphyxiation of a dependent people, should be the very last means to be adopted by those who know only too well, the awful significance, the unforgivable suffering of such an existence. It is unworthy of my great people, the Jews, who have striven to abide by a code of moral rectitude for some 5,000 years.” I wonder whether the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra would ever have considered...
Richard Manderson from Canberra
In response to: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra strikes the wrong note on Gaza
Self-funding Universal Basic Income
August 20, 2024
I congratulate Michael Lester and Bronwyn Kelly for their Universal Basic Income proposal and wish to suggest a politically compelling way for its introduction. The idea is a counter-intuitive self-financing tax incentive. Shareholders who change the constitutions of their corporations obtain bigger, quicker and less risky profits. But, on condition, they endow a small fraction of their equity each year by a book entry to a Stakeholder Equity account. Corporations then create Stakeholder shares, which they only endow to citizens, who can vote for the politicians who can vote for the tax incentive. Non-self-funding tax incentives are used...
Shann Turnbull from Paddington
In response to: How to fix poverty? Universal basic income
Teals show the way to revive conviction democracy
August 20, 2024
Les MacDonald’s hope that democracy may finally be returning to its roots, where strength of conviction shapes policy, is personified by the parliamentary influx of Teals. These intelligent, capable individuals came to parliament holding a few conviction policies in common – strong action on climate, a strong NACC, a better, and safer world for women – and continue to operate, independently, through extensive, regular community consultation to understand and reflect the views of their communities in other matters. Regrettably, the major parties seem to be closing ranks against this democratic revival. Labor’s proposed reforms to political donation laws, while...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Returning to a democracy where strength of conviction shapes policy
AUKUS turnabout
August 19, 2024
The acronym was obviously carefully conceived, because the alternative sends a very clear message to Australia. If the proper order of country importance was followed, it would actually be: USUKA pronounced U-SUKA. I didn't think of this, a friend of mine did, and once he said it, I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Would it help our understanding of the special arrangement if we used this version in future?
Marguerite Bunce from France
In response to: America is the most violent, aggressive country in the world
The Americanization of Australia — observations
August 19, 2024
I lived in the US from 1977 to 2010, a total of 33 years, and returned looking for Australia. I think Australia then was in a twilight of the 20th century. I went to the US because the dismissal had left me very bitter and angry. I decided to find out why Australia chose to be obedient to the US. Thirty-three years in the US makes you think like an American if you are going to survive there. Returning the last of Australia’s sense of self was in retirement mode. Kerry O’Brien’s last years at the ABC and Quentin Dempster...
David Nicholas from Umina Beach, Central Coast NSW
In response to: The Americanisation of Australia: how we’re rapidly losing our cultural sovereig
The definition of civilised
August 19, 2024
The conqueror is always more civilised than native inhabitants! The British in Australia encountered a peoples perceived as primitive because the accepted definition of civilised is based on the demonstrated ability to maim, kill, rape and enslave (physically or economically) on a large scale. The Australian First Nations people and the inhabitants of most colonised nations could not do that, hence minimum respect for their cultures. Jimmy Carter once observed that for about 15 years in its history the US had not been involved in a war somewhere on the planet. It has exceptional abilities to kill on a...
Adrian Potter from Adelaide
In response to: Our Other Face
Opposing anything, everything, almost everybody
August 19, 2024
I have never been able to understand the concept of an elected “Opposition” . What company would employ up to 49% of its employees to “oppose“ everything the other 51+% are trying to achieve? Who do Opposition Parliamentarians actually represent when they are opposing everything that the actual government are trying to achieve? I have been voting for some 50-odd years and I don’t recall it always being like this . In opposing anything and everything Tony Abbott wrote the LNP playbook, a playbook that was used very effectively to depose a succession of prime ministers, leaders of the oppositions...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: Has-australia-turned-its-back-on-assisting-people-fleein
Spaceship Earth
August 16, 2024
Excellent analogy of our planet as a spaceship by Mark Beeson (“Spaceship Earth is experiencing turbulence” Pearls and Irritations, 6/8). Indeed, all passengers aboard spaceship earth are in for an increasingly rough ride, with the vast majority sadly set to experience more tough turbulence than others. Beeson’s suggestions of how we might collectively steady the ship are excellent. In this era of misinformation, disinformation and constant distraction, however, how we “make the stability of the Earth and the environment upon which we all depend the single most important goal of everyone on board” is anyone’s guess. I, for one,...
Amy Hiller from Kew, Victoria
In response to: “Spaceship Earth is experiencing turbulence”
How many "worst" leaders can we have?
August 16, 2024
The shortest answer to Abul Rizvi's question is YES! Anthony Albanese's approach to Gaza is, as with just about everything else, limp. Some might say spineless. Must we forever wait for the US and follow if not actually do as we're told? But in Peter Dutton we have found another worst at the bottom of the barrel. We thought Howard was bad. But Abbott was something else. And then - surely it must stop with Morrison? But no, in his own way, Dutton is an equal worst. His attitude to asylum seekers was unbelievable but now ....There has...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: Has Australia turned its back on assisting people fleeing war/conflict?
Universal Basic Income, Rental Affordability Crisis
August 16, 2024
I've been a keen advocate of UBI for years (https://publish.pearlsandirritations.com/tim-woodruff-basic-income-guarantee-this-is-a-health-issue/) and am delighted to see it being pursued. Clearly the tax system requires adjusting to implement this policy. The other area that is of concern is the possibility that in the current rental and housing affordability crisis, the only people who will benefit will be the homeless, who will be able to enter rentals at the bottom of the market, and the landlords, who will increase rent because they can.
Tim Woodruff from richmond, victoria
In response to: How to fix poverty? Universal basic income
Labor swallows Coalition defence and foreign policy holus-bolus
August 16, 2024
Ex Prime Minister Keating joins the growing list of informed commentators who is worried by, or opposes the AUKUS agreement. Having rejoiced at the departure of the Morrison government, I was shocked to see Labor swallow Coalition defence and foreign policy holus-bolus. The idea that a Labor government would take us down the path of nuclear powered submarines costing an estimated $368 billion and tie us in with the United States' military-industrial machine seemed unthinkable but here we are! Richard Marles is like a school cadet, flattered by the big boys at the Pentagon and eager to please....
Graeme McLeay from Torrens Park SA 5062
In response to: Paul Keating: Military control of Australia
Anthony Albanese
August 16, 2024
Here we go again. It is unrelenting. This time Paddy Gourley has a go at Anthony Albanese, again without also listing any of the considerable achievements of this government, especially compared to its recent predecessors, a low bar I admit. Four people were initially advised of AUKUS, it then went to cabinet and then to the Labor caucus before being supported. In the more than two years since, there has been plenty of opportunity for full advice and to pause and review. On balance AUKUS is proceeding and with a high level of community support. Albanese improved the...
David Hind from Neutral Bay
In response to: A Timid PM, Frozen in the glare of the Keating headlights
The unsustainable lifestyles of the wealthy West
August 16, 2024
The numbers in Peter Sainsbury's report of the finding of a colossal new copper deposit a mile underground in Zambia are mind-boggling. But the most stunning statistic is the statement that although this mine is expected to produce at least 300,000 tons of copper per annum - enough for 50 million EV batteries - the world will need up to six new copper mines of similar size to open every year out to 2050! In other words, if, miraculously, we transition to a low carbon economy quickly enough to avoid climate catastrophe, we will still destroy the planet in...
Richard Barnes from Melbourne
In response to: Environment: Zambia has lots of copper but will Zambians benefit?
The Bonfire of the Verities
August 9, 2024
Compare and contrast, with reference to claims by our government of even-handed, just and fair treatment of the two protagonists in the Gaza conflict: Iran’s ambassador to Australia given diplomatic rebuke after ‘abhorrent’ comments on Israel (Anthony Albanese condemns antisemitic social media post by Ahmad Sadeghi as tensions grow in Middle East after death of Hamas political leader). The response?: Anthony Albanese: “There’s no place for the sort of comments that were made … by the Iranian ambassador,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday. “They’re abhorrent, they are hateful, they are antisemitic and they have...
Richard Llewellyn from Colo Vale NSW
In response to: Rape and genocide: the Israeli war machine we support
We must reverse bipartisan support for oil and gas
August 9, 2024
As Ken Russell observes, Labor and the Coalition offer bipartisan support to the fossil fuel industry, authorising new gas and oil projects, and maintaining substantial industry subsidies. Russell calls for climate experts to step up their public advocacy to bring change. During covid people listened to experts because we were afraid: an incurable virus was spreading freely among us, we were desperate for information. Most people do not yet feel this intensity of fear about our changing climate. Governments and experts downplay the risks lest they be accused of fear-mongering. Labor holds their climate security review in secret. Experts...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: Climate change – government and media failure
The need for large scale degrowth
August 9, 2024
Mearsheimer’s analyses are of great value and in my view correct, but I do not think his account of US support for Israel is right. Of course the power of the lobby is central but the core factor is that Israel is the empire’s forward base in the essential effort to secure Western access to oil, and keeping the Arabs down, divided and harassed is the central element in this. In Nasser’s time “Arab Nationalism” was rising, but it has long gone. Biden et al. are in a good position, able to tut-tut about Israeli “excesses” while watching...
Ted Trainer from Australia
In response to: The awesome power of the Israel lobby
NOTHING TO SEE HERE
August 2, 2024
40 odd years ago my brother in law was in an officer in training in the ADF and He Told me our defence thinking was about Indonesia. Learning Indonesian was encouraged in schools. That was before we outsourced our thinking, any thinking to the USA. A small boat sail to the North is a Nation (don’t mention religion) of nearly 300 million people who live on smallish islands that are soon to be to varying degrees flooded by rising seas and smashed by storms. To the north of them are some of the most densely populate...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: War in a hot climate: the luxury of AUKUS in a time of global overheating
Small acts of sedition
August 2, 2024
Small acts of sedition. Yes, that we can all do, even one such act a day carried out by each of us would make an enormous difference. Today I liked a feisty post on social media, and some else liked my like. Small things like that. Joanna Macy, she of Active Hope, wrote “Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response.” I agree Caitlin, we need to wake up, all of us, one by one.
Janet Grevillea from New South Wales
In response to: US presidential races hide the criminality of the US empire
When a white flag no longer counts
August 2, 2024
Where would Ireland be today if an IRA leader involved in the peace negotiations some thirty years ago had been assassinated?
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Fears of full-scale war with Lebanon rise after Israel bombs Beirut, assassinates Ismail Haniyeh
Pearls and Irritations Journal Limited
August 2, 2024
Dear John, Please accept my appreciation of the daily articles published daily in Pearls and Irritations Journal, and a big thank you for your service running it. It’s a great journal that respects the public’s right to know, holds the powerful to account and has spoken truth to power. In order to help release the great burden that you and wife, Susie, have carried for years, I congratulate you for deciding to establishing a not for profit company Pearls and Irritations Journal Limited to continue the unrivaled journalistic publication. I wish you and wife Susie can enjoy...
Robert Chong from Melbourne, Victoria
In response to: New Governance arrangements for Pearls and Irritations
Thank you
August 2, 2024
Dear Mr Menadue Thank you so much for making arrangements for continuation of your P&I project. I have been a regular reader for a few years now. I continue to be encouraged by the number of contributors that so coherently oppose the partisan US bias in reporting by the main stream media - including the creeping change at the ABC under the pretence of providing balanced coverage of news and current affairs. Yours in sincere appreciation, Stephen Webber
Stephen Webber from Brisbane
In response to: New Governance arrangements for Pearls and Irritations
Well said.
August 2, 2024
Well said Mr Keating. Well said. Would that it were enough to sink AUKUS. Sadly, there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. And there is way too much selective deafness in Australian politics at present.
Peter Hehir from Rozelle. Sydney
In response to: AUKUS servility just one facet of poor governance
There is an alternative political narrative
August 2, 2024
I commend Caitlin Johnstone's critique of the US electoral system and that neither Presidential candidate will adequately address the pressing social and environmental problems both the US and the world face. But Caitlin, there is an organisation and movement both here and in the US which is addressing the issues at a grassroots level that you say are so desperately needed to bring about real change to people's lives and a resolution to international conflict. I commend the Greens as such an entity which is trying to address these issues through mobilising communities to be more active in bringing...
Les Mitchell from Port Macquarie NSW
In response to: US presidential races hide the criminality of the US empire By Caitlin Johnstone
July 26
August 2, 2024
You wrote your article on July 26, a powerful date in the fight against US imperialism that should be commemorated by all citizens concerned about the fate of the world. In 1953 on that date Fidel Castro and his fellow fighters attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, thus commencing the war against the murderous US backed dictatorship of Fulgencia Batista in Cuba. So my regular small acts of sabotage are to study and understand the Cuban revolution of 1 January 1959 and talk about the many achievements, domestic and international, of that revolution and the many ways...
Rob Parnell from Narrabundah
In response to: US presidential races hide the criminality of the US empire
Not my Labor
August 2, 2024
I'm a 71 year old who would be described as rusted on Labor. I come from a family of rusted on Labor voters. My dad was still handing out Labor how to vote cards in his nineties and I was driving him to the polling booth in his nineties. I have been disappointed in the Albanese govt since it failed to shut down AuKuS during his acceptance speech. Last Sunday I decided to write to the PM to list my dissatisfaction including AuKUS, Climate, Gaza, Defence wasting etc. I don’t believe I was abusive. I did however...
Bob Pearce from Adelaide SA
In response to: US presidential races hide the criminality of the US empire
Albanese's Timidity
August 2, 2024
I wholeheartedly support Paul Begley's expose (July 30, 2024) of the shortcomings of Anthony Albanese's leadership of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party in his role as Prime Minister. He is clearly out of his depth with his no risk timid approach and it's even more damning that he hasn't supported his Ministers following pressure from the Opposition, when he needs to get on the front foot and show loyalty by defending them. My biggest gripe is with his unquestioning acceptance of Morrison's AUKUS (USUKA) without proper due diligence. Deputy PM and Defence Minister Marles, who is also out of...
Ray Laverack from Sydney
In response to: Anthony Albanese: the weak link in the Albanese Government
Albanese is providing genuine Leadership
August 2, 2024
It is frustrating and indeed tiring to read a stream of P and I pundits doing the job of and plagiarising the Opposition leader in criticising Anthony Albanese who is running a highly effective government. Would they rather see a return of mediocre Coalition outfits? Albanese promised to be different and he has broadly kept this promise. He refused to make undeliverable promises and has made good on most of the promises he did make. He refuses to play many of the tired old games advocated by some of these pundits. He runs a proper Cabinet process. We are...
David Hind from Kurraba Point NSW2089
In response to: Anthony Albanese: the weak link in the Albanese Government
Why not apply the extradition treaty provisions?
August 2, 2024
One of the federal review agencies told me recently that sometimes public servants confuse policy with the law, the notorious example being Robodebt. In Dan Duggan's case, the law is contained in the Australia-US extradition treaty. Firstly this specifies a range of extraditable offences, none of which apply to Dan. Then it provides for extradition if Australian law has a similar offence to the alleged US offence. At the time of the alleged offences, we had no offences matching the two directly pilot-training related offences. However, as to alleged money laundering, we do have a cognate offence. But...
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Aussie ‘Top Gun’ Dan Duggan submits final appeal for Australian justice
PM's reshuffle no sign of weakness
August 2, 2024
Paul Begley appears to judge the Prime Minister's strength or weakness using the same criterion as Peter Dutton. What if, amazingly, he actually decided that Home Affairs is not as important as Housing? Clare O'Neill is a fine minister and her talents were wasted in Peter Dutton's self-aggrandising super ministery of Home Affairs. Labor had to deal with the legacy Morrison et al left but is now able to quietly unpack Home Affairs, taking ASIO away from it and giving it to reknown head kicker Tony Burke along with Immigration - the two hot button (for the Liberals) areas. This...
DARYL DELLORA from VICTORIA
In response to: Anthony Albanese: the weak link in the Albanese Government
Lacking moral fibre
August 2, 2024
The lack of moral integrity which allows the Labor Government to take its lead on Israel from the US also allows it to... - fail to undertake the desperately needed critique of the AUKUS deal - cave in to the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of positive action on climate change - ignore urgently needed tax reform in favour of tinkering at the edges with the Stage 3 tax cuts - continue to underfund public schools and hospitals (and I would add tertiary education) - force those not in paid employment - the aged, the physically and mentally...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn, VIC 3122
In response to: The World Court has cleared the fog hiding western support for Israel’s crimes
I call on the government to resign.
August 2, 2024
During the war in Kosovo, after a massacre that Dutch troops failed to intervene in, and more recently when the Dutch government was found to have harassed and defrauded parents using government provided childcare, the Dutch government resigned in order to take responsibility. Note the contrast with the Australian government which was recently found to have stolen more than a billion dollars from the poorest people in Australia, which resulted in many deaths. The government came into possession of evidence for theft, mass murder, and conspiracy to obtain benefit by deceit, and instead of passing the information to...
Noel Quinn from Cobargo
In response to: Time to step up Albo, or step away
Not walking the walk, barely talking the talk
August 2, 2024
Thank you David Spratt and Ian Dunlop for staying calm enough to talk sense about the way governments at every level seem to believe they have enough time to keep placating big fossil fuel corporations for just that bit longer. I find it almost impossible to understand how people in power, who have children, and who think of themselves as leaders, do not have sufficient respect for themselves, let alone the rest of us, to face up to the fact that the Planetary Climate Crisis requires urgent action right now. Real leaders would take responsibility for making sure we...
Penny Lee from Perth
In response to: The Albanese government has created a climate vacuum, and we will pay the price
Envoys or no envoys
August 2, 2024
Magaret Reynold’s expose of Social Cohesion is interesting and, for most Australians, something that needs to be discussed. But true to form, most whitefellas don’t want to talk about something that is controversial and an impediment to their way of life. Envoys for some and not others, is just another spineless cop-out by a Government that is throwing buckets of water on a bonfire! As Margaret says we need Political Leadership not cowardice. However, the sorry state of Australians politics rules this our at all levels. The referendum with its built-in designed to fail legislation, it was a...
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: Who is responsible for social cohesion in Australia?
Party Solidarity?
August 2, 2024
It seems that the rules and solidarity to the Labor Party over rides humanity and social conscious. The rules grew from the union movement when members could not vary from a direction so preventing strike breaking. But, hey, we live in a different world now. The Labor party is not now the party of the unions. Its supporters come from those who are socially aware. Just as TEALs came from disaffected Liberals, the time is looking right for a break away from the hard liners of Sussex Street. J Davies
John Davies from Mullumbimby, NSW
In response to: Australian Leadership to end the war on Gaza: open letter to the Prime Minister
Thank you John
August 2, 2024
Thank you so much to you John, and to your staff.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Twenty thousand articles in Pearls and Irritations and counting
Albanese government must present climate truth
August 2, 2024
David Spratt and Ian Dunlop warn us that the Albanese government is presenting the brighter side of our transition to renewables. They should and must present both the positive aspect plus the worsening deadly reality of climate change. They must reveal the security-related climate risks still not revealed to our public. They also must stop approving various new fossil fuel projects, and relying on minimal carbon capture and storage of emissions. In the next few months they must do better with climate education and genuine decarbonising, or risk losing the federal election. Fortunately, several positive meetings will help...
Barbara Fraser from Burwood, Vic
In response to: The Albanese government has created a climate vacuum, and we will pay the price
The Greens and the CPRS - still!
July 29, 2024
As an example of a party failing to cooperate when it should have done so, Carolynne Fitzwarryne adduces the Greens voting with the Coalition against a Carbon Tax, which put back climate change initiatives for years. Indeed, it has become part of Australian political folklore that when the Greens helped defeat the Rudd CPRS legislation in 2009, they “ruined everything”; that by rejecting the good with a futile demand for the perfect, they ushered in 15 years of climate inaction. In fact, the CPRS was not less than perfect. It was a terrible policy, which would have achieved...
Richard Barnes from Melbourne
In response to: Beware the Big C – Consensus
Time to step up, Albo, or step away
July 26, 2024
The defining characteristic of Anthony Albanese’s government has been the leadership void at the top. This first became apparent during the tragedy of the Voice referendum. The PM declared that his government’s first priority would be the full implementation of the Uluru Statement From The Heart. He then let this matter be carried by others; he himself was barely seen or heard. And now we have the same issue with climate risk. Addressing climate change was a big issue in the election, but since then we have heard little from our PM. There is no sense of driving vision;...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: The Albanese government has created a climate vacuum, and we will pay the price
Actions, not words: Unpublished letter to The Age
July 26, 2024
The Editor Hamas kills innocent Israelis to promote terror. It is listed by the Australian Government as a terrorist organisation. It is an offence ‘to provide support to a terrorist organisation.’ The Israeli Defence Force kills innocent Palestinians to promote terror (19/7 Wong deplores Palestinian killings). It should be listed as a terrorist organisation. All that is required is that the Attorney General is satisfied that it ‘is preparing, planning, assisting or fostering the doing of a terrorist act.’ The Attorney General would then need to consider advising the laying of charges against companies in Australia which...
Tim Woodruff from Richmond, Victoria
In response to: The insignificant seven
What are our defence strategies without AKUS?
July 26, 2024
I value Nick Dean's detailed concerns in his article, which concludes with an assessment of the various players' ego states. I key phrase that sticks out for me is: With AUKUS, the pride of politicians has thus become an obstacle to reaching the best solution to the ‘national security’ conundrum. I appreciate that Mr Dean's important field of expertise is sociology, which is the essential thrust of his argument, and that he is not a security guru. Hence, my suggestion to enable this movement forward is to commission an expert research panel to present the defence strategy...
Peter Heath from Sydney, NSW
In response to: AUKUS and the pride of politicians By Nick Deane
China brokers national unity government
July 26, 2024
Excellent comments by these leading Australians. The role envisaged for Bob Carr is a great idea. This will be assisted by the national unity government for Palestine just announced in Beijing.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: Australian Leadership to end the war on Gaza: open letter to the Prime Minister
Ignorance about China
July 26, 2024
At last someone has written and article about the real China. I have visited China many times over about forty years and I trade with China. I am tired of the negative press that has turned the nation against China. I have found the Chinese people in general welcoming and trustworthy people. China has changed so much over the years I have been visiting and is now so far ahead of the world in looking after its people and developing a society that cares. Even with all the negativity they get China patiently keeps trying to spread the...
Dianne Russell from Taree, NSW
In response to: Not what you might expect – close encounters in China By Meg Hart
Oslo is dead
July 26, 2024
Oslo is dead - through its 68 to 9 vote to reject any creation of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan river (17 July), Israel has said so. The rule of law must now replace the discredited fiction that was Oslo. The ICJ has spoken (19 July): Israel must bring to an end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including east Jerusalem, as rapidly as possible. Yours sincerely James Schofield Barrister
James Schofield from United Kingdom
In response to: The unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory must cease immediately
IT Outages
July 26, 2024
The Optus outage was Australia-based. The Crowdstrike event was international (minus Russia, China, DPRK, Iran etc {who must have been laughing themselves stupid at 'the West'}). Therefore, unless the rules are worldwide, there is little to be gained. It has been said that Crowdstrike's market share is 17% but I wonder whether the economic impact was considerably more.
Leigh Bunting from Adelaide
In response to: What have we learned from last year’s Optus outage?
Evading a US “iron dome”
July 26, 2024
Paul Budde’s article reminds us of the fragility of our digital society and economy. If it had been a malicious actor instead of CrowdStrike sending out wrong code, it would entirely bypass the “iron dome” promised by Donald Trump in his acceptance speech only a day or so before. Particularly if an outage ran for weeks not days, the economy and society for most people in most parts of the world would grind to a halt with effects which might well surpass those from penetration of the iron dome by hypersonic missiles. The iron dome, if it...
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: What have we learned from last year’s Optus outage?
What an unshackled Oz could do
July 26, 2024
My hope is that the possible outcome postulated by the writer is right. I'm optimistic about the pragmatism of China and most Chinese and that a new, more balanced world order will emerge. I believe the Oz Gov is completely wrong with its commitment to AUKUS, just as we were with our belief that the Mother Country would help defend us in World War Two. We are allowing ourselves to be taken for a ride by the US and the UK in their blatant self interest of attempting to keep a lid on China. Our action in doing...
Brett Martin from Greenwith, South Australia
In response to: Crisis in the West, Opportunity for the Rest
A very informative and timely article
July 26, 2024
Dear Meg Hart- A very informative and timely article. The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology is making great strides to engage with Chinese scholars through the Confucian Institute, holding conferences in China with attendances probably in the thousands - as well as US-linked interactions. Thank you.
Len Puglisi Puglisi from Burwood East
In response to: Not what you might expect - close encounters in China
The Summit of the Future offers hope for us all
July 19, 2024
Excellent news that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for a Summit of the Future at the UN on Sunday 22 and Monday 23 September 2024. Thanks to Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University, who tells us more about it. The Summit is needed urgently as the path for the world to cooperate scientifically and fairly in solving the worsening deadly challenges. The Summit will be presented as five topics, for each of which I have selected just one example: Sustainable development- funding for poorer countries. Peace- sensible solutions instead of war. Control of...
Barbara Fraser from Burwood, Vic
In response to: The Summit of the Future
Violence and solving political problems
July 19, 2024
I don’t in any way condone the violence against Donald Trump. But it is a bit rich for Joe Biden to then decry violence as a means of solving political problems. After all, he has just approved resumption of supply of 500lb bombs to Israel, presumably to solve the political problem involving Israel and Palestine.
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: A descent into violence? Political polarisation in the US
Maintain the rage
July 19, 2024
As an eco-peace educator, I always like reading Caitlin's articles. She has a perfect balance between rationality and rage. I'm not going to settle down into my comfortable socialist's armchair while Caitlin continues to pinpoint why the Israeli Zionists are cold, nasty and lying killers, am I? Caitlin maintains her rage - and so will I. Palestine will be free - from the river to the sea!
Diana Rickard from Tumbling Waters NT
In response to: Non-stop news stories proving Palestine supporters right about everything
BEWARE OF A LEOPARD TRYING TO CHANGE HIS SPOTS PARTICULARLY IF HE IS OUR OPPOSITION
July 19, 2024
It goes without saying that we must be wary of a Leopard who seeks to change his spots; especially if that Leopard is the Honourable Peter Dutton. He may fool Ray Hadley on 2BG, but is unlikely to sway Teal voters in the leafy suburbs that the Coalition must win and or many seats with big Australian Chinese populations and or women fearing their children's futures threatened by Climate Change. It is true that when he says ....I am no Morrison... we should beware. Dutton is far worse than Morrison not only on China, but many other issues....
jon jovanovic from HOBART
In response to: ‘When a weasel makes a courtesy call on a hen’: a ‘pro-China’ Dutton and Chinese
We're almost in a supertropical world now
July 12, 2024
Adrian Glikson reports how climate scientists have become increasingly cautious about what they report for fear of having their credibility undermined by climate change deniers. Many climate scientists consider the climate risks that we face to be far more serious than anyone is prepared to publicly acknowledge. Glikson’s 'supertropical' world is close. We need urgent action to cut global fossil fuel emissions. We must do this in the face of the fossil fuel industry’s, and other climate deniers’, resistance. Those in positions to implement this urgent action this are mostly populist politicians, swaying with the breeze of public opinion,...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic
In response to: The predicament of climate scientists on the road to a supertropical earth
EV chargers - Australia
July 12, 2024
Tariffs by other countries on Chinese EVs will absolutely be good for Australia. I am more than happy for Australia to be a dumping ground for excess Chinese EVs. Australia needs to pass a law that requires every service station to have EV chargers. Service stations in Australia make 95 percent of their profits from everything else they sell beside oil.
Louise OBrien from Sydney
In response to: Europe’s tariffs on Chinese EVs could be a boon for Australia
The Two Envoys - a comment
July 12, 2024
“The two envoys - pearls and irritations “ is a brilliant and deeply moral essay on Gaza and antisemitism by George Browning. I only take issue with one sentence - his superfluous and gratuitous statement that “we expect atrocities from [Putin’s] Russia. I do not, and I challenge George to name one? People need to stop trying to use Russia as a whipping boy comparison if they want to be taken more seriously on Zionist Israel’s ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Tony Kevin
Tony Kevin from Canberra
In response to: The Two Envoys
Joe Biden is no mere bystander
July 12, 2024
George Browning says: “Mr Biden has clearly had a gutful of Mr Netanyahu, but he will not give sway to his sense of justice emanating from his Catholic faith because he knows if he did so, he would have even less chance of winning the November election.” This is to understate his role. If Joe Biden is as compos as he claims he is, then he deserves to stand accused of being fully complicit in the war crimes in Gaza, heading the US as the principal perpetrator by proxy of the pogrom in Palestine. The White House is...
Geoff Taylor from Perth
In response to: The two envoys
Religion has never had anything to do with it
July 12, 2024
While the statement The genocide in Gaza is not a Muslim, Jewish or Christian issue. ... It is about justice, not religion. is correct, it should be said that it was 'never' about religion. For many people, blaming religion, in all sorts of conflicts, is a lazy argument that saves them from having to examine the facts. The conflict in Gaza is about a land grab. It stems from British capitulation to pressure, starting with Theodor Herzl, a secular Jew, in the 19th century, for a home in Palestine for Jewish people. It was formalised in theory by the...
Margaret Callinan from Hawthorn VIC 3122
In response to: A win is a win, but clear lessons on Gaza from the UK
Expert advice for a sustainable Australia
July 12, 2024
Australians are fortunate in having definite advice on clean energy and sustainability from expert Mark Diesendorf. He refutes six myths. The first is that Renewables cannot supply 100% electricity. He insists that they can and will because We do not need expensive, dangerous nuclear power, or expensive, polluting gas. During the next pre-election months, the Australian government must educate the public with such truths. Plus they must practice what they preach, that is, speed ending our own fossil fuel consumption, and commence ending our huge fossil fuel exports. We need a clear mandate on these steps for the election.
Barbara Fraser from Burwood, Vic
In response to: Refuting myths about nuclear and renewable energy
Is Julian Assange beyond all criticism?
July 12, 2024
Mr Barns wrote recently in P&I; I have spoken with (Peter) Greste and met with him, along with my Australian Campaign colleagues. He is not, these days, fixated on whether Assange is a journalist or publisher and told us as much in an online meeting held on 6 February 2023. In an interview on the ABC on 26 June 2024, Greste said he was not convinced that what Wikileaks did was journalism, that it met the professional and ethical standards that go with someone being designated a journalist, as Greste sees it. Further, Greste wrote in The Conversation on...
james Potts from Emu Plains
In response to: Assange- The Aftermath July 2. Greg Barns