Letters to the Editor
If Tony Abbott thinks, few care about what
December 15, 2023
At COP28, King Charles said, “We are seeing alarming tipping points being reached” and we are “dreadfully far off track as the global stocktake report demonstrates.” Noel Turnbull wonders what Tony Abbott thinks. It’s not hard to guess. At the inaugural conference of the ultra-conservative Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, just before COP28, Abbott said “The climate cult will inevitably be discredited …” Although Abbott is a staunch catholic, the US-based National Catholic Reporter described him as “a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, the UK's main climate science denial group.” He is even at loggerheads with Pope Francis who...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: What does climate denialist Abbott think of the monarchy now?
Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
December 15, 2023
The humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen the people of Gaza has to be addressed. It cannot wait until the war stops. That means water, food, medical supplies and sanitation requirements need to get to them urgently. A Berlin-type air lift is needed to accomplish this purpose. The west has the resources and the technical means for this and could relieve the suffering. We need to demonstrate our independence and our solidarity with the innocent and the vulnerable.
Bill Clements from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
In response to: ‘Apocalyptic’ horror in Gaza called ‘total failure of our shared humanity’
PLEASE TELL ME IT ISN'T TRUE
December 15, 2023
In a recent issue which had Keating's opinion of Kissinger and several high quality articles on public policy, l was disturbed to ready Brian Toohey's piece on Hawke and Coombe. I don't want this to be true, because if it is true, my opinion of the loveable larriken transmutes into old sleaze bag. There seemed to be a lot of hearsay. Also nasty stuff about Teamsters and mafia. Would it be possible to get more fact checking for items such as this? It in some ways lowers the tone of what is a terrific and much...
christopher godfrey from sydney
In response to: ASIO and the KGB: New information on Hawke v. Combe By Brian Toohey
"Homo Moronicus" and the climate heating crisis
December 15, 2023
In 1962 I was trying to decide whether to enrol in science or in medicine at University of Sydney. My father’s cousin Peter Funk, a CSIRO atmospheric scientist, was sending up helium balloons from Aspendale in Melbourne to measure the changes in CO2 concentration at various heights. He told me that atmospheric CO2 was rapidly increasing and was a powerful greenhouse gas, and that its source was humanity’s burning of fossil fuels. He predicted all the effects of the climate heating crisis that we see today. Paul Ehrlich of Population Bomb fame has renamed Homo Sapiens “Homo Moronicus” and I...
John Merory from Melbourne Ivanhoe East 3079
In response to: Climate change terror: Dubai’s COP-out denial conference
Voice referendum lite
December 15, 2023
THE rejection of The Voice referendum has implications beyond the bifurcation of indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. First-Nation Australians and NZ Maori, as much as with indigenous peoples the world over, given the dalliance with authoritarianism - dictatorship even - in America and Europe. But the NO votes represent an unconscious and internalised reversion to type of Australia and its people more than realised. They reflect the resistance of elements of the Australian character lurking beneath the surface. Four aspects make up this Australian character, which obscure the lineal continuity of its history. The same racism, populism, masculinity, and secularism inform...
K.C. Boey from Rowville VIC 3178
In response to: The ALP and NZ's U-turn on Indigenous affairs
Spineless Cowards and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
December 15, 2023
While Ross may be keeping his eye on NZers, mine will be on the ball. The ball in this case is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Senator Lidia Thorpe’s bill before the Senate on December 6th was defeated 10 votes to 27 with the major parties combining to sink the bill. This act of bastardry (I’m being polite) by the Federal Government exposes them for what they really are: spineless cowards! At a time when this Government had a chance to save face and show a semblance of leadership, they dogged it! ...
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: The ALP's and NZ's U_turn on Indigenous affairs
We need an Earth Systems Treaty for our children
December 15, 2023
We Baby Boomers have lived in the belief that developing a richer standard of living, an ever-more-comfortable quality of life, is the greatest gift we will leave to our children and grandchildren. But in our desire for more, and richer, we have built this gift through using ever-more fossil fuels. Our politicians, with few exceptions, have found it easier to continue the easy, but finite, path of fossil fuel use than to confront the urgent challenge of major transition, which would come at some short-term economic cost to their electorates. Politicians who support transition too often succumb to the mantra...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, VIC 3127
In response to: Humanity declares war on its children
BDS campaign against Israel
December 15, 2023
Australia’s superannuation funds have over $3.5 trillion under management. Industry funds are increasingly questioning Board performance, especially remuneration recommendations. The representative structure of industry fund boards — employers, members, and independent directors — suggests a reflection of the priorities of those constituencies, albeit within the directors’ fiduciary duties to the fund and its beneficiaries. Given the increasing realisation by the general public of the horrific, not to mention illegal, mass slaughter of the Palestinian population in Gaza by Israel’s Defence Forces, fund members should expect something more than a purely financial, politically neutral”, position from those who manage our retirement...
John McCombe from Merrijig, Vic.
In response to: As genocide unfolds, what can you do? Boycott. Divest. Sanction.
An observation on misidentifying women of colour
December 15, 2023
Alicia Vrajlal's article was enlightening. Not only for shining a light on the prejudices women of colour in professional roles still face; but is also shows very clearly that most journalists don't fact check, they don't check even the simplest things in their own articles. Just get it written, get it published and the consequences be damned. Realistically, it must be cheaper for media outlets to print falsities and then issues apologies for printing garbage; than it is to hire quality staff who can pick these mistakes up before they go into print.
Steve M from Brisbane
In response to: Dear The Australian: Not all brown people are the same
Unconscionable profits funding universal wellbeing
December 15, 2023
Accountants cannot report unconscionable profits that are more than the incentive to invest. This is because accounting doctrines do not require the time horizon of investors to be reported. What is not reported cannot be taxed. Introducing boomerang ownership gets around this problem. The tax incentive would provide shareholders quicker, bigger, less risky profit sooner, on condition that they changed the corporate constitution to allocate a small fraction of their equity by book entry each year to a citizen stakeholder account. This would allow local citizens to become endowed with shares each year. The government would gain new tax...
Dr Shann Turnbull from Paddington, Sydney, Australia
In response to: Unconscionable profits
Keating on Kissinger
December 15, 2023
However, this slight throwaway paragraph Public commentary will attest to the controversial decisions that Henry Kissinger made in respect of a number of regions in the world, and in his demise, we will probably hear more of that was an extraordinary dismissal of the immense damage done by Kissenger. Millions of people and many thousands of communities were devastated as a result of his actions on behalf of the USA. On balance, who did he really serve and benefit? History will not be kind, nor should it be.
Lorraine Osborn from COFFS HARBOUR
In response to: The death of Henry Kissinger: Statement by Paul KeatingBy Paul Keating
A question of counting?
December 15, 2023
I refer to the 'journalism' outlined in this article and cannot but stand dumbfounded by not just the audacity of the perpetrators but the willing ignorance of many. I would like to offer an example in support. As of 10:20am Saturday morning, I read the latest ABC News article with updates on the Israel-Gaza war. The first section is about the number of deaths since the ceasefire has ended. 178. Gone is all reference to the horrifying tally (constantly reported like bloody sports scores) that reached over 14,000 just a week ago. It should be...
Steve M from Brisbane
In response to: Only journalists who support the Gaza war can report “objectively” on it…
Big Oil and big lies
December 15, 2023
Smoke, mirrors and disinformation indeed. (Analysis exposes big oil P & I 1/12/2023) The International Energy Agency(IEA) has recently called out the oil sector for its reluctance to properly acknowledge the climate damage of its product, and its meagre investment (said to be 1%) in clean energy. The OPEC Secretary General, Mr Haitham Al Ghais, in reply, argued for equality of opportunity among energy sources. Cigarette makers are now obliged to warn customers of the effects of smoking. Oil merchants need a similar calling to account. Exxon Oil, one of the companies still pushing back on renewable energy sources, was...
Elaine Hopper from BLACKBURN 3130
In response to: Analysis exposes big oil disinformation efforts ahead of COP28 By Jake Johnson
Let’s put Covid deaths into context
December 15, 2023
Dear Editor, The ABC reports that: COVID-19 entered the top five in 2022, with most deaths occurring during the Omicron wave. It's the first time an infectious disease has been a leading cause of death in more than 50 years. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-27/covid-in-abs-leading-causes-of-death-data-heart-disease-/102906350) The virus was responsible for more than one in 20 deaths in 2022, making it the third-leading cause of death behind coronary heart disease and dementia. The latest causes of deaths report from the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which is released once per year, said COVID-19 accounted for 9,859 of 190,939 deaths last year. Leading causes of death...
Bruce George from NSW
In response to: Australia is not giving everyone a fair shot
Marise Payne and the inquiry into Covid
December 15, 2023
Broinowski referred to Marise Payne as Malcolm Turnbull's Foreign Minister in the context of her call for an inquiry into the source of COVID. In fact, Payne was appointed by Turnbull as Defence Minister and later appointed as Foreign Minister by Scott Morrison, who is not mentioned in the article. It was under Morrison that she called for the inquiry. Broinowski also conjectures that the Chinese assumed she was put up to this by Trump following her visit to Washington, and then says it was very likely so, since Australia's exports to China suffered and America's did not. This appears...
Vivien Encel from Hilton WA
In response to: Who are the five eyes loyal to?
Our democracies must change to meet the climate crisis
December 15, 2023
Chandan Nair sets out with exquisite clarity the fundamental weakness that the developed world faces in our fight against our changing climate. Democracies with regular election cycles focus politicians on populist policies and short-term fixes. Politicians will not court unpopularity through imposing hardship on their electors; click-bait-hungry media exacerbate this problem. As Chandan Nair says: ‘... climate change and other existential threats make for good slogans, but weak manifestoes’. Our world is close to a tipping points brink. If humanity is to survive we need effective solutions urgently to transition our world to a more sustainable basis. Our democracies have...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, VIV 3127
In response to: Governments must take drastic action on climate, not pander to the public, or we're all doomed to boil
Australia, UK and USA are militarising the Indo-Pacific
December 6, 2023
China and several Asian countries maintain that under international law, foreign militaries are not able to conduct military and intelligence-gathering activities, such as reconnaissance flights, in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Yet the USA and Australia insist that under UNCLOS their navies and air forces have that freedom in any economic zone without needing to notify the host country. But new deals negotiated by Washington with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau means the USA can stop navies and air forces from other countries entering their EEZs. Australia needs to decide whether its EEZ is not to be...
Percy Allan from Australia
In response to: Colonies of the US empire: Will the Cocos Islands become the new Diego Garcia?
Slaughter of the Innocents
December 1, 2023
Somehow, despite the ugliness that is in the world and the sense of futility amongst those of us who try to find the 'why' of the ugliness and how we can possibly hope to combat it, we believers still feel that tiny tickle, identified and beautifully expressed by Emily Dickinson. “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all John Menadue's piece touched me in many ways. Mostly his despair, his disbelief over the brutal savagery of an aggressor that...
Sandra Ramini from Fremantle, WA
In response to: SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME
Hamas attacks were not 'by the Palestinian people'
December 1, 2023
I must lodge a complaint about the use of the words - ... the October 7th military raid on Israel by the Palestinian people. I find this extremely offensive and wholly misleading. I am a strong advocate for the Palestinian cause and usually find Paul Heywood-Smith's work most stimulating. But I think this is an unacceptable statement. Hamas unleashed an atrocity, a war crime on a large number of persons - many civilians, many children, many non combatants. If this could be in any way viewed as a military raid it was an illegal one and most...
Royce BENNETT from Baxter
In response to: Blood: The bitter harvest of breaching Resolution 2334
Concerning climate predictions
December 1, 2023
Many articles cite low temperature changes like 1.5 degrees. I am not a climate scientist but I used avaliable data in an effort to predict how much temperature was expected to rise if all fossil fuels were used up at the current pace. Available data led me to conclude that it would take 200 years and that the temperature rise would be at least 10 degrees C. But more likely higher. I included the effects of permafrost and decrease in earth albedo due to melting ice. I think it is useful to point out that kind of concrete problem so...
Peter Grafström from Sweden
In response to: Environment: 1.5 degrees of warming in 10 years
Criticism of Israel is not Antisemitic
December 1, 2023
Critics rightly argue the Israeli government should be held accountable for its policies, decisions and for the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands. But let us not confuse opposing policies of the Israeli government, or advocating for the rights of Palestinians, with antisemitism. Jews are not a race, this categorisation is wrong and dangerous. According to SBS Cultural Atlas, Israel’s population reports the following religious affiliations Jewish (74.3%), Muslim (17.8%), Christian (1.9%), Druze (1.6%) other religions (4.4%). To speak of antisemitism in relation to the genocide of Palestinian peoples, is incorrect. To speak out against Israel is an anti-Israeli...
Andrea Coney from Port Fairy
In response to: Antisemitism and criticism of Israel: open letter to Julian Leeser MP
Women’s Voice
December 1, 2023
The regular contributors to Pearls and Irritations are mostly older men. Their insights are deep, wise and always appreciated. However when an edition is all men, no women contributors, it’s time to review processes. It’s time. Women’s voice is important.
Carol Kiernan from Melbourne
In response to: Pearls and Irritations
The ongoing battle to keep Australia a petrostate
December 1, 2023
Noel Turnbull expresses concern about the Australian government’s nonchelance regarding recent global temperature records. As he puts it, the government is “busily approving new fossil fuel developments which probably make it impossible to reach even the derisory targets the government has pledged.” The likely omission of a climate trigger in the revised EPBC Act is more evidence that the government is “terrified of offending almost anyone”. But a recent development provides some hope. The government will underwrite 9GW of storage and 23GW of variable renewable generation doubling the renewable energy capacity on the grid. Right on cue, Murdoch journalist Terry...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: What was Parliament doing as the earth boiled?
Australians: letting all ‘n’ sundry know the score
December 1, 2023
Australians
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: Australia's three wars
Can an Australian soldier disregard orders if they believe that order to be unlawful?
December 1, 2023
After reading John Jiggens’ article about David McBride, I find myself confused, and so am looking for an answer from people who might know. I was under the impression that an Australian soldier can disregard orders if they believe that order to be unlawful under international law? Is this not exactly what McBride was doing? Or am I dreaming?
Greg Dudgeon from Box Hill South
In response to: Crown successfully overturns Nuremberg war crimes principles in Australian court
A minor dissension
December 1, 2023
In an otherwise excellent open letter to Julian Leeser, a letter that needs to be read by everybody who supports Israel in its unconscionable campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people, I have only one small note of dissent. In his opening paragraph he says the attack by Hamas was ‘inhumane and without warrant.’ It might be argued that the attack was inhumane, after all people were killed or captured, but ‘without warrant’, I don’t think so. As Browning so go gently argues, the people of occupied Palestine have endured decades of dehumanising treatment. Under such circumstances I...
Richard Creswick from 17 Mike, via Darwin, NT
In response to: An open letter to Julian Leeser
My Lai massacre in Vietnam
December 1, 2023
Dear Editor, I am horrified at the decision made by the Court. The soldiers are fodders and have no brain. Seriously. Never mind most atrocities have been done by soldiers. I like to remind the top people at the court about My Lai in Vietnam. Some soldiers did the most despicable thing to innocent people. Exactly the same and only when a courageous journalist let the world know about the atrocities were some soldiers taken to task. I hope this ruling can be overturned. We need to stop power hungry people in this world.
Therese Saladin-DAvies from NSW
In response to: Crown successfully overturns Nuremberg war crimes principles in Australian court
McMullen misses major factor: Biden’s incompetence
December 1, 2023
Did Bob McMullen, whose political nous is unquestionable, watch video media coverage of Biden’s erratic public behaviour during Xi visit for APEC? Biden was embarrassingly all over the place as George Galloway noted. Scathingly. This can only get worse over next 12 months . The man is a hollow shell . Of course Trump will be President, barring concocted disqualification or assassination. Australian government elites had better get used to it.
Tony kevin from Canberra
In response to: Real Possibility of a Trump Presidency
Relationship to Asia
December 1, 2023
With over 20% of Australians having Asian heritage there are strong links to the region plus there are many thousands of expatriates living and working in Asia. But Dutton shamelessly channels Howard, Abbott and Morrison in dog whistling and fear mongering at every opportunity and he does a lot of damage both here and in relationships with our neighbours.
Tony Simons from Balmain NSW 2041
In response to: Our national failure to equip ourselves for Asia
The success of lobbyists is widening the Gap
December 1, 2023
As John Menadue put it in September last year, “Regulation of the way we manage lobbying in Australia is an even more important issue than a National Integrity Commission. The lobbying of governments around the world by the fossil fuel industry is a major reason for the Climate Emergency we now face.” At COP27 in Egypt, there were 636 representatives of oil and gas industries, a rise of more than 25 per cent on the previous year. When tabling her Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) Bill, Monique Ryan the Member for Kooyong explained how the lobbying Code of Conduct...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: The Federal lobbying code is toothless and it has failed
A Vile Article
December 1, 2023
For years I have read Pearls and Irritations which has arrived in my inbox quietly on Sunday mornings. Many articles have been thought provoking as the writers' opinions have challenged some of my beliefs and understandings of various topics and ideas as good journalism should. However, this morning's article has crossed the line. The belief that 'It (Israel) should be expelled from the community of nations': How is this sage advice going to improve the current situation if Israel is excommunicated from the world stage? If you want to give space on your web site to such...
Debbie Scholem from Sydney, Australia
In response to: Does Israel Have a Right To Exist?
Supporting sensible climate policy
December 1, 2023
As a fellow concerned parent, I admired and supported Gregory Andrews’ brave hunger strike for climate action. Even the most optimistic emissions reductions scenario presented by the UN offers just a 14 per cent chance that humanity will keep global heating below a ‘safer’ 1.5 degrees. Given this, the Albanese government’s continued support for gas, approval of four coal mines, and unwillingness to rein in native forest logging is unacceptable. Climate change impacts are already hurting communities across Australia. What will life be like for our children? Andrews’ five demands of the federal government – ending fossil fuel subsidies, an...
Amy Hiller from Kew
In response to: Restoring democracy to avoid climate collapse
Indefinite Detention and the NZYQ case
November 27, 2023
The case was not an academic exercise. It concerned the fate of numerous foreigners from multiple countries, many of them hardened criminals; exactly how many, the Solicitor-General was unable to say. One thing is sure: indefinite immigration detention was not unlawful when the matter came before the High Court. Its legality was established by the High Court itself 20 years ago in the case of Al-Kateb. If the High Court were now minded to take the exceptional step of reversing that decision – doing violence to the doctrine of precedents which is one of the foundation stones of common...
Henry Litton from NSW, Australia
In response to: High court launches full frontal assault on indefinite immigration detention
Do international agreements mean anything?
November 17, 2023
In response to John Pilger’s excellent article, I point out that 25 years ago Australia signed the Rome Statute setting up the International Criminal Court which can investigate war crimes. Among its provisions there is this: “Article 68 Protection of the victims and witnesses and their participation in the proceedings 1. The Court shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses…” Now one would imagine that our prosecutorial authorities in Canberra would feel some inclination to honour the principles which the Australian government has espoused by...
Geoff Taylor from Riverton WA
In response to: “We Are Spartacus”: Resistance and the unmoving shadow of war
The entire Public Health System is now enslaved to “The System”
November 17, 2023
The issues outlined in this outstanding article are sadly not only attributed to Aged Care. Indeed the entire Public Health System is now enslaved to “The System” where Patient Care is dictated by policies and procedures rather than the needs of the individual. He is indeed, sadly, correct in his Yes Minister analogy. The Bureaucratisation of health care has refocused the attention of healthcare providers on computers and systems that demand constant attention and input; more than many patients receive. It is only a matter of time before the complaints and concerns regarding Aged Care are applied more broadly...
Anne Blunn from Greenway ACT
In response to: The care economy: Aging is not a disease- who knew?
Ugly Christian Apocalyptic beliefs
November 17, 2023
For the past year, I have researched the shooting deaths of two young cops and a concerned neighbour in Wieambilla in the Western Downs of southern Queensland in December 2022. This cruel, arbitrary ugly event has been deemed by ASIO as the work of religiously-motivated extremists, not Islamic but Christian ones. The three killers were shot to death by police, just as they expected to be. Ex-PM Scott Morrison, a happy-clapper born-again Christian, pouncing around with the UK's ex-PM Boris Johnson in Israel, is better than anything Laurel and Hardy's scriptwriters could come up with. Tonight on X...
John Kerr from Coburg
In response to: Scott Morrison’s heartless yearning for Armageddon
Mitigation and Australia
November 17, 2023
When the Hawke government was elected in the early 1980’s, BHP Steel was contemplating shutting down steel production in Australia. The minister, Button, proposed a modernisation capital injection, that BHP wouldn’t repay if they could not be made profitable . It worked, despite Australia being a very small part of world production. Right now, to replace fossil fuels, Australia has to triple its electricity production, because not only coal, but oil and gas use, need to be replaced by renewables. As the generating cost is currently about $0.10 per kW.hr for coal, $0.05 for onshore wind, and $0.025 for...
Noel Thompson from Sydney (Riverview)
In response to: Climate policy: the widening reality gap
END TIMES AND ARMAGEDDON WELCOMED
November 17, 2023
Reb Halabi's excellent expose on Scott Morrison's religious zealotry taking precedence over rational thought made for chilling reading. I was brought up in an extremist Christian Zionist group and can verify that unquestioned adherence to their fanatical beliefs in the End Times, the Rapture and Armageddon is a given. While Mr Morrison may strenuously deny there is any conflict of interest, in his heart he knows that should his beliefs be at odds with matters of global importance, his religious convictions will always win. Look no further than Australia's embarrassing and dangerous prevarication on genuine commitment to climate...
Joy Nason from MONA VALE, 2103 NSW
In response to: Scott Morrison's heartless yearning for Armageddon
Immigration: economy, politics or survival?
November 17, 2023
Abul Rivzi has pinpointed the viciousness that will envelop political discourse on the current half-million figure of new immigrants, and the ensuing social disharmony that will follow as the right-wingers give new impetus to the race card. Is it now time to consider the more critical issue of what might constitute a sustainable population for Australia, given the frequency with which water usage keeps re-emerging as a critical issue across most of the continent? The economy is the main driver of argument about immigration, which has spilt over to social cohesion occasionally since World War II. This...
Tony Tucker from Leichhardt NSW
In response to: Net migration of 500,000 guarantees an ugly immigration election
Whales and misinformation
November 17, 2023
Mr Dutton’s recent statements about off-shore wind turbines endangering whales and dolphins have been shown to be based on disinformation. It has been reported that a Facebook post, stating that a paper supporting the ‘evidence’ for harm to whales had been published in respected publication Marine Policy. As soon as the fake was flagged by Marine Policy staff, the Facebook page disappeared. Research from InfluenceMap shows that “anti-climate groups are using Facebook’s advertising platform and unique targeting abilities to spread disinformation, intentionally seeding doubt and confusion around the science of climate change.” And more generally in the US, ‘think tanks’...
Fiona Colin from Melbourne
In response to: Divide and fool: The Coalition’s misinformation campaign
A witty take on US-China Summit
November 17, 2023
Heard a witty take on the US-China summit concluded in San Francisco, leveraging a popular Chinese idiom: both sides admitted that they may not pee in the same pot but vowed to ensure they will not pee on each other. 双方承认：尿不到一个壶里，但承诺：不尿到对方身上。 Thanks for reading Wang Xiangwei's Thought of the Day on China
WANG XIANGWEI from Hong Kong
In response to: Biden forgets that the c-in APEC stands for cooperation
The critical mass is getting close to defeating the Israeli and Western propaganda machines
November 15, 2023
I have been observing the current intransigent and wonderful opposition to the Israeli and Western propaganda machines. What the grass roots opposition signifies is the growth of a massive international opposition to the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. And what it reminds me of is the beginnings of the opposition to the Vietnam War. The same lying and mendaciousnes on the part of the ruling elites, and the same visceral and informed reaction and opposition to the lying about the barbarism engaged by these ruling elites. What is significant in this current...
John Ebel from Melbourne, VIC
In response to: Gaza and ‘the graveyard for children’: the moral decline of Western politics
These Children Could Be My Children
November 13, 2023
I am the mother of Palestinian children. I married into the ancient and highly respected Al Ramini family from Jenin. Our children, born in the west, have deep brown eyes, soft brown skin and they stand tall and proud and relish their Palestinian background. I am grateful that they have this heritage, but I am also so very grateful that they have never known the appalling deprivation of everything to do with being a human being that has befallen so many young people looking just like them, with all the hopes and dreams, just like them, but who were born...
Sandra Ramini from Fremantle, WA
In response to: Israel's Hideous Final Solution
Revelation is not canonical in the Orthodox Church
November 10, 2023
The Orthodox Greeks, who were actually close enough to recall the nutter who wrote Revelations on the Greek Island of Patmos, decided that it was NOT a canonical work and would not be read in Orthodox churches.
Paul Malone from Ocean Grove
In response to: Scott Morrison’s heartless yearning for Armageddon
What we need now is a clear declaration of peace
November 10, 2023
The hopes expressed in the article 'Australia-China relations: Diplomacy and a win without a fight', are hopeful indeed, for good relations with China are essential for our economic prosperity, yet Mr Albanese has made a foolish decision without debate and very little consultation, to confirm the previous Government’s decision to arm Australia with a few submarines which are specifically designed for a fight with the very country our economy depends on, and with which Australia has no major quarrel. Cancelling that submarine deal would send a very clear message to China rather than the ambiguous message currently being sent....
Bruce George from Candelo Southern NSW
In response to: Australia-China relations: Diplomacy and a win “Without a Fight
Fearless article calling out Penny Wong
November 10, 2023
It's as though the Labor party thinks it doesn't need its grassroots anymore. The Labor party (through the public statements of Penny Wong, Anthony Albanese and Richard Marles) has taken a stance supporting the United States' hardline Zionists and that has translated into a cruel military support for the occupiers. I'm not the only previously rusted-on Labor supporter who will never ever vote Labor again. I will find a person of principle in my electorate as opposed to a party. Collectively, Australia has blood on their hands and it will NEVER wash it off. The Zionists have...
Gladys Johns from Carlton, Victoria
In response to: Israel does not have the right to ‘defend itself’
We Must Break Labor's Faustian Climate Policy
November 10, 2023
Mike Scrafton demonstrates the Faustian bargain that our government is making with their approach to combatting climate change. Labor focusses on transitioning to become ‘a renewable energy superpower’, and at the same time, and in the face of the urgent demands in the IPCC’s 2023 report, approves new coal, oil and gas projects to boost fossil fuel production. These steps build short-term prosperity, and so underpin the government’s popularity and therefore its re-election prospects, but they keep our carbon emissions far too high. The price to be paid for these, as the planet continues to warm, will be borne...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic 3127
In response to: Climate policy: The widening reality gap
Climate Inertia
November 10, 2023
While I agree with much of Mike's article Climate policy: the widening reality gap I prefer a more basic approach. Our whole economy is based on neoliberal principles and as such the only way forward is to trash the planet! Furthermore, we will never rein in greenhouse gas emissions while our population continues to increase, it is inconceivable! In Australia we are running out of water, but we continue to import people to the detriment of our economy, the environment and our well-being.
John Bentley from Tongala
In response to: Climate policy: the widening reality gap
Stopping the massacre in Gaza
November 10, 2023
The US has the diplomatic, military and economic might to stop the Israeli attack, which has now gone well past a proportionate response to the Hamas attack. To do so is vital for all of Palestine’s citizens including the women and children, and also for Israelis particularly those held hostage, and not just those near Gaza. Why doesn’t the US do so? A multinational force to take over to keep the peace, as ex Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has proposed, should follow, preferably set up under the provisions of the UN Charter, but set up anyway, if...
Geoff Taylor from Riverton WA
In response to: The moral complexities of bombing a concentration camp full of children
Ali Kazak has exposed the ugly history of Zionism
November 3, 2023
Originally the establishing of Israel was just a Zionist land grab, and the separation of states by distant powers a result of a racist disdain for the Arab culture. But it's now more sinister because the stakes are much higher. Obviously ethnic cleansing is the way forward for an oil-hungry US and Israel. So, thanks to the complicity of ABC reporters and journalists and most western Governments, we are following the US/Zionist playbook in order to effect a genocide. How can people like Sarah Ferguson be gullible and brutish enough to demonise the Palestinians? For heaven's...
Gladys Jones from Carlton 3053
In response to: An open letter to ABC Managing Director David Ande
Crematorium Threatens Endangered Habitat
November 3, 2023
Peter Sainsbury notes that the second pillar of the World Resources Institute requires that we protect remaining natural and semi-natural ecosystems from conversion and degradation. All conversion and degradation of forests, grasslands and forests should stop by 2030 at the latest. Yet ACT Planning has given the provisional go-ahead for an unneeded, destructive crematorium complex on the boundary of the Callum Brae Nature Reserve that will destroy critically endangered trees as well as threaten an important wildlife corridor and biodiversity including the swift parrot and the Small Ant-blue Butterfly. Friends of Callum Brae Nature Reserve, a community group,...
Pamela Collett from Canberra ACT
In response to: If Green Growth is the Answer, Humanity needs a new question
Call Them By Their Names
November 1, 2023
Writer Jessie Boylan has stuck a chord that stays irrevocably in the mind. 8306 Palestinian deaths so far. Deaths that used to be 8306 lives. People. Men, women and many, many children who had names and families and hopes and dreams. By quoting them as numbers, without names or faces they become statistics of war. Collateral damage, that will just crumble in the dust. And the silence of our leaders is deafening. I am numb.
Sandra Ramini from Fremantle
In response to: We are the Silence: How words bear witness in life and in death
When reporting wars, the mass media cannot help themselves
November 1, 2023
Conservative Australian politicians have a debilitating pre-occupation with the ‘objectivity’ of the ABC. Needless to say, what they really cannot stand is when the simple truth about their policy stances produces its own criticism. Far from being pro-left however the ABC is overly cautious not to offend the right. Such caution is particularly evident at times of war. In 1991, the outcry over the ABC’s reporting of the first Gulf War was such that the Backchat program ran a special edition to help clear the air. The options were that the ABC was reporting objectively or that it was...
Tony Smith from Australia
In response to: Objectivity serves the powerful, and silences the oppressed
The war is just beginning
November 1, 2023
Julian Cribb has pulled together several disturbing scientific reports on climate. They should have the world on a war footing but other wars have taken prominence. In 2022 annual global mlitary spending reached US$2.2 trillion. And according to Cribb, US$1 trillion per annum is also spent on government subsidies to fossil fuel companies. Furthermore, McKinsey claims the world needs to spend another US$3.5 billion per annum on emissions reduction to achieve net zero by 2050. The spending deficit could be achieved by diverting the military spending and the subsidies to emissions reduction. But are we smart enough...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: Hallucinatory world: Governments blind as catastrophes besiege civilisation
A Comment on Tim and Simon’s Twist
October 31, 2023
Since reading the 2017 Indonesian law on elections I have wondered when there would be a challenge to its provision that prevented anyone under the age of 40 to stand for election for President or Vice President. And the outcome of the fourth challenge to the Constitutional Court mentioned by Tim Lindsey and Simon Butt is not so outstanding, except in the way that the decision was made. I am glad to see Tim Lindsey and Simon Butt acknowledging the integrity of Justice Sadli Isra. It will not bode well if his honest and open statement in his dissenting...
Owen Podger from Australia
In response to: A twist in Indonesia’s presidential election does not bode well for the country
Two peoples, an equal claim to self determination and sovereignty
October 31, 2023
Unlike some of the contributing writers to Pearls and Irritations on the Israel/Palestine conflict in general and the current situation of the Hamas attack and the Israeli retaliation in particular, I find Peter Roger's article Netanyahu's War presents some realistic and evenhanded analysis of some negative aspects of Israeli and Hamas policies and the possible worst outcomes for both the long suffering Gazan victims and also the many Israeli victims. I believe all the pleading and threats by the international agencies, and by hawks and doves from both sides who live outside the disputed land will not...
Michael Dorembus from Malvern East
In response to: Netanyahu's War
Finally the uncensored truth. . .
October 31, 2023
If you paint your enemy as depraved and not even fit to live, then you will be supported in 'cleaning them up'. The systematic degradation of the Palestinian population has been brilliantly 'stage-managed' by the Zionist state. They have described the Arab peoples as animals and not fit to govern themselves. The Palestinians have endured this barrage of insults and oppression and restrictions over decades and even been branded as 'not fit to live'. And now, the western press has the audacity to question their pain. . . and that surely makes them complicit in this contemporary genocide.
Glenda Jones from Carlton
In response to: How can you sleep at night Anthony?
The UNSC must act now on Israel's invasion of Palestine
October 27, 2023
The UN Security Council may, under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, determine the existence of a threat to the peace and to decide what measures shall be taken to maintain or restore international peace and security. In recent days, we have been informed that cruise missiles and drones were launched from Yemen in the direction of Israel but were shot down by the US Navy and that Israeli warplanes have struck targets inside Syria after rockets were launched towards northern Israel. Meanwhile 7,000 people, about a third of whom were children, are said to have been killed...
James Schofield from Aylesbury
In response to: The outside world must walk Israel back from the abyss. It cannot be part of the choir of incitement
We all need a mirror
October 27, 2023
Ali Kazak says… If Western countries are concerned for peace in the Middle East, then all they have to do is to make Israel accountable, recognise Palestinian people’s inalienable right to return to their homeland, to be equal with Jews and exercise their self-determination. I then add “And apologise!!” Now you have described our First Nations peoples' plight. How did the Voice fail, and Australians not see this? We all need a mirror.
David Farrands from Melbourne
In response to: Blindly supporting Israel
The No vote was racist
October 27, 2023
I would like to take issue with what Fr Frank has stated in his article about the Voice. The statement that The NO vote is not indicative of a racist or stupid nation is factually incorrect. For the past 8 weeks or so, Door knocking, Letterboxing and standing at Pre-polling booths in the Port Stephens electorate it is of general consensus from all who stood beside me that a majority of voters in general were either from mildly angry to those who were objectively hostile. We received threats of violence, intimidation by big burly tradies towards a...
PETER DOWLING from RAYMOND TERRACE
In response to: Frank Brennan: Rejected by the people who dispossessed and colonised them
Australia is selfish and lacks empathy. Ignorant too!
October 27, 2023
As reported in The Conversation recently, the research, practice and teaching of Australian history is in a parlous state, and getting worse. The 2nd last paragraph 'Why is this a problem?' is highly germane to Anderson's argument, but the whole article partly explains why much of Australia is ignorant of it's history, and is getting worse. Ignorance is probably another reason that the lies and misinformation disseminated by 'No' proponents apparently were believed and acted upon by many when voting. Better historical awareness should have made the 'If you don't know, vote No' slogan laughable, as it was...
Karen Sydow from Ballarat, Vic
In response to: Australia has shown itself to be a selfish nation that lacks empathy
Nuclear waste and our oceans
October 27, 2023
Thanks to Peter Sainsbury for another excellent piece “Environment: Oceans to the rescue: 7 watery ways to reduce greenhouse emissions” (22/10). Given the latest push from the Coalition to introduce nuclear power in Australia, nuclear waste could be added to the list of toxins polluting our oceans. “The first operations involving sea disposal of radioactive wastes took place in 1946 in the Northeast Pacific, about 80 km off the coast of California. During the 48-year history of sea disposal, 13 countries have disposed of approximately 140 PBq (140 x 1015 Bq) of radioactive wastes into the oceans” (International Atomic...
Fiona Colin from Malvern East
In response to: Environment: Oceans to the rescue: 7 watery ways to reduce greenhouse emissions
Smoke and mirrors policies
October 27, 2023
Would the U.S. and others (such as Australia) who are not calling for an immediate ceasefire, end to blockades and a workable and sustainable two-state solution - effectively condoning the forthcoming (continuing) ethnic cleansing / expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza - be willing to accept the million or so displaced from northern Gaza or, indeed, all Gazans who could well eventually be annihilated or left to die? Given their effective support for Israel's desire to have Gaza, they should be willing to resettle all Gazans in their own countries.
Kam M from Canberra
In response to: Support the strong, suppress the weak
Blaming Judaism is beyond reasonable comment
October 20, 2023
In the P&I article by Paul Heywood-Smith of 20/10/2023 regarding the hospital bombing in Gaza, it is stated: I rather think that a more likely scenario is that a government which believes that it is entitled to steal another people´s land because that land was given to the Jewish people by God, might also be persuaded that God also authorised the occasional white lie if same would assist in the recovery of the land that God had earlier given. I don't have a problem with Israel being criticised, even when I believe it's over the top, but really,...
Harold Zwier from Elsternwick, Victoria
In response to: Western reporters’ shameful cover-up of Israel’s hospital massacre: A postscript
Biden's hospital atrocity pretence
October 20, 2023
Gaza Hospital. It is interesting to note that US President Biden was far from unequivocal in his remarks in Israel on the attach on the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. “Based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you,” he told Netanyahu. Biden then added: “But there’s a lot of people out there not sure, so we’ve got a lot, we’ve got to overcome a lot of things.” Since the Hamas attack, a host of US spy satellites, drones and other means would have been on heightened alert, closely monitoring...
Paul Malone from Ocean Grove
In response to: Mass media reporters aren’t buying Israel’s hospital bombing story
BUT WHO CARES?
October 20, 2023
If the pen really is mightier than the sword, why are we still sickened to our stomachs by the western leaders' reaction to the wholesale genocide in Gaza? If articles like this, spelling out the savagery and wickedness of the Israeli attacks on a population, at least half of which, are children, are ignored by Mr Albanese and Ms Wong and their bosses in the USA what does that say about the people who purport to lead us? Reb Halabi couldn't be clearer in his condemnation of western world leadership, but who's listening? Who dares to speak out?
Sandra Ramini from Fremantle WA
In response to: HISTORY WHISPERS UNTIL IT SHOUTS
Triggers will slow planet wrecking
October 20, 2023
It was pleasing to read that, last year, investments in the global energy transition (US$1.1 trillion) equalled fossil fuel investments. However, as Peter Sainsbury explains, half of the transition investment was made by China and investment needs to “triple immediately” for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050. While Sainsbury is justified in pointing out that Australia is one of twenty “planet wrecking” countries for its “aggressive exporting of CO2 pollution”, it’s important to differentiate Australians from their governments. Australia leads the world with residential rooftop solar and two Australians, Professor Andrew Blakers and Professor Martin...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: Environment: Australia labelled a ‘Planet Wrecker’
Australia's capacity to address global heating
October 20, 2023
Peter Sainsbury has again collated a useful update on the current climate trajectory (“Environment: On track for 2 degrees of warming within 20 years” 15/10). Sharing both the ExxonMobil and the Global Climate Tracker trajectories was certainly educational. While ExxonMobil, who famously withheld knowledge about global heating from the general public, 46 years on, still thinks they can continue business as usual by promoting pipe-dream delay tactic non-solutions like carbon capture and storage and biofuels, Climate Tracker puts the world’s continued addiction to fossil fuels on notice. Although conservatives constantly exclaim that addressing Australia’s mere 1.3 per cent of the...
Amy Hiller from Kew
In response to: Environment: On track for 2 degrees of warming within 20 years
There are no 'No' winners
October 20, 2023
When my friend in Aotearoa rang me to say how she despaired for Australia when the Voice was lost, I reminded her to keep her anger not her despair. What has the 'No' vote achieved? I stood in the 40 degree heat at the polling booth in my local rural area and was so, so proud of my fellow Voices from the Heart! The 'No' campaigners were represented by a majority of 'old white men' (as a 'yes' voter noted) and they were lost in settler resentment and lies about what the Voice would take from their rights to own...
Diana Rickard from Tumbling Waters NT
In response to: Australian Politics has reached a dead end
The Korean War and Hollywood propaganda
October 20, 2023
This was only the first of the great US follies that we Australians have so slavishly followed in our frightened, isolated conservatism, leading us into the succession of catastrophies, for the countries and for our own young men, in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Is China to be the next catastrophy? Meg Hart is so very correct in her assertion that Hollywood has been a great propaganda machine, selling for mindless entertainment ('circuses') and obscene profit falsehoods about the 'goodies' (always handsome, overconfident and overbearing white males, with a thin sprinkling of exotic females for titillation) and the 'baddies', in...
Philip Keane from Geelong, Victoria
In response to: Meg Hart's 'Battle at Lake Changjin'
Captured by the fossil fuel industry
October 20, 2023
Peter Sainsbury’s research this week offers another valuable insight into the forces shaping how our climate is likely to evolve over coming decades. The Exxon-Mobil projections for 2050 demonstrate that this major fossil fuel producer sees sustained, substantial business growth between now and 2050. Climate Tracker confirm that the other major fossil fuel producers, and the countries - including Australia - that host their activities, are planning for that growth too. These revelations show that the fossil fuel industry is now completely confident that it is leading its host countries’ governments by the nose. They think they can continue...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills
In response to: Environment: On track for 2 degrees of warming within 20 years
DeGrowth and Steady State - another ideology?
October 20, 2023
De-growth and steady state concepts occur to me as a flattening of the reality of planetary life. At an ecological and evolutionary and energy viewpoint there is no 'steady-state'. Things are either flourishing or dying, and when the ecology is at it's best, there is great redundancy in its flourishing that is invigorated in that which dies. And over time ecological systems alter by all sorts of 'external' inputs. The planet and 8 billion people must flourish to reach 'steady state'. This does not occur to me as de-growth. It does occur to me as an incredible transformation of...
Owen Allen from Atherton Qld
In response to: Planned degrowth is needed to stop the collapse of civilisation: Mark Diesendorf
Dutton has much to answer for
October 20, 2023
This weekend Australia determines whether we accept the request of our First Nations people for a Voice to parliament, or whether we put the country back “another 50 years” as Indigenous activist Gary Foley claims. Foley should know. He established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra in 1972 and an Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern shortly after. Should the referendum be unsuccessful, it could well be the last one held. As Samantha Helps points out, the commonality to the challenges facing Australians is “sneaky, pathetic governance”. What could be more pathetic than Peter Dutton and the No case choosing...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: This land cries out in final warning
Trump's supposed misuse of sensitive information
October 8, 2023
It seems that the Australian media is assuming that American reports of Trump's supposed misuse of sensitive information applied to nuclear submarines to be supplied under AUKUS. These are Virginia attack class nuclear submarines that are not supposed to carry nuclear weapons. If they do, that would certainly be a big story. It would be a breach of the Treaty of Rarotonga, which we have signed and covers West Australia and the Fremantle submarine port. If Albanese agreed to let them carry nuclear warheads that would be in contradiction of everything he has said, including what he said at...
Brian Toohey from Australia
In response to: Trump allegedly shared potentially sensitive information about US nuclear subs with Australian billionaire
Why are we not there? Because Beijing won't give us visas
October 6, 2023
Hi Pearls and Irritations, I just read Bob Rogers’ lament on the lack of coverage of the Hangzhou Asian Games in Australian media. One can only ask oneself the thinking behind this total white wash? Bob wrote. Please pass on to Bob that one of the reasons it has not received much coverage, is that -- once again -- our requests for visas to report on it were not agreed to by the Chinese government. I tried for almost six months to get a visa. I wasn't allowed one. Frankly, I'm not surprised your contributors are unaware...
Will Glasgow from Australia
In response to: The biggest sporting event the West has never heard of
A CRY FROM THE HEART
September 29, 2023
Every time I read this great humanitarian I feel a twinge in my heart and spring in my spirit. He makes me believe that one day more Jews will find their moral compass and come to the conclusion that what they are doing to us, the Palestinians, in the name of their religion, is wrong and ask for forgiveness. Until the day that Jews around the world, push aside the shield of Antisemitism, raise their hands and say, 'Not In Our Name', Palestine, Israel, The Holy Land - call it what you wish, will never see peace. Thank you, Mr...
Jafar Ramini from Fremantle, Western Australia
In response to: WHEN WILL ISRAEL SEEK FORGIVENESS FOR ITS CRIMES AGAINST PALESTINIANS
The clear need for truth in political advertising
September 29, 2023
The classic cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. This, as Lucy Hamilton identifies, captures the heart of the No campaign. Subjecting us to a litany of misrepresentations and fabrications, this Trumpian campaign imagines so many potential costs that could arise from a Voice, and so few potential benefits. As Hamilton explains, we are being subjected to these distortions of the truth by people on the taxpayer’s payroll. We are paying to be wilfully misled. This is an absolute abuse of public money. In this age where Donald Trump has led many to doubt the trustworthiness of key...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, Vic 3127
In response to: The Voice reveals the urgent need for truth reforms
The echoes of assimilationism taught in our universities still haunt us
September 29, 2023
Many decades ago I was an honours student of anthropology at Sydney University. My thesis supervisor was W. R. ‘Bill’ Geddes. I was not fated to do outstandingly under him, but that’s another story. What haunts me now is his advocacy, not least in our one-on-one supervisory sessions in 1969, of assimilationism. It awakened no positive response in me - my family were of the left and always supported indigenous causes of another stripe. Was Geddes in some political relation to this idea or was it a peculiarity of his anthropology?
David Kelly from Sydney
In response to: Assimilation reemerges
Filling the hole - then what?
September 29, 2023
The article is an excellent contribution to filling the memory hole, as are so many of the P&I articles. But filling the hole is only the first step; the acquired knowledge has to be converted into action to be of any value. Besides voting for one of the largely identical political parties every three years or so, what am I supposed to do with the knowledge? How can I, as a citizen, make a personal and effective contribution to the political process? The problem seems to be not only the hole, but our form of democracy; an issue that P&I...
Erik Aslaksen from Allambie Heights
In response to: The mass media memory hole: Ukraine, Libya and war crimes
Disgusted!
September 29, 2023
Yes, a small bomb did go off in a marketplace, specifically at a time when the Han tended to shop there. But did it justify the obvious build-up of Chinese military strength on the streets and the imminent attacks on the Muslim religion itself - headed by the same enforced assimilation of Uighur children that Henry Reynolds article on what might have been the Australian model for the Han highlights so brilliantly. Could it be that your over-enthusiasm for all things (Han) Chinese blinded you to the blatant unfairness of this Maoist take-over of this Turkic nation for its mineral...
Jeremy Eccles from Sydney
In response to: Xinjiang: A Personal Perspective
Proposed cuts at ACU threaten work on Safe AI
September 29, 2023
This is particularly surprising given Chancellor Daubney's stated hope that ACU would play a central role in the development of ethical and safe AI. The cuts would end the positions for nearly every academic working at ACU on ethical AI. We believe this is an oversight, but a sign that the change plan is incompatible with Daubney's vision. In his speech to the Assembly of Catholic Professionals, Daubney said, As Chancellor of Australian Catholic University, I’d like to see our university playing a leading role as our society plays catch up in the formulation of legal and ethical frameworks...
Clayton Littlejohn from Melbourne
In response to: Has Australian Catholic University just lost the right to call itself “Catholic”
ACU and Post-Modern Epistemology
September 29, 2023
Epistemology is the foundation of the scientific method, of all human progress, of the other disciplines defended by the author here, and we all exercise an epistemology, whether or not it is trained and philosophical. Epistemology is central to all western philosophy since Plato. A better education in this is essential in educating students in critical thinking and problem solving skills, and would also be an antidote against our post-truth, conspiracy theory vulnerable times, and against the undermining of genuine expertise. The Arts & Humanities have never been as strong in Australia as they have traditionally been in most other...
Stephen Lake from Moss Vale, NSW
In response to: Has Australian Catholic University just lost the right to call itself “Catholic”
Enough is enough. Free Julian Assange.
September 22, 2023
I have come to the conclusion that I am living in a country that admires the policy and procedures of a police state. I may be wrong but when I see footage of a helicopter crew firing machine guns into a group of men I feel deeply upset. Especially when the integrity of the footage is questioned by governments which collude to blame one Australian citizen who chose to post footage of this dreadful event. Against the wishes of those countries who may have been effectively committing a war crime. I am the son of a father who spent his...
Dr Peter Willans from Coningham , Tasmania 7504
In response to: 64 Australian parliamentarians endorse diplomatic trip to free Assange
Expenditure priorities: AUKUS subs versus climate
September 22, 2023
In her article Elizabeth Boulton says: “It is surreal to imagine that the ONI report could predict anything [climatically] worse than what scientific reports already tell us” Quite so, but the non-release of the ONI report may have much less to do with the revelation of climate horrors as with the non-availability of sufficient funds to address the problems that it reveals because of prior AUKUS commitments. Within 24 hours of Morrison announcing his ill-conceived and enormously expensive AUKUS submarine deal it was embraced unqualified by Albanese and his inner sanctum. One of the criticisms mounted against the AUKUS deal...
Ian Bayly from Upwey, Vic.
In response to: Group think: Paralysis and the missing ONI climate security report
Why Labor is hiding the ONI climate report
September 15, 2023
The Albanese government is hiding the report by the Office of National Intelligence on the security threat posed by global heating. This report will say that by 2050 billions of people worldwide will suffer food insecurity and be on the move. It will advocate multi-billion dollar expenditure on climate mitigation, adaptation and measures to deal with hordes of climate refugees and domestic unrest. But largely as a result of toxic wedge politics such large expenditure presents Labor with a huge problem. Within 24 hours of Morrison announcing his ill-conceived and enormously expensive AUKUS submarine deal it was embraced unqualified by...
Ian Bayly from Upwey, Vic.
In response to: What is Albanese hiding? Maybe it’s the experts’ vision of the climate hell
It's time for urgent lifestyle changes
September 15, 2023
Growing up in the Cold War, when nuclear annihilation seemed imminent, our choice was to rebel and have fun: ‘we’re not here for a long time, we’re here for a good time.’ As Mark Beeson’s account makes clear, many of us Boomers have not yet shaken off that attitude, preferring to pursue what Jethro Tull dubs our ‘thoughtless pleasures’ to securing a healthy planet for our children and grandchildren. The danger of environmental collapse becomes more apparent each day, whether it’s melting ice-caps, devastating floods, or unprecedented bushfires. The continued and accelerating degradation of our environment, to support our ever-growing...
Chris Young from Surrey Hills, VIC
In response to: As good as it ever got? Hurtling towards the environmental abyss
Ending native forest logging is a trump card
September 15, 2023
The recent article by Bob Debus is a most useful summary of the value of our remaining native forests, and his call to stop logging them must be heeded (“A good start to urgent climate change abatement: end native forest logging now”, Sep 7). According to the 2017 WWF fact sheet, Tree Felling in Australia, “of the 1,250 plant and 390 terrestrial animal species listed as threatened, 964 plants and 286 animals have deforestation and resulting habitat fragmentation or degradation listed as threats.” Since then, climate change and the 2019/20 bushfires have made the situation even more serious. But Debus...
Ray Peck from Hawthorn
In response to: A good start to urgent climate change abatement: end native forest logging now
A BIG THANK YOU to Gregory Andrews.
September 15, 2023
This what I like about Pearls & Irritations... a TRULY INDEPENDENT Media Platform. A BIG Thank You to Gregory Andrews. Sadly, several MSM in Australia (the worst is Sky News, in my view) are biased, and deliberately misinformed / deceived the general public in their reporting. Australia governments (Federal and State levels) have the responsibility to take down these malicious MSMs before they do further harm to our economy, the wellbeing of our citizens and damage to our international reputation. Thank You
Kim Tanzy from Erina
In response to: Insulating foreign policy from domestic politics: The legacy of Marise Payne
WHAT A NATION!
September 15, 2023
Watching the machinations of a furious, deeply flawed US Administration's reaction to Chinese expertise would be pure comedy, farce even, if it were not so damaging and divisive. As an Australian citizen, recently returned to this country after 50 years abroad, I am terrified to my core that America will take us into a totally unnecessary, foolhardy war with China. Whereas this huge neighbour and trading partner of ours, our best customer and best supplier, can bring talent and technology at the highest level to our doorstep and at a fair price. Sandra Harris Ramini, former editor of Business Life...
Sandra Ramini from Fremantle WA
In response to: Our media won’t tell us but Huawei’s Mate60 is set to challenge iPhone
"Fascist" Politics?
September 8, 2023
Deeply conservative, non-inclusive, anti-democratic attitudes have been embedded in both American and Australian societies since the beginnings of their colonisation. That disposition is not new, but it has arguably shaped how both of our societies have evolved over several centuries, and why neither of them are as inclusive, progressive, socially just as most other western societies have sought to be. Nobody is inclined towards a particular reactionary view for the sake of it: it mirrors anxieties, but when we write about these political trends, nobody is analysing our societies on those deeper levels, nobody is asking how as societies...
Stephen Lake from Moss Vale, NSW
In response to: The Right is obsessed with gender.
The Voice: my perspective
September 8, 2023
I read with interest the article by Abul Rizvi. I feel his deductions are correct, but I feel the reason the conservatives are against the Voice is far more sinister. I have noticed that in Australian politics in recent years, there is far more impact of foreign powerbrokers in our politics. I was horrified when the Labor party supported Aukus, including buying badly designed US nuclear submarines. At any time 30% of these subs are out of service for repairs. One would think that after all the other disastrous military purchasing decisions over the years that the government...
Doug Foskey from Lismore, NSW
In response to: How I decided to vote in the upcoming Voice referendum
Missing the Point
September 8, 2023
Allan Patience provides an analysis of the behaviour of the majority of our politicians as well as of the debate on the upcoming referendum that would resonate with many Australians. But he fails to ask the question: Why is this so? We pride ourselves on having a well-functioning liberal representative democracy, so either this is not true, or then a liberal representative democracy in not all it is hyped up to be. The politicians we get are a reflection of the political system and that applies to the Teals as well, so how would Mr. Patience like...
Erik Aslaksen from Allambie Heights, NSW 2100
In response to: Nail in the coffin: Australia has run out of luck
Why we need an Earth System Treaty
September 2, 2023
In the midst of high inflation, growing homelessness and worsening food insecurity, it's difficult to find the time and the mental space to think about the mega threats addressed by the Earth System Treaty. However, the mega threats have grown out of the same inefficient, inequitable economic and political systems that are causing high inflation and a wide range of other security issues (e.g. insecurity relating to food, water, finances and nation states to name a few). Could Pearls and Irritations commission a Q&A, or something similar, on why we need an Earth System Treaty and how the...
Robyn Alders from Fullerton
In response to: Why we need an Earth System Treaty
Forest policy missing in action
September 1, 2023
Like Peter Sainsbury, I am deeply frustrated by the distinct lack of action to protect our forests and prevent bushfires (“Environment: Sleepwalking into our fiery future” 27/8/23). While governments continue to support logging of beautiful native forests and archaic ‘hazard reduction’ burn practices, the situation will only worsen. Not one of ten key recommendations from the 2020 bushfire royal commission has been implemented. Yet, solutions exist. Ceasing native forest logging in Australia would be sufficient for us to achieve our 2030 emissions reductions targets. Following the latest fire science and using drone technology to...
Amy Hiller from Kew
In response to: Environment: Sleepwalking into our fiery future
It’s simple mathematics
September 1, 2023
Mike Scrafton is right. Our government is failing to address the climate crisis adequately because of its “obsession with growth” (The intergenerational report – a climate fairy tale, 26/8). The unholy link between the crisis and growth is evident from mathematics, my former discipline. It is found in the long-established equation, I = PAT, which describes an environmental impact (I) as the product of three factors (P, A and T). Here’s how it applies to CO2 emissions from Australia’s energy industry. ‘I’ is the level of emissions, ‘P’ our population, ‘A’ (affluence) our per-capita use of energy, and ‘T’...
Ian PENROSE from Kew
In response to: The intergenerational report – a climate fairy tale
Avoiding scandalous commitments of "Forceposture"
August 25, 2023
Australian people must be encouraged to discuss and debate our Force Posture agreement with the U.S., because it contains deep, far reaching, irreversible dangers and commitments, and the risk of nuclear war. The U.S. Policy, as promulgated in the U.S. Congress, is for War with China once we have weakened Russia; the contrived war in Ukraine is the U.S. process of weakening Russia. The U.S. makes no secret of their intention to war with China, in about two to four years time; Australia will be obliged to increase the size of our military forces to comply with commitments...
Thomas Adams from Moe
In response to: Never-never submarines.
If the Democrats had principles
August 25, 2023
It's the Same Old, Same Old. If a principled newer party wins enough votes to worry an unprincipled Old Party and bucks the status quo, the good-ole party calls the real democrats traitors or trolls. Not really as simple as that, though, is it, Bob? In the US, the undemocratic first-past-the-post electoral system denies smaller players a chance. Green v, progressive voters sign up to only vote for Greens and progressive independents. Otherwise, they don't sign up or vote at all. Hard for the ALP to grasp this but we're different in Australia.
Diana Rickard from Lovina Bali
In response to: Real chance of Trump victory in the US election
Myanmar: No basis for armed Western intervention
August 25, 2023
The military government of Mynamar is not a very competent one but that is not a reason to overthrow it. I could point to many richer countries with incompetent governments. When I visited Myanmar people freely complained about how little development there was but nobody was asking for violence. The so-called democratic opposition... many different groups, armies, militias and individuals [with] .....substantial battlefield successes seems to be even worse than Tatmadaw. Teachers being killed for working for the government, singers murdered for for the same reason. The reason for the lack of news about Myanmar in the Western...
Jonathan Smith from Shenzhen
In response to: Why has the West given billions in military aid to Ukraine.. Myanmar
Concentrate on the people, not the Opposition
August 25, 2023
Anthony Albanese should concentrate on what his supporters want, not try to outwit or outmaneuver the opposition.
Clare McKay from Forster NSW
In response to: “Empty Vessel”: AUKUS tensions surface
“Their minds are not clear” – the late Evan Whitton
August 18, 2023
Evan would be loving the burgeoning success of Pearls and Irritations. Congratulations Quentin and John!
Elizabeth O'Brien from Sydney
In response to: “Their minds are not clear” – the late Evan Whitton