Much is made of the 21st century being a post-truth world. Many identified it when presidential spokesperson Kellyanne Conway defended White House Press secretary Sean Spicer’s fallacious claim about attendance numbers at Donald Trump’s inauguration. Kellyanne Conway infamously referred to Spicer’s assertions as “Alternative facts“. This became a catch cry of satirists, comedians and news […]
Politicians
Frydenberg’s maths problem
The media on both ends of the political spectrum promote Australia’s Liberal Party, as the party of economic management. Pandemics and recession have not slowed the recovery down. “Frydenberg spends the bounty to drive unemployment to new lows.” reads one title from the Conversation. The Australian says of their Treasurer: “Australia to aim for less […]
Dob in a bludger
The paucity of unemployment figures used by the government hides the reality of how few jobs there are.
Guide to an insurrection
The sequence of events leading to the Insurrection in America as old religious, racist, white men invaded the Capitol
Pass the Baton
Why Conservative and Privileged Old White Misogynistic Men should have no voice in the Climate Debate
Donation Transparency
Why transparency in political donations matters in the fight against government corruption
Voting Values
Voting is the expression of the rights of an individual to participate in their government, but like any expression, it can be misdirected, coerced, bought and sold. Political Parties understand the role and importance of marketing, propaganda and salesmanship in seeking your vote, irrespective of whether it is in your or your community’s best interest, […]
The Banality of Evil
When we contemplate great evil, who comes to mind? Genghis Khan, Vlad the Impaler, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Idi Amin, Kim Il Sung, Josef Mengele, Saddam Hussein, Emperor Nero and so on? Too easy. The reasons are apparent, the history unrefuted and the weight of affirming opinions […]
Comparative corruption and transparency
The media and public’s desire for a Federal anti-corruption body and the search for revealing transparency has met with a lagging response by the government. From the mantra of “on water matters” when resisting transparency around refugee issues to the failure to submit Peter Dutton to the High Court over his extraordinary profiting from the […]
The wages of pollution is tax
How is it that recent parliamentary bloodletting over tax breaks and electricity pricing continues to detract from steady planetary exsanguination? Are we now to accept that farm tours, milk levies and infrastructure spends are to be the ready tourniquets for our Australian economy? The political focus on Tax breaks to increase wage rates while the […]