Bartlett’s Blog

Those who say they accept the general consensus about the threat of rapid and serious climate change but pretend we can prevent it without major and rapid changes to our lifestyle are the real climate change deniers. Even though I strongly disagree with those who genuinely believe that climate change is either not real or doesn’t pose a significant economic, social and environmental threat, I can cope with that ...

The latest figures show that in 2007-08, Burma became the single greatest source country of refugees brought into Australia under our humanitarian program - 2 961 out of a total of 10 799.  Regionally, the intake split fairly evenly between people from Middle-East and south west Asia, people from the rest of Asia and people from Africa.  The media release from Minister Chris Evans states that the first ...

I’ve just realised that a week ago was the fourth anniversary of starting up this blog, which gives me cause to reflect on how tiresome it is to still see the stale, dead-end ‘journalists versus bloggers’ argument still being aired far too often. This recent, very over-defensive effort in The Australian is an example - written by Christian Kerr, who developed his career through commentary in the independent media ...

It is disappointing, but sadly not surprising, to see this report in the Canberra Times suggesting the Coalition is planning to adopt a more explicitly anti-migrant position. Despite all the evidence about the demographic inevitability of a shrinking labour force, growing international mobility (including record emigration from Australia) and the latest research showing the significant net economic benefit migrants create for Australia, the political temptation for the ‘Liberals’ is ...

OK, I give in. Can someone tell me why Peter Costello would be any good as Opposition leader (other than the fact the press gallery obviously like the idea, which I acknowledge is not something to be sneezed at when a party is deciding on leader)? Some years ago, I remember endless media speculation about the condition of Tony Lockett’s groin and whether it might stop him playing in ...

After many years and hundreds of millions of dollars, the new immigration jail detention centre on Christmas Island has finally been completed – and of course stands empty.  A range of community based human rights organisations were recently able to inspect the detention centre.  This report on the Amnesty International website gives a good idea of how wasteful and inappropriate the facility is. I have always been baffled by ...

I thoroughly recommend reading this fabulous account in the New York Times (found via The Interpreter) of the Chinese Communist Party government’s efficiency in ‘regulating’ protest demonstrations during the Olympics. they spent nearly an hour going over the myriad rules for demonstrations. These were detailed and complex, and, most daunting, I would have to submit a list of every single person attending my demonstration. The list had to include names and identity ...

I am pleased to see the federal government has formally announced a trial allowing up to 2500 people from neighbouring countries of Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea to do seasonal work in Australia. In doing so, they have shown up the failure of courage and policy integrity of the previous government. The Opposition’s complaint that this proposal is “rushed” is simply false.  The idea has been debated ...

Last week I attended a funeral in Townsville for Yvonne Butler, who was one of the state’s most dedicated campaigners on the Stolen Wages issue.  I have written a number of times on this blog about the issue and the  poor record of the Queensland state government. Whilst the response from government has been far short of what still needs to be done, much of the credit for ...

There was an interesting piece on the value of blogging in the Education section of The Australian by Steven Schwartz, the Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University, who started his own blog last year. His straightforward assessment of the interactive benefits of genuine blogging is just as applicable for politics, business, academics or many other fields as it is for a university leader. He also provides a very clear rejoinder to the mainstream ...

I am sure there are lessons to be learned from the Northern Territory election result - which may even yet see the Labor government tipped out of office – but I wouldn’t suggest I know what all those lessons are. Still, if the reported comments in this story are anything to go by, even long-time federal Labor NT MP Warren Snowden isn’t sure yet what the lessons are yet ...

Beneath the focus on the Presidential contest in the USA, hundreds of other electoral contests are also taking place for Congressional and state-based seats. Reports about a couple of those contests recently caught my eye. These two links tell of Rashida Talib, a Muslim woman of Arab descent who has just won the Democratic primary for a seat in Detroit – in a predominantly Latino district – getting 44 per cent ...

The Federal Opposition's Indigenous Affairs shadow minister, Tony Abbott, is spending three weeks in a community on Cape York in far-north Queensland. He highlights one of the real difficulties for parliamentarians in meaningfully engaging with Indigenous (and to some extent also other) communities.  The problem with politicians getting to know the issues in indigenous townships is that we tend to suffer from what Aboriginal people call the 'seagull syndrome' — we fly ...

I have been a dyed in the wool Obama fan from the time I read his books last year. It isn’t overly edifying watching him do the inevitable and unavoidable ‘tracking to the centre’ since he secured the Democrat nomination, but understandably he wants to win, and I think the rest of the world also needs him to win in a very big way. In any case, the ...

The economic ramifications of the further fall in house prices in many parts of Australia are being widely debated. Hopefully, it will not cause any let-up in the pressure for further action to address the continuing crisis in housing affordability. Apart from anything else, these house price falls are unlikely to provide much relief for those in the private rental market, which is where the worst price pressures ...

Since finishing up in the Senate, I have been trying to take the opportunity to do a range of different things, focusing on areas where I think I can be useful and/or which I find interesting or enjoyable. Apart from spending more time in pastimes like music or social cricket, and speaking at and attending events about  human rights, animal welfare and the environment, a lot of my ...

This report from Reporters Without Borders details the decision by European satellite company, Eutelsat, to stop broadcasts into Asia of an independent US based Chinese-language broadcaster NTDTV, using the dubious claim that the halt is due to a ‘technical problem’.  NTDTV includes stories on human rights issues amongst its coverage, and not surprisingly the Chinese government has condemned its material. Equally unsurprisingly, they have applied commercial and political pressure to satellite ...

I’ve mused a number of times about the potential impacts of blogging on politics and politicians, and the differences between various countries. One longstanding blogging politician is Peter Black, a Liberal Democrat member of the Welsh Assembly, who has been at it for over five years. He has written an interesting piece on the impacts of blogging and the internet on politics, focusing particularly on Wales, but also the UK more ...

The International Olympic Committee has been putting on a gold medal performance with their attempts to look surprised by the Chinese government’s brazen censorship of the internet and restrictions on the actions of journalists, in breach of the pledges they made when the were awarded the Games. Here's a link to the IOC's Fundamental "Principles" of Olympism, which includes many noble assertions, such as "Olympism seeks to create a ...

It is wonderful to see the news that the federal government plans to finally scrap mandatory indefinite immigration detention and adopt the common sense (and much cheaper) approach that people should not be locked up for extended periods just because they are without a valid visa, unless there are compelling reasons to do so.  Immigration Minister Chris Evans’ speech outlining the changes is available here.  It is worth reading ...