Analysis

  • War by other means

    War by other means "America's ignoble isolation of Vietnam for the defeat it sustained in the Vietnam war is coming to an end — and not before time." responded the Australian editorial to the news that the US Senate had voted on January 28 to

  • Checkmate by Bishop?

    Checkmate by Bishop? To paraphrase Paul Keating, every pet shop galah is talking about Bronwyn Bishop. Bishop has been elevated to almost regal status by a delighted Canberra press gallery starved of any real political debate between the two

  • For a shorter working week

    The release of the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics employment figures was greeted with enthusiasm by the federal government and big business alike. "Sensational", exclaims Chris Caton, chief economist for the Bankers Trust Australia. "At last:

  • Did they run or were they driven?

    Did they run or were they driven? Last week US State Department officials announced — with glee — that Cuba's future is "a prolonged, slow decline waiting for a catastrophe". They remained coy about their commitment to ensuring this becomes

  • Too much power

    Too much power Canadian publisher Conrad Black's need to feed his enormous ego by revealing personal and political exploits (exploitations) in his self-important autobiography has lifted the lid once more on the shady dealings between leading

  • ACOSS aims wide

    ACOSS aims wide "At least initially, someone will have to reduce their disposable incomes if job opportunities and working hours are to be shared more widely and the needed expenditure measures financed." That sounds familiar: is it another

  • Troops out now!

    While government and opposition ministers ruminate ceaselessly about what kind of "exit strategy" is needed to get troops out of Iraq, the anti-war movement has been shouting its strategy: "Troops out now!" Prime Minister John Howard may have

  • Latham walks a tightrope

    Socialist Alliance national executive member Brian Webb reports from the ALP national conference. There was a lot to be cynical about at the ALP national conference — the record number of business observers, the corporate venue, and the new

  • Refugee rights to be sacrificed to 'national interest'sedition.

    At a media conference in Canberra on April 7, called by PM John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello to release the report of the Taskforce on Reducing the Regulatory Burden on Business, Howard revealed that his government was "reviewing" the process

  • Don't rely on the politicians

    The war on Iraq was one of the most opposed wars in history. Millions of people marched to stop it before it began, and now that it clear that it was a war based on lies, outrage against the main warmongers, particularly US President George Bush, has

  • Australian police are no solution to PNG's problems

    Tim O'Connor, Port Moresby As I was sitting under a swaying palm tree, dangling my feet in the rippling waters, feeling the soothing afternoon breeze and chatting with articulate villagers about the dramatic changes in the environment caused by a

  • Wheat-for-bribes

    Over the last few weeks it has been confirmed by the government-initiated commission of inquiry that AWN Ltd, Australia's wheat export monopoly, paid $300 million in bribes to the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein between 1999 and 2003 to