Welcome to Eureka Street

back to site

Keywords: Election 2019

  • MEDIA

    Sense and censorship in social media crackdown

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 03 April 2019
    5 Comments

    The thrust of the Morrison government's changes is one of heavy handed and forced deferral, outsourcing government policing by vesting it in social media platforms. Israel's Cyber Unit, by way of contrast, has been seeking the same object via more subtle means, collaborating with Facebook and YouTube to remove errant posts and content.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Hubris and hate speech in Mark Latham's Nation

    • Moira Rayner
    • 26 March 2019
    11 Comments

    How is it that with so few people 'on the ground', with sharp divisions among its spokespeople, and with the flight of PHON candidates, once elected, to continue to hold their seats as 'independents', the party may sneak into a position where, as Ashby and Dickson mused, they 'hold the balls of the government' in their sweaty little hands?

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Policy, not paranoia, is the antidote to Trump

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 26 March 2019
    3 Comments

    The Mueller investigation was meant to be the confirmation of every parochial instance of anti-Trumpism. The mechanism was the supposed Russian connection. It provided a perfect distraction on domestic politics, taking attention away from debates on refugees and borders and discussions on poverty and social reform.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    'Virtue signalling' and other slimy words

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 20 March 2019
    17 Comments

    The slimy words are those that convict their targets of simulating virtue. They include the old favourite 'bleeding hearts', the perennial 'political correctness' and the most recently minted 'virtue signalling'. They are slimy because they purport to be counters in rational argument but dismiss opposed arguments without engaging with them.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    People with disabilities need royal commission

    • Justin Glyn
    • 06 March 2019
    3 Comments

    Last month, Parliament mandated a royal commission into the treatment of people with disabilities. Now we hear it will not proceed before hearing from all states and territories. People with disabilities are most in need of strong centralised protections. The federal government, while giving with one hand, has been taking with the other.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Election year fear and loathing

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 27 February 2019
    6 Comments

    It looks certain that over the next three months before the federal election fear will dominate Australian public conversation. Even if we deplore the appeal to fear, it is worth reflecting on why politicians indulge in it, under what conditions it is successful, and how it is best responded to.

    READ MORE
  • ECONOMICS

    Election sweeteners a family affair

    • Joe Zabar
    • 21 February 2019
    5 Comments

    Both Labor and the Coalition would be wise to consider revisiting the Howard-era Family Tax Benefits to provide targeted relief to families. Both have taken their share out of the FTB bucket as a way to balance the budget. By doing so, they have left many families worse off. The restoration of some of the cuts to FTB would be a good a start.

    READ MORE
  • INTERNATIONAL

    Indonesian perspective on Medevac

    • Carolina Gottardo, Nishadh Rego, Lars Stenger
    • 21 February 2019
    8 Comments

    On 7 February in Manado, Sulawesi, Sajjad, a 24 year old man who had just finished a degree in IT, doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire. He died six days later. On the day of his death, Australians woke to the government's claim the passage of the Medevac Bill would restart boats from Indonesia and weaken Australia's borders.

    READ MORE
  • RELIGION

    Supporting those on the margins

    • Frank Brennan
    • 18 February 2019

    'We can do this better by breaking down the silos and binding together our concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.' Opening Keynote Address by Fr Frank Brennan SJ at the Catholic Social Services Australia National Conference, Port Macquarie 19 February 2019.

    READ MORE
  • AUSTRALIA

    Navigating the post-Medivac ugliness

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 15 February 2019
    16 Comments

    Having failed to prevent tinkering to the border protection regime, the Morrison government returned to the well Australian politicians have drawn upon when faced with electoral crisis. Mathias Cormann was no less crude in adopting a mode that speaks wonders to the desperation of a government awaiting its electoral deliverance.

    READ MORE
  • ENVIRONMENT

    Australia needs its own Green New Deal

    • Osmond Chiu
    • 11 February 2019
    14 Comments

    Just as the focus of post-war reconstruction was not merely demobilisation but the maintenance of full employment, developing social security and economic development, decarbonising Australia must involve rebuilding faith that politics can deliver a better Australia. We need to ensure our response leads to a good society.

    READ MORE
  • ECONOMICS

    Venezuela beset by American dirty tricks

    • David James
    • 30 January 2019
    14 Comments

    If you wish to peer into the heart of darkness, the nexus between big oil and big money is a good place to start. Those who control the energy market and the financial markets control the world. The latest victim of this brutal intersection is Venezuela, a country that has made the mistake of having the biggest oil reserves in the world.

    READ MORE