Issue 41: 22 – 28 April 2021

April 29, 2021April 29, 2021 editor

There is an alternative to war in the South China Sea
Rashad Seedeen | Independent Australia
As China becomes more assertive in the South China Sea, rival claimants have beefed up their military capabilities but there is a better path

Decoding ScoMo: the hidden story and messages in his Pentecostal mashup
David Hardaker | Crikey
Crikey has decoded what the prime minister said at the Australian Christian Churches conference. It reveals a mashup of Pentecostal stories, grand prophecies and more.

Climate justice won’t be achieved by Scott Morrison clinking glasses with bankers and bosses
Jeff Sparrow | The Guardian
You know the drill: the tedious presentation of environmentalists as effete weirdoes (cue the Bill Leak drawing of a gimp suit), who sip fine wines as they simper about their carbon footprints.

What happens if the German Greens win the chancellorship?
Guy Rundle | Crikey
Germany’s Green Party is within reach of the country’s highest office. If and when it takes power, will it be necessary to create a party beyond green?

Progressive Populism Has Transformed Australia Before — It Could Do It Again
Liam McLoughlin | Jacobin
In Australian politics today, the neoliberal consensus seems unshakable. But the experience of the Curtin and Whitlam Labor governments shows the potential of progressive populism to deliver social change — a potential we can also glimpse in the recent growth of the Greens.

What have our governments done to tackle rates of Indigenous custody?
Jack Waterford | Pearls and Irritations
In many cases, any “cheek” will see a familiar cocktail of charges – offensive words, resisting arrest, and assaulting police, in circumstances where it is one side’s word against another, and magistrates are overwhelmingly predisposed to preferring the evidence of cops.

Uncovering the Many Eric Hobsbawms
Emile Chabal, Anne Perez | Jacobin
Eric Hobsbawm’s work spanned everything from jazz to the history of banditry, in thousands of texts he wrote in several languages. A new project has brought together his writings in a searchable database — offering readers a goldmine of work by Britain’s greatest Marxist historian.

Australia’s recession is ending, but for the poorest, financial hardship will increase
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
The latest estimates of Australian household income, wealth and costs show clearly that if you want to reduce the level of financial pain for low incomes, raising jobseeker works.

Morrison’s budget challenge: stop the economy’s roar turning to a meow
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
Do what the women’s movement has long been demanding and make childcare free.

Who’s holding the hose?
Stuart Macintyre | Inside Story
A popular explanation for the vaccination debacle is that it confirms the federal government’s incapacity to undertake essential services.

The arc of justice
Margaret Simons | Inside Story
Let’s use the quest for justice as our measure. Are journalists speaking on behalf of those who lack power? Are they exposing facts that powerful people don’t want seen?

No consent for Morrison’s messy taco milkshake video
Michelle Pini | Independent Australia

Climate activists shouldn’t call the cops on each other
Anneke Demanuele | Red Flag

Climate Council: ‘Too late to limit warming to 1.5°C’
Patrick McDonald | Green Left Weekly

‘If we want to make Black Lives Matter, changing the Constitution isn’t the answer’
Lidia Thorpe | National Indigenous Times

Bring Uncle Ken Canning home
Kerry Smith | Green Left Weekly

ASIO, police and politicians give cover to the fascist threat
Dave Blinderman | Red Flag

Continuing the war in Syria
Yanis Iqbal | Green Left Weekly

Women’s support for Trump surprising, but real
Joanna Psaros | Independent Australia

Western governments shed crocodile tears over Uyghur oppression in China
Tom Bramble | Red Flag

With a stronger quarantine system, Australia could offer more help to those trapped in India
Hassan Vally | The Guardian

Australia examines modern slavery laws amid concerns over products linked to Uyghur abuse
Daniel Hurst | The Guardian

Morrison Government makes life even harder for struggling Australians
Tarric Brooker | Independent Australia