Issue 61 : 9 to 15 September 2021
The AUKUS alliance and the submarine deal: Oz betting it all on red, white and blue
Hugh White | ABC Radio National
Australia signs up for World War Three — but at least we get subs!
Guy Rundle | Crikey
With AUKUS, Australia has signed up for a fate more than a century in the making, set to be caught in the drift of globalised arms races and race wars, big and small.
Afghanistan: This defeat is different
John Hinkson | Arena Online
If we can say that a world dominated by the West in varying degrees has been a reality for four centuries, this defeat is not simply the end of that kind of imperialism. It reflects mechanisms that combine technological and military dominance with an incapacity to put in place an imposed social order
Morrison and Berejiklian are attempting to shift the blame for Covid on to us
Richard Denniss | The Guardian
In an amazing feat, both leaders shift attention away from their past performances and on to future freedoms to be granted, based on decisions made by the public
Experts warn Indigenous vaccination rates must increase before reopening country
Sarah Smit | National Indigenous Times
Seventeen of the 20 worst regions for vaccination of Aboriginal people are in Western Australia and Queensland, with experts warning that COVID-19 could get into WA’s remote Aboriginal communities within 30 days of arriving in the State.
A Covid welfare state or corporate vultures feeding?
Louisa L | Vanguard
During the 2020 bushfires, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian won kudos when she unfailingly gave precedence to frontline experts in daily media conferences.
Churning
Hannah Appleby | Overland
Churning is a tactic employed by employment services and employers, specifically in the disability sector, to extract the most amount of energy and time from an employee before they burn out and return either to hospital, unemployment, or both. On a strategic level, churning keeps the working class subdued, tired, hungry, doubting, sick.
Always Bet on Black (Power)
Chelsea Watego | Meanjin
I write this from a place in which I am meant to be powerless, literally. At the time of writing this essay, I had just made the decision to withdraw a race and sex discrimination complaint I had taken against my employer, the University of Queensland, and two white male academics
The harder questions we should be asking on R U OK? Day
Amber Gwynne | Overland
Twenty Years After the Tampa Affair, Australia’s Left Must Keep Standing Up for Refugees
Nick McKim | Jacobin
9/11: Remembering the horror and fantasy of America’s moment
Guy Rundle | Crikey
There were probably more striking views of the second plane going into the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001, but Australians of a political bent got the most spectacular, and simulacral: the report of the first plane hit interrupted Channel Nine’s screening of The West Wing.
How the anti-lockdown fundraising machine keeps running
Tom Tanuki | Independent Australia
Locked down residents call for rent relief, less policing
Isaac Nellist | Green Left
Liveable Income Guarantee: a rich country can do better
Brian Toohey | Michael West Media
McCain food workers set to win pay rise
StarTrack drivers vote to strike for job security
Jim McIlroy | Green Left
Australia is shaping up to be the villain of COP26 climate talks
Angela Dewan | CNN
Australia’s climate failures are costing its economy – and Scott Morrison’s government is being blamed
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
The latest OECD economic survey of Australia details an economy that has weathered well the Covid storm, and yet while the Morrison government will enjoy such talk, it will not like the advice that comes with it – recommendations to improve our low productivity growth, inequality and to massively reduce our emissions.
Why only socialist internationalism can solve the climate crisis
David Blinderman | Red Flag
International cooperation at a historic, unprecedented scale is essential if the world is to avert the looming climate catastrophe. Anyone can see that and, for their part, our world leaders are happy to go through the motions.
Dead water. The plan that failed the environment
Scott Hamilton, Stuart Kells | The Mandarin
The aim of the plan was to improve the health and sustainability of the Basin’s river systems, while continuing to support farming and other industries. It was signed into law, with cross-party support, in 2012. Many problems followed. At its most basic level, the plan didn’t take climate change into account.
The mental health crisis facing young Australians
Santilla Chingaipe | The Saturday Paper
Despite government promises to increase funding during the pandemic, Australian experts are identifying a mental health emergency for young people.
Is capitalism structurally indifferent to gender?
Andreas Bieler, Adam David Morton | Progress in Political Economy