Issue 75: 27 January 2022 – 2 February
## Invasion Day & Pericolonialism
The forever war
Claire G. Coleman | The Saturday Paper
It’s January already. Here I am, writing yet another opinion piece about the 26th day of this month, the day on which the nation celebrates the invasion and genocide imposed on my people and my sacred Noongar Country and all other Aboriginal people
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy Is Still Fighting for Justice
Zoe Holman | Jacobin
We’re not publishing today (Editorial January 26)
Evelyn Araulen | Overland
Backlash after sacred Moojar tree used to flavour gin
Giovanni Torre | National Indigenous Times
Democracy’s Enemy Within
Esther Anatolitis | Meanjin
As attacks on the façade of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House finally come to an end, it’s easy to miss that attacks on the institution itself have been going on for years—but they haven’t come from violent mobs.
## CoviDemocracy
Hospital plan: ‘Try very hard to avoid getting Covid until March’
Rick Morton | The Saturday Paper
In October, the government made a new plan for hospitals – but it was never updated and one of the key drugs it was based on still hasn’t arrived.
Joining the dots: Pandemics and political economy
Rehad Desai | Green Left
The optimistic view that the virus will burn itself out by the end of next year clearly has no scientific basis in reality. Vaccine inequity will make it likely that more deadly mutations of the virus will emerge in the Global South with an ability to increasingly escape the efficacy of the vaccines.
Censoring Joe Rogan Is No Solution to Vaccine Misinformation
Branko Marcetic | Jacobin
As the election draws closer, Scott Morrison is caught in a Covid dilemma of his own making
Richard Denniss | The Guardian
In an era of rightwing populism, we cannot destroy democracy in order to save it
Jeff Sparrow | The Guardian
Backyard blues: anti-democratic forces rise across Asia as autocrats grab more power in pandemic
Michael Sainsbury | Crikey
Trash the trading: there’s an urgent need for lasting political change
Guy Rundle | Crikey
And a Labor win would be the perfect opportunity for the Greens and independents to put principles above politics.
Australia hits new low on Transparency International Corruption Index
Alan Austin | Michael West Media
In the 1970s, Migrants From Turkey Built a Thriving Socialist Movement in Melbourne
Eda Seyhan | Jacobin
Biggest barrier to saving the Reef is a political class in climate denial
Imogen Zethoven | Pearls and Irritations
Omicron disaster intensifies political instability in Australia
Mike Head | World Socialist Web Site
With little popular support for the Labor Party, except in the negative sense of wanting to oust the Coalition, there are mounting fears in the ruling class that any election will result in an unstable, minority government.
COVID apathy is contagious
Tom Tanuki | Independent Australia
## Economics
Long way to go for our economy to be less unequal
Ross Gittins | AgeSMH
We need to change our economic priorities to benefit the many, not the few – that means more secure jobs and fewer greedy businesses.
The market thinks rates are about to go up because of inflation. The market could be wrong
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
Why not take Australia’s Reserve Bank at its word? It will hold fire on interest rate rises until there’s higher wages growth
They should treat the healthcare system like they do the military
Tom Gilchrist | Red Flag
When was the last time you heard the army announce that it had run out of soldiers and was bringing in extras on 457 visas? You didn’t. Because the military, unlike the healthcare system, doesn’t face resource problems.
NSW nurses and midwives protest unsustainable conditions
Viv Miley | Green Left
## Visual Economics
A prime minister who lives by the photo op dies by the photo op – and Grace Tame owes Scott Morrison nothing
Van Badham | The Guardian
Never has Australia had a prime ministership so self-conscious of image-based branding. Morrison’s most intimate encounters with meal preparation, poultry housing and even his own pants are so relentlessly thrust into the national consciousness that one longs to de-invent photography.
The imminent crisis of mind
Paul Gardner | Arena
Teachers across multiple settings are reporting much the same thing: that young children are now starting school lacking the level of oral language of their counterparts a decade ago.