Category: Australian politics

Prognostications from the Hon. P.J. Keating

30th July 2003

An interesting read for all Keating fans is to be found at Margot Kingston’s blog. In a speech entitled The New Global Mosaic delivered to the Local Government Unlimited Conference in Queenstown, New Zealand on Monday, PJK reflects on the three economic long waves of the 20th century, and how he expects the third wave (the one we’re in now) to peter out in the next half dozen years unless there is some action in North Asia. He also comments on the current US administration’s aggressive unilateralism, and that unless there is a return to a more liberal notion of internationalism, there will be a ‘geo-strategic uncertainty of a kind that is debilitating and broadly unnecessary’.

A snowflake’s chance on an increasingly warm planet

18th June 2003

Recent research suggests that global warming is likely to occur faster than first thought. Given the trend in US foreign policy (“You’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists“) and the very explicit way in which members of the ‘coalition of the unwilling’ are being treated (e.g. Chile, Canada, France), the new ‘friendship’ between the US and Australia will be increasingly difficult to break, especially with AUSFTA to bind the relationship. What chance then of John Howard signing the Kyoto Protocol so long as the US doesn’t?

There’s a first time for everything …

28th February 2003

I read today that Dr Mahathir has been critical of John Howard and Australia’s position on Iraq. It’s a bit of a worry when I share similar views to a guy whose record on human rights can hardly be described as exemplary. Mahathir’s anti-Western stance is legendary, of course, with Aussie-bashing among his favourite pastimes. For this reason, his views are likely to be shrugged off by Howard, Downer et al. On this occasion, however, Asia’s most famous recalcitrant has got it right IMHO.

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