James Robertson
Canberra
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Two things reliably influence public opinion: new facts, or a new way of looking at things. I offer clients a bit of each. Consultant.
Articles by James Robertson
Queers for Palestine
If you found yourself channel surfing in Gaza between 2007 and 2009, you may have happened upon "Tomorrow’s Pioneers." The children’s show, which aired for four seasons on the Al-Aqsa television network, features a young hijab-adorned Palestinian girl named Saraa accompanied by a costumed animal. Skits are used to educate the audience about the importance of fighting for Palestinian statehood.
Improving young people’s wellbeing
#BeeWell was co-founded by The University of Manchester, The Gregson Family Foundation, and Anna Freud, a mental health charity for children and young people, which, together with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, launched the programme in 2021. The programme expanded into Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton (HIPS) in 2023.
Re: Chronic fatigue syndrome: Outcry over Cochrane decision to abandon review of exercise therapy
Dear Editor, The National Institute of Clinical Excellence ( Nice ) is right re fibromyalgia and ME in that physical lifestyle / ergonomics 24/7 which includes sleep style is the prime cause. Scientifically this includes biomechanics and ergonomics and these apply to sleepstyle as much as to work and leisure. Children need to be taught and a consensus regarding detail is essential. Patterns of rest and movement are the key to prevention, as is knowledge of what can go wrong.
An analysis of 2024 UK general election manifesto speeches using text...
With a general election fast looming in the United Kingdom, parties are starting to launch their manifestos to set out how they wish to run the country. As with politics, leaders spend a lot of time talking, but saying very little. To combat this, I wanted to analyse the speeches given by the two major parties in the UK to find out what they really mean. To do this I will be using a method of text analysis called text networks.
Contenders step up as Palaszczuk calls time on historic leadership
As few other leaders have done, Annastacia Palaszczuk took the tides of electoral fortune at their shallowest ebb and rose to power. After nine years in power, Queensland’s Labor Premier ended speculation on Sunday with the announcement she would retire from politics by the end of this week. “When I led this party from an opposition of just seven members, I said that the first election will be like climbing Mount Everest,” Palaszczuk said.
Patrick Dodson bids farewell with a warning
Senator Patrick Dodson, the man dubbed the “father of reconciliation”, has announced his retirement from Parliament. Dodson called time on a career that has spanned public service, the priesthood and politics on Tuesday, and received a standing ovation from Labor colleagues. His resignation, set for Australia Day, follows his diagnosis with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a condition that largely kept him on the sidelines during the recent campaign for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
Size of Parliament could rise to stop democratic decline
It’s a bold proposal for a country famous for disliking its elected representatives: Should Australia have more members of Parliament? A report published on Monday by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters makes the case for increasing both MPs and senators, while raising questions about whether those currently in office can adequately represent their constituents.
Scheme to supercharge renewable capacity powers up
The government is expanding its Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) to drive the development of new renewable energy projects. An expansion of the underwriting scheme announced on Thursday is expected to double the renewable energy capacity of the nation’s power grid. The move aims to stave off a likely shortfall of a government target of achieving 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Currently, Australia boasts about 32 gigawatts of renewable energy within its grid.
PM navigates choppy diplomatic waters on sonar confrontation
Did he or didn’t he? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese won’t say if he spoke directly with China’s President about the injuring of Australian Navy divers with sonar pulses after a confrontation with a People’s Liberation Army warship off the coast of Japan. The controversy goes in part to the finer points of diplomatic protocol.
Liberal senator at a loss to explain immigration detention quick fix
A tough-talking Liberal senator has been left at a loss when asked to explain his proposed quick fix to a High Court immigration challenge. Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson criticised the government for not having a plan when it came to dealing with the release of detainees. The court last week struck down a Coalition government law that allowed people to be held in immigration detention centres indefinitely, including after their sentences were served, if they could not be deported.
ScoMo’s second act? Ex PM’s coy answer on a comeback
Scott Morrison is on the comeback trail. When not fending off questions about his secret self-appointments or travelling, the former prime minister has spent 18 months cutting a forlorn and mopey figure on Parliament’s backbenches. But over the past fortnight, he has been sticking his head above the parapet with a frequency that only ever means one thing in political life. First came a trip to southern Israel and a tour of the scene of the October 7 attack.
Peter Dutton finally crosses the line in Question Time
Peter Dutton finally went too far. On first assuming the job of Opposition Leader, Dutton said he had a good relationship with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “He would say that we’ve got a respect for each other,” he said. That goodwill has run down progressively over the past 18 months, especially during the Voice referendum. But it took until Wednesday for Dutton to make the Prime Minister visibly, incandescently angry.
Tories' Cameron comeback has uncanny Australian echo
ANALYSIS In the days of Empire, Britons called Australia their exact opposite, or the antipodes. But an Australian closely watching British politics this week – and the surprise appointment of former prime minister David Cameron as foreign secretary – might see a mirror image. Cameron’s comeback, with perhaps a little more than a year left to run on the term of a government in trouble, reminds of Bob Carr’s drafting to the equivalent role towards the end of the Gillard government.
Parliament divided on Gaza as international alarm grows
The federal government’s position on Israel’s escalating offensive in Gaza drew criticism from both sides of politics on Monday amid rising international concern about the safety of Palestinian patients in hospitals and civilians seeking shelter. Air strikes in Gaza killed 13 people and destroyed the cardiac ward of the Palestinian enclave’s main hospital as Israel’s invasion entered its sixth week as the civilian toll eclipsed 11,000.
Israel under pressure to stop attacks on civilian sites
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has implored Israel to stop attacks on health facilities in Gaza after several hospitals were directly hit in a series of devastating air strikes. Australia’s concerns echo a broader international outcry and calls to uphold humanitarian law as a war on track to be the bloodiest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entered its sixth week.
Albanese travel schedule in the firing line
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has defended Anthony Albanese’s travel schedule as he continues a diplomatic blitz. The Prime Minister was back at it on Wednesday and holding meetings at the Pacific Islands Forum in Rarotonga the day after he had hailed a new chapter in previously troubled relations with China. Marles came to the PM’s defence after some commentators and the Opposition portrayed his travel commitments as excessive or indulgent.
Albanese looks to future as China trip concludes
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has concluded a historic visit to China by opening a new chapter in the Australia-China relationship, one that might transcend the limits of disagreement. Amid the grandeur of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the Prime Minister emerged from a meeting with his Chinese counterpart with an agreement to resume regular dialogue and a list of potential areas for future co-operation.
Dutton at a crossroads over Liberals' future
Peter Dutton is at a crossroads. The future of Bridget Archer, the Liberals’ most prominent rebel MP, hangs on his choice of path, but so does the party’s strategy for the next election. Archer is a moderate Liberal whose willingness to break ranks and speak her mind has endeared her to the public but angered party conservatives who have reportedly been planning to challenge her preselection. On Monday, she signalled her intention to stare down any challenge.
China trip sees trade at the top of PM's agenda
Anthony Albanese said cementing Australia’s most significant trading relationship has been the main focus of the first day of a landmark visit to China. The Prime Minister’s political opponents have cast his diplomatic mission to China, the first in seven years, as a personal frolic or distraction from managing inflation. But speaking from a major trade show in Shanghai, Albanese said diplomatic efforts to stabilise the relationship with China were about the economy.
Morrison sounds China warning as Australia advances diplomacy
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has warned Australians against welcoming a thawing relationship with China before a landmark visit this week. Foreign Minister Penny Wong and PM Anthony Albanese will travel to Beijing on Saturday for a visit, including the first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on home soil in seven years. But Morrison said Australia should be wary of the breakthrough three years after Beijing cut off communication with his government.
China trade in PM's sights as he continues diplomatic blitz
Trade will be at the top of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s agenda as he sets off for China and the next phase of a diplomatic blitz. Fresh from last week’s state visit to Washington, Albanese takes off again on Saturday, US time, for Beijing and Shanghai for the first visit to China by an Australian leader since 2016 and a total breakdown in relations. The PM, who has faced conflicting criticism over his itinerary this month, said the travel would boost trading ties and the national interest.
Albanese, Biden sit down to a full plate
Meetings, and even lunches and dinners between American presidents and Australian leaders are not infrequent. But a state dinner is an honour rarely conferred on our prime ministers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s reception on Thursday was only the seventh in the nearly 150 years the White House has held them.
Australia deploys soldiers as Middle East conflict escalates
As the risk of a protracted and bloody conflict looms across the region, Australia will send planes and troops to the Middle East. In an extraordinary move cloaked in operational secrecy, two Royal Australian Air Force planes and a “significant” but undisclosed number of soldiers will be flown to an unnamed location if the escalating conflict threatens Australians in the region. The announcement came as Foreign Minister Penny Wong said “nowhere near enough” aid was reaching the besieged territory.
Misinformation the next battle as dust from Voice ballot settles
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email Partisan debate over the Indigenous Voice to Parliament may be cooling, but the referendum has left behind a new fault line in Australian politics over the spread of false information online. Fresh from leading the successful No campaign, conservative political action committee Advance Australia has its sights on new draft legislation that would oblige social media platforms to tackle mis- (unintentional) and dis- (intentional) information.
Misinformation the next battle as dust from Voice ballot settles
Fresh from leading the successful No campaign, conservative political action committee Advance Australia has its sights on new draft legislation that would oblige social media platforms to tackle mis- (unintentional) and dis- (intentional) information. “Australia has overwhelmingly rejected division,” said Matthew Sheehan, a director of Advance in an email to supporters.
China rethinks wine tariffs ahead of landmark Albanese visit
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email In a significant diplomatic breakthrough, China has moved towards lifting tariffs on Australian wine, the last outstanding embargo imposed during a recent fraying of relations. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the development on Sunday before flying to Washington DC, where he will become the first prime minister in more than a decade to deliver a speech to American lawmakers.
States left in shock after High Court's EV tax ruling
A landmark High Court ruling could completely reshape state and federal government finances and how Australians fund them – with taxes and charges. The court on Wednesday struck down a Victorian levy on electric cars, finding the state government did not have the power to impose it. News of the tax’s demise was immediately welcomed by environmentalists and electric car enthusiasts set to save an average of $380 annually.
Iran sanctions as Middle East edges towards 'abyss'
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has imposed sanctions on dozens of Iranian individuals and organisations involved in the country’s contentious nuclear program. Australia will renew and expand United Nations sanctions to pressure Iran to uphold its obligations and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify its nuclear program is being used for peaceful purposes. “Iran’s proliferation of ballistic and cruise missiles raises tensions in an already volatile region,” Senator Wong said.
Teal MPs deeply polarised over Israel attack
Parliament’s crossbench has divided over the crisis in Israel after two Sydney teal MPs joined the Greens to back a motion accusing Israel of war crimes. Greens leader Adam Bandt’s proposed change to a motion condemning deadly attacks in Israel 10 days ago labelled the anticipated future deployment of Israeli troops as a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Albanese retreats as rivals move in on Indigenous policy
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refused to say what he would do for Indigenous policies on Monday following the crushing defeat of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. Asked in question time if he still backed a campaign promise to reach a treaty with Indigenous Australians or establish a Makarrata truth and reconciliation commission, Albanese declined to answer. “Makarrata is simply a Yolngu word for coming together after struggle,” he said.
Albanese retreats as rivals move in on Indigenous policy
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refused to say what he would do for Indigenous policies on Monday following the crushing defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum. Asked in question time if he still backed a campaign promise to reach a treaty with Indigenous Australians or establish a Makarrata truth and reconciliation commission, Albanese declined to answer. “Makarrata is simply a Yolngu word for coming together after struggle,” he said.
Coalition to 'unleash surprises' after Voice rout
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email An ascendant No campaign has vowed to capitalise on the defeat of the Voice referendum by pushing for an overhaul of Indigenous affairs policy. Voters’ overwhelming rejection of the Voice may be a setback for constitutional change and progressive Indigenous affairs policy promoting autonomy in remote communities. Lead No campaigners Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine advocate for greater integration of remote Indigenous communities.
Albanese won't commit to meeting of national security committee
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refuses to say whether the Cabinet’s National Security Committee will meet to respond to the crisis in Israel as political divisions overshadowed Australia’s response to the attack. Former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma and others, including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, have called for the committee to consider the domestic implications of the events in Gaza.
Call for Australia to prepare for rising tensions after 'horrific' rally
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denounced “horrific” displays of anti-Semitism in Sydney as an escalating crisis in the Middle East leads to warnings of further tensions in Australia. Demonstrators chanted “f— the Jews”, and burned an Israeli flag at the forecourt of the Opera House on Monday night, as its sails were illuminated in blue and white in what was intended as a sombre display after Hamas’ assault on Israel. Albanese condemned the protestors and appealed for calm.
Australia condemns violence after Israel's deadliest day
Australian leaders have condemned attacks that wrought the deadliest day in Israel’s history as the conflict entered its third day. Saturday’s devastating attacks by Hamas militants resulted in more than 700 Israeli deaths, more than 2000 injuries, and at least 100 hostages, the country’s worst death toll from a single assault since 1948.
Albanese to walk away from Voice if referendum flops
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will walk away from the Indigenous Voice to Parliament if the Australian people reject the October 14 referendum. The Voice has been central to Albanese’s prime ministership since he made establishing it the opening pledge of an election-night victory speech last May. But the PM said on Sunday that if voters declined a proposal to entrench the advisory body in the nation’s Constitution, he would not establish one through legislation.
'Bonkers mad' electoral fraud claims don't add up
Claims of electoral fraud are going viral on social media, ahead of the referendum on October 14. Figures on the extreme right of politics have seized on a statement made by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that people could theoretically mark their name off at different polling stations and cast more than one vote. These attempts to stoke fear about the integrity of Australian elections are outrageous but also overlook the obvious. Can people vote twice in Australian elections? Yes.
Qantas' most elite club may run at a loss, but it seems to pay off
Senators played musical chairs this week at Australia’s most elite club. Disclosures show Greens’ Senator Barbara Pocock resigned her membership of Qantas’ Chairman’s Lounge, an invitation-only lounge the airline’s former boss Alan Joyce described as “probably the most exclusive club in the country”. But Senator Jacqui Lambie has been welcomed back behind the unmarked walnut-panelled doors.
The woman toying with toppling premier
The fate of Australia’s last remaining Liberal premier is in the hands of the furious woman he just pushed out of cabinet. Elise Archer resigned her commission as Tasmania’s Attorney-General last week only to take up a new role in a high-stakes political revenge play worthy of the title House of Cards: Hobart. Archer is thinking about going back on her plans to quit Parliament altogether. Much hangs on that choice, especially for Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
Bricks and mortarboards: International students buying property but crackdown looms
New figures show that the tax office has approved more than 2300 international students to buy properties in Australia. Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil will this week reveal a clampdown in response to reports finding widespread abuses of the student visa system, including by organised crime.
Josh Frydenberg's point of no return cements Dutton's leadership
Josh Frydenberg has closed the door on a return to politics, and on what many Liberal MPs were hoping would be the party’s path out of purgatory. The former treasurer was one of six Liberal MPs to lose to independent challengers in urban electorates in 2022, the worst election wipeout in the party’s history.
'No' campaign hailed as a populist pivot
The man who led the populist campaign to have Britain quit the European Union says the No campaign against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has brought Australian politics to its Brexit moment. “I’m watching, I’m cheering,” said Nigel Farage this week of declining support for the Voice. Farage is known as the man who brought about a 2016 referendum that led Britain to vote to leave the European Union. Britain and the EU eventually severed ties in 2020.
ACCC forecasts gas supply increase, shortage fears disappear
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says there will be a stable gas supply for Australian homes next year and an increase in gas exports, in a new report that belies recent fears of shortages. In the first quarter of next year, gas supply to Australia’s east coast will be 13 per cent higher than last year, the competition watchdog projects in the interim report of its gas inquiry, released on Wednesday.
The Book of Morrison? Memoir points to new kind of revelation
What role did Christian faith play in Scott Morrison’s prime ministership? During his office, Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister dismissed questions about whether he separated his private faith and public duties. But Morrison’s memoir Plans for Your Good – A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness, whose publication date was announced on Thursday, might clear things up. Former leaders usually sell books with the promise of dishing dirt on their former colleagues.
Mundine plays down break with No camp
No campaign spokesman Warren Mundine says voting against the Voice to Parliament referendum will speed up the treaty-making process with Indigenous Australians. In an interview on Sunday, Mundine diverged from and inverted some of the main arguments against the referendum used by campaign groups like Fair Australia, for which he is the joint spokesman. His comments come after an increasingly polarising debate about the referendum reached its most bitter point last week.
Aussie politicians unite in push to release Julian Assange
A group of 63 Australian MPs and senators have jointly signed a letter demanding an end to the prosecution and incarceration of Julian Assange. “We are resolutely of the view that the prosecution and incarceration of the Australian citizen Julian Assange must end,” the federal politicians said in a letter published on Thursday.
Voice falsehoods in focus as legal storm brews
An Indigenous academic is threatening to sue Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over what she alleges is a defamatory social media post as debate about the role of misinformation in the referendum reaches new heights. Professor Marcia Langton claims to have been misrepresented by Dutton in a post on his Instagram account that claims she branded No voters racist and stupid.
Fossil fuel costs
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email Australians are worried about the mounting costs of climate change and overwhelmingly want fossil fuel industries to pay for it, new research has found. Some 74 per cent of Australians support a pollution tax, 66 per cent back a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry, and 59 per cent support a tax on fossil fuel exports, according to the Australia Institute’s Climate of the Nation report released on Tuesday.
$3 billion seals deal for Labor's housing fund
The Greens will pass the government’s housing fund through the Senate after Labor agreed to spend an extra $1 billion on social housing. Monday’s deal ends months of a political stand-off over the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), which the Greens had refused to support and decried as an inadequate response to the nationwide shortage of affordable homes.
Liberals hatching plans to reclaim heartland lost to teals
Share Twitter Facebook Reddit Pinterest Email Former New South Wales treasurer Matt Kean has refused to say if he plans to run for federal politics as the Liberal Party formulates a plan to recapture seats lost to teal independents. Sky News reported on Sunday that another former state minister Rob Stokes was considering nominating for the teal-held seat of Mackellar after an approach by senior party figures.
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