Defending Australia: Tributary State or Hard Target?

The reminder of oath at the beginning of the obstacle course, Tully Battle School, 1990. 

Danger On Our Doorstep by Jim Molan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jim Molan's book is provocative but also sets out some possibilities that are certainly not far-fetched. While I felt the future scenario description was not quite in the same vein as Nevil Shute's On the Beach, it was certainly disturbing. Molan also mentions James Curran (p. 176), so I intend to read Curran's Australia's China Odyssey: From Euphoria to Fear next. I was fortunate enough to attend Curran's book launch and I bought a signed copy.

One of Molan's statements that struck me relates to the potential impact of AUKUS (p. 171):

Ironically, AUKUS increases both the likelihood that China can be deterred from taking military action, and the likelihood that a war will occur sooner.

Like many others, I had long hoped that Australia could manage our strategic relationships with the Untied States and China simultaneously, but China's "wolf warrior" diplomacy and its willingness to use trade as a "weapon" changed my tune pretty quickly. I was also concerned by the Morrison government calling out China on the origins of COVID-19 among other issues. But at the same time, teaching political leadership and considering the likes of Neville Chamberlain and his firm belief that appeasement was working only makes me glad that Morrison had the fortitude to call China out on its shenanigans.

On a more mundane level, the term "Contested Logistics" (p. 222) was new to me. One of the United States' major strengths has been its logistics capabilities. But Australia is not so well-regarded. For example, following the shortages of toilet paper and food in Australia on a whim during the pandemic, it is clear that Australia's capacity for basic logistics is lacking, which makes me wonder about our capacity for contested logistics. Molan discusses "national capacity" as the population's willingness to fight and win a war, and this is an area that bothers me the most.

In my most recent article in The Spectator Australia, I argued that universities following woke trends from the US are making us "harmless". Molan (p. 258) argues that universities (along with other institutions) have a key role to address "deficiencies in skills enhancement". But I think universities are not even close to having a meaningful impact on skills enhancement and we are encouraging neither "self-reliance" nor "resilience" (p. 268) in our students. In fact, I believe we are encouraging a fragmented society that neither could nor would be willing to win a war, even in self-defence. While I do hope I am wrong, and that the current woke trend will pass, Molan paints a picture that we should not ignore if we are to continue to live our rather blessed lives as we have done since the end of World War II.

This is an important book in that it raises a number of issues and scenarios that policymakers need to heed. But I do believe that policymakers in the national security sector are so institutionalised as to reinforce these very institutions through returns that reward sticking with the norm. Molan does suggest that Australia needs a national security strategy that is not just run by Defence.

But with interest groups in the Defence Industry sector so tightly entwined, I suspect we will have to suffer the initial losses that democracies tend to suffer at the beginning of wars as we have done in previous wars. Molan provides ample warning for this, but I really do worry that contemporary Australians would rather we became a "tributary state" than stand our ground or present a hard target.

Molan writes that when people ask him what we need to do, they immediately rattle off (p. 252):

B-21 bombers, F-22 fighters, conscription, reform of the Federation, nuclear weapons, a nuclear power industry...

I, too, have been guilty of looking to technologies rather than strategies. But at the same time, we do not have real policy debates where we focus on obtaining rigorous answers to difficult strategic questions. If we leave it up to the existing institutions, we get the same result. If we open it up to free and open debate, we are telegraphing our intentions.

Neither solution is adequate, and while Molan provides some of the important questions, he does not provide the solutions (nor could one person). Nevertheless, this is quite a thought-provoking work and it is well worth a read as it provides an important starting point for an Australian national security strategy.

View all my reviews

The Slippery Slope to Socialism

The Slippery Slope to Socialism

The threat to individual liberty that began in universities in the United States gathered momentum during the pandemic. That threat is evident in our legal system and is now materialising in the energy sector. Unfettered government control over our individual lives is the logical endgame of current climate change policy if we allow it to happen. And let’s not kid ourselves – we’re on a slippery slope to socialism.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, The Slippery Slope to Socialism:

In our current geopolitical situation, we find ourselves in a situation that is the antithesis of the Anzac spirit.

Australia is on the slippery (and deadly) slope to #socialism.https://t.co/PbGXvewMBs

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) December 29, 2022

Towards a National Digital Comms Strategy

Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy

My latest article in the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy:

Abstract

In  the  early  21st  century,  governments  developed  national  broadband  plans  to  supply high-speed broadband networks for the emerging digital economy and to enable digital services  delivery.  Most  national  broadband  plans  are  now  focused  on  moving  to  ever  faster  networks, but there is a growing need to develop national digital communications strategies to focus  on  the  demand-side  of  the  broadband  “eco-system”.  In  this  paper,  we  outline  the  approaches adopted by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Korea to assist in the development (or renewal) of Australia’s national broadband strategy, or, as we prefer, national digital communications strategy. The paper draws on the lessons learned from the case-study countries and the recent pandemic and considers some theoretical aspects of the broadband ecosystem. We conclude by suggesting a process to re-evaluate Australia’s national digital  communications  strategy  as  it  rolls  forward,  and  to  incorporate  recent  international  trends  to  develop  demand-side  policies  to  enable  greater adoption  and  use  of  existing  broadband infrastructure and digital services.

Citation

de Percy, M. A., Campbell, L., & Reddy, N. (2022). Towards an Australian Digital Communications Strategy: Lessons from Cross-Country Case Studies. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 10(4), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v10n4.650 

Year in Review: 2022

Donald the Silver Laced Wyandotte Rooster, Keswick, 15th December 2022

This year has been so hectic I barely recall what happened. The last time I felt like this was in 1993 after I graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon. It was the same year my first son was born (the day before First Class started in July 1993) and the entire time was a blur. Ending this year with COVID has been a real downer, and instead of celebrating Christmas, I am fighting lethargy as the left-over work builds up yet again to ensure there is no year-end downtime.

I began the year with jury duty which was disturbing due to the nature of the case and annoying because the nature of my employment means that anything that disrupts my work, like leave or jury duty, just means that the weeks of work back up until I return. Beginning and ending the year this way really sucks. But there have been some major highlights that make it a successful year overall.

One thing that was an important driver for an improved life was taking a hearing test. I discovered that I have suffered critical hearing loss in my left ear, and severe hearing loss in my right ear. The suburban shopping mall hearing test centre wanted to charge me some $12,000 for state-of-the-art hearing aids. The hearing aids were so good when I trialled them that I didn't want to take them off. Alas, the price was a rip-off and I found Specsavers Audiology had a similar product that, when combined with my Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) rebate and my Defence Health rebate, the top product was around $1,350 out of pocket. It has been life-changing.

Returning to the defence fold was life-changing, too. I didn't know that there is such a thing as the Australian Defence Veteran's Covenant and the veteran's pension supplement as part of the DVA White Card that all former serving ADF members are now eligible for - this has been around for years. I had walked out of the military when I became an academic, determined to pursue a different life. But the Army has always been a big part of my family. In the New Year, I will continue to put forward claims from the injuries I sustained during my service. As I age, these are becoming more pronounced and will only get worse.

My experience in the last few weeks of my regular army service was pretty sad. Come to think of it, it replicates many of the same events that happened mid-career as an academic. I played the lieutenant too well and after a leadership change, my previous loyalties were detrimental to my future. A combination of ego and pride didn't help. So there's a huge lesson already to reflect upon.

But a major change was returning to the RSL and becoming the representative for the Gunning Chapter of the Yass Sub-Branch. I renewed my membership and helped out with ANZAC Day 2022 where I led the march, read In Flanders Fields, and then did the same again for Remembrance Day 2022. I feel connected to the community of veterans here in Gunning and, along with playing snooker when we weren't in COVID lockdowns or impacted by the flooding, that has been a highlight.

I was assigned jury duty in the first half of the year although this was not a highlight. I ended up being excused after a cock-up by the legal parties, but it took two weeks out of my work that I then had to catch up on. This led to some rather unfair consequences for me and I railed against the injustice. But rather than carry on like a dick, the experience led me to return to politics in a way I had not done since becoming an academic. It has been a rewarding experience and I hope I can make an impactful contribution in that space next year.

I also joined the Royal Automobile Club of Australia, a long-held desire, and I have taken advantage of the Club on numerous occasions to either stay, park the car, or have a drink or coffee before and after events I have attended in Sydney. Regrettably, I missed two of the most desirable events in the last part of the year due to COVID. It really sucked but I have been Stoic about it - I can't control my body or its illness so there is no use carrying on about it.

In the early part of the year, I was appointed to the Australian Research Council's College of Experts. This has been a privilege and I have learnt so much already. It provides the added advantage of enabling me to conduct research using the consulting fees I receive as research funding. On top of this, I was awarded a bonus for my research output in 2021, so I had funding to travel to Korea and Perth for research and a keynote address. Two weeks in Korea was a highlight of the year, and there are so many opportunities there for future visits. It is a lovely place and I cannot wait to explore it in more detail.

By mid-year, we had finished work on our book, COVID-19 and Foreign Aid: Nationalism and Global Development in a New World Order. It was quite the effort but we got there in the end. Along with the book, I wrote one chapter and co-authored two more.

During the winter, we travelled to Cairns and met my partner's mother and two of my three grandchildren. COVID lockdowns were particularly sad times for weddings and welcoming in new family members. And Cairns was unseasonably cool so despite staying in the faded grandeur of the Kewarra Beach Resort, there was no suitable weather for swimming. 

Then we took an actual holiday and went to Singapore as soon as the borders were open. We had a great time at the Regent Hotel and enjoyed some fine dining, some great bars and local food, and generally had a great time. Although I have been to Singapore many times, it was good to explore some of the finer things and not have to be working. Nevertheless, I was contacted by work via Facebook asking if I was teaching the next day - someone forget to mention the changed timetable - this sucked and it set me up for an even greater backlog before returning to work. Leave has often been not a break from work, it is a pause where your work backs up for however long you are away. That will be different next year. Leave will be a time when I do not work and I have a relaxing time and when I return, I begin new work with no backlog.

There have been several sad events this year. My best good little man Pablo died in my arms after a long period of liver failure. He is still in my dreams every night and I miss him terribly. Our buff Sussex rooster also died but we have a new rooster, Donald, who is full of character and will hopefully be big enough soon to not only protect himself but protect the flock. Lenny the cat has hyperthyroidism and needs daily medication and little Frida the mini-foxie is also on her last legs with heart failure imminent. Frankie has her moments with Addison's Disease. Desi the indestructible cat with a case of an incurable cherry eye due to his skin fragility syndrome still has a death wish but is now over five years of age, defying the usual outcome of being euthanised at 12 months of age. Joseph the Vet retiring and moving away was a sad end to a rewarding relationship, but the new vets at Gundaroo are keeping me happy.

Thankfully, our other cats Karl and Valentine remain blissfully healthy. We are down to six chickens plus Donald the rooster. We still have an ongoing supply of eggs despite the girls pushing five years now. While having so many pets around the same age can be quite tragic as they pass, without their little souls around my feet, I doubt life would be quite as enriched as they make it.

Creating opportunities for internships has been a highlight, with two successful interns this year, one leading to a journal article in the closing weeks of December. I was elected as the Vice President of TelSoc after spending the previous year as a board member, and I was re-elected to the Vice Chair position with the ACT & Southern NSW Chapter of CILTA. I was also granted full membership to the Australian Nuclear Association and my aim to conduct research work in the three main areas of networked infrastructure policy, telecommunications, transport, and energy, now has a practical element and an industry focus as I learn from my various networks and the events that have been inspiring this year.

I have tried to focus on politics as a contest of ideas and, rather than sit on the sidelines as Le Flaneur Politique, I changed my focus from being non-partisan to "remaining aloof from the groupthink of the contemporary academy". With the change in government, the "wokerati" have taken every advantage and are hell-bent on destroying the way we live. It has become increasingly obvious that free speech and academic freedom are being curtailed. I am a big believer in "use it or lose it", so I took a few opportunities, and made a few mistakes, but managed to get there in the end.

I also participated in numerous events, conferences, technical site visits, webinars, seminars, and so on. Here is a comprehensive list of events I attended or participated in: Recent Events Roundup: August to December 2022. 

But my change of heart really began when I read an article in the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter, where someone was arguing that our energy security depended on even more renewables. I have watched the Cullerin Wind Farm nearby with its 15 turbines sitting idle for weeks now. One thing that is becoming clear is that these turbines require maintenance, and their lifespan is not as long as originally thought. How these "renewable" infrastructure items provide energy "security" is beyond me. So I penned an article with a colleague on the need for nuclear energy to be on the table. Let's just say that there was an issue with academic freedom.

Those who not only celebrated Labor's election win but who then celebrated the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and went on a tirade about decolonising everything and "acknowledging country" as a performative measure of morality are plain wrong. Our economic situation and Labor's over-the-top socialism will prove that in due course.

Then there was the focus on "toxic masculinity" in my professional body. If you are woke, you can say whatever you like no matter how wrong and this leads to accolades and celebrations. If you do not celebrate the stupidity that is leading us down the garden path to economic ruin and social fracturing which is a security threat in itself, then you run the risk of being ostracised or labelled with a number of woke insults that stick like mud to the proverbial blanket. These situations led me to delete my Twitter account and not renew my membership in this professional body gone woke. Leaving Twitter had nothing to do with Elon Musk, but rather that it had become a cesspool of wokeness that was driving me to despair. Leaving my professional association means I no longer write to an audience that hates what I write and actively aims to destroy the way I live, but it also means I can focus on things that are important to me. 

After watching the news media go after the Coalition, especially The Guardian and the ABC, and watching what my woke friends on Facebook were debating, and then seeing what the Albanese Government has already done to threaten our freedoms, way of life, and the rule of law, I decided to take sides. The jobs and skills summit set me off. I'd been writing a few articles and submitting these to a variety of places but to no avail. There was nowhere for my ideas. I had experienced this with a journal the year before where I wrote a controversies piece. The article was rejected with the two reviewers writing responses longer than my piece to debate what I had said before rejecting it. Obviously, the article had the desired effect but the wokerati have taken over the academy in strength.

I looked at how The Guardian had infiltrated Australia, and I remembered writing an article for The Punch when it appeared briefly in Australia many years ago. I miss The Bulletin, that Australian weekly magazine, and The Monthly and The New Statesman and a bunch of other old-school mastheads were so woke I couldn't bear it - the left-wing orthodoxy has infiltrated everywhere. Except for The Spectator. 

For the last few weeks of the year, I decided to write my ideas in a space where they would not be shut down by the wokerati. Even The Conversation went so woke as to censor people's comments for things the editors did not agree with - this is completely against the liberal ideal and I will not contribute to it. To date, I have written ten articles for The Spectator and it has been a highlight. As I found my own voice and I am learning not to self-censor (as opposed to completely removing my filter!), I have found other outlets.

I wrote a submission into the Morrison's Multiple Ministries saga that was cited but rejected by the Inquiry. My article on Rewiring the Nation versus nuclear led to a television interview with Fred Pawle. I had some success began quoted in the media on transport-related topics, and I was a keynote speaker on three occasions at the CILT World Congress (hydrogen), the Goulburn Soldiers Club (nuclear), and the 8th Bienniel ACSPRI Methodology Conference (using historical constitutionalism as method). I missed two great events in late December due to illness, but hopefully, the opportunities will be there next year.

What to do next year? I will continue to write as my research and ideas dictate, but I will focus on an audience that is interested in my ideas. Writing for woke audiences would be easy - I could write on woke topics and be published, but it would be a form of manipulation that smacks of intellectual laziness and I cannot be so untrue to myself.

I want to get my podcast happening regularly and start writing books (I have two editors waiting on proposals). I have a pipeline of journal articles now but I will not focus on A* nonsense journals that do not engage with industry or reflect the importance of research for Australia. I also hope to make inroads into public policy in NSW and Australia more generally and will continue to contribute submissions to public inquiries when I can. I hope to continue to develop internships for the best and brightest of my students and I hope to continue to contribute to The Spectator. To have one of my articles in the print edition would be great.

These are scary times for Australia. After years of living in Canberra and being part of the academic bubble, I am so glad I moved to Gunning and became part of the federation again. Listening to the opinions of the forgotten people has been refreshing. Writing for The Spectator has given me a taste for free speech like I have never had before. I will use it and not lose it.

It has been a long, hard road this year. But like all years, I have lived up to my credo - my guiding principles are Love, Liberty, and Learning. On reflection, I have been successful on these three fronts this year.

Recent Events Roundup: August to December 2022

Mr Heath McMichael, HE Mr John Ma’o Kali CMG OBE and HE Mr Robert Sisilo

I've attended some excellent events both online and in-person recently. I have listed them here for posterity.

• 3rd August 2022 - Sydney Institute - George Williams - Referendums: Then and Now.

• 8th August 2022 - Sydney Institute - Aaron Patrick -  - Malcolm Turnbull & The Liberal Party's Civil War.

• 11th August 2022 - Centre for Independent Studies - Tony Abbott and Salvatore Babones, Indian Democracy at 75: Troubled or Triumphant? I asked a question here.

• 15th August 2022 - Sydney Institute - Greg Craven and Louise Clegg - The Voice to Parliament.

• 16th August 2022 - Sydney Institute - Fred Hilmer - Rethinking Corporate Governance.

• 22nd August 2022 - Australian National University - James Curran, John McCarthy, and Allan  - ANU Canberra Times Meet the Author.

• 23rd August 2022 - CILTA and AcademyGlobal - Vivian Chen, Melanie Cottell, Glenn Johnston, Jo Bailey, and Vinh Thai - Supply Chain and Logistics Talent: Career Development Strategies.

• 24th August 2022 - Australian Institute of International Affairs - Heath McMichael, John Ma’o Kali and Robert Sisilo: Challenges Facing the Pacific: Views from the Region.

• 25th August 2022 - Sydney Institute  - Daniel Mulino - The Future of Welfare in Australia.

• 30th August 2022 - Dominic Perrottet - NSW Parliament House.

• 5th September 2022 - RAF Museum Conference: Meaning, Memory and the (Mis-)Remembered Past [online].

• 7th September 2022 - Sydney Institute - John Howard - A Sense of Balance – Defining Us as a Nation and Guarding Our Future.

• 13th September 2022 - CILTA and AcademyGlobal - CILTA Private Tour of Rail Operation Centre in Alexandria.

• 19th to 21st September 2022 - TLOG Conference 2022, Panel Chair, Incheon National University, Republic of Korea, and TLOG Technical Site Visits.

• 20th September 2022 - Bank of Korea Museum visit, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

• 22nd September 2022 - Korean War Museum visit, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

• 29th September 2022 - Tales from the DMZ: A Soldier’s Life on the Fenceline. Asia Society Korea, Charlotte Suite, Lotte Hotel, Seoul.  

• 6th October 2022 - CEDA: Victor Dominello - Portfolio update | Customer service and digital government.

• 7th October 2022 - Duntroon Society: Lunch with Matt Anderson, PSM, Director of the Australian War Memorial.

• 12th October 2022 - Australian Research Council - Indigenous studies in ERA transition.

• 12th October 2022 - CILTA and AcademyGlobal - The Future of Warehouse series: Part 1- Seminar, Latest thinking in Network Design and Warehouse Automation [online].

• 13th October 2022 - Lowy Institute - Michael Fullilove: A view from Washington: In conversation with Richard Fontaine: Under Pressure: The Present and Future of International Order.

• 17th October 2022 - Australian Institute of International Affairs - Secretary for Foreign Affairs for Argentina HE Pablo Anselmo Tettamanti: Argentina and Australia in the Current International Context.

• 18th October 2022 - Australian Nuclear Association - Teaming with Canada for Australia's Nuclear Energy Future, UTS Sydney.

• 19th October 2022 - CILTA and AcademyGlobal - CILTA Private Tour of Western Sydney International Airport.

• 21st October 2022 - Charles Todd Oration - TelSoc - Minister for Communications the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Doltone House, Sydney.

• 23rd to 26th October 2022 - Keynote speaker, What are the Possibilities for Hydrogen? CILT World Congress, Perth.

• 3rd November 2022 - Keynote speaker, Nuclear Energy in Australia: From Barriers to Benefits, Goulburn Soldiers Club with Robert Parker and Angus Taylor.

• 14th November 2022 - Advancing AUKUS Conference, National Press Club [online].

• 15th November 2022 - The Sydney Institute - The Hon. Senator Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Australia’s Trade: A Report of the Last Six Months [online].

• 21st November 2022 - The Australian National University - JG Crawford Oration 2022, delivered by the Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC [online].

• 22nd November 2022 - TelSoc - Anna Brakey, Commissioner, ACCC on work in the telecommunications sector [online].

• 22nd November 2022 - Anniversary of Qatar National Day, Hyatt Hotel, Canberra.

• 24th November 2022 - CILTA ACT & Southern NSW Chapter - Sharing digital freight data: An introduction to the National Freight Data Hub, Infrastructure House, Canberra.

• 24th to 25th  November 2022 - Parliamentary Friends of Nuclear Industries - Modern Nuclear Power Generation In Australia’s Clean Energy Future, Parliament House, Canberra. My comments from here: https://youtu.be/Ias1P_5Xrb4?t=8668.

• 2nd December 2022 - Australian Nuclear Association - World Nuclear Energy Day 2022  - Webinar.

Whither the Liberal Party?

Liberal Party of Australia, 2019 Election Flyer [CC0] 

Despite being the natural party of government for decades in Australia, the “broad church” of the Liberal Party appears to be on the ropes. Some say the Liberals need to be more like the teal independents, others that they need to become even more conservative. Neither approach will work. What is needed is a grassroots movement that puts the “liberal” back into the Liberal Party and halts the green-left’s long march through our institutions before it’s too late (and we all sing kumbaya like we have a diversity of views as seen on Q&A.)

Conservatism in its Hobbesian sense was less about a focus on unthinking ‘tradition’ a la Fiddler on the Roof, and more about having a strong government to ensure a stable and free society. Sir Edmund Burke thought English liberalism better than the revolution-to-liberty path taken by the Americans and the French to achieve what the English had already developed – a strong state, a separation of powers, and a Westminster tradition that was stable enough to make daily life predictable, yet flexible enough to allow governments to govern. Until recently, Australia was such a place, where individuals have rights and responsibilities but are viewed as rational beings capable of looking after their own welfare and being tolerant of each other’s divergent views a la John Locke.

This complex intertwining of conservatism and liberalism is at the heart of the Liberal Party ideal, and it is the major difference between the Liberal Party and all the others. Or it used to be, anyway.

Since the late 1990s, internal rifts between liberals and conservatives created the disunity to allow green-left converts within the Liberal Party, what I call il-Liberals, to routinely cross the floor (on ideological, not policy grounds), wish the party was more like the teals, or otherwise develop what I call unoriginal ‘non-policy’ by pursuing the exact opposite of what the government of the day is doing. Rather than strong individual leadership that the flexible party structure allows, the Liberal Party is developing factions and systems of compliance that mirror the green-left and their mini-dictatorships driven by political correctness and woke compliance.

To be sure, Liberals past tried to protect free speech and  academic freedom, but much of the focus was not on core principles but targeted at groups who might (hopefully, one day) support them in an election. This only demonstrates that the Liberals have forgotten the forgotten people.

People didn’t vote for Joh Bjelke-Petersen because he was politically correct, they voted for him (ongoing gerrymandering aside) because he said he was going to do something and then he did it. People didn’t vote for Daniel Andrews because his socialist policies have merit, it’s because he does what he says he is going to do (or so my father reckons). Sorry, did you say something Mr Guy? I didn’t hear you.

Prime Minister Albanese is not of this mould, or your power bills would be down by $275. The jury is still out on whether this means that they will be reduced by $275 by 2025 from the time of the election, or whether after increasing by thousands of dollars they will be $275 less than the highest price between now and 2025. But people voted for Albanese because Morrison was on the nose. And the voters are always right.

Mr Rudd couldn’t hold is temper. Ms Gillard held the backstabbing blade only too well. Mr Abbott couldn’t let go of his enthusiasm for the 1950s, and former PM Scott Morrison couldn’t hold a hose. Mr Turnbull epitomised the worst of the Liberal Party and its current dilemma. Mr Howard, sans broadband, said what he would do and then did it. That’s leadership.

Whether the National Party’s decision to stand behind the brilliant Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is a vote winner remains to be seen, but it is saying what they will do and then doing it. It is also leadership.

Mr Dutton is biding his time and letting politics run its natural course during Labor’s extended honeymoon. Hopefully we will witness some leadership from him soon. But I do hope he or any future Liberal prime minister will end these back-and-forth inquiries into previous governments. If it is not illegal, then the voters have the final say.

Or do they?

The terms of reference for the recent inquiry into Scott Morrison’s multiple ministries appear to have been designed to support a censure in the lower house. Supposedly, Mr Morrison’s bizarre and unnecessarily secretive appointments ‘eroded public trust in responsible government’. Voters knew this already - that’s why he was voted out.

But Mr Albanese thought a bit of deflection from his broken promises and the swiftly sinking ‘Blackout Bowen’ energy policy (amid the dodgy jobs and skills ‘pattern bargaining’ approval by that workplace relations and climate science expert, the highly experienced Senator David Pocock), might be a good way to end the year. None of that has eroded public trust in responsible government (said nobody ever).

Here’s a quick list of all the things going wrong for the Libs: the antics of Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer, NSW Treasurer Matthew Kean, and Mr Malcolm ‘Barnacle’ Turnbull still clinging on for dear life. And Matthew Guy playing Little Dan ‘Lite and Easy’ (is the mic working?) hasn’t helped. That socialism is now rampant in Victoria should be a warning for the ACT Liberals (who no longer have a Liberal senator) that saying you’ll be the same horse with a different jockey is simply non-policy.

Any wonder the Liberals are in trouble.

But there is movement at the station. Or at least at the Coalition station. Standing up against the Voice (being called racist for being against a policy with zero details?). Standing up against ‘Blackout Bowen’ (paying through the nose for zero emissions?). Nuclear (it’s a thing). It’s all a good start. Let’s hear now from Mr Dutton. But wait, there’s more.

How about really standing up for free speech, academic freedom, and the rule of law? Where the rule of law is sacrosanct and public prosecutors are not emotionally invested in court cases (Did I say that out loud? See free speech, academic freedom above).

P.S. Liberal: adjective, willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas (Dear US Democrats, get your own word). Liberalism: noun, a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. Liberal Party of Australia: ‘In short, we simply believe in individual freedom and free enterprise; and if you share this belief, then ours is the Party for you’ (terms and conditions apply). Woke: colloquial, none of the above.

Striking down the law to get at the devil

Robert Bolt's 'A Man for All Seasons'. Photo: Patrick Huber [CC BY-NC-SA 2.0] 

It began when the lawns atop Parliament House were fenced off. The whole point of the design of Parliament House was to enable the physical and symbolic act of the people walking over the Parliament as a reminder that our elected representatives are beneath the people. Parliamentary sovereignty in Australia means that the people are sovereign. Since, however, Australia has been on a crash course to diminish the sovereignty of the people as technocrats incrementally grab more power. And we are letting it happen.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, The sovereignty of technocrats and rule of lawyers. The editorial read:

Australians are getting the distinct feeling that they are no longer governed over by law – but rather by lawyers, technocrats, the media, and celebrities. It’s not only the bizarre ritual of ‘trial by mob’ making a comeback in the #MeToo era – it is everything. Our institutions have lost touch with what were once binding ideas and now society has been cast adrift, left to the mercy of headlines and hashtags.

Australians are feeling increasingly as though they are not governed by laws, but rather lawyers, technocrats, the media, and celebrity opinion.

It's not just the rise of 'trial by #MeToo' - so-called #socialjustice and mob rule is invading our system.https://t.co/xdf0TmVZ8k

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) December 14, 2022

ACT Liberals and Light Rail: Too little too late?

 

Old School "Light Rail" (trams) in Hong Kong. [Michael de Percy CC BY-ND-SA 4.0]

My comments on the ACT Liberals' election plan to oppose further development of light rail in the ACT and the challenges of alternatives such as "trackless trams" and related sunk costs, on ABC Radio Canberra this morning. From 1:07:00.

Cited and rejected? Better than peer review!

Mr Morrison's Multiple Ministries Meme by Mr Morrison

My submission to the inquiry into Morrison's Multiple Ministries was cited in the final report: Report of the Inquiry into the Appointment of the Former Prime Minister to Administer Multiple Departments. But ultimately rejected. It's good to be part of the process and even though my recommendations were rejected, they were cited. So it's like being rejected for a journal but they cite you. So that's good.

The submissions will be published on Monday. Here is the section from today's Report of the Inquiry into the Appointment of the Former Prime Minister to Administer Multiple Departments (p. 94) relating to my submission. It did not pick up on my (and others') position that the habit of holding inquiries into previous governments does more to erode trust than Morrison's bizarre actions (see my full submission), but that is the nature of our inquiry process:

In contrast to these views, Dr Michael de Percy contended that public confidence in government is “unlikely to reside in the minutiae of constitutional legal opinion”. Dr de Percy questioned the assumption that transparency necessarily leads to more trust in government, by reference to the findings of a study that “national cultural differences are an important independent variable in assessing whether transparency leads to increased trust". Putting to one side the nuances of the constitutional debate raised by these appointments, and accepting that many variables bear on the quality of trust in government, it is difficult to conclude that the assumption of the capacity to exercise significant public power in secret is not one of those variables.

In the meantime, The Guardian has suggested that the report "lays waste" to Morrison's reasons for appointing himself to the multiple ministries. To be sure, it was unnecessary, but the inherent flexibility in our Westminster system is now likely to be curtailed yet again.

In response, I have written the following letter to The Guardian:

Karp over-reaches in headlining with "lays waste". That Morrison's self-appointment did not "appear to have been closely thought through" was obvious. Voters had already rejected the Morrison government for being on the nose. Yes, it was "exorbitant", "bizarre", and "unnecessary". But the obvious glee your reporter takes in forgetting the laying of waste of the Morrison government by voters is equally "bizarre". Perhaps more journalists acting as the fourth estate rather than "inexcusable" partisan reports on behalf of the government would be more appropriate. It will be interesting to see what inquiry the next government launches into this current government after its rejection by voters.

I find it interesting that my colleagues picked up on the Australian Financial Review on their headlining when I saw no issue, but the letters were still published. Whether that happens on the other side of politics remains to be seen.

Would you fight the next war in a conventional submarine?

CSS Hunley - a woke submarine for our times. Photo: Wally Gobetz [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]

Do armchair warriors really believe our submariners should fight in obsolete diesel-electric submarines in defence of our nation? Making the performative French President happy should never come at the expense of our defence force personnel.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, Ignore the French, the next war requires nuclear subs.

Regardless of whose feelings Australia has to hurt in the process, we must acquire #nuclear subs or we will have no chance of defending ourselves in the next war.https://t.co/g3NGzWd3Sg

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) November 25, 2022

Historical Institutionalism as Method: Applications and Uses at the Micro, Meso, and Macro Levels of Analysis

From De Percy (2022).

Below is an overview of my presentation today at the 8th Biennial ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference.

I have also included the slides from my presentation. If anyone has further questions, please email these to michael.depercy@canberra.edu.au.

Thanks again to ACSPRI for another great conference!

Abstract

Historical institutionalism is one of the three New Institutionalisms. As a research method, the approach typically involves archival research and semi-structured interviews - employing the research techniques of both the historian and the political scientist - to understand the impact of institutional legacies on the present. I have used historical institutionalism to analyse industry policy over time for cross-national comparisons of transport and telecommunications policies and have found the approach effective at the meso-level of analysis. Recently, however, I have applied this approach to the macro-level in geopolitics (to understand institutional exhaustion), and I am currently developing a research project focused on the micro-level to understand how institutions influence the development of military doctrine through a case study of operational tactics. This presentation will demonstrate the analysis of political phenomena over time, drawing on my model of path-dependent, punctuated equilibrium. It will outline how to recognise and analyse exogenous and endogenous critical junctures in applying the model to temporal comparative and institutional studies. In doing so, I will share some of the unique insights I have developed as both a practitioner and an academic.

Presentation

Please see my slides below:

Below are a variety of publications that I have produced using the method I presented in today's presentation. Please email me at michael.depercy@canberra.edu.au if you have any further questions.

References

De Percy, M.A. (2021). Policy Legacies from Early Australian Telecommunications: A Private Sector Perspective. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 9 (3).

De Percy, M.A. (2021). Models of Government-Business Relations: Industry Policy Preferences versus Pragmatism in Andrew Podger, Michael de Percy, and Sam Vincent (Eds.) Politics, Policy and Public Administration in Theory and Practice: Essays in honour of Professor John Wanna. Canberra: ANU Press.

De Percy, M.A. (2022). Institutional exhaustion and foreign aid in the time of COVID-19. In Jakupec, V., Kelly, M., and de Percy, M.A. (Eds.) COVID-19 and Foreign Aid: Nationalism and Global Development in a New World Order. London: Routledge.

De Percy, M.A. and Batainah, H.S. (2021). Identifying historical policy regimes in the Canadian and Australian communications industries using a model of path dependent, punctuated equilibrium, Policy Studies, 42 (1), pp. 42-59. DOI: 10.1080/01442872.2019.1581161.

Madsen, A. and de Percy, M.A. (2020) Telecommunications Infrastructure in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 55 (2), pp. 218-238. DOI: 10.1002/ajs4.121.

Time to put the "local" back into local government

There is no kerb and gutter in parts of Gunning, Upper Lachlan Shire Council, NSW.

One of the great things about our federal system is that local governments ensure local issues are dealt with by political representatives who are closest to the people. But recent fires and floods are proving that council amalgamations have replaced political representation with bureaucratic symbolism that is not meeting local expectations.   

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, Local government or bureaucratic symbolism?

There's something going very wrong with local councils in Australia.

They were created to ensure that local communities could be taken care of by political entities embedded in the local community, but have they become a bureaucratic mess?https://t.co/Ih68KZgGPX

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) November 22, 2022

Freedom of Speech: What gives us the right?

33rd Infantry Battalion AIF - Report from April 1918. My Great-Grandfather probably saw this! 

While writing an article for The Spectator on a windy Sunday, I was thinking of the importance of freedom of speech when it comes to airing an opinion that is unorthodox or even utterly crazy. I am human like everyone else, and occasionally I self-censor or double-check when writing for a public audience. I am certain there are times when I have overstepped the mark of polite company, even with years of training in social etiquette and the highest level of education one can obtain in Australia. It wasn't so when I was younger but there you go. But why is freedom of speech so important and what gives us the right?

The growing culture of woke self-flagellation scares me. The global geopolitical situation has changed and Australians seem to be getting weaker and whinier. I often think of the importance of the Australian Army to my family. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my son and I all served. I take great pride in that family tradition even though there are times I wish I could go back and take down the egotistical fool I worked for in my last two years in the Australian Regular Army. If I'd gone to war with him, I don't know what I might have done to save my men.

But my great-grandfather was the real deal. He served in the 33rd Infantry Battalion in the AIF. He joined up on 21st June 1916 (as soon as he was 18) at Narrabri and was sent to the front, arriving with the Battalion on 28th April 1917. He was wounded during the Messines Offensive on 7th June 1917 where he fought on the extreme right flank with D Campany, 33rd Infantry Battalion. Later, he fought in the First and Second Battles of Villers-Bretonneux. During April 1918 the Battalion suffered heavily from gas shelling and by 1 May 1918, my great-grandfather was invalided to Oxford Hospital.

Reading the 33rd Battalion records puts my daily grind nonsense into so much perspective, to the point where I feel guilty whenever I become self-conscious about public scrutiny. But today I realised that the long tradition I am part of calls for courage. Not because courage is reckless in the way egotistical fools pretend it is, but in the sense of Aristotle's "Golden Mean".

When you read the histories of actions during the Great War, you realise that one must fight or die terribly - not terribly as in the manner of death - but to read of German troops dying in their dug-outs without putting up a fight makes me feel so ashamed. 

Better to die fighting if one has to die. Or perhaps better to escape - is it one's duty to wastefully die for the actions of idiotic leaders? But how many have been put in that position by poor leadership, where one is so disillusioned one simply curls up, already defeated, as if welcoming death? 

This is how the 33rd Battalion recorded the sad wasteful end of demoralised troops:

Only in isolated cases did the enemy show fight and they were easily dealt with. One man, Private J. CARROLL, singlehanded captured a machine gun and killed the crew. In addition, he bayoneted five other Germans during the subsequent "mopping up".

Thinking of poor leadership, I remember being frightened for my men's safety (he'd already proven time and again he was there for himself and nobody else).  But I was so young. I don't regret my time but I do regret not knowing what I know now. Yet when I think about the situations I am dealing with now, I realise I am succumbing to the same issues. 

Is it part of the human condition to experience demoralisation to such an extent that we become paralysed? Even in times of peace, it would seem better to "die" from public humiliation while fighting than to die meekly from a broken heart. The Stoics were on to something when they focused on not leaving our happiness to chance but on our own self-reliance.

Courage, then, rather than emanating from an individual's moral state, can be seen as a deliberate choice. We can choose how we live, and we can choose how we die. But being able to make that choice is not something we should take for granted.

In my article in The Spectator to be published later this week, I state:

...my great-grandfather's service, and the service of the many other Australians since federation, gave us the freedom to air our views and to get to the truth of a matter.

That is what I have been trying to do in recent times. But there is a theoretical aspect to it that is part of my soul: free speech. Like Stoic philosophy, liberty is something that connects me to the philosophers of times past. To paraphrase that great man Harold Bloom, when you have an independent, original thought but later read something and discover that your thought was not original, this is not a time to feel sad about your lack of originality but to rejoice in your connection to humanity. I have experienced so many of these moments but they didn't seem important until I read Bloom.

And to paraphrase John Stuart Mill, that great man who had foibles not unlike my own, even if we have stupid ideas they need to be aired so they can be disproven - if we allow people to air their grievances or state their concerns about an idea, we can use these opportunities to uncover the truth of a matter. Better to prove an idea stupid than to let it fester and take on a life of its own.

So, our forefathers fought so we can exercise our right to freedom of speech. That's why I love The Spectator - unlike The Conversation, it doesn't censor ideas that challenge contemporary orthodoxy. I once thought I could research politics as an independent observer, but that is nonsense. I can do so while remaining aloof from groupthink, but I am a participant nonetheless.

And freedom of speech enables us to arrive at the truth of a matter even if it is through a particular:

...contrivance that allows one to assess one's truth as if one were a "dissentient champion, eager for [one's] conversion.

Or at least that is what Mill said. Thanks, Pop. I wish I had met you. I will continue to do my best to honour your legacy. I take that responsibility seriously. God bless.  

COVID-19 and Foreign Aid: Nationalism and Global Development in a New World Order

 

COVID-19 and Foreign Aid: Nationalism and Global Development in a New World Order

Here are the details of my latest book project:

For book details, click here.

For my chapter details, click here.

Book Description

This book provides a timely, critical, and thought-provoking analysis of the implications of the disruption of COVID-19 to the foreign aid and development system, and the extent to which the system is retaining a level of relevance, legitimacy, or coherence.

Drawing on the expertise of key scholars from around the world in the fields of international development, political science, socioeconomics, history, and international relations, the book explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on development aid within an environment of shifting national and regional priorities and interactions. The response is specifically focused on the interrelated themes of political analysis and soft power, the legitimation crisis, poverty, inequality, foreign aid, and the disruption and re-making of the world order. The book argues that complex and multidirectional linkages between politics, economics, society, and the environment are driving changes in the extant development aid system. COVID-19 and Foreign Aid provides a range of critical reflections to shifts in the world order, the rise of nationalism, the strange non-death of neoliberalism, shifts in globalisation, and the evolving impact of COVID as a cross-cutting crisis in the development aid system.

This book will be of interest to researchers and students in the field of health and development studies, decision-makers at government level as well as to those working in or consulting to international aid institutions, regional and bilateral aid agencies, and non-governmental organisations.

Table of Contents

1. Towards a post-COVID world order: A critical analysis

Viktor Jakupec, Max Kelly, and Michael de Percy

2. International multilateralism in a non-hegemonic world

Andrey Kortunov

3. COVID-19 and the decline of the neoliberal paradigm: On the erosion of hegemony in times of crises

Tobias Debiel and Mathieu Rousselin

4. The global dialectics of a pandemic: Between necropolitics and utopian imagination

Nadja Meisterhans

5. The rules-based world order and the notion of legitimacy crisis: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign aid

Viktor Jakupec

6. Pandemic shock and recession: The adequacy of anti-crisis measures and the role of development assistance

Leonid Grigoryev and Alexandra Morozkina

7. COVAX, vaccine (inter)nationalism and the impact on the Global South experience of COVID-19

Max Kelly and Mary Ana McGlasson

8. Health emergency or economic crisis? Fail forward and de-risking opportunities in IMF COVID loans to Egypt

Lama Tawakkol

9. Institutional exhaustion and foreign aid in the time of COVID-19

Michael de Percy

10. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in sub-Saharan Africa: Geostrategic dynamics and challenges for development

Matthias Rompel

11. Economic and social prosperity in time of COVID-19 crisis in the European Union

Angeles Sánchez

12. COVID-19 Impacts in Pacific Island Countries: Making an already bad situation worse

Mark McGillivray

13. COVID-19 vaccines and global health diplomacy: Canada and France compared

Stephen Brown and Morgane Rosier

14. Strong capacity and high trust: Perceptions of crisis management and increased nationalism among Chinese civil servants

Qun Cui, Lisheng Dong, and Tom Christensen

15. China’s inward- and outward-facing identities: Post-COVID challenges for China and the international rules-based order

Yan Bennett

16. Soft power and the politics of foreign aid: The case of Venezuela

Anthea McCarthy-Jones

17. Nationalist politics, anti-vaccination and the limits of the rules-based world order in an era of pandemics: The case of Tanzania

Japhace Poncian

18. COVID-19 crisis and the world (re-)order

Max Kelly, Viktor Jakupec, and Michael de Percy

Editor(s)

Biography

Viktor Jakupec is an Honorary Professor at Deakin University and the University of Potsdam. He is an international development aid consultant and a member of the Leibniz Sozietät der Wissenschaften, Berlin.

Max Kelly is Associate Professor of International and Community Development, and Research Associate at the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Deakin University.

Michael de Percy is a Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Canberra. He was appointed to the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts in 2022.

Reviews

"This edited collection provides an in-depth discussion and analysis of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on foreign aid within a context of the rules-based world order and the geo-political health crisis. In this volume, various political, social, and economic aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic are examined from diverse geo-political vantage points. This highly ground-breaking and timely volume is worthy to be read by scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and students in the fields of geopolitics, political economy, rules-based world order, and foreign aid."

Prof. Dr. Christa Luft, Rector (i.R.) University of Economics, Berlin, Germany

"Financial crises, pandemics, climate change, the growing risk of a nuclear conflagration, the growing assertiveness of China and Russia, and the new Cold War are accelerating the decline of the West’s confidence on the world stage. This will see traditional foreign aid and the model of global development that characterised the past 70 years disappear. To understand how this is happening, and how the foreign aid-global development nexus will unfold in coming years, this book is indispensable reading."

Prof. Dr. Wim Naudé, University College Cork, Ireland

"Global cooperation is seriously challenged when it is needed more than ever. This book considers the problem from all angles in a well-balanced intersecting manner. The deeply thought-provoking exploration is worth immersing oneself in."

Dr. Tetsushi Sonobe, Dean and CEO, Asian Development Bank Institute

My chapter details:

Institutional exhaustion and foreign aid in the time of COVID-19

ByMichael de Percy

BookCOVID-19 and Foreign Aid

ABSTRACT

The multilateral rules-based world order was already under threat from the rise of populism, China, and instability in US politics before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global diplomacy and brought about far-reaching economic crises. In response, nation-states have adapted to emerging nationalism amid the US–China trade war. Such multifaceted disruption forced nation-states to re-evaluate their traditional foreign aid partnerships, resulting in a weakened commitment to existing multilateral institutions. Such institutional exhaustion provided opportunities for China and Russia to challenge the existing rules-based world order through foreign aid. The result has been a parallel, albeit novel, world order for developing nations, resembling a competing form of neo-Cold War diplomacy. The foreign relations strategies of the US under Biden have resulted in a fragile balance of competition and cooperation between the major global powers, supported by the UK and Australian leadership and the strategic interests of other countries. This chapter examines foreign aid amid changing patterns of geopolitics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and multilateral institutional exhaustion. It focuses on the shift in global geopolitics towards a new multipolarity that threatens to undo the much-lauded success of global capitalism and the rules-based world order upon which such success is presupposed.