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2 months ago | 
themandarin.com.au | Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells
In the first weeks of Donald Trump’s second presidency, the flow of executive orders and policy announcements from the White House has been extraordinary and dazzling, so much so that getting a clear fix on the decisions – and their rationale and impact — has been difficult. What is real and what is just for show? What decisions will be flashes in the pan, and which ones will have a lasting impact?
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | John Brumby |Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells
An extract from ‘A Better Australia: Policy, politics and how to achieve lasting reform’ by John Brumby, Scott Hamilton and Stuart KellsThe national interest and the security and safety of citizens are the best reasons for politics to be put aside. Gun laws will always be a contentious issue, but the post–Port Arthur bipartisanship under Howard’s prime ministership, as reflected in the 1996 [National Firearms Agreement] NFA and subsequent legislation, was a landmark of politics and policy.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
johnmenadue.com | Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells
Many of Australia’s public policy settings were designed decades ago. Since that time, society and the economy have changed radically. Australia’s outdated policy settings now extend to matters as important and diverse as taxation, competition policy, drug laws, reproductive healthcare, the carbon transition, media regulation and the organisation of our parliaments. Change is urgent. This is how we achieve reform, write Scott Hamilton and Stuart Kells.
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Nov 4, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells |Dan Holmes |Angus Crowther
In the current US presidential election campaign – one of the hardest fought in decades — Australian cultural exports have been surprisingly prominent. When Kamala Harris became the democratic nominee, a video endorsing her for president went viral. It included clips of Australia’s boy wonder, John Farnham, singing the Australian anthem, ‘You’re The Voice’.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | John Brumby |Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells |Erin O'Brien
This is an edited extract from A Better Australia: Politics, Policy and How to Achieve Lasting Reform by John Brumby, Scott Hamilton and Stuart Kells, published by Melbourne University Publishing, RRP $39.99In this context of global change, democratic deficits and a crisis of trust, how can we reform Australian politics and policymaking to meet the challenges and take advantage of the climate of opportunity? The first thing we need to do is decide what kind of Australia we want.
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Oct 12, 2024 | 
medium.com | Scott Hamilton
I’m beginning to think that maybe the problem is me? Scott Hamilton·FollowPublished inThe Haven·3 min read·--A few months ago I published a set of wrong number text “opportunities”:Wrong Number TextsWhy won’t anyone play with me? medium.com… making the sad observation that it seems like I’m just not able to make friends these days. More precisely, I complained that no one wants to play with me.
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Sep 30, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells
article-body On August 29, 2024, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) published a profile of Australian superannuation at the end of the 2023-24 financial year. Total contributions had increased by 11.2% to $183.9 billion, bringing total superannuation assets to a very creditable $3.9 trillion. Benefit payments had increased by 15.3% to $117.7 billion, the result of lump sum payments rising by 9.2% to $64.1 billion and pension payments increasing by 23.7% to $53.6 billion.
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Aug 19, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | Scott Hamilton
‘You win some, you lose more,’ wrote the late Ms Peta Murphy MP in the foreword to the landmark final report of the House of Representatives standing committee inquiry into online gambling. In many areas of policy, Australia’s apparatus of Parliamentary committees has been important for the incremental building of consensus and multipartisanship.
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Mar 12, 2024 | 
themandarin.com.au | Scott Hamilton |Stuart Kells
We were recently fortunate to speak to former deputy premier of Victoria John Thwaites. After starting in local government, he became an advisor to state ministers Jim Kennan and Andrew McCutcheon. Following a hotly contested preselection battle, John, an independent without the backing of a powerful Labor Party faction, was preselected for the seat of Albert Park. He was their local member from 1992, and became deputy premier in 1999 when Steve Bracks had his remarkable victory over Jeff Kennett.
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Aug 1, 2023 | 
miamiherald.com | John Feeley |Scott Hamilton
The Miami Herald’s July 28 editorial, “While EU woos Latin America and the Caribbean, the U.S. plays hard to get” wisely called for greater Biden-administration strategic engagement with Latin America to rival the European Union’s efforts. It was timely and correct. However, its message was inconsistent, referring to the explicitly anti-strategic policies that Sen. Marco Rubio and others promote, cheerleading for unilateral, “get-tough” policies that consistently fail.
