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In this important appraisal
of recent Australian political life, James
Walter and Paul Strangio analyse the performances
of five prime ministers (Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke,
Keating and Howard) against the background
of institutional changes to the political system
that have been in train over the past three
decades. The authors also look forward, to
ask whether a new prime minister, such as Kevin
Rudd, would reverse these trends, and to suggest
ways to counter the detrimental vogue for leadership-centric
politics. |
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John Warhurst,
an observer of the lobbying industry for thirty
years, describes its growing size and importance
in Australia. He looks at the many ways in
which lobbyists attempt to influence politicians
and other decision makers, and assesses their
positive and negative roles in the political
system. 96
pages • $16.95 |
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Australia is the only democratic country
in the world that does not have a national
charter or bill that protects basic human rights.
In this fully updated edition of his influential
book, The Case for an Australian Bill of
Rights, lawyer and commentator George
Williams argues that the Australian parliament
should create a charter of rights drawing on
the successful examples of New Zealand and
the United Kingdom. He shows how the case for
reform has grown stronger in recent years,
and how the momentum for change has accelerated
with the creation of charters of rights in
the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. |
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The significance of the AWB scandal extends
well beyond its immediate political impact.
Its lasting lessons go to the heart of how
government and companies are run in Australia.
In this book Stephen Bartos explores those
lessons, and shows that reform will be needed
to provide the assurance that this country
is committed to transparency and accountability.
96 pages • $16.95 |
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In this timely and important book, Andrew Lynch
and George Williams provide a clear and accessible
guide to the major components of Australia’s
anti-terrorism laws and their effects. They show
readers: • what constitutes a crime of terrorism
in Australia • what powers our main intelligence
agency has to question and detain members of
the community • what happens when the authorities
seek a control order or an order of preventative
detention over an individual • what speech
risks making a person liable for the crime of
sedition • how judicial processes have been
modified for the trial of people charged with
terrorism offences. Lynch and Williams have contributed
vigorously to the public debate since September
11. In What Price Security? they argue
that Australia has gone too far in limiting civil
rights in the name of anti-terrorism. “In
fighting the ‘war on terror’,” they
write, “it is vital that we do not allow
ourselves to become the victim of our own fears.” 96
pages • $16.95 |
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Recently introduced legislation and other
proposal from government ministers threaten
Australians’ right to vote. Brian Costar
and Colin A. Hughes argue that rather than
watering down democratic rights we need to
strengthen the key features of our electoral
system. 96 pages • $16.95 |
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Moving far beyond clumsy stereotypes of Afghan
affairs, William Maley shows that only a long-term
commitment from the wider world – of a
type that is rarely if ever found – offers
a reasonable prospect of rescuing Afghanistan
from the dangers it continues to face. 176 pages
• $19.95 |
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Few Australians realise that the Constitution
does not formally separate Church and State.
Tom Frame argues that some contact between
organised religion and government is both inevitable
and, in some circumstances, highly desirable.
But there are continuing and unnecessary tensions,
for which Christians are largely responsible.
This book explores the nature of the tensions,
and how to deal with them. 96 pages • $16.95 |
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Australia is one of only ten western countries
which resettle refugees recommended by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The federal government has justifiably defended
this long-term contribution to assisting the
world’s refugees. But how fair is the
resettlement process? Does it always – as
Amanda Vanstone and her predecessor, Philip
Ruddock, insist – help the neediest of
all refugees? Drawing on interviews with refugees,
policymakers, officials and aid workers in
Nairobi, Kakuma, Geneva, Canberra and Melbourne,
this book looks at the opportunities and obstacles
that face refugees whose homelands are in turmoil.
165 pages • $19.95 |
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In April this year, Michael Gordon was the
first journalist to gain unrestricted access
to the refugee detention centre on Nauru. There
he interviewed more than half of the 54 asylum
seekers then on the island. His articles, based
on these interviews, for the Age and
the Sydney Morning Herald drew an
enormous response from readers. Freeing
Ali expands beyond that article to tell
the story of Ali Mullaie, an Afghan asylum
seeker who spent three and a half years detained
on Nauru. Gordon backgrounds his profile of
Ali and his fellow detainees with a discussion
of the impact of the detention centre and the ‘Pacific
Solution’ on the people of Nauru and
their country. 120 pages • $16.95 |
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The United Nations is under scrutiny like
never before – under constant attack
from neoconservatives in President George W.
Bush’s administration, with some of its
own officials are under investigation for fraud.
In the midst of this controversy, a high-level
panel, including former Australian Attorney-General
Gareth Evans, has released a detailed set of
proposals for reform, and that blueprint has
been taken up by the Secretary-General, Kofi
Annan. 104 pages • $16.95 |
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The fact that governments spend millions
of taxpayers’ dollars monitoring the
Opposition’s every word and pumping out
propaganda to backbenchers to ensure its ‘spin’ reverberates
across Australia has rarely been questioned
by the media. Greg Barns, a former senior government
adviser, provides a revealing insight into
the way governments sell themselves, both publicly
and behind the scenes, and how their expensive
propaganda effort affects the political process.
96 pages • $16.95 |
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According to international relations specialist
Andy Butfoy, the constant talk of ‘weapons
of mass destruction’ is both simplistic
and misleading. In this timely book he looks
at the reality of nuclear, biological and chemical
weapons, providing a readable overview of who
has these weapons, what they are capable of,
and where they are. 96 pages • $16.95 |
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Capling spells out the unanswered questions
about the Australia–US FTA. What are
the implications of the Howard government's
linking of trade and security? How will the
trade agreement affect relations with our other
major trade partners, especially those in the
East Asian region? Will the Australia–US
trade agreement strengthen our ties with the
United States, leading to deeper economic integration
and more investment and jobs in Australia,
or will it diminish our capacity to provide
social programs that reflect particularly Australian
values? 96 pages • $16.95 |
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A different kind of post-election book, focusing
not on the well-publicised issues and events
in the campaign, but on the revealing incidents
and issues that don't get attention in the
heat of the contest. A diverse group of writers
report on key events in the election campaign
and what they tell us about the state of our
political system. 132 pages • $16.95 |
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Tracing the religious, cultural and political
development of JI, Barton argues that it has
important features in common with other organisations
linked to al-Qaeda. Based on extensive research
in Indonesia, the book assesses the level of
support for JI and the Indonesian government's
success in dealing with the threat it poses to
stability. Barton argues that, while the Indonesian
authorities reacted quickly to the events in
Bali, their response has not been as effective
and timely as is commonly assumed in Australia.
118 pages • $16.95 |
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Published to coincide with the
introduction of the ACT reforms enacting a
state Bill of Rights, this new book outlines
a thoroughly revised and updated case for a
national Bill of Rights for Australia. Surveying
the federal government’s post-September
11 legislation, George Williams shows how the
threat of terrorism makes the protection of
basic rights more, not less, urgent. 96 pages
• $16.95 |
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Looks in detail at how the Howard government
was elected on a promise to maintain Medicare,
but has instead introduced a series of privatisation
measures. Although the Liberal and National
parties claim to support Medicare, they clearly
favour a predominantly private system, while
Labor continues to support an unspecified level
of universality. Recent experiences suggest
that emerging equity concerns, financial pressures
and occasional crises will destabilise the
present public–private mix and that the
familiar political battle over the size of
the two segments of the system will continue. 112
pages • $16.95
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Contrary to current conventional wisdom, Australia
has not traditionally provided a generous welcome
for refugees, though neither has it been unusually
hostile. What this book makes clear is the
great variety of backgrounds and experiences –both
in their homeland and in Australia –of
the thousands who have arrived, legally and
by other means, over those nearly five decades. 127
pages • $16.95
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Drawing on new research from regional Australia,
Brian Costar and Jennifer Curtin look at why
independents are gaining support, how they
relate to the major parties, and how they exercise
power in state and federal parliaments. They
trace the history of independent MPs since
federation and profile the highly successful
independent member for Calare, Peter Andren.
96 pages • $16.95
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In this important book, lawyer Spencer Zifcak
describes how “friends fell out”in
Geneva, and looks at the actions the Australian
government took in reaction to UN criticism
of its human rights record. From that fateful
meeting at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
he traces the government’s efforts to
change the UN committee system and the impact
of the controversy on Australia’s international
reputation. 96 pages • $16.95
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In this timely book, Jock Given looks at how
the events of 11 September 2001 have altered
the debate over how countries like Australia
can preserve and strengthen their film and
television industries. Steering a course between
those people who see free trade as a universal
panacea and those who fear its homogenising
impact, this book offers a vivid account of
how culture and trade are interacting in the
real world of the early 21st century. 112
pages • $16.95 |
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In this lively, accessible book, barrister
and free speech advocate Brian Walters describes
eight cases where defamation laws –and
even the Trade Practices Act –have been
used in an attempt to silence critics of development.
From the Victorian seaside town of Lorne to
Hinchinbrook Island in North Queensland, the
threat of legal action has created fear, and
often silence, among conservationists and community
activists. 96 pages • $16.95
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In this book senior journalist Geoffrey Barker
takes us step by step through the maze of claims
and counter-claims about what US, British and
Australian intelligence agencies were telling
their governments, and what those governments
were telling the media. 112 pages • $16.95 |
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The “children overboard”affair
formed a dramatic backdrop to the November
2001 federal election, graphically underlining
the government’s case against asylum
seekers. But very soon truth of the incident
began to emerge, revealing a tale of mixed
messages, conflicting responsibilities, and
pre-election pressure. In a vivid account of
the events and their aftermath, Patrick Weller,
an expert witness at the Senate hearings on
the affair, shows how a politicised senior
public service failed to handle this highly
charged issue effectively. He argues that reforms
are needed to restore bureaucratic accountability
and confidence in the independence of the public
service. Published in the Scribe Short
Books series • 144 pages • $22 |
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Depending on how you define it, Western Sydney
contains as much as half of the population
of Australia’s largest city, spread out
over a vast plain stretching eighty kilometres
from north to south, and thirty or forty kilometres
west to the foot of the Blue Mountains. It’s
one of Australia’s youngest and quickest-growing
regions. And as Labor has discovered, it’s
highly politically volatile. For decades, Western
Sydney was the “other” Sydney,
the home of “battlers”and “Westies”who,
it was said, lacked cultural resources, amenities
and couth. Recently, Western Sydney has become
a success story, and it’s the region’s “aspirational”voters
who’ve become the quintessential “new
class”of the new millennium. Since the
2001 general election, commentators have struggled
to explain what it is that makes Western Sydney “different”.
This volume is the first serious effort to
find answers. Published in the Scribe Short
Books series • 144 pages • $22 |
