http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/brendan-brown-/ Brendan Brown is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in the National Times, The Punch and The Humanist magazine. He has an Arts/Law degree, is a former economic policy adviser in Canberra and given the current state of Australian cricket, wishes he was a half-decent leg spin bowler. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/ My political bubble recently burst when I realised this is a quintessential Labor government. I was convinced the Labor Party was just a microeconomic reform away from returning to its successful period of economic rationalism and bold reform between 1983 and 1996. The delusion was abetted by the Prime Minister and her shallow rhetoric that she was reformist in the Hawke and Keating tradition. I was lured into supporting the Labor Party by the Keating-inspired economic reforms that remade a moribund economy into an open and internationally competitive one. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rip-paul-keating-legacy/#item6452 Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:45:49 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blanket-ban-will-stop-the-boats/ The government’s failure to “stop the boats” is an albatross around its neck and the issue is driving the political agenda. Their asylum seeker problem is two-fold. Scores are dying trying to reach Australia by boat and the government is losing support by its failure to stop those who don’t. However, the solution to both problems is simple - a blanket ban on accepting boat people as refugees. Australia and Malaysia have tentatively agreed to exchange 800 boat people for 4000 confirmed refugees. The underlying assumption is that asylum seekers will be deterred from making to voyage to Australia by the prospect of ending up in Malaysia. Although the Greens have spit the dummy over Malaysia’s human rights record, the inhospitality of partner countries is the very reason these agreements may deter some boat people from coming. Yet the Malaysian agreement doesn’t go far enough to fully deter asylum seekers and entering Australia will be a lottery with enticing odds. You don’t need to have an abacus to calculate that if arrival trends continue - 6535 people having arrived in Australia by boat last year - the vast majority will have an opportunity to stay in Australia.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blanket-ban-will-stop-the-boats/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-blanket-ban-will-stop-the-boats/#item6158 Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:40:58 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Abbotts-dirty-economic-secret-hes-just-like-Labor/ Tony Abbott’s left-wing instincts are destroying the economic credibility of the Liberal Party. Although he’s an effective opposition leader, it’s important to ask what sort of economic agenda Abbott will pursue as Prime Minister, apart from repealing the carbon and mining taxes. It’s becoming increasingly clear that it won’t be liberal. To the extent it’s possible to decipher Abbott’s economic philosophy - his book Battlelines and the Budget Reply speech certainly provide little assistance - it would be democratic socialism. It’s a political ideology that sees the government playing a major role in the economy and is a far cry from the free-market liberalism normally associated with the Liberal Party. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Abbotts-dirty-economic-secret-hes-just-like-Labor/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Abbotts-dirty-economic-secret-hes-just-like-Labor/#item6002 Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:40:35 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-god-reveal-thyself/ Another day, another non-appearance by a religious prophet. As this article goes to press, neither Jesus, the Hidden Imam or John Maynard Keynes has returned to earth, which is unfortunate as religion has never been in greater need of validation. It’s irrelevant if religion has practical benefits in terms of charity, community building and teaching ethical behavior, if religion’s key claims are not rooted in reality. Either religion is factual or it is not and either there are good reasons to believe something or there are none. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-god-reveal-thyself/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Hey-god-reveal-thyself/#item5802 Mon, 09 May 2011 19:45:34 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-government-talking-down-to-big-australians/ The Australian government is bent on making fat people slim in the most condescending way possible. Last month, an incredibly juvenile media campaign was launched to encourage Australians to make healthier lifestyle choices. The “Swap it, Don’t Stop it” campaign is a multimedia extravaganza, featuring television, print and radio ads, an iPhone app and Facebook page. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-government-talking-down-to-big-australians/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-government-talking-down-to-big-australians/#item5664 Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:00:46 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-its-no-biggie-if-julia-doesnt-like-foreign-affairs/ It’s been a tough few weeks for Julia Gillard. She was accused of pre-election lying over carbon pricing, demonised at a comical fringe-dwelling rally, and conservative radio hosts competed over who can be most disrespectful towards her. Gillard’s incompetence at foreign affairs is another area of criticism that’s becoming louder every overseas visit she makes. She was widely criticised for not advocating strongly enough the government’s support for the no-fly zone over Libya, and her first visit to America was eminently forgettable, including an unnecessarily emotional and ham-laden address to Congress. The consensus is that Gillard is an international lightweight incapable of advocating the government’s position. But what Gillard’s critics fail to understand is that her weakness in foreign affairs is inconsequential. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-its-no-biggie-if-julia-doesnt-like-foreign-affairs/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-its-no-biggie-if-julia-doesnt-like-foreign-affairs/#item5519 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:55:40 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cory-bernardi-is-our-very-own-charlie-sheen/ American celebrity culture and Australian politics don’t often make for useful comparisons - but then, it’s not every day that Charlie Sheen comes along. Sheen is a highly amusing egomaniac but - unlike most Australian politicians - he also tells the truth. “I believe in the truth and that’s what rules me”, Sheen said in an interview with Andrea Canning for the ABC network in America. He certainly does. When asked to describe the last time he used drugs, Sheen said, “I probably took more than anyone could survive… I was banging seven gram rocks… that’s how I roll. I have one gear—go.” It’s the answer no one else would’ve given even if they had’ve banged seven gram rocks (which I assume means consuming a lot of cocaine).  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cory-bernardi-is-our-very-own-charlie-sheen/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cory-bernardi-is-our-very-own-charlie-sheen/#item5335 Wed, 09 Mar 2011 05:00:12 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/gillard-from-policy-dud-to-economic-hero/ Gillard is becoming a very good Prime Minister. History doesn’t judge a Prime Minister by the quality of Australia’s education or health systems, their foreign policy achievements or empathy for flood victims but by economic management, including a capacity for tough economic reform. In other words, economic policy makes or breaks a Prime Minister and everything else is just noise. By this measure, Julia Gillard is on the cusp of becoming a very good Prime Minister. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/gillard-from-policy-dud-to-economic-hero/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/gillard-from-policy-dud-to-economic-hero/#item5138 Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:45:30 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-is-in-exactly-the-right-place/ Kevin Rudd might be egotistical, self-serving, mistake prone and a control freak but he is perfectly suited to the foreign ministry. Although Rudd demanded the foreign affairs portfolio at the barrel of a gun, it’s a win-win situation for him and Australia. Rudd gets to travel the world and prepare for a post-political career and the country gets can rest assured that its biggest political liability has one of the least influential portfolios in government. Rudd cannot do damage as Australia’s chief diplomat because diplomacy is the most overrated profession since travel agents. International relations is not about the high politics of the diplomatic elite; rather, it is about globalisation and interactions between individuals and firms operating within a global market. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-is-in-exactly-the-right-place/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/kevin-rudd-is-in-exactly-the-right-place/#item4848 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:55:49 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-big-grab-for-the-economic-right/ After the indignity of having its then leader declare himself an ideological social democrat in a culture magazine, it’s the idea that dare not speak its name. Lost in the wilderness for so many years, the Gillard government might finally be accepting its inheritance as the party of economic rationalism and reform. But it’s early days and Labor might just be teasing. Labor’s decision to fundamentally change its trade policy is its most promising economic policy in a generation. In a recent address to the Lowy Institute, Trade Minister Craig Emerson indicated that the government will unilaterally cut Australia’s remaining industry tariffs, separate trade policy from international politics and only pursue trade agreements that have an economic upside. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brendan Brown ) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-big-grab-for-the-economic-right/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-big-grab-for-the-economic-right/#item4697 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:40:30 +0000 Brendan Brown | Author bios | The Punch