Opinion Pieces | Page 2 | Australian Policy and History Network

Why do Tamil asylum seekers need protection — and why does the Australian government say they don’t?

Niro Kandasamy, recipient of the Contemporary Histories Policy and History Award, writes about Tamil asylum seekers in this piece, originally published in The Conversation. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke has announced the Murugappans will be moved from detention on Christmas Island, to community detention in Perth. This follows mounting public concern for the Tamil family, particularly […]

Why Chauvin’s conviction shouldn’t change calls to abolish police

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. The unprecedented conviction of police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd is testament to the hard work of Black Lives Matter organisers and protesters. It might seem as though someone who spent nine minutes and 29 seconds […]

Australia Awards, where to now?

Like the rest of the international education sector in Australia, the Australian government development scholarships program, the Australia Awards, have been thrown into chaos by Covid-19. Does this moment of uncertainty offer an opportunity for the scholarships to reset? Background The Australian government has been offering scholarships to international students in the region since 1948. […]

Australia in the Indian Ocean: Why More Needs to be Done

In our first opinion piece of 2021, Dr Niro Kandasamy considers Australia’s relationship with Sri Lanka and argues that we need to take a more active and engaged role in the strategically vital Indian Ocean region. By Niro Kandasamy Earlier this year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison committed to strengthening Australia’s ties to states in the […]

Leading America and Biden’s new/old foreign policy: The exclusive new democracy club, trade-bloc or alliance?

By Digby Wren Australia faces unprecedented regional trade and security challenges in the aftermath of the Trump presidency and a continuing pandemic calamity. The Morrison government has been in lockstep with the Trump administration’s ‘Strategic Adversary’ approach to China. How will President-elect Joe Biden’s approach differ from his predecessor’s and how can the Morrison government’s […]

The Anzac legend has blinded Australia to its war atrocities. It’s time for a reckoning.

Martin Crotty, The University of Queensland and Carolyn Holbrook, Deakin University For years, Australians have faced a steady stream of investigative media reports about atrocities allegedly committed by the country’s most elite soldiers in Afghanistan. Yet, nothing could have prepared the nation for the breathtaking contents of the landmark report by Major General Paul […]

In Godwin We Trust: Debunk[er]ing the Hitler/Trump Analogy

Academics have been busy in the last few years calling out ham-fisted analogies between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler, and the contemporary United States and 1930s Germany. It’s easy to laugh at clumsy historical references, but harder to make informed judgements about the validity or otherwise of these references. In our latest article, Dr Mathew […]

Australian Soldier Atrocities in Afghanistan: Why We Should Not Be Surprised

By Dale Blair The allegations of atrocities committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan may be shocking, but they suggest continuity rather than rupture with our military past. In this article, Dr Dale Blair outlines Australia’s past involvement in war crimes, and the exalted status of Australia’s soldiers and official patronage that have obscured the […]

Echoes of Vietnam: Counterinsurgency, “warrior hero” culture, and war crimes in Afghanistan

By Mia Martin Hobbs In our latest article, Dr Mia Martin Hobbs finds important parallels between war crimes committed by the US and Australia in the Vietnam War and those alleged to have been committed by Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. These echoes, she argues, should cause our politicians to think carefully before sending fighting […]

Managing the Federation During a Pandemic: Spanish Influenza and COVID-19

Global health pandemics, it would seem, make us reach for local remedies and cling to local identities. As state borders have closed and parochialism has increased, COVID-19 has made Australians more aware of their federal system of government than they have been for a long time. In this piece about the 1919 Spanish influenza outbreak, […]

What now for Black Lives Matter? Whatever happens under Biden, the role of African American women will be vital

AAP/AP/Paula Bronstein Clare Corbould, Deakin University During the northern summer, anti-Trump sentiment fused with anti-racist activism in the US, causing huge numbers of Americans to protest all around the country. President Donald Trump has been voted out of office, but the issues at the heart of Black Lives Matter remain as critical as ever. […]

Border Wars: History and Creative Imagination

In our latest opinion piece, Richard Trembath steps into the always-contentious debate about history, historical fiction and ‘narrative non-fiction’, prompted by the publication of Kate Grenville’s A Room Made of Leaves. Kate Grenville’s latest novel set in early colonial New South Wales, A Room Made of Leaves, was published in July this year to positive reviews […]