Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Julia Gillard
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef declared in danger by United Nations
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is set to be named as a World Heritage Site in danger by UNESCO next month. A long-awaited assessment of the reef by UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released on Friday evening, says decisive action must be taken to avoid a listing in June. The report … Continue reading
New Australian defence white paper fails to recognise China as any threat whatsoever
Asia is a potentially turbulent region, yet Australia has no sensible defence strategy. For more than 40 years Australia has been able to assume that it is a secure country in a peaceful region. That has kept its defence needs low and defence budget modest. Now Asia is changing fast, and the old assumptions no … Continue reading
US Senator John McCain slams Australia’s defence cuts as ‘imprudent’
Powerful US senator John McCain has criticised the Gillard government for cutting the Australian defence budget. In an interview in his Washington Senate office, Mr McCain told The Weekend Australian that “it is not prudent” for Canberra to cut its defence budget so heavily. Last year the Gillard government cut defence spending by 10 per … Continue reading
Australia won’t be drawn into ‘mythical’ US-China war says defence consultant
The view that war between the US and China is inevitable and that Australia will be drawn into such a conflict is a dangerous miscalculation, says defence white paper author Paul Dibb. The comments to be made tonight by Mr Dibb will follow those by Julia Gillard, who yesterday deplored “false modesty” in our relationship … Continue reading
Australian Immigration Department criticises government policy as “harsh”
The head of the Immigration Department has sharply criticised the Gillard government‘s decision to increase federal court fees since 2010, arguing the policy has had “harsh” and “unintended” consequences on refugee clients. It is highly unusual for one of the government’s own departments to criticise policy in such a strident way, but in a letter … Continue reading
Experts warn that China’s main motive in new deal is to prise Australia away from US
The “strategic partnership” announced this week between Australia and China is widely viewed within China and by experts internationally as a move in which Beijing hopes to start prising Canberra away from Washington on security matters. But this is a long-term strategy, which is easier for China’s new leaders, who anticipate a 10-year term ahead, … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister strengthens military alliance with China, ignores 2009 report of threat
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard today will unveil a 10-year plan to tighten Australia’s embrace of China, flagging three-nation military exercises to include the US and more Chinese investment in Australia. The declaration comes as Canberra and Beijing have clinched a deal for an annual meeting mechanism between the Australian prime minister and the Chinese … Continue reading
Australia and China agree to new annual leaders’ forum; few other outcomes of China trip
Australia and China have agreed to top level strategic talks to strengthen and provide direction to an economically crucial relationship which also presents vast opportunities. In one of the few immediate outcomes from Julia Gillard‘s high-octane charm offensive to China which wraps up on Wednesday, a new annual leaders’ forum has been agreed, effectively mirroring … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister surprisingly disregards threats made by China
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has declared that Australia can grow its relationship with China while “tending” to its friendship with the US, playing down tensions caused by an agreement to allow US marines to exercise near Darwin. She seems to have totally disregarded threats made by China against Australia, particularly a warning in May … Continue reading
Australia’s population could soar to 40 million by 2050 because of temporary entry migrants
Julia Gillard is steering the nation’s population on a course to more than 40 million by 2050, despite warning just three years ago against “hurtling towards a big Australia“. New figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today show net overseas migration jumped by almost a third, to 228,000, in the 12 months to … Continue reading
Australian expert warns of more asylum seeker deaths at sea unless changes made
The Australian governments own immigration expert Paris Aristotle says it is ”absolutely certain” there will be more asylum-seeker deaths at sea unless the government implements the full suite of measures recommended to it last year. In the wake of the deaths of two asylum-seekers this week Mr Aristotle, who is currently visiting the Nauru detention … Continue reading
Five ministers, three whips, parliamentary secretaries resign; Australian government in turmoil
Anthony Albanese says there’s “no reason” for him to resign in the wake of Labor’s abortive leadership coup, as he admitted the departures of fellow Rudd backers from the ministry were “big losses”. The cabinet minister denied he played any role in corralling support for Kevin Rudd against Julia Gillard ahead of a Labor caucus … Continue reading
Australian government is the world’s laughing stock; a leadership challenge with no challenger
This morning, the Australian Prime Minister called a leadership ballot for her own position at 4:30 pm the same day. No warning. No time for challengers to prepare. No time for the party to ready itself. It is difficult to find an international policy angle to all of this, except to say what an international … Continue reading
Australia to ease restrictions on Myanmar, arms embargo to stay
Australia will ease restrictions on military engagement with Myanmar following democratic reforms since the country’s ruling generals relinquished their half-century grip on power in 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Monday. During a visit to Canberra by Myanmar’s President Thein Sein – the first leader from the former Burma to visit the Australian capital … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister harmed state election results for her own party
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard harmed the Labor brand further by not being involved in the West Australian election campaign, according to re-elected premier Colin Barnett. Mr Barnett was celebrating the Liberal’s extraordinary triumph in yesterday ‘s poll, which saw his party win enough seats to govern on its own, as Labor’s federal woes infected … Continue reading
Australian teachers have a lot to learn
The goal of the “Give a Gonski” campaign is not a revolution; it is a counter-revolution. Its targets are changes taking place in the Coalition states that bring greater autonomy to government schools, devolve more control from bureaucrats to parents and principals, and increase school choice. Victoria‘s proposals, released last week, to provide every low-income … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister’s attack on foreign workers is ‘damaging Asian strategy’
Julia Gillard‘s attack on foreign worker visa rorts is jeopardising Australia‘s global standing and risks reinforcing perceptions of racial and religious intolerance. Two of the nation’s most experienced diplomats have also warned Labor that the row over 457 temporary migration visas is undermining its Asian Century strategy. Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby said … Continue reading
Former Prime Minister praises contributions of immigrants to Australia
As Julia Gillard talks tough on foreign workers, Kevin Rudd has praised the contribution of successive generations of migrants to building the nation. Speaking to an infrastructure conference in Melbourne today, Mr Rudd said Australia would not have become the world’s 12th largest economy if not for the contribution of migrants. “Our natural birth rate … Continue reading
Defence force chief confirms death of two Afghan boys involved Australian soldiers
Defence force chief General David Hurley has offered his condolences to the families of two boys, aged seven and eight, killed during an incident involving Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. It is alleged Australian soldiers were responsible, but General Hurley says it is “premature” to determine how the incident occurred or who was responsible. Defence is … Continue reading
Australian live export trade prompts review of livestock industry guidelines
The nation’s animal welfare regime will come under scrutiny in a government probe into the domestic livestock industry amid a continuing backlash against the $1 billion live-export trade and a backbench push for tougher rules for farmers, transport companies and abattoirs. The Gillard government has called for tenders to review the formation of the animal … Continue reading
Aboriginal recognition bill passes lower house in Australia
Parliament has taken another stride toward reconciliation on the fifth anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generation, as campaigners urged MPs on both sides not to give up. Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott put aside politics on Wednesday as the lower house passed legislation to create an Act of … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister to mend fences with China
Julia Gillard is planning to make up for previous Australian government snubs to China with a visit to Asia’s premier financial forum in the first week of April. Despite the pressures of campaigning for a September election during the pre-budget parliamentary break, the Prime Minister plans to attend the Boao Forum for Asia, held on … Continue reading
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard predicts Kevin Rudd comeback
Former prime minister John Howard says Kevin Rudd – the man who beat him in 2007 – could make a move for the Labor Party leadership before the federal election. Mr Howard says Mr Rudd’s ousting as prime minister in 2010 by Julia Gillard was very unusual. “The extraordinary thing about the politics in the … Continue reading
Australian Liberals would give Kevin Rudd diplomatic post if they win government
Labor MP Kevin Rudd has talents and experience that could land him a diplomatic appointment under a coalition government, deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop says. Ms Bishop says if she were to become foreign minister, Mr Rudd would be considered for any role with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. “If Kevin wants to … Continue reading
Australia: Kevin Rudd reignites leadership speculation with barefoot bowls tournament
It is a rollback to the heady days of Kevin07. More than five years after Kevin Rudd filled television screens and Facebook pages from dusk until dawn in his campaign for The Lodge, the self-described “humble” backbencher is again reigniting leadership speculation with a blitz of mainstream and social media. As Julia Gillard jetted-off for … Continue reading
Craig Hill Media and Consulting 