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About the Author

Judith Brett is an Australian political scientist and writer, born in Melbourne in 1949. She taught and researched Australian politics and political history at La Trobe University from 1989 until her retirement in 2013. She was named emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. She is the mostrar mais author of The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, published in February 2018. It won the $25,000 National Biography Award for 2018 (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos

Obras por Judith Brett

Associated Works

Government, politics, power and policy in Australia (1979) — Contribuidor, algumas edições39 exemplares
The Best Australian Essays 2006 (2006) — Contribuidor — 23 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome legal
Brett, Judith Margaret
Data de nascimento
1949
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
Australia
Local de nascimento
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Ocupações
professor
Organizações
La Trobe University

Membros

Críticas

Alfred Deakin is known as one of the lead players in the federation of the Australian colonies/states. However, this book does a great job in describing so much about the life of Deakin, his early life in politics in Victoria, his engagement with spiritualism and religion, his relationship with his wife, his struggles with self-belief, and the political maneuverings in the early years of federation.
 
Assinalado
robeik | 1 outra crítica | Aug 31, 2022 |
This essay with its evocative title is a comprehensive survey of how Australia came to have its current paralysis on the matter of climate change.

This year's Melbourne Writers Festival is offering two sessions on this topic, and I have tickets for both of them. The first one, on Saturday August 8th and titled 'A Matter of Fact' features Ketan Joshi and Judith Brett, focusing on how this critical issue has been hijacked. This is the session description rel="nofollow" target="_top">on the MWF website:
As certain branches across politics and the media push mistruths, half-truths and lies about the cause and severity of the climate crisis in Australia, identifying reliable, science-backed information is increasingly a challenge.

But how do we identify misinformation in the battle against climate change, and what can we do to counter it? Academic Judith Brett (The Coal Curse) and renewable energy expert Ketan Joshi (Windfall) join Graham Readfearn in conversation.

(I've also got tickets for 'Australia's Response to Climate Change', more about that later.)

I haven't been able to get a copy of Joshi's book because it's not due for release till September, but The Coal Curse was already on my TBR because I subscribe to Quarterly Essay.

Judith Brett is a professor of politics so she is well placed to illuminate the sad and sorry story of our coal curse. She begins with an invidious comparison:
The term 'resource curse' was first used by the British economist Richard Auty in 1993 to explain why some resource-rich countries suffer from slow development and corrupt, authoritarian political elites: for example, Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela. At worst, the country embarks on a spending spree, using the export income earned to buy expensive imports, and is left with little when the limited resources run out, as happened most notoriously with Nauru. For a few decades, the money flowed from its phosphate deposits, but when the phosphate ran out, the economy collapsed. (p.9-10)

What should protect us from this fate is a strong civil society, functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law, working together to prevent corruption and nurture a diverse economy. Byt what has happened instead is that our advantage in mineral and agricultural commodities has been wasted, and worse, cynical operators in big business and in politics have propped up an industry which is a declining sector of world trade, and damaged Australia's international reputation into the bargain. When Harvard University's Centre for International Development ranked economies by their diversity and complexity in order to assess their potential for growth, Australia came in at number 93 of 133 economies among countries that we used to call the 'third world'. Worse, our position is falling. New Zealand came in at 51, and all the other OECD countries were at the top of the pack. The cause is the resources boom which made us rich but also made us reliant on other countries buying our minerals. Brett is blunt: from the Harvard perspective, we are a dumb country with a weak industrial base and poor prospects.

Well, it's not as bad as that. Before COVID-19 we had thriving tourism and education industries which brought in foreign income.

To read the rest of my review please visit This essay with its evocative title is a comprehensive survey of how Australia came to have its current paralysis on the matter of climate change.

This year's Melbourne Writers Festival is offering two sessions on this topic, and I have tickets for both of them. The first one, on Saturday August 8th and titled 'A Matter of Fact' features Ketan Joshi and Judith Brett, focusing on how this critical issue has been hijacked. This is the session description on the MWF website:
As certain branches across politics and the media push mistruths, half-truths and lies about the cause and severity of the climate crisis in Australia, identifying reliable, science-backed information is increasingly a challenge.

But how do we identify misinformation in the battle against climate change, and what can we do to counter it? Academic Judith Brett (The Coal Curse) and renewable energy expert Ketan Joshi (Windfall) join Graham Readfearn in conversation.

(I've also got tickets for 'Australia's Response to Climate Change', more about that later.)

I haven't been able to get a copy of Joshi's book because it's not due for release till September, but The Coal Curse was already on my TBR because I subscribe to Quarterly Essay.

Judith Brett is a professor of politics so she is well placed to illuminate the sad and sorry story of our coal curse. She begins with an invidious comparison:
The term 'resource curse' was first used by the British economist Richard Auty in 1993 to explain why some resource-rich countries suffer from slow development and corrupt, authoritarian political elites: for example, Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela. At worst, the country embarks on a spending spree, using the export income earned to buy expensive imports, and is left with little when the limited resources run out, as happened most notoriously with Nauru. For a few decades, the money flowed from its phosphate deposits, but when the phosphate ran out, the economy collapsed. (p.9-10)

What should protect us from this fate is a strong civil society, functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law, working together to prevent corruption and nurture a diverse economy. Byt what has happened instead is that our advantage in mineral and agricultural commodities has been wasted, and worse, cynical operators in big business and in politics have propped up an industry which is a declining sector of world trade, and damaged Australia's international reputation into the bargain. When Harvard University's Centre for International Development ranked economies by their diversity and complexity in order to assess their potential for growth, Australia came in at number 93 of 133 economies among countries that we used to call the 'third world'. Worse, our position is falling. New Zealand came in at 51, and all the other OECD countries were at the top of the pack. The cause is the resources boom which made us rich but also made us reliant on other countries buying our minerals. Brett is blunt: from the Harvard perspective, we are a dumb country with a weak industrial base and poor prospects.

Well, it's not as bad as that. Before COVID-19 we had thriving tourism and education industries which brought in foreign income.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/07/29/the-coal-curse-resources-climate-and-austral...… (mais)
 
Assinalado
anzlitlovers | 1 outra crítica | Jul 29, 2020 |
Much to my astonishment, I was singing the praises of this book the other day, when it transpired that my friend did not know what a democracy sausage was. So for the edification of those unfortunate citizens who do not enjoy the same privilege as we do here in Australia, an explanation is in order.

Because we are almost unique in the world in having compulsory voting, and because impecunious state schools are very often the place for polling booths all over the country, and because enterprising Parents and Friends associations can spot a good fundraiser when they see one, it has become routine practice for there to be a sausage sizzle so that voters can assuage their hunger pangs in a worthy cause. Indeed on election day there is a dedicated website where you can even scout around for the best democracy sausage options. They don't all offer fried onions or chilli sauce, you know, and some of them have a cake stall as well!

Here is the link to Wikipedia with pictures! Visit my blog to see the democracy sausage map: There are even democracy sausages overseas, the most famous of which is at Australia House in London. (See the video here).

But how has this come about? Indeed, how is it that we take compulsory voting so much for granted that it has taken Judith Brett's lively new history to make me aware of just how amazing it is that we are the only English-speaking country that makes its citizens vote?

Australians shake their heads in bemused dismay at the electoral shambles we've witnessed in the UK and US. Brexit just couldn't happen here. Here, at least when people vote and their side doesn't win, they can console ourselves with the knowledge that it's a democratic result. Compulsory voting means a referendum ignored by a huge cohort of voters but swamped by zealots would carry no weight at all and there could not be the same kind of divisive fallout that is tearing Britain apart because so many people are distraught at the result.

And because voting is compulsory here, the process has been made easy for us. Unlike the Brits, we only have to register to vote once which entitles us to vote in elections for all three levels of government, local, state and federal. The bureaucrats keep the electoral rolls up-to-date; we don't have to. Plus, whereas in Britain you need time off work on a Thursday to vote, we vote on Saturdays, which suits a majority of working people. Whereas in Britain you have to vote in your own electorate so too bad if you're away from home, we can vote wherever we are in the country, and outside of it, because we have absentee voting and postal voting. Yup, I'll be in New Zealand for our next election, but I won't miss out, because I can vote before I go!

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/03/16/from-secret-ballot-to-democracy-sausage-how-...
… (mais)
1 vote
Assinalado
anzlitlovers | Mar 15, 2019 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
16
Also by
2
Membros
291
Popularidade
#80,411
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
6
ISBN
43
Marcado como favorito
1

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