No longer active...

Hey everyone...

To begin with, thanks for following me here but I have now set up my new blog - better linked with my website...

You can find all my latest stuff at www.jamesarvanitakis.net - including my latest articles and the many responses of the people I seem to rub the wrong way!

Please join me there

Cheers, james

The mining tax... why it remains a good idea

Like most of you this week, I have been reflecting on the state of Australia politics and am thinking that a good shake up is exactly what we need...

For too long the two main parties have resembled each other on key policy issues - with the mining tax being one key exception.

With the independents acting as 'King (or Queen) Makers' (as the case may be), I thought I would again raise the important issue of rent resource tax...

I had this article published by The Punch... check it out here...

Economics - a discussion of housing and stimulous

Hi everyone

Many of us have been frustrated with the simple positions taken in the 2010 federal election especially around economics. As a result, I have decided to write a couple of pieces as follows...

1. The stimulous package
No matter how you feel about the ALP, the stimulous package saved Australia from deep recession. While I was critical of some aspects of the package in the past, I think Rudd/Swan should be commended for it. I explain why here... for the Centre for Policy Development

2. Housing and economic policy beyond interest rates
In a globalised economy, the direction that interest rates take has as much to do with international factors as domestic management - and as a result, this proxy can be misdirected. A better way to judge economic credentials and leadership is by looking at the issue of housing: who can afford what; what are the inflationary implications; where is it located; and is it both economically and environmentally sustainable? These questions should not be limited to home ownership, but also need to be applied to the rental market. Read more here... in an article I wrote with Lee Rhiannon - Green's candidate for the Senate...

Hope you enjoy the read

Cheers, james

Population... size does not matter

For those of us who feel that Australia is at a crossroad on issues around sustainability the debates related to this topic have been more than a little disappointing – and I am not just talking about the election cycle. The issue of sustainability, carrying capacity and population numbers have all been meshed together to give us a linear equation: less people = more sustainability.

I believe that this is a myth that needs to be confront... and so I have grown increasingly frustrated about this debate and have started writing a response to the simplified approach.

You can read the article that I wrote for The Punch here...

In addition, British scientist Fred Pearce, has also challenged some of the numbers people are throwing around in a recent book - read an article by him here...

Hope you enjoy

Cheers, james

This election is driving me nuts

Hey everyone

I have been away for a while and have not posted much... my bad.

Despite this, much has been happening and I need to catch up on documenting it. My gig on FBI Radio is still going and I now have a new column writing for The Punch (following the sad demise of the wonderful New Matilda).

Most recently I have made my feelings known about the inadequate way the two major parties have been dealing with some major issues.

In this article I talk about why I would rather watch Masterchef (not that I ever really watched it) than deal with this election - which, as I argue, is enough to even turn political junkies off.

The article is available here...

As always, your thoughts are appreciated

Cheers, james

FBI Radio 28 April 2010

Hey everyone...

This week on sociologic FBI Radio I looked at a couple of issues that will be affecting our lives... here they are:

1. Time for lazy kids to get off the dole

Last week, Tony Abbott announced that if his government was elected, they would make unemployment benefits subject to age requirements. This is one of the silliest policy suggestions for a long time and I explained why. The discussion on FBI Radio was based on an article I wrote for Newmatilda.com which is available here...

2. Climate change back flip

This week, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the government would be shelving any plans for a carbon trading scheme! This is one of the great political back flips and highlights three key things:

• The first is a lack of political courage on behalf of the Rudd Government. They claimed this to be a key moral challenge of our time and pushed it as a way to split the Opposition. When the Opposition stood up to them, they backed down. This is a shame;
  
• Secondly, it highlights that there are a number of dinosaurs in the Opposition. Tony Abbott is more interested in scaring the public than discussing the issue. I have written extensively about the overwhelming evidence for human-induced climate change but the same dinosaurs that believed passive smoking was not a problem have now turned their attention to climate change; and
  
• That climate change may well be too complex an issue for our political system to deal with. If everyone waits for someone else to act, then we are in serious trouble...
  

For a great read about this political back flip check out Ben Eltham’s awesome piece.

If you want to let Kevin Rudd know this is political cowardice, then I suggest you sign up to the Get Up petition.

Thank, james

Racsim sucks: and so do policies aimed at discriminate against refugees

Hey everyone


I given some thought at all the things that have been happening around refugees. Given the new position (outrageous) by the Rudd Government, I thought it would be time for a bit of a discussion about the way we see the world and our response to refugees.


Why this blog now? Because I am looking into the issue of racism as I prepare for a trip to Stockholm that a very unfriendly volcano seems to have thwarted. What I am researching is the way that the issue of ‘race’ and ‘racism’ is treated in our popular culture. The outcomes of that research are still coming and I am in the midst of writing a paper which I will hopefully publish in the not too distant future.


The motivations for this research have two distinct directions: the first was the underlying themes that emerged in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy (that is, The girl with the dragon tattoo series, or in its original translation Men who hate women). One of these themes is the way that migrants are the target of violence and derision: ignored, violated, cheap labour and so on.


The second motivation for my research is the fact that Australian pop culture remains, essentially, colour blind. There are few positions for the non-white protagonist in Australian movies and television. Yes, there are exceptions but there is no way that the monochrome world of television reflects our multicultural society. Pop culture is such an important part of our society that we need to use it both as a mirror and as well as a significant guide towards attitudes: what does the lack of diversity tell us about Australian society.


Like I said, I will delve deeper into this at some future point - both with another blog and more formal publishing because now I want to highlight some aspects of refugees and amazing anti-racist activists that are responding to Australia’s stance on refugees – which I believe is deeply problematic and essentially racist.


To begin with, we should note that a refugee, according to the 1951 UN Convention, is:

Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country.

It is surprisingly easy to identify who is a genuine refugee: it is hard for someone to pretend to speak another language or fake a religion. If someone claims that they are from somewhere, then it is quite easy to ask them some questions to confirm this.


A few facts from the Edmund Rice Centre that confirm that Australia does not have a refugee problem. Australia remains down the bottom of countries that see both refugee arrivals and those seeking asylum. Let's look at some of the statistics:

• Tanzania hosts one refugee for every 76 Tanzanian people (1:76)
• Britain hosts one refugee for every 530 British people. (1:530)
• Australia hosts one refugee for every 1583 Australian people. (1:1583)

There are many myths about refugees which there is no reason to list here but I recommend you check out the Refugee Council of Australia website where some are listed and responded to.


I can only think what I would do if that was me and my family and we were forced to leave a country or persecuted: I would do anything to protect them. What drives refugees are push factors (that is, things happening back in the home country) not pull factors, such as Australia’s policies on refugees (see http://www.smh.com.au/national/oceans-apart-over-brutal-reality-20100402-rjy2.html).


I fear that the Australian Government’s position, along with the Opposition and the trashy newspapers, radio stations and tv stations is aggravating a sense of concern and unease that Australians are feeling. This sense of unease is being used for political purposes and real leadership should be shown by the Federal Government rather than pandering to the racist posturing by the federal opposition. Both parties need to come together and take a humanitarian stance: we should not be playing with people’s lives.


This is made clear in a recent campaign undertaken by Amnesty International titled Don’t use asylum seekers as political footballs. There is a petition there that over 110,000 people had signed (including me). If you are passionate about this issue or simply want people’s rights and dignity to be respected, I encourage you to sign it.


In addition, there is a very cool group that has been set up celebrating Australia’s diversity: The anti-bogan website which states that ‘True Blue is not Skin Deep’. I like these guys – and they have an awesome facebook page! Join up and support their work through their petitions and also spreading the word.


If you want to see the human story about refugees, here is a story featuring a friend of mine. He is interviewed by the voice of America about Afghan refugee and recent Australian government policy to suspend cases of asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. You can follow watch it here.


I think this remains a key issue for Australia and we need to show everyone that tolerance, peace and humanity over rules hate and ignorance: don’t hate my friends, marinate! This week in Queensland the Hammered music festival was held and it is co-sponsored by the Southern Cross Hammer Skinheads. This is an international race-hate group banned in Germany for spreading Nazi messages! A group of activists stood up to them by holding their own peace festival.


By standing up and refusing to accept racism, we can help blunt those who use it for their own ends. We can also change the political culture of this country!

Cheers, james

Socio-logic this week - 14 April 2010

Hey everyone


This week we had a pretty big week on socio-logic with so many things happening…


The f-word conference


This conference was held in Sydney over the weekend of 10-11 April 2010 to discuss contemporary feminist issues - something we should all be interested in.


Over the years I have found that many of my students feel that feminism has become an dirty word: something that they cannot relate to or is relevant to them.


This is deeply problematic as many of the issues that have faced women remain in our society. Sure, we have a female deputy prime minister as well as a female CEO at Westpac Banking Corporation but there are some fundamental inequalities that remain that we must confront as well as new issues that have emerged.


For example, women are still the primary carers for children and elderly parents and do more housework. They tend to do this while balancing careers or simply casual/part-time work. We still have a small percentage of women in executive/senior positions and women earn about 60 percent of what men do in the same positions: these issues have been raised repeatedly by some impressive and successful women including Ann Summer, Eva Cox and Jane Caro.


There are also some new issues that need to be confronted. The rise of cosmetic surgery and the pressure on women to remain looking young is incredible.


Again, this does not dismiss the amazing achievements by many women or the changes in our society, but does return us to why feminism is so important: structural inequalities and discrimination remains in our society – and women often suffer from these.


It is for this reason that feminism is as relevant today as it has ever been.


Unfortunately the f.word conference blog has not been updated but please keep an eye out on some of the amazing things that are happening with this group and I am sure there are more to come: though this article appeard today in the SMH by Nina Funnell.



2. The decline of western civilisation?


The Sydney Morning Herald’s Phillip Coorey reported on a get together over the weekend of conservative thinkers including former Prime Minister John Howard and Arch Bishop Cardinal George Pell.


This is part of a broader trend of conservative thinkers who have been raising concerns about the ‘direction’ in which our society is heading.


I too hold some concerns – mostly to do with the fact that we seem to worship economic growth and progress ahead of everything. Authors such as Ronald Wright and Jarred Diamond have raised such issues: both authors I recommend you read.

This was not the focus of this group. Rather their concerns revolved around issues such as:

• - The collapse of Judeo-Christian values;
  - The rise of secularism;
  - The emergence of a strong green movement;
  - Loss of the family unit; and
  - The influence of Islam in our society.
  
  

These types of concerns are nothing new and have emerged throughout Europe and the USA. The issue of the direction of society is important but I found their concerns miss the mark. For example, why would a religious ethic be more important that a secular ethic? We should not dismiss one, nor the other.

Further, we are not been over run by other religions but are a multicultural society: and many young Muslims are adopting secular values as much as Christians are.

The family unit is important – but there is no reason that non-traditional family units including same sex couples are not just as important.

Rather than being concerned about these issues, these incredibly influential and bright men (and some women) should focus on tackling some fundamental structural issues in our society: poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, displacement of people, racism and so on.

If we could sort these issues out then we would live in a better world and no matter your religion, you cannot disagree with that.

Refugees

Over the last few months the Rudd Government has been under increasing pressure by the Abbott Opposition to respond to the number of refugee boast arriving in Australia. This resulted in a freeze in processing applications from those seeking refugee status from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Australian migration has a long and problematic history based around the fear of invasion. I do not have the time to write about this now but it I worth check out Ben Eltham’s piece on this from New Matilda.

We are part of a global humanity and to take this position on the most vulnerable shames us as Australians. There are better ways to do things and we should expect more from the Rudd Government.

Screw light bulbs: real climate change solutions

Can we have a clean, green future? Yes we can! This is the message from a new nook by Dr Donna Green and Liz Minchin. Their book is being launched at Gleebooks this Thursday evening – come along if you can – as well as buy the book to see some of the solutions they offer.

That is all from me… remember to email me at askjames@fbiradio.com if you have any questions or leave a comment below.

Cheers, james

Climate change denial: who are the big hitters

As I have seen the Australian government grow indifferent about the issue of climate change, I have started to reflect on which people have been driving this trend...

The election of Tony Abbott as the leader of the Opposition coupled with the massive failure of the Copenhagen negotiations means that action on climate change lost momentum. This has been also driven by some influential figures who have helped confuse the issues...

In the NewMatilda article I recently published, I list five influential climate change deniers in Australia... it is worth a read... as well as some of the interesting comments that follow

Cheers, james

Sociologic this week... 31 March 2010

Hey everyone

This week on socio-logic things got very exciting! To begin with, I got my own ‘introduction’ – a pre-recorded message introducing the show! It is called a ‘sting’ in radio talk and I was so excited that I almost bounced out of the studio!

On the show this week we covered the following...


1. Internet filters

The federal government is keen to introduce an internet filter to attempt to stop us from accessing internet sites we should not access. Whenever I hear the words ‘child pornography’ uttered by politicians, I always think of moral hazards. Yes, this is a problem but the tool that is being proposed is expensive and almost useless.

We do not know which ‘other’ sites are going to be blocked but we are being told they will be terrorist sites or ones that insight violence. This ‘blacklist’ of sites is secret and this raises questions of integrity and censorship. We also need to understand how sites make it on this list: for example, would a charity that raises money to work in places such as Palestine and have to deal with one of the militias there be placed on such a list?

Working in such conflict zones is complex and have to be negotiated – grey areas that can well be treated as black/white with such a process.

A better policy would be to provide free, controllable internet filters for Australian households and put the money into sorting out real problems.


2. China v. Google

This is another internet story with Google stating that they will no longer work with the Chinese government to filter out sites.

The Chinese government and Google cut a deal that would allow Google access to the Chinese market if it filtered out sites associated with the Falun Gong , Tibet and so on.

Google has rightly pulled out of the deal – and we should acknowledge this. It has been pointed out, however, by the super cool Jason Wilson that this is not as selfless as it appears: Google has reversed a decision in which it was criticised for about a market that it is finding it hard to break into.

Whatever you feel about the decision, the important part is that we are having conversations about censorship.


3. Forestry and koalas

I received an SOS call about a proposal to undertake forestry in the South East Region Area of NSW. The Conservation group in the area have noted that: "State Forests, the NSW Government logging agency, is demanding to woodchip the koalas’ forest home.”

This is one of the final areas of koala habitat in this part of the state and we are talking woodchips! That is, cutting down trees for low value products: not even high value timber products. This is the “last tiny colony of koalas on the south coast live in Mumbulla and Murrah State Forest. There are only 30 to 50 of them left in the whole south east region” (according to the press release).

So... we can only assume that this is a political decision rather than an economic one. My advice, email the Premier, Kristina Keneally and politely ask her to stop this. The email address is to get on is: premier@nsw.gov.au


That is it from me...

Speak soon

james

Dont hate, marinate: help end homophobic violence!

Hey everyone

A friend of mine works on an anti-violence project with the aim of stopping homophobic violence.

You can help by taking part in designing the campaign...

Please votehttp://www.facebook.com/l/bc100;www.thisisoz.com.au - don't hate, marinate!

Cheers, james

This week on FBI... 10 March 2010

Hey everyone

I have been absent for a couple of weeks due to semester starting last week. There has been much happening and rather than working though everything I wanted to mention a just a few things:

• Being out west: Homophobic violence

To begin with I was lucky enough to be invited to chair a symposium looking at homophobic violence in Western Sydney. It was an amazing evening with stories of both violence and also hope – as some who had confronted violence spoke out against it. About 100 people showed up and each of the presentations where amazing...

What was obvious is that homophobic violence remains a problem in Australia – not just ‘out west’. The statistics are harrowing and I encourage everyone to speak out against it.

I wrote an article on the event for New Matilda available here...

• Parental leave

A big ‘battle ground’ looming with the federal election to be held sometime later this year is ‘paid parental leave’. This was highlighted this week when the leader of the Opposition stated a new position on parental leave which brought a chorus of criticisms from many sides of politics.

Abbot’s position seems not to have been greatly conceived and it concerns me that this will undermine a scheme that was due to be put in place by the Rudd Government which is to start 1 January 2011.

I hope this is not the case.

What we should remember though, is how far the debate has come (reflecting the fact that societies are constantly changing).

If you want to get a great overview of some of the debates on this issue, check out this piece by Eva Cox – a former colleague of mine who is also a good friend.

• Night time research project

A group of friends and colleagues at the University of Western Sydney are undertaking a research project into ‘The City After Dark’.

The group wants to know what you get up to after hours and your ideas and opinions could well shape the future design of our city.

To undertake the survey click here or for more questions call the research team at (02) 9685 9493

Ok... that is all from me...

Do not forget to email me at askjames@fbiradio.com if you have any questions...

Cheers, james

Sociologic - 24 February 2010

On FBI Radio's sociologic this week we covered two areas that have been in the news quite a bit lately.



Population numbers: the elephant in the room


The first topic was about the most sustainable number for Australia’s population. This was based on an email inquiry I received from a FBI listener as well as an article I wrote for newmatilda.com. This population question has always been a sensitive one and has been described as ‘the elephant in the room’.


The article I wrote about this can be accessed here…


In essence, I argue that asking about ‘the correct size’ of the population misses the point because there are other issues surrounding sustainability. As you will see from the comments below the article, it caused quite a bit of controversy…



Housing affordability…


The second (related) topic was about housing affordability – who can afford a house in Sydney? This follows a recent report that shows housing affordability continues to decline.


This is a complicated issue with no quick fix solution – which was noted in a government inquiry no that long ago. The problem for a government is that if housing prices rise, it locks people out of the market; but if prices fall, it means that people have loans for a house that is higher than its value. This means they will try and sell it quickly and this causes a panic in the market and a downward cycle. It is this very process that led to the Global Financial Crisis.


If you have the time, check out the government report – but for me, there are three things that need to be done as a matter of urgency:

1. Focus on medium density housing: it is better to have a smaller city with more numbers that have sprawl. These have to be well designed and environmentally sensitive houses that are well serviced by public infrastructure such as schools, public transport and shops;
2. Change the taxation status for investment property: the fact that people buy into investment properties drives up the prices. It is a much too generous tax break and needs to be reviewed; and
3. Make renting more attractive: this means offering 5 to 7 year leases rather than 12 months. It means people have more security and are more likely to rent.

Finally, there will be an amazing forum this week as part of Mardi Gras: looking at homophobic violence in Western Sydney. It is on Thursday, 25 February at 5.30. Details are available here…


Thanks for listening and reading


Cheers, james

Socio-logic - week of 25 January 2010

Hi everyone


On this week’ socio-logic featured on FBI Radio, we covered two incredibly important and relevant topics.


Australia Day and nationalism

The first was nationalism and Australia Day. Over the last 15 years, mainly driven by the previous Howard Government, we have seen increasingly prominent displays of nationalism. This has been as evident at schools as it has been at events such as the Big Day Out. The new ‘Australia Day uniform’ seems to include the Australian flag as a cape.


I am not one to portray a great deal of nationalism – I prefer more subtle that outlandish displays.


Saying that, I do think it is important to acknowledge the history and show pride of one’s country – both the positive and negative aspects. In Australia, the positive aspects such a long tradition of democratic values is something we should celebrate. We should also acknowledge the dark parts of our history, such as the Aboriginal Stolen Generation, so we can repair the mistakes and ensure they are not repeated.


While there are many definitions of ‘nationalism’, it essentially refers to pride and devotion to the interests or culture of one's nation. This does not mean ‘blind’ or ‘absolute’ devotion – simply that someone feels a connection.


I believe that nationalism is a double edged sword. On the positive side, it involves helping others in our community no matter their background, acknowledging our national mistakes and ensuring that our nation plays a key and positive role in international affairs. This is an inclusive nationalism – we are proud to be Australian but not at the expense of other people or cultures.


One author who takes this position is Tim Soutphommasane. His recent book on ‘Reclaiming Nationalism’ discusses a progressive nationalism in detail. I really enjoyed it and recommend you read it if you want to know more about this aspect of nationalism.


The dark side of nationalism is exclusionary: where we see ourselves as better than others and other cultures as inferior. This is the nationalism that is aggressive and was one of the reasons for the Cronulla Riots a few years ago. Negative nationalism can be violent and includes slogans such as ‘f#%k off we’re full.’


John Burmingham wrote about this type of nationalism the other day. It is a great article and worth a read.


Haiti earthquake and the international response

The second topic this week was the Haiti earthquake and the international response. Before continuing, it is important to acknowledge the great work being done in Haiti by some excellent organisations including Oxfam (who I work with), MSF and the Red Cross.


The problem with aid and humanitarian work is that it is as much about politics as it is about helping others. This is a point that organisations such as Aid/Watch raise frequently: noting that the aid project is as much about ‘pursuing our national interest’ as it is about poverty relief. Such twin objectives are reflected by other governments also, which means that the relief effort in Haiti has been as much about certain nations and organisation advertising themselves as it has been about emergency relief.


Naomi Klein talks about this in some detail in her blog and is certainly worth a read.


It is a tragedy that this is occurring – and something that we should demand our governments change: aid should be about sustainable poverty relief and should not about Australia’s national interest. Contact Aid/Watch for more information (and please note, I work with these guys also).


Contact me at askjames@fbiradio.com if you have any questions.


Cheers, james