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2019 Special Edition – AQ: Australian Quarterly 90.4
Gone are the days of Australia being able to project a laid-back, friendly image without international scrutiny.
Currently, we’re considered a ‘bully’ in the Pacific, climate deniers in Europe, racists in Asia, and a model of admirable cruelty in Trump’s US. The world knows that we’re not doing enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef, they have seen inside our offshore detention camps, they have watched us arrest foreign journalists and attack our own press freedom.
Yet in a globalised world, reputation is everything. Is Australia doing enough to be a good global citizen…?
Presenting the 2019 Special Edition on International Cooperation and Australia’s place in the world.
This and more in the 2019 AQ Special Edition!
Why a Fair Go should be the law
Human rights are not a right-wing/left-wing argument, or one of party politics – they should be at the heart of policy decisions no matter who holds government. Yet more than 70 years after the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), Australia continues to lag behind many countries in providing adequate protection of citizens’ fundamental rights. Why are we the only Western democracy that doesn’t have a charter of human rights?
Claire Mallinson
Chasing the Artful Dodger – Multinational Tax Avoidance
For most of us, paying taxes is an unavoidable civic duty. Yet for the modern corporation it has increasingly become a voluntary matter, with a prevailing sense that a corporation’s duty lies in avoiding tax. International intrigue, exotic locations, and a hint of Dickens’ Artful Dodger – the world of tax havens and international tax avoidance has the makings of a good thriller, but its effects are far more mundane and affect all of us. What is happening around the world and is Australia doing enough to secure its dues?
David Richardson
The United Nations: A History of Success and Failure
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. The world is less peaceful than it was a decade ago; the process of post-Cold War democratisation is now running in reverse across the globe. Yet while global problems continue to mount, the problem-solving capacity of our politics continues to decline. Multilateralism – the idea of governments working cooperatively – has stalled.
The United Nations – the bastion of the post-war global order – is seemingly overwhelmed. What then, is the ongoing role of one of the most important organisations humanity has created?
Peter Nadin
Global Compact on Refugees: Opportunities for Australian reform and leadership?
International refugee protection has proven to be a difficult collective issue to resolve. Despite repeated pushes for enhanced international protection of refugees, lack of cooperation among states is endemic. In spite of increasingly brutal and protectionist stances by nations, the number of refugees requiring settlement is only likely to increase. Yet there are opportunities for Australia to benefit from leadership in this arena while also renewing its image as a good and just global citizen.
Tristan Harley