AQ: Australian Quarterly 93.1 Jan-Mar 2022

Welcome to 2022 – And what a year it’s set to be. Oh, let me count the ways? An Australian election – the US mid-term elections that will be a referendum on Biden’s work so far and a possible resurgence of the Trumpian Right – crunch time for the world’s climate change agenda – travel resuming and the globe testing out its “new normal”… Will we see an increase of tension with China? Economies failing under the strain of markets propped up by endlessly printed money? A resurgence of a new Covid variant that resets the board? Maybe it will finally be the year of a federal ICAC, political donation reform, radical government transparency, and an ambitious increase to our net zero goals…? While it’s easy to by cynical…

In this imagined self-writing ‘wikiverse’, the semi-centralised deliberative processes which have accompanied most versions of democracy throughout the ages, are replaced by a form of decentralised blind auction. Sunstein, also a noted behavioural economist, believes the insights from cognitive psychology give sound reason not only to doubt human judgement, and therefore the usefulness of traditional deliberation, but to engender intervention by benign controllers to shape it. Infotopia engages with economic and information theory to propose a superior methodology for knowledge formation and resource allocation in society. One might look back on Infotopia, from the vantage point of 2022 and the last five years, with a sense of vertigo. Much similar sentiment, particularly when espoused by Silicon Valley CEOs and not Harvard Professors, has in more recent times been derided as…

Universities have been, and should always be, a place to exercise free speech and engage in open debate. In an age of filter bubbles and narrowcasting of information, our society is becoming less and less acquainted with the disconcerting feeling of open discussion with someone you fundamentally disagree with. Thrashing out differences is how the common good is determined, how cultural norms are solidified, and how compromise is achieved. For a variety of reasons, these difficult discussions have become harder to resolve. Our tech and media landscapes make it harder to determine trustworthy information, while at the same time making it easier to selectively pick the facts you prefer. As a result, our forums for effective debate have been compromised or dulled. The all-or-nothing nature of modern politics can no…

Scene: Inner city, large excavation site with vibrant hoardings… a definite ‘build-it-and-they-willcome’feeling in the air… “Wow, check out the plan for that brand-new apartment block! Architectdesigned, sun-drenched balcony, cool entertainment area, and a coffee maker in every butler’s pantry. Beyond chic. Gig economy, latte-sipping hipsters, start-up entrepreneurs, everything bright, light and white - what a lifestyle!” So you’re tempted to buy a high-rise apartment? OTP, ‘off the plan’ of course - no getting out-bid at auction, but also no sizing up your neighbours before you move in.1 Let us hope that both the developer’s model of the building and the price asked are accurate. OTP can include premium mark-ups which incorporate not only government incentives to first-home buyers, but also tax benefits.2 Apart from these vagaries, other pricing forces can…

The PRC is subject to the same obligation to observe non-intervention in certain internal affairs of other states as the latter owe the PRC On the same date, the US Administration published adequate evidence in support of its view that a fruitful symbiosis very probably binds organised crime to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government.2 It also seems likely that this collaboration inflicted an effective cyber-attack on Microsoft Exchange servers over January to March 2021.3 The consequences included spectacularly disruptive effects felt by thousands of unfortunate entities within dozens of states, of which Australia was one. These events are cause for some reflection on those means through which states may respond to a certain category of PRC cyber transgressions. That wrongdoing seems likely to include intentional economic disruption, extortion through…

As I sit down to write this, all eyes are on COP26 and our shared future. 24 months ago we were on the cusp of one of Australia’s worst bushfire seasons – no matter where you were in the country, you knew someone who was affected. It felt personal, like we were in it together. Then came Covid and even though our worlds got smaller, everyone was acutely aware of the collective, global effort to contain the virus. The world came together around the science. Science has always been global; knowledge knows no borders. From the international contribution and consensus on climate change, to the sharing of data to find a Covid vaccine, science has always been at the forefront of addressing the common challenges we face. At the award…