Handout or Hand‐up: Ongoing Tensions in the Long History of Government Response to Drought in Australia

In 2014 the Coalition government announced a 320 million dollar package for drought‐hit farmers. In describing this initiative as a “hand‐up” not a “hand out” Prime Minister Tony Abbott encapsulated more than 150 years of tension over whether government drought response should be unconditional limited relief or conditional longer‐term assistance. This paper considers the long history of drought assistance in Australia as seen through government legislation, year books, newspapers and personal papers. It argues that despite changing political and social circumstances, contradictions in the approach to government drought response, as well as in public and personal reactions to those policies, have remained remarkably consistent. We further suggest that lack of consensus over the inherent nature of drought is not sufficient to explain the dilemma.     

Old Age in Australia: A History

Old Age in Australia: A History. By Pat Jalland (Melbourne: Melbourne University Publishing, 2015), pp.vii + 296, AU$79.99(cloth), AU$59.99 (pb), AU$49.99 (eb).     

不确定的前景:布什政府军控政策展望

布什政府的军控政策仍在制定之中,并将受到三个因素的影响一是美国已经开始的全面战略评估的结果;二是布什政府同其他相关国家谈判、磋商的结果;三是布什能否在国会获得两党对其军控政策的支持.这三个因素将很大程度上塑造布什政府未来四年的军控政策.美俄有关<反导条约>和NMD的谈判可能会出现三种结果一种是美国不修改<反导条约>、不部署NMD,军控机制不会遭受破坏;一种是美俄达不成妥协,美国退出<反导条约>、部署NMD,军控机制崩溃;最后一种是美俄能够在修约和部署导弹防御系统的问题上达成妥协,军控机制受到损害,但不至于崩溃.     

The Rise of the Insider: Memoirs and Diaries in Recent Australian Political History

The memoirs and diaries composed by politicians represent an increasingly important form of history. This article provides a comprehensive survey of such writings in Australia. It suggests that they have become more popular, diffuse, confessional, immediate, ambitious, interventionist and cynical over recent decades. The significance of these developments is considered and some tentative explanations advanced.     

The Role of Drought and Climate Change in the Syrian Uprising: Untangling the Triggers of the Revolution

This article examines the role of drought and climate change as triggers of the Syrian uprising that started in March 2011. It frames the 2006–10 drought that struck north-eastern Syria in the context of rapid economic liberalization and long-standing resource mismanagement, and shows that the humanitarian crisis of the late 2000s largely predated the drought period. It argues that focusing on external factors like drought and climate change in the context of the Syrian uprising is counterproductive as it diverts attention from more fundamental political and economic motives behind the protests and shifts responsibility away from the Syrian government.     

美国气候政策转向的政治经济学解释

自布什政府宣布退出<京都议定书>以来,美国的气候政策已成为人们关注的焦点.美国是否采取强制性温室气体减排更是成为其内外公共政策领域争论的重要问题之一.本文指出,美国新一届总统候选人的气候政策与布什政府有根本差别.运用政治经济学的研究方法对其进行分析后,本文发现,这种政策转向背后的深层次原因在于美国两党政治及利益集团的复杂博弈.本文在此基础上分析了这种政策动向对发达国家和发展中国家温室气体减排的可能影响.最后,本文结合中国实际提出了政策建议.     

The Limits of Discretion: The Role of the Liberal Party in the Dismantling of the White Australia Policy1

How significant was the role of the Liberal party in dismantling the White Australia Policy? Contrary to recent politicised claims and counter‐claims, the answer is not a simple one. The party began well, in the wake of Labor's clumsiness on immigration in the 1940s, but courageous exceptions to the rule during the 1950s were also undermined by enduring timidity. Pressure from concerned opinion, both inside and outside Australia, was making itself felt by the early 1960s, but it took Robert Menzies' retirement and concerted efforts by Peter Hey don, Hubert Opperman and the new Prime Minister Harold Holt to amend policy to provide a more significant number of non‐Europeans admission to Australia. The ideal of racial homogeneity died slowly for some, however, and it was left to the Whitlam Labor Government to sweep away what remained of the White Australia Policy.     

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War Volume 2

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War Volume 2. By Jeffrey Grey (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp. x + 238. 16 Maps. AU$59.95 (cloth).     

The Polish Shipyard: Myth,Economic History and Economic Policy Reform in New Zealand*

The New Zealand economy before the election of the Fourth Labour Government in 1984 is often portrayed as something not only highly regulated — but as something uniquely so amongst developed nations, with a stagnant economy declining in the post‐war era and nearing collapse by the 1984 election — the Polish shipyard. We show that New Zealand was not overly‐regulated by the standards of the time, with many of its policies reflecting development elsewhere; it was generally liberalising in the post‐war era and its economic decline and supposed collapse have been considerably overstated. This invented history gave impetus to radical economic reform after 1984 by framing the apparently failed and bizarre past as forcing inevitable solutions. It is an important constraint on policy‐making in New Zealand, allowing policy to develop only along certain “appropriate” paths. It provided cohesion for policy makers in the face of less than certain results and harnessed emotional and intellectual energy towards the free‐market quest, while legitimating certain policy directions and de‐legitimating others.     

Policy Issues Brail's Persistent Income Inequality: Lessons front History

Official data for the last three decades show that Brazil has one of the worls most unequal distributions of income. This article examines the relevant data and then explains the causes of this persistent inequality, considering them also in cultural and historical context. It discusses the politics of continuing inequality and possible strategies for reducing it.     

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War,Volume 2

The War with the Ottoman Empire: The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War, Volume 2. By Jeffrey Grey (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2015), pp.x + 238. 16 Maps. AU$59.95 (cloth).