Pilger is a type of moral Nanny of that odd British phenomenon, the Aristocratic Left, who flying First Class, condescends to drop in on us misguided colonials with boring regularity.

Still bills himself as Australian - his visitations are fleeting, thank God.

There is one good thing though. True Aussies, Clive James and Dame Edna, remain in Britain as a type of REVENGE :) on all Poms for harbouring Pilger.

Pete

AH! These readers don't know a true journalist when they read one because they are so brain washed by the generally impotent Australian media.
To suggest Pilger is irrelevant just shows your own ignorance. He is getting published all over the world and is one of the most important voices on international affairs.
We are lucky to have him. But then, it is always those who are unable to come up with their own substantial viewpoints that merely attack others.
Well done John - thanks for your insight and the appropriate criticisms of the worst aspects of Australian politics and indigenous affairs. Please, keep telling the world all about it.

Excellent article, John. I for one appreciate an intelligent and critical view from someone who is outside and looking in. You've made clear to me links and connections I've never picked up as a long time resident from within.

I wondered at the time about the Darwin to Adelaide railway. It seemed so out of character for a government loathe to spend money on any infrastructure at all, let alone rail. I've also wondered about the timing of our East Timor 'peace mission'. Why then, after turning a blind eye for so long? Now I know.

Interesting to note the number of posters who have criticised John for pointing out problems and failing to offer solutions. Yet they themselves have railed at the perceived failings of his arguments, and not one of them has produced any methodical rebuttal or evidence to disprove a single point he's made.

Hasbeen

"There are 850 houses in my area, & like me, the only thing they got, for their $1500 rates last year, was 3 hours of mobile library, 48 times."

You should take advantage of the mobile library. Might broaden your outlook.

Presumably Mr Pilger would prefer Australia BE someone's sphere of influence rather than having one of it's own?

Unfortunately, Mr Pilger just demonstrates his naivity of history (or his malicious ignoring of it) where (If he looked further than GLW) he would find that all nation states exist on the basis of alliances, influence and mutual backcratching.

The emptiness of his arguments are clearly demonstrated by his continual whining about this or that so called inustice, yet (as one poster commented) he might flit from country to country first class in planes which were paid for by the exploitation of the very people he is whining about.

The same applies to his place of residence (Unless he actually has no home, and lives under an aboriginal style Humpy each night)

The same applies to the level of security which he enjoys as he gnashes his teeth and hurls verbal rocks at those he despises.

The idea that a responsible government would NOT take mineral exploitation into consideration when granting a rail licence is absurd.

SOMEone always has to foot the bill for building and maintaining such things, and unless Mr Pilger wants to share some of his own wealth to do so, he should shut up.

The must blatantly empty gong aspect of all that Pilger writes is that he implies that there exists a body of people out there, who will simply "get it right/do it right/ do it unselfishly/look after all equally/bring in the socialist millenial utopia/ and on it goes"

TOTally forgetting that such things have never worked, will never work, and can never work.
Such misguided people bolster their mirage like hopes by clinging to the idea that "Oh..but we have not had true socialism yet..so you cannot say it has failed"
... which of course is total rot and rubbish. The REASON it has not been seen is the reason it will never be.. "people" .. human nature..

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.
Gal 5:19

Bronwyn, I broadened my outlook with a bit of travel. I've lived, & worked with Aussue locals in places you have never even dreamed of, let alone heard of.

I've also lived with locals in PNG, the Solomons, & many of the Pacific islands. Great people, & lots of fun, all of them, except when they have been brainwashed into believing how badly we have abused them.

I have found, most our locals, & the islanders, who have never seen a cow, have bl@@dy good bull s##t detectors, & would run a con artist like Pilger out of town, quick time.

One word of advice about libraries love, when you sit down to read most of the rubbish in them, the thing you are most likely to broaden is your back side. This won't help you understand how the world works, it just makes it harder to get out of the chair.

Good on John Pilger. Australian governments are gaining an ignominious reputation for suppressing vital information, to which the public are entitled.

"Australia's Right to Know" Report, found 500 pieces of legislation and at least 1,000 court suppression orders restricting media reporting.

Australia has 355 laws with specific secrecy provisions, covering not only security and gaming but also wool, livestock, food and grain.

And an additional study, conducted by Boshra Yazahmeidi and Professor D’Arcy Holman from the University of WA, surveyed 302 academics in 17 institutions across Australia, who reported experiencing or witnessing 142 cases of suppression.

Both State and Federal Governments were found to frequently suppress embarrassing or damaging public health information by threatening academics, refusing funding and even tenure.

About one in ten events related to environmental health problems – toxic chemicals in the environment, exposure to infection risks, etc. Other events related to indigenous health and environmental issues.

Dr Maarten Stapper, a principal research scientist, worked for CSIRO for 23 years and is an expert on soil health which, he says, is the key to better crops.

Last year he told The Sunday Age that senior CSIRO management bullied and harassed him and tried to gag his criticisms of GM crops. He left in March after his position with CSIRO's plant industry division was made redundant.

Yet another report, commissioned by major media groups, said information that was once routinely released to the public was now being either withheld, censored or manipulated to avoid media exposure.

A request for documents about the effect of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef involved 538 hours of "decision making time" at a cost of A$12,718.

A two-year request for information on a politician's travel was abandoned when a newspaper was quoted a fee of A$1.25 million -- a cost related to contacting everyone the politician met.

Hasbeen

You state:

"Bronwyn, I broadened my outlook with a bit of travel. I've lived, & worked with Aussue (sic) locals in places you have never even dreamed of, let alone heard of."

How would you know that Hasbeen?