Articles by Bernard Keane

About Bernard Keane

Bernard Keane is Crikey’s Canberra correspondent. He writes on politics, media, and economics.


How to get off scot-free after a massacre — the playbook

Stolen emails again demonstrate how the defence and political establishments do business in the US.

OurSay challenges MPs on intervention, banking and personal wealth

Questions on the NT intervention, a people’s bank, MPs’ tax and uranium-based munitions returns have emerged in Our Say’s People’s Question project

The Coalition’s fog of fiscal confusion

The Coalition’s confusion over its fiscal policy reflects the gap between its small government rhetoric and political reality.

L-3: the $15b defence contractor that will be scanning us

The company that will get $28 million for providing airport body scanners is a huge US defence contractor with a scandalous history.

The $28m pantomime of airport body scanners

Airport body scanners have no demonstrated value, but the government is spending $28 million on them.

Essential: still bad for Labor; ADF most trusted institution

Labor’s vote shows no signs of any recovery, today’s Essential Report finds.

The impact of FOFA — industry claims brought undone

A new report shows how hysterical the financial planning industry has been in its opposition to reform.

More evidence of why donation disclosure laws are hopeless

For several years now Crikey has engaged in the ritual denunciation of our Commonwealth electoral donation laws. It’s worth repeating.

Gina Rinehart definitely doesn’t like the internet

Would-be media mogul Gina Rinehart might need to brush up on the internet, which she thinks is a threat to her life.

OurSay: disability and poverty leads questions

A question on Australia’s parlous record on poverty and disability currently leads the OurSay People’s Question.

Repealing a tax will ‘save’ $4b? Er, no, Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott is boasting of saving $4 billion, which will be long gone when he gets into office.

Abbott’s nostalgia for Howard’s Oz is no basis for an economic policy

Nostalgia is a fine political tool if you can use it and half his luck if Abbott can make it work for him. But it’s no basis for an economic policy.

Electoral funding figures show Labor’s donations collapse

Labor’s donations advantage vanished at the 2010 election, new data from the Australian Electoral Commission shows.

Is the World Bank failing girls and kids with disabilities?

A report suggests the World Bank is getting it wrong on the role of girls and kids with disabilities in its development programs — but AusAID comes out OK.

Gillard: just a matter of when

The Australia Day debacle is emblematic of a Prime Minister who can’t take a trick.

Essential: we like our local BER, and Howard’s the best PM

Parents like the BER program and think it benefited their children’s school, today’s Essential Report finds.

All’s well in an intelligence community overseeing itself

A new “independent” review of the intelligence community by one of its chief architects surprisingly finds all is well.

Misogynist abuse online and playing the victim

Responding effectively to misogynist abuse involves abandoning censorship and encouraging more women online.

The People’s Question: dragging question time into the 21st century

An experiment to crowdsource a parliamentary question is under way, which will briefly drag federal parliament into the social media age.

Why state governments need to get out of industry policy

Much damage can be done in the name of industry assistance by state governments.

The international agreement to gouge e-book customers

E-book prices have soared due to an international agreement between publishers. But why are non-US customers being gouged even more?

Essential: strong support for manufacturing assistance and pokies reform

There’s strong support for mandatory pre-commitment from voters, and they also back handouts for the car industry.

Gillard duds Wilkie, and what’s left of her own credibility

In breaching her commitment to Andrew Wilkie, Julia Gillard has made it even less likely voters will trust her again.

Megaupload latest casualty in new round of cyberwars

The filesharing company Megaupload has been taken down by the US Department of Justice - which was immediately brought down itself.

The inconvenient facts on food security

A report on the level of foreign ownership in our food industry produced some inconvenient facts for food security hysterics.