Each week on the Policy File we round-up some essential weekend policy reading from around the web. This week we look at the US election, student protests in Papua New Guinea, slavery in Thailand’s fishing industry, and social policy in Australia.
Hillary Clinton has claimed the US Democratic presidential nomination this week, becoming the first woman in US history to win the backing of a major political party. Clinton will face Republican nominee Donald Trump for the golden ticket to the White House. On CATO, Doug Bandow takes a look at the campaigns.
On Time, Ian Bremmer analyses President Barack Obama’s foreign policy breakthroughs and failures, while the Asia Society look at how Clinton’s China policy differs from Obama’s.
On The Washington Post, Marc A Thiessen turns his attention to the national security strategies of both candidates, while on New Mandala, Tom Winson looks at Trump from a Thai perspective.
Police in Papua New Guinea (PNG) this week opened fire on students protesting against Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. On Papua New Guinea Today, Powes Parkop discusses the politics of destruction and denial in the country, while on DevPolicy Blog, Paul Flanagan breaks down PNG’s recent budget, and finds the data is cause for concern.
Slavery, ‘pirate’ fishing and other serious crimes have long been a problem in Thailand’s seafood sector. On Policy Forum, Doug MacFarlane asks whether reform of fisheries and labour laws is enough to combat the crisis, while Peter Vandergeest and Melissa Marschke consider the measures undertaken to address the issues. You can also view a compelling and award-winning documentary on Thailand’s seafood slaves here.
In Australia, welfare accounts for 35 per cent of the budget – some $152 billion – yet it has barely rated a mention in the election campaign to date. On Policy Forum, Peter Whiteford offers some insights as to why social security and welfare have been overlooked, and why it’s a problem. Peter, along with other social policy experts at The Australian National University, this week discussed the key social policy issues of the campaign at our weekly election event. It’s well worth a listen to the podcast of that here. Don’t forget that our election event series The Vote continues this Tuesday with a panel discussing health policy. You can register for that free event at the Australian National University here.
Australia isn’t the only one struggling to find its feet in the social policy arena. On the Independent, Siobhan Fenton looks at the UK welfare system, and says welfare cuts are being based on stereotypes, not evidence. On Voice of America, Yoanes Litha explores the details of Indonesia’s welfare system and the recent three-month welfare campaign launched by the country’s forces.
Want more for your weekend? Don’t forget our Policy Forum Podcast series. You can catch up with all 10 podcasts so far on via iTunes, on Stitcher and on Soundcloud. If you like what you hear please give us a review on iTunes and help us get the word out.