'A century ago we got it wrong. We sent thousands of young Australians on a military operation that was barely more than a disaster. It's right that a hundred years later we should feel strongly about that. But have we got our remembrance right? What lessons haven't we learned about war, and what might be the cost of our Anzac obsession?' Defence analyst and former army officer James Brown believes that Australia is expending too much time, money and emotion on the Anzac legend, and that today's soldiers are suffering for it. Vividly evoking the war in Afghanistan, Brown reveals the experience of the modern soldier. He looks closely at the companies and clubs that trade on the Anzac story. He shows that Australians spend a lot more time looking after dead warriors than those who are alive. We focus on a cult of remembrance, instead of understanding a new world of soldiering and strategy. And we make it impossible to criticise the Australian Defence Force, even when it makes the same mistakes over and over. None of this is good for our soldiers or our ability to deal with a changing world. With respect and passion, Brown shines a new light on Anzac's long shadow and calls for change.

Anzac's Long Shadow: The Cost of Our National Obsession

History

Brown, Bishop James

Military

Black Inc. Redback

If the goal of our justice system is to reduce crime and create a safer society, then we must do better.    According to conventional wisdom, severely punishing offenders reduces the likelihood that they'll offend again. Why, then, do so many who go to prison continue to commit crimes after their release? What do we actually know about offenders and the reasons they break the law?    In Crime & Punishment, Russell Marks argues that the lives of most criminal offenders - and indeed of many victims of crime - are marked by often staggering disadvantage. For many offenders, prison only increases their chances of committing further crimes. And despite what some media outlets and politicians want us to believe, harsher sentences do not help most victims to heal.    Drawing on his experience as a lawyer, Marks eloquently makes the case for restorative justice and community correction, whereby offenders are obliged to engage with victims and make amends. Crime & Punishment is a provocative call for change to a justice system in desperate need of renewal.

Crime and Punishment: Offenders and victims in a broken justice system

Politics & Social Sciences

Marks, Russell

Social Sciences

In hardware, petrol, general merchandise and liquor, and above all in groceries, Coles and Woolworths jointly rule Australia's retail landscape. On average, every man, woman and child in this country spends $100 a week across their many outlets.  What does such dominance mean for suppliers? And is it good for consumers?  In Supermarket Monsters, journalist and author Malcolm Knox shines a light on Australia's twin mega-retailers, exploring how they have built and exploited their market power. Knox reveals the unavoidable and often intimidating tactics both companies use to get their way. In return for cheap milk and bread, he argues, we as consumers are risking much more: quality, diversity and community. Malcolm Knox is a former literary editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and has won a Walkley Award for journalism. His books include Jamaica and The Life.

Supermarket Monsters: The Price of Coles and Woolworths' Dominance

Business & Money

Knox, Malcolm

Industries

In modern Australia, productivity is all that matters, our leaders tell us. Economic growth above all else. But is this really what we, the people, want? Does it make our lives and our communities better?If the high priests of economics want the credit for Australia's economic growth over the last three decades, they must also wear the blame for the social destruction that has accompanied it - the devastation of once prosperous industrial centres and the suburbs they sustained, as factories closed and workers were forced to abandon their trades. The social costs of this 'economic modernisation' have been immense, but today are virtually ignored. The fracturing of communities continues apace.An Economy Is Not a Society is a passionate and personal J'accuse against the people whose abandonment of moral policy making has ripped the guts out of Australia's old industrial communities, robbed the country of manufacturing knowhow, reversed our national ethos of egalitarianism and broken the sense of common purpose that once existed between rulers and ruled.Those in power, Dennis Glover argues, must abandon the idea that a better society is purely about offering individuals more dollars in their pockets. What we desperately need is a conversation about the lives, working conditions, jobs and communities we want for ourselves and our families - and we need to choose a future that is designed to benefit all the Australian people, not just some.DENNIS GLOVER is the son and brother of Dandenong factory workers. He grew up in Doveton before studying at Monash University and King's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a PhD in history. He has worked for two decades as an academic, newspaper columnist, political adviser and speechwriter to Labor leaders and senior ministers.

An Economy Is Not a Society: Winners and Losers in the New Australia

Glover, Dennis

Biography & History

Economics is like a tyre lever: it can be used to solve a problem, or to beat someone over the head . . .    What is econobabble? We hear it every day, when public figures and commentators use incomprehensible economic jargon to dress up their self-interest as the national interest, to make the absurd seem inevitable or the inequitable seem fair. This book is designed to expose the stupid arguments, bizarre contradictions and complete lack of evidence upon which much 'common sense' about the economy rests in Australia.     Econobabble is for those who, deep down, have never believed that it makes sense, economic or otherwise, to help poor people by slashing public spending on the services they need. It's for those who have a sneaking suspicion that it would be cheaper to avoid the effects of climate change than to let them happen and then 'adapt'. And it's for those who think it would be more efficient to reduce unemployment than to ship jobs offshore or blame those who are out of work.    With humour and precision, Richard Denniss demolishes the tired and misleading arguments of right-wing economic 'experts', empowering you to cut through the babble and reach the truth.  'Our world abounds with businesspeople and politicians spouting arguments that sound like economics, but aren't. If you fear you've been taken in - or have just had your doubts - this is the book to set things straight. It is the best guide you'll find to the literal non-sense that usually passes for economic debate in this country.' -Ross Gittins   Dr Richard Denniss was until recently the head of the Australia Institute, and is now its chief economist. He has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics and think-tanks. He is co-author of Affluenza and Minority Policy, and writes regularly for the Australian Financial Review, the Canberra Times and the Monthly.

Econobabble

Denniss, Richard

Economics

For fifty years, Australia has schemed to deny East Timor billions of dollars of oil and gas wealth.
With explosive new research and access to never-before- seen documents, Kim McGrath tells the story of Australia’s secret agenda in the Timor Sea, exposing the ruthlessness of successive governments. Australia did nothing to stop Indonesia’s devastating occupation of East Timor, when – on our doorstep – 200,000 lives were lost from a population of 650,000. Instead, our government colluded with Indonesia to secure more favourable maritime boundaries.
Even today, Australia claims resources that, by international law, should belong to its neighbour – a young country still recovering from catastrophe and in desperate need of income. Crossing the Line is a long-overdue exposé of the most shameful episode in recent Australian history.

Crossing the Line: Australia's Secret History in the Timor Sea (Redback)

McGrath, Kim

An essential guide to the future of work in Australia.For many Australians, rapid progress in artificial intelligence, robotics and automation is a growing anxiety. What will it mean for jobs? What will it mean for their kids’ futures? More broadly, what will it mean for equality in this country?Jim Chalmers and Mike Quigley believe that bursts in technology need not result in bursts of inequality, that we can combine technological change with the fair go. But first we need to understand what’s happening to work, and what’s likely to happen.This is a timely, informative and authoritative book about the changing face of work, and how best to approach it – at both a personal and a political level.

Changing Jobs: The Fair Go in the New Machine Age (Redback Quarterly)

Engineering & Transportation

Chalmers, Jim

Quigley, Mike

Engineering

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