Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0
Photo of Bruce Haigh

Bruce Haigh

Bruce Haigh is a retired Australian diplomat. He worked on Indonesian affairs and has written many articles, papers and a book on issues relating to Indonesia. He comments on international and domestic issues and farms olives and grapes at Mudgee, New South Wales. Bruce Haigh has 35 years experience in foreign policy and security analysis. He served in South Africa from 1976-79 and ran a training program for black South Africans in Australia from 1990-93 and recently gave his extensive black South African art collection back to the nation. Bruce Haigh served twice in Pakistan and Afghanistan and also in Iran and Saudi Arabia. He was a friend of Benazir Bhutto. His grandfather served as a soldier on the NW Frontier of India based in Quetta, Peshawar and Rawalpindi in 1904-05.
Dutton ventures where fools fear to tread
International - 19/03/2018 - 22 comments
Duterte the dauntless
International - 6/03/2018 - 7 comments
Marawi is a metaphor for Islamic extremism in Asia
International - 18/09/2017 - 14 comments
The region and border protection
International - 27/06/2017 - 4 comments
Australia and ISIS in the region
International - 8/06/2017 - 7 comments
It's the region
International - 23/05/2017
China is in for the long haul
International - 3/01/2017 - 7 comments
Chautauqua in Greensburg, Indiana
The Arts - 5/12/2016 - 3 comments
Sri Lanka war crimes
International - 14/10/2016 - 7 comments
Aboriginal empowerment
Indigenous Affairs - 6/09/2016 - 50 comments
Who has the key?
Domestic Politics - 31/08/2016 - 17 comments
The American dependency
International - 23/06/2016 - 11 comments
Asylum seekers are victims of selfishness
Law & Liberties - 6/05/2016 - 56 comments
The meat market
Health - 23/03/2016 - 7 comments
Water: another crisis
Education - 15/03/2016 - 12 comments
A day of shame
Society - 27/01/2016 - 19 comments
An unbalanced budget
Economics - 12/05/2015 - 6 comments
State sanctioned murder
Law & Liberties - 30/04/2015 - 23 comments
The decline of the lucky country
Law & Liberties - 28/04/2015 - 16 comments
A new broom in Sri Lanka
International - 27/02/2015 - 3 comments
Monis and our duty of care
Law & Liberties - 19/12/2014 - 39 comments
Australia and WWI: proportion or propaganda
Society - 5/11/2014 - 17 comments
Once more unto the breach
International - 26/09/2014 - 73 comments
The Abbott Doctrine: a rush to the cliff
International - 12/09/2014 - 83 comments
The Royal Commission into asylum seeker 'policy'
Law & Liberties - 3/09/2014 - 21 comments
The emperor with clothes
International - 28/07/2014 - 26 comments
South Africa after the election
International - 13/06/2014 - 4 comments
Sustaining the unsustainable
Law & Liberties - 14/05/2014 - 22 comments
How good are Australia's generals?
International - 10/04/2014 - 28 comments
Not a fit and proper person
Law & Liberties - 21/02/2014 - 39 comments
Genocide in Sri Lanka: an inconvenient finding
International - 11/02/2014 - 78 comments
Truth is the first victim of war
International - 28/01/2014 - 41 comments
Sri Lanka guilty
International - 6/01/2014 - 14 comments
Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide
International - 12/11/2013 - 15 comments
Diplomacy is more than a passing phrase
International - 31/10/2013 - 32 comments
Turning ploughshares into swords
International - 6/09/2013 - 18 comments
Refugee policy: I’m not feeling good
Law & Liberties - 30/07/2013 - 55 comments
Serendipity, Bob Carr and Sri Lanka
International - 21/05/2013 - 15 comments
The Salvation Army is a branch of government
Law & Liberties - 16/05/2013 - 37 comments
Australia: the Security Council
International - 22/04/2013 - 12 comments
A plethora of experts, but few with knowledge
Law & Liberties - 15/04/2013 - 8 comments
The State of Australian governance
April 2013 Feature - 11/04/2013 - 6 comments
Wither Australia and the Security Council
International - 9/04/2013 - 5 comments
A game of poker behind closed doors
International - 13/03/2013 - 7 comments
Our fragile liberty
February 2013 Feature - 25/02/2013 - 98 comments
Conscription was an abuse
Law & Liberties - 22/01/2013 - 39 comments
Australia and the Security Council: flying without wings
International - 10/01/2013 - 4 comments
Diplomats paint a one-sided picture of Sri Lanka
International - 4/01/2013
Waiting for salvation
Religion & Spirituality - 17/12/2012 - 11 comments
Sending them home: whatever it takes
Law & Liberties - 10/12/2012 - 12 comments
Do we need a royal commission into the governance of Australia?
Political Philosophy - 30/11/2012 - 45 comments
Abbott on the edge
Domestic Politics - 26/10/2012 - 18 comments
Whatever happens don’t work together
Environment - 18/09/2012 - 4 comments
No gold at the end of the rainbow
August 2012 Feature - 24/08/2012 - 11 comments
Sri Lankan High Commissioner: Blood on his sword
International - 23/07/2012 - 4 comments
The politics of point scoring
Law & Liberties - 3/07/2012 - 21 comments
The rise and rise of the Right
Political Philosophy - 28/06/2012 - 28 comments
Four Corners: round peg in a square hole
Law & Liberties - 18/06/2012 - 15 comments
Police state: indefinite detention
Law & Liberties - 29/05/2012 - 8 comments
Defence: fact, folly and fiction
International - 24/05/2012 - 32 comments
Weep the lucky country
Law & Liberties - 16/05/2012 - 6 comments
An Affair that must end
Society - 2/05/2012 - 3 comments
Our aim is to please
International - 4/04/2012 - 6 comments
Jingoism or a jolly good idea
Society - 22/03/2012 - 3 comments
ASIO: in a world of its own
Law & Liberties - 2/03/2012 - 6 comments
Cruising
Economics - 20/02/2012 - 11 comments
Tony Abbott: a sheep in wolf's clothing
Domestic Politics - 1/02/2012 - 139 comments
What Merit in defeating the republican referendum?
Domestic Politics - 16/01/2012 - 5 comments
Department of Defence: less than honest, less than decent
Domestic Politics - 19/12/2011 - 3 comments
Gunboat diplomacy
International - 21/11/2011 - 4 comments
The quality of mercy
Law & Liberties - 18/11/2011 - 16 comments
We cannot win the Afghanistan war
International - 16/11/2011 - 7 comments
Why not sell the ABC to Murdoch?
Media - 11/11/2011 - 9 comments
What if? Security and asylum seekers
International - 8/11/2011 - 2 comments
Time is of the essence
International - 28/10/2011 - 9 comments
Australians call for the removal of Sri Lankan High Commissioner
Law & Liberties - 25/10/2011 - 1 comment
Sustainability is not a dirty word
September 2011 Feature - 27/09/2011 - 1 comment
A classified war: Afghanistan and the Canberra malaise
International - 19/09/2011 - 1 comment
Julia Gillard’s inability to change political direction: A price we all pay
Domestic Politics - 8/09/2011 - 50 comments
Ocker Airways
Economics - 29/08/2011 - 9 comments
Bullying as an instrument of government
August 2011 Feature - 24/08/2011 - 2 comments
A blank cheque
International - 27/06/2011 - 4 comments
Who needs friends?
International - 16/06/2011 - 14 comments
The Mindless Mantra: Australian forces in Afghanistan
International - 6/06/2011 - 20 comments
Australia v Hicks
Law & Liberties - 1/06/2011 - 63 comments
Australia endorses compromised Sri Lankan regime
International - 20/05/2011 - 6 comments
State sponsored persecution
Law & Liberties - 12/05/2011 - 15 comments
Gillard: a diplomatic dog's breakfast.
International - 5/05/2011 - 7 comments
Department of Defence: nowhere to hide
Domestic Politics - 13/04/2011 - 8 comments
Protected source
International - 29/03/2011 - 5 comments
Rats in a cage
Law & Liberties - 23/03/2011 - 34 comments
Brothers in arms – dire diplomacy
International - 14/03/2011 - 8 comments
Shifting Sands
International - 28/02/2011 - 4 comments
Chess without pieces
Domestic Politics - 24/02/2011 - 5 comments
The flood levy - panic and politics do not make for good policy
Domestic Politics - 31/01/2011 - 9 comments
In the fullness of time we got Fullilove
International - 14/01/2011 - 10 comments
Assange: has Gillard got the guts?
December 2010 Feature - 20/12/2010 - 8 comments
WikiLeaks - it’s raining, it’s pouring
International - 9/12/2010 - 17 comments
The stable doors are open
International - 16/11/2010 - 16 comments
Hicks v Howard
Law & Liberties - 28/10/2010 - 42 comments
Repeating others' mistakes in Afghanistan
International - 20/10/2010 - 16 comments
Water - a byword for waste
Environment - 14/10/2010 - 9 comments
Howard's legacy, Julia's new spin
Political Philosophy - 7/07/2010 - 32 comments
The sewers of the mind
June 2010 Feature - 28/06/2010 - 33 comments
Smoke and mirrors
Law & Liberties - 7/06/2010
John Cleese knew the parrot was dead
Domestic Politics - 26/05/2010 - 34 comments
An act of cowardice
Law & Liberties - 20/04/2010 - 55 comments
The AFP gets close to the edge of the law
Law & Liberties - 13/04/2010 - 2 comments
I think I can, I think I can, puffs the little red Abbott
Domestic Politics - 24/03/2010 - 16 comments
War without thought
International - 10/03/2010 - 10 comments
The radicalisation of gentle men and women
Domestic Politics - 26/02/2010 - 31 comments
Fools step in
Domestic Politics - 21/12/2009
Denial is not effective
International - 16/11/2009 - 8 comments
Refugees and peddling fear
International - 27/10/2009 - 8 comments
Unnecessary suffering
Law & Liberties - 19/10/2009 - 7 comments
Afghanistan: what are we doing there?
International - 13/10/2009 - 6 comments
Colluding with the merchant of spin
Domestic Politics - 23/09/2009 - 9 comments
The politics of terror
International - 7/09/2009 - 4 comments
In case of water emergency ... dial?
Environment - 31/08/2009 - 5 comments
Rudd-spin over substance
Domestic Politics - 31/07/2009 - 12 comments
The politics of pettiness
Domestic Politics - 26/06/2009 - 9 comments
Racist Australia
Society - 11/06/2009 - 65 comments
Getting serious about human rights
Law & Liberties - 3/06/2009 - 10 comments
Kicking the ants nest
International - 26/05/2009 - 7 comments
Afghanistan: it happened once before ...
International - 18/05/2009 - 23 comments
The need to be popular saps Rudd’s courage and compassion
Domestic Politics - 21/04/2009 - 13 comments
Afghanistan and our dud government
Domestic Politics - 2/04/2009 - 18 comments
Diplomats need to practice street cred
International - 27/03/2009 - 5 comments
The financial future guessing game
March 2009 Feature - 2/03/2009 - 12 comments
State of the nation
Domestic Politics - 12/02/2009 - 1 comment
Israel has really overstepped the line
International - 16/01/2009 - 74 comments
Australia has no business in Afghanistan
International - 5/01/2009 - 11 comments
The Coalition and Howard’s legacy
Domestic Politics - 16/12/2008 - 19 comments
Spin no cure for depression
Economics - 21/11/2008 - 19 comments
Water consensus
Environment - 7/11/2008 - 13 comments
Afghanistan: is there a plan?
International - 2/10/2008 - 15 comments
Judgment, truth and commonsense
Domestic Politics - 1/08/2008 - 6 comments
Downer will not be able to rewrite history in East Timor
International - 23/07/2008 - 8 comments
Water: greed over good governance
Environment - 9/07/2008 - 6 comments
Under a centralising Federal Government
Political Philosophy - 19/05/2008 - 9 comments
Profiteering from water
Political Philosophy - 30/04/2008 - 10 comments
When the cats away
Domestic Politics - 23/04/2008 - 6 comments
Rudd: time for a reality check
Domestic Politics - 4/04/2008 - 44 comments
Afghanistan: once more unto the breach
Domestic Politics - 28/03/2008 - 13 comments
Learning from the past
Domestic Politics - 19/03/2008 - 13 comments
The paramilitary wing of the AFP
Domestic Politics - 25/02/2008 - 26 comments
If the cap fits wear it
Domestic Politics - 23/01/2008 - 21 comments
Benazir Bhutto - some personal reminiscences
International - 15/01/2008 - 3 comments
The subterranean world of Pakistan’s byzantine politics
International - 4/01/2008 - 11 comments
Confessions of an Australian diplomat and people smuggler
International - 9/10/2007 - 12 comments
The sacrifice to end South African apartheid - for what?
International - 21/09/2007 - 10 comments
Money is the weapon in this war
September 2007 Feature - 13/09/2007 - 5 comments
Domestic politics shape Australian foreign policy
Domestic Politics - 22/08/2007 - 32 comments
Keelty, Haneef and al-Qaida
International - 10/08/2007 - 15 comments
The hurdy-gurdy man
Domestic Politics - 13/07/2007 - 20 comments
Balibo inquest shows the futility of appeasement
International - 14/06/2007 - 28 comments
Howard will sink with Bush
International - 26/02/2007 - 23 comments
Howard is failing the nation on water policy
Domestic Politics - 8/01/2007 - 22 comments
Indonesia pre-nup won't lead us to wedded bliss
International - 21/11/2006 - 6 comments
Advertisement



About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy