Kim Dotcom and the New Zealand Elections

Published on Sep 21, 2014 by Luke Hunt

The public debate that erupted in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations about the very private collection of metadata and even more detailed records has not been limited to discussion of the activities of the U.S. National Security Agency: they have been a feature in Australia and New Zealand also.Read more from Helen Clark in The Diplomat..

Dark day for Aussie expats in Asia as ABC names cut-off date

Published on Sep 14, 2014 by Luke Hunt

It’s official. The lives of tens of thousands of Australian expatriates in Asia will change forever at midnight on September 28, hours after the AFL grand final. A stake will be driven through our souls. For months we have been in denial: how could it be true that our government could close the ABC-managed Australia Network service?Read more from Lindsay Murdoch at The Sydney Morning Herald..

ASEAN Economic Community: What Could Go Wrong?

Published on Sep 14, 2014 by Luke Hunt

As the deadline for launching the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) nears, its critics are finding their voice. That voice is becoming louder and casting doubts over the readiness of the future trading bloc.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Hong Kong on Edge

Published on Sep 7, 2014 by Luke Hunt

A fatalistic dread is sweeping through Hong Kong amid fears that a violent confrontation between Chinese forces and supporters of the pan-democrats and Occupy Central movement, demanding full universal suffrage by 2017, is imminent with neither side prepared to give ground.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Must Fight Islamic State

Published on Sep 7, 2014 by Luke Hunt

With the Western world predominantly reinventing the “Coalition of the Willing” and dispatching arms and air support to Kurdistan, where the Peshmerga have stood alone in battling the Islamic State, pressure is rightly being applied to Southeast Asia to pitch-in, particularly ASEAN’s three predominantly Muslim members: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat.  .