author

 
 

Meta

Alan Goodall
For Alan Goodall's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2011
Genius lurks in this dangerous czar
There is one incontestably great actor on the world stage today, and he has no interest in following our script.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2010
A force for good or evil?
SYDNEY — Hero hacker or the world's most dangerous tattletale? No Australian has been so applauded and reviled as Julian Assange. Holed up in a London jail awaiting charges for extradition to Stockholm, then to a likely one-way trip to a ghastly fate in Washington, Assange has burst onto the world stage as the shadowy figure behind revelations of what politicians in all countries try to hide from electors.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2010
China concerns pull U.S. and Australia closer
SYDNEY — A choice between Australia's biggest market, China, and its closest ally, the United States, was hardly a difficult one. The decision made, Canberra now has to reassure Beijing it's business as usual.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2010
Gillard fighting rough seas over Asian refugee flow
SYDNEY — Is she up to the job? That rude question is being spoken out loud by Australian voters in the wake of the first Southeast Asian tour of new Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2010
Gillard has her work cut out
SYDNEY — With the Labor Party back in power by the skin of its teeth and with the Greens holding the whip, countries buying essentials from Australia should expect to negotiate more carefully with suppliers of coal, iron ore, uranium and foodstuffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2010
Aussies facing a rocky ride
SYDNEY — An electoral rout of both major political parties, Labor and Liberal, has left Australian voters confused and angry. After decades of economic growth the uncertainty could not come at a worse time as the United States appears to slide into a double-dip recession threatening world markets.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2010
Aussie election going from bizarre to farcical
SYDNEY — The most bizarre election in Australia's history staggers into farce as voters go to the ballot boxes in what promises to be a knife-edge decision between a divided government party and an angry opposition.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2010
Poll thunder Down Under
SYDNEY — Two untested political leaders with no new policies to offer but with lots of vocal thunder — that's how Australians view the current battle for Canberra. By election day Aug. 21, when every eligible Australian adult is required by law to vote, the thunder will be sounding mighty hollow.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2010
Canberra's bloodless coup
SYDNEY — Women rule. Or so it seems in Australia where the first female prime minister has ousted a male colleague, where a woman is the governor general, still another runs the main state, New South Wales, and another presides over that state's capital city, Sydney. Topping all, an Australian woman has just been elected to head the Brussels-based International Trade Union Confederation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2010
Australian politics heat up
SYDNEY — An angry advertising campaign over a proposed super-tax is pushing usually placid Australian voters toward one of the closest, most divisive elections in memory.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2010
Australia's Rudd mining for taxes
SYDNEY — Voters know an election is in the air as Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd does a Robin Hood, taking from the country's rich — in this case the mining industry — and giving to the poor, the recipients of Rudd's costly "reforms."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2010
Rudd stakes job on health care
SYDNEY — It's a big gamble, but Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is ready to take it. He will go into an election on the strength of his stance on, of all things, health care.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2009
Aussie revolt over climate
SYDNEY, Australia — Even before the Copenhagen talkfest opened this week, a climatic wrangle cost an Australian political leader his job. Even before the expected international fallout from Copenhagen, Canberra is on alert for national electoral turmoil.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2009
Rudd wrestles with refugee crisis
SYDNEY — Just when links between Indonesia and Australia were looking good, along come Sri Lankans fleeing in leaky boats. Suddenly the Indian Ocean marks a diplomatic and humanitarian standoff of grim proportions.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2009
Natural gas Down Under bound for Japan by 2014
SYDNEY — Resources-rich Australia has signed on to provide Japanese households and industries a reliable source of natural gas for decades to come.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2009
Out of step over failed price deal
SYDNEY — Australia is having to rethink its dealings with China following the bizarre jailing in Shanghai of an Australian businessman and a flurry of undercover diplomatic requests for explanations from Canberra to Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2009
Winter of Australia's discontent
SYDNEY — Now that Australia's politicians have scattered across the world — they are diligent in flying off on global research projects during long recesses — exasperated voters are enjoying relief from the mudslinging that marked the most frenetic-ever final week of a winter sitting in the Federal Parliament.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2009
Stunned Australia starts searching for answers
SYDNEY — The worst natural disaster in Australian history has killed at least 200 people, destroyed 7,000 houses and a dozen villages, and left a nation agonizing over the question — why did we let this happen?
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2009
Oceania presses Fiji leader for free election this year
SYDNEY — An Australian newspaper has fired an editorial salvo at the military government of the Republic of the Fiji Islands while reminding the world of what happens when a country tramples on media freedom.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2008
Rudd takes on climate change
SYDNEY — Christmas is the best time of year for Australian governments to announce bad news. So when Canberra says this country will spend big to help stop world pollution, holidaying citizens are less than stunned.

Longform

High-end tourism is becoming more about the kinds of experiences that Japan's lesser-known places can provide.
Can Japan lure the jet-set class off the beaten path?