Yesterday, Part 1 of this article discussed the decline in housing affordability and the consequent increase in wealth inequality. Today, Part 2 will discuss possible policies to restore housing affordability in the interests of a more equal and cohesive society. Policies to improve housing affordability and thus increase home ownership have traditionally focussed on reducing Continue reading »
politics
How Albanese doesn’t swallow his tongue as he vociferously demands “full accountability” from Israel for the killing of Zomi Frankcom yet remains silent on 32,000 other killings is anybody’s guess. He waved his metaphorical fist at Netanyahu and told of Australia’s “outrage” at Zomi’s death. But Albanese left out the bit about many Australians’ outrage Continue reading »
India has ordered YouTube to take down two ABC reports on Sikh separatism and not allow them to be viewed within the country, a demand with which Google, the owner of YouTube, has complied. One of the stories, titled Sikhs, Spies and Murder: Investigating India’s alleged hit on foreign soil, was aired on the ABC’s Continue reading »
I congratulate Samantha Mostyn on her appointment as Governor-General. Such an appointment is a great honour. Ms Mostyn has given much service to public life as she has to both community and business life. This service marked her out as a distinguished communitarian with a complex range of interests. And with those interests, experience. Accordingly, Continue reading »
ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan has expressed alarm at the severe constraints on front-line policing in Canberra while showing great sympathy for principles of drug decriminalisation and raising the age of criminal responsibility. In a blistering final formal address as CPO, delivered to the ACT Chapter of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Continue reading »
With a Medicare-style levy and changes to the treatment of family home both ruled out, the only choice left is more user-pays. But it will not be enough. The long-awaited Aged Care Taskforce report has finally been released. It had been established in mid 2023 with the goal of making aged care “equitable and sustainable Continue reading »
In the short term, no. But over the medium- to longer-term, the possibility of a Chinese ‘currency crisis’ – by which I mean an abrupt fall in the value of the renminbi against other currencies, prompted by large capital outflows, and possibly entailing large falls in the values of other Chinese assets – cannot be Continue reading »
The first part of this article explores how home ownership has become almost impossible for most aspiring first-home buyers and how that is creating a much more unequal distribution of wealth. A second part tomorrow will discuss the policy options to restore home ownership and thus a more equal and cohesive society. Housing affordability and Continue reading »
The purchase of nuclear submarines via AUKUS is turning into an open–ended nightmare in terms of cost that will deliver nothing positive for Australia’s security. Meanwhile, the need for action both on disarmament and on nuclear risk reduction has never been more pressing. Even at the height of the Cold War, the metaphorical hands of Continue reading »
On Monday 1 April I am sending this letter which I had prepared late in the evening of the 31st, and which is now only testimony to Israel’s determination to destroy every civil structure and every possibility of life in Gaza. Tonight they totally destroyed the Shifa hospital so that it is unrecognisable. The hospital Continue reading »