Living standards have fallen recently. The Albanese Government has responded with targeted assistance, but the policy options to alleviate the damage for working families are limited, especially in the short run. However, one readily available policy option would be to reshape the Stage 3 tax cuts due to take effect next July. All the evidence Continue reading »
Economy
After a succession of record-breaking months of record heat including 1.8°C in September, global warming for 2023 as a whole will likely tip 1.5°C, with 2024 even hotter as the effect of the building El Nino is felt more fully. Already hundreds of thousands have died and millions displaced, primarily in countries least responsible for Continue reading »
Details buried in the Chancellor's statement show we are heading for years more of tax rises, low growth and public sector cuts thanks to his Government, reports Adam Bienkov
Weaponising human rights against the city and mainland China only becomes more farcical when the US and its close allies are busy violating them. Another day, another official report from the US government criticising and threatening to punish China for interfering with the affairs of Hong Kong, a Chinese city. This is getting farcical. The Continue reading »
What rejoicing greeted the Federal Election result last year, when the corrupt and callous Coalition, under Scott Morrison, was swept from office. Surely now Australians would get political leadership whose priorities would align with their own. Instead, they’ve had to stand and watch as Australia’s federal government – a Labor government – has given unconditional Continue reading »
Western media reports about China are of tensions and animosity, restrictions and sanctions, balloons and drugs. So, it’s easy to believe the China-US relationship has fallen apart. However, look beyond the headlines and political rhetoric, there is a different picture. The dinner held on the side of APEC saw a Who’s Who of business leaders Continue reading »
With only a fraction of local government audits now completed on time and a significant decline in their quality, a fundamental pillar of devolution is under threat, leaving communities in the dark on their council finances, experts warn
At a recent Innovation Forum, the Minister for Government Services, the Hon Bill Shorten, volunteered the observation that the Australian research and innovation community is in danger of becoming an “echo chamber”, if it wasn’t already. The term echo chamber invokes an image of a community isolated from dissenting opinions, thus reinforcing pre-existing beliefs. This Continue reading »
For the last three decades the Reserve Bank of Australia has focused on just one economic goal – a rate of inflation between 2 and 3 per cent. It is a goal they have pursued relentlessly since 1993, regardless of how effective or fair it is. Last Tuesday they increased the cash rate yet again. Continue reading »
Australia’s penal colony culture has continued into the fabric of all our public administrations, but most particularly Health, Education, Community Services and Justice. ‘Don’t challenge the System. Learn to do what you’re told, and to know your place,’ could be the mottoes of many arms of government. In the field known as ‘Alcohol and Other Continue reading »