Let’s not goad the Reserve Bank to fight higher underlying inflation that can be corrected by disciplined fiscal policy and a more open and competitive economy. Polls show cost of living is the overriding issue on voters’ minds. One reason is that lowering the annual inflation rate has stalled at around 4% since last December. Continue reading »
Government
Labor’s cowardice on the world stage stems from a deep-rooted fear that to do anything other than slavishly follow American policy would be to hand government over to a Coalition which has always done exactly that. The trouble being that, as the cringe of Labor perceives it, many if not most Australians are comfortable with Continue reading »
If a future Prime Minister Dutton was able to get the fuel for a HALEU power station, would you be absolutely confident that he might not want to also dabble in some nuclear weapons procurement as well? A recent Science paper (7/6) highlights one of the potentially disastrous risks the Dutton nuclear plan raises. Recently Continue reading »
Instead of churning more taxpayer money through Private Health Insurance funds to private hospitals, the Commonwealth Government should establish a Hospital Benefits Fund (HBF), similar to the Medical Benefits Fund (MBF), with benefits going directly to patients for payments to a hospital of their choice. Many “private” hospitals are pleading for more government subsidies. In Continue reading »
In Australia, the demon of penal regulation clings in its stubbornness. Keeping government accountable and open to the suspicious eye of the public is a weary worn task that yields little by way of change. Secrecy remains addictive, even pathological. Reforms, to that end, remain cosmetic, patchy, and indeterminate. What is the public interest useful for Continue reading »
How many more wrongful convictions does Australia have to have before state and federal attorneys-general and senior members of the legal profession agree that they must address this serious problem? Why is Australia languishing so far behind similar legal systems in England and Wales, Scotland, New Zealand and Canada? In the case of the UK, Continue reading »
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)(revival of the scholars) is Indonesia and the world’s largest Islamic organisation claiming almost 100 million members. If it digs coal it could become mega-rich. How dirty work marries with sending souls to paradise only Allah knows. President Joko ’Jokowi’ Widodo has four months left in office, enough time to sow division before Continue reading »
A predisposition to secrecy still handicaps integrity in Australian government. The many who feel that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) made a very serious error of judgment in deciding not to pursue a reference from the Robodebt Royal Commission will feel somewhat relieved that the NACC Inspector, Gail Furness, SC, will be holding an inquiry Continue reading »
A majority of Australians want a ceasefire in Gaza, but the Australian Parliament seems more preoccupied with political brinkmanship than recognition of this tragedy. The first parliamentary debate occurred immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel when this atrocity was immediately condemned recognising the human impact of this act of terrorism. Yet for the last Continue reading »
Noel Turnbull correctly writes that media coverage of the federal opposition’s nuclear power proposal is superficial. There is a very wide range of as yet unanswered issues. First, who will build and operate the proposed nuclear power stations. Many years ago, when the Commonwealth proposed establishment of a nuclear power station, it settled on Jervis Continue reading »