Treasurer Jim Chalmers pulled one unexpected rabbit out of his hat in Tuesday’s 2025-26 federal budget. This was a 1 percentage point cut in the bottom marginal tax rate, from 16% to 15% from 1 July next year, and a further 1 percentage point cut to 14% from 1 July 2027, resulting in a tax Continue reading »
politics
Labor’s pre-election budget provides well-targeted cost of living relief within the bounds of responsibility, but the restoration of living standards is some way off. As widely anticipated Labor’s budget contained no surprises, except for the small income tax cuts. Apart from these, all the other major new policy proposals had been announced prior to the Continue reading »
I know it’s an absurd thought, but in this absurd world, what’s wrong with dreaming. If we the taxpayers, are the ones funding the salaries of politicians and public officials, doesn’t that make us their employers? And if we are their employers, shouldn’t we have the power to hold them accountable for their performance? In Continue reading »
Australia’s recent wave of political scaremongering and hyperbolic reporting about antisemitic attacks on Jewish schools, synagogues, businesses and a day care centre has finally subsided, but its impact is still being eagerly exploited by right-wing media outlets, pro-Israel lobby groups and politicians of all stripes. The antisemitism crisis came to a peak in early January Continue reading »
The High Court’s judgment in March 2025 in favour of the Gumatj people has reaffirmed the centrality of the Indigenous peoples of Gove in the Northern Territory in the native title revolution that was conceived in a case against mining company, Nabalco Ltd, in the 1960s and continued with the High Court’s Mabo and Wik Continue reading »
The drug companies have bought both American political parties. They have not bought Australia. America’s pharmaceutical giants do not love the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It costs them money. They’ve tried for decades to hobble the PBS or to knock the scheme over altogether. Each time they’ve failed. Now, with Donald Trump in the White House, Continue reading »
After two recent bouts of flooding already this year in Far North Queensland and more in the south-east of the state and in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, the perennial matter of our use of floodplains is in the news once more. Specifically, the issue of building houses on flood-liable land has come Continue reading »
The shock waves continue from Columbia University’s capitulation to Trump administration demands that undermine its independence. The world is watching and waves are already crashing on Australia’s shores. New York’s Columbia University has long been a central site for student (and staff) protest. All the big issues of the day have seen action – from Continue reading »
Australian voters heading to the polls need to be aware there’s little standing between them and potential manipulation of information by vested interests. The loss of Australia’s go-to political fact-checker and the rise of AI tools has created a crisis for political accountability just as the nation’s voters prepare to go to the polls. Professional Continue reading »
With the news that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make the trip to Government House early today, and the election will be called for May 3, Pearls and Irritations begins its election coverage. Over the 5 weeks of the campaign, leading up to the poll, we will bring you nuanced pieces, with a view to Continue reading »