We can all be grateful that the acting auditor general Rona Mellor has decided to take at least a sideways glance into Commonwealth speculation, alongside a similar bet by the probably outgoing Queensland government, in an American horse in the great quantum computing race. I know nothing to say that there is anything intrinsically dodgy Continue reading »
Economy
The Government has announced it will include dynamic pricing in a consultation into ticket resale websites after hundreds of complaints over Oasis ticket sales. But that's just the start
The federal Department of Health will soon finish a “health check” of private hospital finances. Warnings of an emerging crisis sparked the review, with private hospital closures, claims that more hospitals are on the brink of collapse, and high-profile disputes between private hospital companies and health insurers. About 70 private hospitals have closed since 2019, Continue reading »
AUKUS and the FPA will lead us into unnecessary war, compromises our sovereignty and bring with them toxic risks to our health through radiation leaks, accidents associated with the nuclear reactors and the toxic waste from porting US and UK nuclear submarines Continue reading »
The looming question for me and my partner is “where might we live as we grow older and frailer?” For us, the ideal place is likely to be a retirement village. But at what cost? Continue reading »
Back in 1987, when no one knew that the Cold War was just about to end, the Canadian Government signed up to build ten nuclear-powered submarines. That submarine program lasted for all of two years before being cancelled in 1989. No nuclear Canadian sub ever even began construction, let alone gettin Continue reading »
Speaking recently on the ABC, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz claimed that Australia was ‘giving away its natural resources’. This he found ‘mind-boggling’. Would a sovereign mining company have made a difference? Continue reading »
Australia’s experience over the past three years of the highest inflation in 35 years is in large part — as it has been in other countries — the result of producers of goods and services, in both the private and public sectors, being able to pass on increases in costs to their customers or clients Continue reading »
A government is in trouble when it has to utter the banal and reiterate the damnably obvious. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is certainly struggling of late, a state of affairs all the more unspeakable given the calibre of his opponent. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton barely makes the grade of a two-dimensional politician, but has Continue reading »
Right now, human population growth is doing something long thought impossible – it’s wavering. It’s now possible global population could peak much earlier than expected, topping 10 billion in the 2060s. Then, it would begin to fall. In wealthier countries, it’s already happening. Japan’s population is falling sharply, with a net loss of 100 people every hour. In Europe, Continue reading »