This internal council document was only recently unearthed in our archives. It refers to a secret governmental emergency plan to "purify" the town following some kind of "infestation or plague," the details of which have now been lost.
Government
Why do we have a problem in recruiting General Practitioners and how can we overcome the shortage? The answer – to quote Aneurin Bevan, the Health Minister in the Post World War II Labour Government: ‘By stuffing their mouth with Gold’. In 2001 the Author Chaired a Review of the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee Continue reading »
Medicare must now focus on how health services are delivered. When it was established in 1974, Medicare funded the way health services were delivered at that time. That delivery system has not been changed much at all since then. After fifty years the way we deliver health care needs substantial reform and updating. Our health Continue reading »
In legal circles, outsiders who hold forth on legal issues without understanding the law or knowing the facts are held in particular contempt. They are known as “barrack-room lawyers”, a term that originally derived from military slang. According to the Collins Dictionary, a barrack-room lawyer is “a person who freely offers opinions, especially in legal Continue reading »
B-21s for Australia? Not on the basis of defending against a Chinese base in Australia’s nearer region. Defence policy often proceeds under a number of heroic and muddled assumptions. Most likely, the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) will also. These must be tested. Defence policymakers often make assumptions about potential adversaries that are convenient for their Continue reading »
The Little Secret About Corporate Profits
Have you noticed that when workers get better wages, the media blames them for rising prices, but when corporations rake in record profits, there’s silence?
That’s because corporate profits aren’t tracked nearly as closely as worker wages. And the reason why comes down to power.
Every month we get measurements of prices, jobs, and wages — these are the three economic variables we hear repeatedly because they are released each month like clockwork.
“Lula’s win was a win for the Amazon,” one global human rights leader said of his environment and Indigenous ministers. Environmentalists and rights advocates around the world are celebrating Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s selection of Marina Silva and Sônia Guajajara to serve as the nation’s environment and Indigenous ministers, respectively. Lula, who Continue reading »
Treasury may consider the news media professional standards test is adequate, but hopefully the Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and her department think differently. In its November report on the first year of the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, the Treasury concludes that the registration tests for news businesses have, overall, worked effectively. Continue reading »
The meeting between Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping put me in mind of the public reaction in Australia when Whitlam met Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1971. A repost from November 17, 2022 The meeting in Bali is potentially more than just a diplomatic reset. It could be a pivotal moment for Australia, in the Continue reading »