Anthony Albanese is not our best leader. He should go now. It’s an open question whether Tanya Plibersek would be the best candidate to lead the Labor Party as Australia’s next Prime Minister. Jim Chalmers is the obvious alternative and there could be others. Both would have a strong claim if there were to be Continue reading »
Government
Mohammed Salamat delivered this anguished poem about his detention on Nauru outside Federal Parliament last Tuesday November 19, 2024. The reality of ‘offshore processing’ by the Australian government is still very much a fact, in legislation and the news. Barn of Broken Doors Australia, is this the land you promised, Where hope once bloomed, now Continue reading »
The Australian Uniparty— also known as the cosy ALP/LNP coalition of self-interest—is jockeying for electoral reform. Talks between Labor and the LNP have broken down so those reforms are not coming in any time soon but, as former New South Wales Labor premier Jack Lang was fond of saying, “Always back the horse named ‘self-interest’, Continue reading »
While Bob Menzies pumped the political scare campaign to the max, to help ensure his newly formed Liberal Party’s ongoing popularity between 1949-66, locals were often more relaxed about sharing community life with those they battled on election day. My parents were founding members of Menzies’ new party from 1949, and they recruited their three Continue reading »
A more robust analysis by the commission might have yielded different priorities or recommendations for childcare. The Productivity Commission’s report, A Path to Universal Early Childhood Education and Care, presents detailed information and a range of studies supporting universal early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, there are significant issues with its analytical framework and recommendations, Continue reading »
In a series of baby but not blindfolded steps, our Government is making Australia ready for war. The latest of these appeared in the small print of a memorandum on 27 November. Most Australians weren’t watching when a long-awaited inquiry into how our armed forces are sent to war reported in March 2023. It had Continue reading »
Israeli leaders insist that all the people of Gaza are Hamas. In the same breath, Prime Minister Netanyahu boasts that victory in his war depends on the complete annihilation of Hamas, by which he presumably means a whole people? Finance Minister Smotrich claims to halve Gaza’s population within two years, calls for permanent military occupation Continue reading »
How much longer can the Australian Government hide from the horrific atrocities that continue in Gaza? Dr. Al Bursh, Director of the Ministry of Health has reported new weapons ‘that cause people to vaporise’ are being used by the IDF in Northern Gaza. He said residential blocks were targeted by the IDF killing entire families. Continue reading »
While lifting the rate of productivity growth is the obvious solution to the cost of living crisis, judging by the experience of most developed economies, it is not obvious how to restore productivity growth. According to the opinion polls the cost-of-living is the dominant political issue. Already it is clear that Dutton wants the focus Continue reading »
Julian Assange may no longer be behind bars, but his conviction casts a shadow over press freedom and the safety of journalists everywhere—a wrong Assange and his supporters world-wide are determined to set right by overturning his wrongful conviction via a presidential pardon from Joe Biden. In a remarkable bipartisan effort this month, Republican Congressman Continue reading »