Constitutional enshrinement of rights through a federal Human Rights Act is essential. In response to approaches from the Australian Human Rights Commission Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has recently announced an Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework, charging the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights with considering whether the Australian parliament should enact a federal Human Rights Continue reading »
Government
Subordination of the military to the civil power in a democracy is non-negotiable, but is often taken for granted. More democracies falter because of a breakdown of civil-military relations than through external subversion or foreign aggression. The near monopoly over the use of lethal force that military organisations hold imposes an obligation on governments to Continue reading »
The statistics released by ABC journalist, Stephanie Dalzell on April 20, define a national disgrace and expose a massive hole in the once intact Medicare safety net. The figures are as disturbing as they are worth reading in detail. Only four states release data: Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. As a sample, the average Continue reading »
The reforms recommended by the Review of the Reserve Bank have been well received, but it is questionable whether they will ensure that the Bank’s performance improves and that it can avoid the mistakes of the recent past. The independent review of the Reserve Bank was commissioned by the Treasurer last July, and its report Continue reading »
In recent years, commencing in the pre-COVID period, Australia’s balance of payments has consistently recorded a surplus on the current account. This has confounded some commentators, especially those who followed the compelling ‘debt and deficit’ (and especially the ‘twin deficits’) narrative that emerged in the mid-1980s. Does it mean that that narrative should no longer Continue reading »
The Financial Review’s political editor, Phillip Coorey, wrote last week that when it comes to superannuation policy, the Grattan Institute “increasingly resembles the financial policy arm of the Greens”. I am not exactly sure what that means – and I am Grattan’s lead on super policy – but I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it as Continue reading »
The Albanese government’s Defence Strategic Review is marred from the outset by its bald assertion that China’s military build-up is the largest and most ambitious of any country since the end of the Second World War. China’s military spending is dwarfed by that of the US. According to the authoritative Peterson Institute, US military spending Continue reading »
The Australian government has released the declassified version of its highly anticipated 2023 Defence Strategic Review (DSR), and the war propagandists are delighted. Sydney Morning Herald’s Matthew Knott, most well-known for being told by former prime minister Paul Keating to “do the right thing and drum yourself out of Australian journalism” over his role in Nine Continue reading »
Peter Dutton has staked his political future on Jacinta Price, his new shadow minister for Aboriginal Affairs, a woman of less than 10 months experience in Parliament, none of which have been spent in government. No one could doubt her zeal, debating skills and her own stake in the success of achieving a No vote Continue reading »