Writer
Liz Minter
A 30-year veteran of the mainstream media, Liz was the editor of Michael West Media until June 2021. Liz began her career in journalism in 1990 and worked at The Age newspaper for two 10-year stints. She also worked at The Guardian newspaper in London for more than seven years. A former professional tennis player who represented Australia in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Liz has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Letters (Hons).
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Coalition protects wealthy retirees’ investments under cover of Covid-19 pandemic
The Coalition moved to protect the superannuation of Australia’s wealthiest retirees at the same time it was encouraging the nation’s poorest to raid their retirement accounts. And they continue to protect the wealthiest even though the Australian share market is back at record highs. Continue reading »
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Australian Government silent on CSL, Red Cross contaminated blood scandal; UK government accepts ‘moral responsibility’
The Government still refuses to apologise and offer financial support to the up to 20,000 victims of the contaminated blood scandal as recommended 17 years ago by a Senate Committee. Labor has acknowledged the “historic injustice” but says it can’t do anything. Is it because CSL, the darling of Australia’s business community, lies at the Continue reading »
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Kalbar’s exotic minerals mine puts the nation’s food supply at risk
A mineral sands mining proposal on rich Victorian farmland is putting the country’s food supply at risk. Will the Labor Government back big money over big farmers, and fail to protect heritage listed wetlands? Continue reading »
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Fairy Tales: Google Australia’s claims eclipse even News Corp and Nine
Google Australia pays pitifully tiny tax for its size – just $100 million last year despite booking $4.8 billion locally in advertising revenue. Yet now Google claims that its value to Australia is more than $50 billion and it is responsible for 280,000 jobs although it merely employs 1800 people. In an excoriating paper, a senior research Continue reading »
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Political stunt silences the Aged Care Royal Commission’s final report
Attempts to politicise the Aged Care Royal Commission report by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt underline the government’s failure to tackle the problems in aged care. The press conference, called at short notice with journalists given no time to prepare was a stunt to divert attention from the rape allegations against the Continue reading »
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JobSlayer: gas giants grab $300million subsidy then axe 3000 workers
The Government touts gas as being a key plank of JobMaker, its Covid-19 recession recovery plan. To help “support jobs” the government has given the gas industry $300 million of taxpayers’ money in subsidies. In return, the industry has cut about 3000 workers, more than 10% of it workforce, in a boom production year. Continue reading »
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Christian Porter responsible for serial breaches of the law, now cries “rule of law”
Christian Porter is responsible for serial breaches of the law, as documented repeatedly by Pearls and Irritations. These revelations alone should be enough to see Porter removed from official duties but his relentless persecution of Witness K and Bernard Collaery – both denied natural justice and prosecuted in secret – are hardly the stuff of Continue reading »
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The first law officer of the land must be beyond reproach
In the words of investigative journalist Michelle Fahy: “Federal attorney general Christian Porter is the first law officer of the land. The role is a uniquely powerful position, one that is supposed to sit, unblemished and above the reach of vested interests. Yet as federal attorney general Porter has demonstrated a disturbing acquiescence to powerful Continue reading »
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Housing Hypocrites: Tim Wilson’s housing affordability crusade just an assault on super
Tim Wilson is the latest Coalition politician to cry crocodile tears over the housing affordability crisis, calling for Australians to access their superannuation to buy a house. Yet Coalition policies – from negative gearing, property subsidies, money-laundering, super fund borrowing to banking and lending standards – are all about pushing up house prices to benefit Continue reading »
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Bushfire Rorts: Coalition targets bushfire recovery funds for Coalition seats
Federal and state funds for bushfire recovery have been heavily skewed in favour of state Coalition seats with NSW State Labor picking up just 1% of $177 million handed out. The devastated Blue Mountains electorate, with a Labor MP, received nothing. Continue reading »
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With regulations gutted and tax breaks banked, corporate funders and enablers desert Donald Trump
Corporate America is frantically distancing itself from Donald Trump in the dying days of his presidency after spending four years financing him, enjoying his tax giveaways, his attacks on workers and gutting of regulations to fatten corporate profits. The rank hypocrisy even extended to Scott Morrison’s top adviser on Covid-19 economic recovery. Continue reading »
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Scott Morrison: Trump Lite. A fair moniker for Australia’s Prime Minister?
Scott Morrison has said that he and Donald Trump “share a lot of the same views“. Just how far does that similarity extend? Continue reading »
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No Plan PM: how government’s lack of an aged care plan cost lives. Typically the PM then blamed others.
While the federal government indulged in semantics, Covid-19 deaths continued to rise in the woefully under-prepared residential aged care sector. 2020 was a horror year for older people living in residential aged care. Continue reading »
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Gutless Wonders: when will politicians demonstrate the accountability they foist on the rest of us?
Politicians are past masters at ducking responsibility, though busy prosecuting perceived foes. All the while, in the absence of a federal anti-corruption commission, the political scandals unfold, and pass without consequence. Continue reading »
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Strung out on centre court: the loneliness of the long distance tennis player
January has long been the month when the international circuit wends its way to Australia, with the Australian Open a key event on the calendar. While Covid-19 delayed the Grand Slam until early next month, January remains a bittersweet time for me. I can’t help but reflect on my professional tennis career. But while I Continue reading »
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Big Four banks still lending money to gamblers
The Big 4 banks – ANZ, Westpac, CommBank and NAB – continue to lend people money to gamble with. You can’t get a personal loan from a bank to use for gambling. So how is gambling a permitted purpose for a credit card? On what planet would that be considered responsible lending? Continue reading »
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Mainstream media either ignore or castigate youth
Youth have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting recession. Hearing from young people is therefore more important than ever, yet their representation in the media is minuscule and dropping, according to a recent report. News Corp’s widespread use of damaging stereotypes about young people was also notable. Continue reading »
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Responsible Lending? Coalition’s left hand not sure what its right hand is doing
The Coalition government is pushing hard to get rid of responsible lending obligations, but it doesn’t seem to realise that removing these obligations will pull the rug out from one of its signature pieces of legislation that Scott Morrison championed when he was treasurer – mandatory comprehensive credit reporting. Continue reading »
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The Coonan Conundrum: Crown chair in a morass of conflicts
Crown chair Helen Coonan is chair of PR firm GRACosway, whose clients have been involved in questionable financial transactions and include mortgage brokers fighting commission bans. Her PR role is in conflict with her position as chair of financial complaints ombudsman AFCA, and both make her position at the head of Crown unsustainable. Continue reading »
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Crown chair Helen Coonan conflicted in role of ombudsman chair
Crown profits from the hardship of problem gamblers, the banks refuse to stop credit cards for problem gamblers. Helen Coonan is chair of both Crown and bank ombudsman AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority). It is a conflict that makes her position untenable. Continue reading »
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Rich Thinking: Canberra Bubble wage delusions spawn a bizarre plan to flatten taxes (MWM Sep 24, 2020)
Forget the “average” wage, half of working Australians earn less than $57,000 a year. Rich think they are poor, poor rich. Elizabeth Minter reports on the government’s strange plan to flatten taxes so everybody who earns between $45,000 and $200,000 pays the same rate. Continue reading »
