John Menadue
Publisher and Founder
Elizabeth Minter
Editor
Callum Foote
Production Editor
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Author Archives: Elizabeth Minter
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Housing, Top 5
18 Comments
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
12 Comments
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
3 Comments
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?
Posted in Politics
20 Comments
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.
Posted in Politics, Top 5
9 Comments
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.
Posted in Politics
6 Comments
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Media
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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 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
2 Comments
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
3 Comments