Writer
Martyn Goddard
Martyn Goddard is a public policy analyst specialising in health and state government funding. He was a member of the Australian Council on AIDS and Related Diseases and its clinical subcommittee; as well as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. He also served as a health policy officer at the Australian Consumers' Association (Choice).
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The time-bomb under every state budget
Australia’s public hospitals cost too much and achieve too little. Soaring costs threaten to drown state finances while abandoning patients. Continue reading »
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A bill of rights is now tantalisingly close
Australia is the only western liberal democracy without a mandated charter of human rights. It’s now closer than at any time in 40 years. Continue reading »
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The budget that forgot health
Every element of Australia’s health system is in trouble. But you’d never know it from looking at this year’s budget. Continue reading »
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Want to save public hospitals? First, stop being stupid
Under-funding is not the main reason for the crisis in Australia’s public hospitals. A far bigger problem is systemic stupidity. Continue reading »
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Tasmanian politics and the Lambie train-wreck
Jacqui Lambie tried to turn her idiosyncratic brand into a sort-of-party. But, like so many of those arrangements before, it’s quickly falling apart. Continue reading »
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In their last redoubt, the Liberals lurch further to the right – and oblivion
The Tasmanian election was a disaster for both major parties, but only Labor has a path back. Continue reading »
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The campaign to destroy the GST
Australia’s system of GST distribution — despite some serious mutilation by WA — remains one of the most effective and fairest in the world. That’s why the NSW government wants to blow it up. Continue reading »
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Medicare is bleeding to death. Will Labor ever do anything about it?
GP visits are down 37% since the government took office. But all we get is spin. Continue reading »
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We need to talk about Gina and Andrew
Natural resources are owned by the people of Australia, but mining companies don’t like paying us for the resources they take out of the ground. And when they look like having to pay more, their response is swift and brutal. Continue reading »
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Populism and the fight for democracy
Liberal democracy is facing its most perilous time since the rise of fascism a century ago. Between the Global Financial Crisis and now, the number of liberal democracies has fallen by a third, as the drift towards populist authoritarian leadership gathers pace. Continue reading »
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These are the people we’re locking up
Prisons don’t work. When you look at the lives of people being imprisoned, it’s no wonder. Continue reading »
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WA’s $40 billion fraud on the rest of us
Jim Chalmers has just added $11 billion to the cost of Western Australia’s dodgy GST deal. It’s an extraordinary case of political extortion. But is it even legal? And will WA have to give the money back? Continue reading »
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We spend billions on ‘wellness’ crap. Why?
‘Alternative’ medicines and therapies comprise the biggest scam in the country. But if you think that industry is going to be cleaned up … you’re joking. Continue reading »
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Private health insurance: and the rort goes on
There’s a government review of health insurance. Here’s why you haven’t heard of it … and what needs to change. Continue reading »
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Labor’s Tasmania split bedevils Albanese’s poll hopes
Something rotten is happening to the ALP in the Apple Isle. Infighting among the Tasmanian branch threatens to spill into the federal election campaign. Continue reading »
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A drip-feed of scary numbers about the future.
20 years ago, when Peter Costello launched the first Intergenerational Report, he promised that looking four decades ahead would greatly help long-term decision-making and asset allocation. But the aim did not coincide with the reality. Continue reading »
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WA’s GST deal is keeping the rest of the nation under water
Every government in Australia is running a budget deficit. Except one. Western Australia, unlike the rest of Australia and the world, is rolling in it. Continue reading »
