Politics
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HUGH MACKAY. It’s time for a national conscience vote
Whatever this ill-conceived double-dissolution (double disillusion?) election is about, it is clearly not addressing the issue that, more than any other, is redefining what it means to be Australian. Continue reading »
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SPENCER ZIFCAK. First Law Officer vs Second Law Officer: George Brandis Undermines Justin Gleeson (Part 1)
It has become a regrettable pattern in the legal world for Attorney-General, George Brandis, to seek to undermine holders of independent legal offices with whom he has disagreed. One thinks back only a year, to recall his vociferous attack on Gillian Triggs, the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission. This attack followed from Continue reading »
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LINDA SIMON. Do the Parties really care about vocational education and training (VET) these elections?
National TAFE Day was celebrated on June 16 this year, a little over two weeks before the Federal elections. Both Labor and the Greens took the opportunity to restate their support for TAFE and launch further policies. However the Government’s media release from Senator Scott Ryan, Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, focused only Continue reading »
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National Foundation of Australian Women. What are they saying to women? Election 2016
In the link below, NFAW analyses the party policies that are being presented at this election which are of interest and concern to women. http://www.nfaw.org/what-are-they-saying-to-women-election-2016/ Continue reading »
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MUNGO MacCALLUM. A treaty with indigenous Australians.
The idea of a country negotiating a treaty with its indigenous inhabitants is hardly novel. Three of our closest friends and allies (New Zealand, Canada and the United States) have all done so successfully, and none of their nations fallen into terminal division and chaos. And of course even in Australia, a treaty has Continue reading »
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JOHN AUSTEN. Infrastructure summit – reported highlights
Is there such a thing as bad or wasteful infrastructure or is it like motherhood, all noble and good? Continue reading »
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Bill Shorten is right: Malcolm Turnbull is a major threat to Medicare
Labor appears to have rediscovered old values, while the Liberals don’t appear changed one bit. Ian McAuley explains the mire that is the fresh debate on the future of Medicare. Continue reading »
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SIMON SCHAMA. Brexit vote a choice between the past and the future.
In this article from the Financial Times, Simon Schama (BBC’s ‘A History of Britain’) provides an historical and relevant background as to why the UK should remain as part of Europe. He highlights the narrow mindedness and divisiveness of those who favour leaving the EU. His comments also have relevance for Australia in the divisive Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Privatisation and the hollowing out of Medicare
Malcolm Turnbull says that the Coalition will ‘never, ever, privatise Medicare’. Given the wide public support for Medicare and Malcolm Turnbull’s way with words his attempted rebuttal is not surprising. But the Coalition has been eroding Medicare from within for a decade and a half since John Howard. The vehicle for this erosion is private Continue reading »
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JOHN THOMPSON. The regional health “plan”.
The Minister for Health, Sussan Ley, advises that, as Member for Farrer, she represents some of Australia’s most remote and disadvantaged communities and therefore understands that access to health services, as well as people’s priorities, can differ significantly to those in our capital cities. Continue reading »
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STEPHEN LEEDER. Looking forward to a national health policy and not ignoring the community.
Health policies presented as part of the election campaign should address our expectations for prompt, courteous and effective high-quality care when we need it and not be a random collection of thought balloons – from a child’s birthday? – about waiting lists and co-payments . Health care is essential to achieving goals for more Continue reading »
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BRUCE BAER ARNOLD. How Pathology Australia advocates for ‘patient care’ to achieve big corporate profits.
Each time we go for a blood test to investigate or keep track of an illness, or have a tissue sample from a Pap test or suspicious mole sent off for analysis, the wheels of the pathology industry are put to work. Pathology in Australia is big business. One company draws an annual revenue of Continue reading »
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JOHN AUSTEN. High speed rail – where to? Competing with airlines or cars?
This article proposes a change in focus for the high speed rail debate. Rather than seeking to compete with airlines, rail should contribute to settlement that eases pressures on capital cities. This change of focus does not require ego stoking thousand kilometre distances at 350kph plus speeds, but trains for comfortable commuting between second tier Continue reading »
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GREG WOOD. FTA’s and Australian democracy and future governance.
Andrew Robb’s response to concerns that Australia’s recent spate of free trade agreements were being negotiated in secret was to claim that trade negotiations have always been conducted that way. That comment contains a splinter of truth but a plank of misinformation. Once, not lately, trade ministers routinely informed Parliament on Australia’s aims, progress, and Continue reading »
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LAURIE PATTON. Broadband: It’s buggered in the bush
Last week’s Broadband for the Bush conference held in the rarefied atmosphere of Brisbane’s State Library revealed just how disillusioned people living in rural, regional and remote Australia have become with the state of their telecommunications services. Chief among the concerns expressed by farmers, welfare agencies, government officials and Indigenous leaders was the limitations of Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. A Royal Commission into banking and the private health insurance industry.
In this election campaign the issue that triggered a double dissolution – restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission – has hardly scored a mention. That contrasts with the 1974 double dissolution election, called by the Whitlam Government in response to the Coalition’s use of its Senate power to thwart the government’s most important Continue reading »
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MARK GREGORY. Labor’s NBN plan shows it listened to critics of the current broadband rollout.
Labor’s broadband plan includes few surprises and fulfils Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s commitment to responsibly increase the construction of fibre to the premises (FTTP). At the same time, it would ensure the completion of the National Broadband Network (NBN) is not delayed further. It shifts the focus back to providing Australia with broadband infrastructure that Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. The difference in the economic policies of the major parties.
In the din of distractions about political trivia, many in the media have lost sight of, or fail to understand, fundamental differences in the economic policies of the two main parties. That is their approach to distribution, or redistribution. Although politicians may accuse one another of heartlessness or of ignoring the poor, almost all politicians Continue reading »
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RICHARD WOOLCOTT. In the general election, do you think the government’s and the ALP’s foreign policies are sound?
This was a question asked of me by the Australian Institute of International Affairs. My answer is ‘No’ for the following reasons. Continue reading »
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MICHAEL GRACEY. The simmering shame of aboriginal ill-health.
Indigenous people have experienced miserable health outcomes compared with other Australians for decades. Efforts going back to the 1960s brought some improvements but these were not enough to remove the inequalities. The federal government was prompted to try to resolve this impasse by establishing the so-called ‘Close the Gap’ Strategy in 2008. This brought fresh Continue reading »
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QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Michelle Guthrie’s strategic plan for the ABC.
New ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie now faces a choice. She can simply manage the ABC’s government-decreed decline or reorganise its resources to make distinctive, original and quality content the institution’s strategic priority. The choice she (and the ABC board which appointed her) make will become apparent when the ABC publishes its updated corporate plan. Continue reading »
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PAUL BUDDE. The more fibre the better.
You can’t turn the clock back and in the case of the NBN that means you can’t undo those parts of the Multi-Technology-Mix (MtM) without immediately destructing billion of dollars. While it is a pity that the original plan – providing fibre-to-the-home to 93% of the population – can’t be continued the next best thing Continue reading »
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WARWICK ELSCHE. Shorten should play to Labor’s strength.
For more than 60 years, since opinion polling became important in shaping election strategies, there has been for the Australian Labor Party one awkward but stubborn consistency. Rightly or wrongly the Australian Electorate, with very isolated and brief exceptions, has always preferred and trusted the non Labor side of politics, the Liberal-National Party Coalition, Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Julie Bishop – Foreign Minister or Senior Consular Officer
Foreign ministers can hide their failures more easily than other ministers because ‘foreign affairs’ has no serious domestic constituency. Appearances on the public and world stage can also hide a lack of substance – for a while. But the failures of Julie Bishop are now clear. Most of her media appearances are now about ‘consular’ Continue reading »
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ALISON BROINOWSKI. The silence is deafening.
We learn belatedly that Prime Minister Abbott tried to persuade the Army to send to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine, were more like 3000, a full brigade! In this long election campaign, the major parties are debating anything and everything that will affect votes. Everything, that is, except refugees, foreign policy, and – as Continue reading »
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PETER DAY. Despite alcohol and gambling in sport, let us never forget ‘the backyard’.
Sport is a majestic thing. Just like our imaginations, it takes us to so many good places. The backyard: where gran and grandson become batting partners in a fiercely fought family ‘Test Match’. The beach: where sand and water gently accommodate the thrills and spills of diving and catching and tackling and throwing. The family home: where mum’s Continue reading »
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PETER WHITEFORD. Where is social welfare in the election campaign.
The federal government’s largest single ticket spending item – welfare – has failed to rate a mention in the election campaign. It is the $152 billion elephant in the room. It accounts for around 35 per cent of total government spending. And it affects – in one way or another – most Australian adults’ Continue reading »
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ROD TUCKER. How do Labor and the Coalition differ on NBN policy?
As hinted in earlier announcements by Shadow Communications Minister, Jason Clare, Labor’s much-anticipated policy for the National Broadband Network released Monday commits the party – if elected – to move away from the Coalition’s fibre to the node (FTTN) network and transition back to a roll-out of fibre to the premises (FTTP). This was the Continue reading »
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GEORGE RENNIE. How interest groups influence politicians and the public to get what they want.
We see their spokespeople quoted in the papers and their ads on TV, but beyond that we know very little about how Australia’s lobby groups get what they want. This is the first article in our series on the strategies, political alignment and policy platforms of ten lobby groups that can influence this election. Continue reading »
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JOHN THOMPSON. Private health insurance seek to extend tentacles.
The recent report of the Inquiry into Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in Primary Health Care by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health has been somewhat overshadowed by the current election campaign. One of the terms of reference of the Inquiry required the Committee to consider the role of private health insurers in Continue reading »
