Public Policy
-
JOHN GOSS. Health care is getting cheaper (unless you need a specialist, or a dentist) (the Conversation, 28.09.18)
Public and private health expenditure amounted to 10.3% of gross domestic product in 2016-17, almost exactly the same percentage as in 2015-16, according to figures released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Continue reading »
-
MUNGO MACCALLUM. Morrison does not get it.
His thought bubble about inaugurating a public holiday – well, perhaps not a holiday, but something or other – to celebrate indigenous Australia is about to be shoveled into the back drawer. That’s the one where the former Treasurer keeps his cast offs – the GST increase, the limitations on negative gearing, and of course Continue reading »
-
PAUL COLLINS. Don’t say I didn’t tell you!
I know its obnoxious to say “I told you so”, but I’m going to nevertheless. Back in June I told Pearls and Irritations readers that “the greatest danger to the ABC comes from within, from the board and the corporation’s management.” Last week’s events have proved me right. The current board represents a very narrow Continue reading »
-
MARGARET REYNOLDS. ABC Friends calls for Australians to rally to defend the independence of our ABC
The firestorm that hit the ABC this week is an opportunity for Australians to demand that all political parties commit to absolute independent governance of the ABC. Continue reading »
-
JOHN THOMPSON. Private schools don’t pay rates and taxes.
While most attention is focussed on the level and distribution of funds paid directly to non-government schools by the Commonwealth Government, little attention is given to the very substantial financial concessions and benefits that the private school system obtains from all levels of government in Australia. The millions of dollars of revenue foregone by local, Continue reading »
-
KERRY GOULSTON. A personal view on our current treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
There is growing concern across Australia about the current policy for Asylum Seekers and Refugees, particularly those on Nauru and Manus Island. Continue reading »
-
JOHN WOINARSKI, CHRIS DICKMAN, RICHARD KINGSFORD and SARAH LEGGE-We must strengthen, not weaken, environmental protections during drought – or face irreversible loss.
Australian rural communities face hardships during extended drought, and it is generally appropriate that governments then provide special support for affected landholders and communities. However, some politicians and commentators have recently claimed that such circumstances should be addressed by circumventing environmental laws or management – by, for example, reallocating environmental water to grow fodder or Continue reading »
-
JACK WATERFORD. Turnbull’s ABC chickens home to roost (Canberra Times 28.9.2018)
Malcolm Turnbull is a gift that keeps giving to the Labor opposition. Scott Morrison’s ongoing efforts to be all things to all people were again derailed this week by the ABC implosion, which saw the loss of its board chairman and its managing director, and a powerful smoky stench as Coalition jihadists ran for cover. Continue reading »
-
QUENTIN DEMPSTER. ABC: Frontrunners to replace Justin Milne emerge (the New Daily, 27.09.18)
The Morrison government is to appoint a new ABC chairman immediately as fallout continues over the sacking of managing director Michelle Guthrie. Continue reading »
-
ABUL RIZVI: Privatising visa processing – the alarm bells are ringing (Part 2)
Major ICT transformation projects conducted ‘in partnership’ with a big IT company are high risk. Privatisation of core government functions such as visa processing are also high risk, especially when undertaken under the cloak of commercial-in-confidence type secrecy. Doing the two together multiplies the risk big time. But that is exactly what the Home Affairs Continue reading »
-
JOCELYN PIXLEY. Emma Alberici’s data was inconvenient for corporate tax cutters.
Times are dangerous for the ABC, at least to those who appreciate fair, independent journalism. My example is Emma Alberici’s report on corporate tax cuts, which was stating what is well-known across the OECD for years. In addition, taxes are no charity. Continue reading »
-
ANDREW GLIKSON. Climate projections.A world on borrowed time.
Current temperature trajectories are on par with or exceed the IPCC’s dangerous projections (Figure 1). Acting as the lungs of the biosphere, over tens of millions of years the atmosphere developed an oxygen-rich carbon-low composition, allowing the flourishing of mammals. The anthropogenic release to the atmosphere to date of more than 600 Gigaton of carbon Continue reading »
-
QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Government moves ABC chair Justin Milne to the exit ramp (the NewDaily, 27.09.18)
The Scott Morrison government and the ABC board are moving to pressure ABC chairman Justin Milne to resign as soon as possible. Continue reading »
-
An Inquiry is needed into the ACT Catholic school system.
The ACT should be an ideal location for operating a Catholic school system – a land of milk and honey. Continue reading »
-
PETER MANNING. A tone-deaf chairman at the ABC.
ABC Chair Justin Milne has criticized Michelle Guthrie’s leadership skills as not good enough for the Board of the ABC. The truth is his own communication skills in relating to staff are deficient and tone-deaf. Continue reading »
-
ABUL RIZVI. Privatising visa processing – the alarm bells are ringing (Part 1)
Major ICT transformation projects conducted ‘in partnership’ with a big IT company are high risk. Privatisation of core government functions such as visa processing are also high risk, especially when undertaken under the cloak of commercial-in-confidence type secrecy. Doing the two together multiplies the risk big time. But that is exactly what the Home Affairs Continue reading »
-
PAUL COLLINS. The Sacking of Michelle Guthrie
Commentating on the sacking, former MD David Hill says that “no reasonable explanation” has been given as to why. While there’s some truth to that, I think we can begin to sort out why board chairman Justin Milne acted. And here its important to say that it probably largely was Milne, who was the dominant Continue reading »
-
PETER SMALL. National Party and Climate Change, Part 2.
If we accept the premise that humans are rational beings and have a reason for doing what they do, then in my first article I tried to throw some light on what motivated the National Party, and the Coalition, to have the policies they have or don’t have on climate. In summary I suggested this Continue reading »
-
BRIONY DOW. Do we need a Royal Commission into Aged Care?
With the recent announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care, debate is raging in the aged care sector and beyond as to whether it is really needed. Continue reading »
-
PAUL DALEY. ‘Wholesale massacre’: Carl Feilberg exposed the ugly truth of the Australian frontier.
The real ‘settler’ and pioneering stories of Feilberg’s Queensland were confronting and frightening. Continue reading »
-
PETER MANNING. Despite her good intentions, Michelle Guthrie was never the right fit for the ABC (the Conversation, 25.09.18)
Michelle Guthrie has been badly treated – not by being sacked, but by being hired in the first place. As a former Head of ABC TV News and Current Affairs, I met Guthrie several times at functions in the ABC, and once at a social dinner party. We discussed the state of ABC News and Continue reading »
-
MAX HAYTON. Climate change policy wins wide support in New Zealand
New Zealand’s coalition government under Jacinda Ardern has made dealing with climate change one of its highest priorities. It is planning dramatic new legislation and to the surprise of many observers, no doubt including some watching from Canberra, there is a high degree of cross party support and national consensus. While the issue helped to Continue reading »
-
QUENTIN DEMPSTER. Was there a political motivation behind ABC’s Michelle Guthrie sacking?
The unexpected sacking of ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie has raised one big question, among the many. Continue reading »
-
GRATTAN INSTITUTE Special deals for special interests -Catholic School funding
How lobbyists work to advantage Catholic schools at the expense of state schools . Continue reading »
-
ROBERT MANNE. This pains me, but it’s time to compromise on Australia’s cruel asylum seeker policy (the Guardian, 23.09.18)
In the past 30 years Australia has crafted an almost uniquely cruel asylum seeker policy. Our only competitor is the proudly illiberal Hungary. When Malcolm Turnbull outlined our current policy to Donald Trump in their notorious telephone conversation, the US president was mightily impressed. “You are worse than I am.” No more evidence about the Continue reading »
-
LYNDSAY CONNORS. Coalition recycles old nonsense with business-as-usual schools deal (the Guardian, 22.09.18)
The prime minister’s announcement of an extra $4.6bn in funding over the next decade for private schools makes no sense. Continue reading »
-
SPENCER ZIFCAK. No Friend But the Mountains’:* Behrouz Boochani’s Extraordinary Narrative Of Life on Manus Island
Behrouz Boochani is an Iranian journalist, writer and refugee. He arrived in Australian waters by boat seeking refuge after a near fatal journey from Indonesia. He never made it to the mainland. Kevin Rudd had shut down access to Australia. Tony Abbott had opened out the desolate encampments on Manus Island and Nauru. Boochani was Continue reading »
-
PETER SAINSBURY. Action on climate change depends on, but not guaranteed by, a change of government
Greenhouse gas emissions, global warming and the devastating consequences of climate change for the environment and humanity march on. The Morrison government is set to continue Australia’s disgraceful inactivity in combating climate change. The election of a Labor government and a climate action pact between Labor and the Greens provides some hope but no reassurance Continue reading »
-
JOHN MENADUE. The Coalition has deserted country people on climate change, NBN and more
Both the Liberal and National parties are taking a drubbing from country voters. A while back it was New England and Lyne. More recently it has been Indi and Wagga Wagga. Strong Independents are thriving in country electorates. Outside the metropolitan area both Coalition partners have become heavily dependent on the miners rather than farmers Continue reading »
-
MARK BUTLER. Coalition exposes its ignorance in anti-renewable stance (The Big Smoke, 21.09.18)
On Tuesday during Parliamentary Question Time, new Energy Minister Angus Taylor announced: “the (RET) target reaches a peak in 2020 and we will not be replacing that with anything.” Continue reading »