Public Policy
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MICHAEL THORN. The cricket pay dispute and how broadcast deals drive unhealthy product marketing
After the series of serious drug and alcohol incidents involving rugby league players and officials in May, some quite reasonably made the argument that sports that so closely embrace alcohol brands can hardly be surprised when the behaviour of players clothed in these brands act badly. This was cited in support of the argument that Continue reading »
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STEPHEN LEEDER. Review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
The Medicare Benefits Schedule, or MBS, is the basis for Medicare payments made for medical care in the community. It runs to over 900 pages and contains 5,700 items. Well over $2Ob pass through its ledger each year. It includes long and short clinical consultations and surgical procedures ($17b), pathology tests ($2.65b) and x-ray Continue reading »
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FRANK BRENNAN, TIM COSTELLO, ROBERT MANNE and JOHN MENADUE. Stopping Boats and Saving Lives Four Years On …
How much longer will we continue to punish proven refugees who are our responsibility while they await interminable, uncertain futures in Nauru and Manus Island? Everyone knows that not all the proven refugees will be resettled in the USA even once the USA resumes taking refugees in October 2017. Kevin Rudd first announced the most Continue reading »
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The parliamentary eligibility law is an ass – but it is the law.
Australia’s restrictive eligibility criterion for entering Parliament is out of touch with modern reality but, as long as it is the law of the land, it has to be enforced and be seen to be impartially enforced. Continue reading »
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JOAN STAPLES. Environmental NGOs, Public Advocacy and Government
Environmental NGOs fear the Federal Government is moving to limit their public’ advocacy by requiring them to spend 50% of their income on practical environmental tasks such as tree planting. Continue reading »
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GREG LOCKHART. What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? (Part 2 of 5)
Part 2. Empire against Asia The ‘imperial’ nature of Australia’s involvement in the Great War was distinctively Australian and, it should be said, a sign of the doubt white settler society had about its survival as a remote outpost of the British Empire in Austral-Asia. Continue reading »
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What were we fighting for at Gallipoli, in Palestine and on the Western Front? Part 1 of 5-part series.
To find out what we were fighting for in the Great War we must get past the usual fig-leaf explanation, which is as remarkably effective as it is short on cover in Australian culture. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Rupert Murdoch’s abuse of power. (Repost from 7 August 2013)
Controlling 70% of Australia’s metropolitan newspapers, one would hope that Murdoch would exercise some responsibility in the use of that power. But none of that responsibility for Rupert Murdoch! Continue reading »
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LOUIS COOPER. A Canadian’s mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay leads to a no-win for the Trudeau Government
Public debate over federal government’s $CA10.5 million payout to former “child terrorist” has tarnished Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government. Continue reading »
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LESLEY HUGHES. Solving the climate crisis: one city at a time
Although Trump has withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, many cities in the US (and in Australia) are taking climate change matters into their own hands, thumbing their collective noses at ideological-driven policy paralysis at the federal level. Continue reading »
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HENRY REYNOLDS. January 26?
When we examine the violations of law when the British took possession of eastern Australia in 1788, it’s little wonder that a growing number of people are seeking a date other than January 26 to celebrate Australia Day. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. How Murdoch got a foothold in Foxtel. (Repost from 1 February 2014)
At the last election Rupert Murdoch showed how ruthlessly he plays the political game-a game that has delivered great commercial benefits for his organisation, not just in Australia but particularly in the US and UK. One example of favours delivered by governments is the way the Australian Government in 1995 secured an invaluable foothold for Continue reading »
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Health Ministers may be in office but health providers are in power. Think medical specialists fees! (Repost from 19 April 2017)
‘Perhaps [we could consider] a review of what Pierre Trudeau and his government (in Canada) did in 1984 when they took on a system not dissimilar to ours – uncontrolled fee for service – and legislated that doctors could charge what they liked BUT unless they adhered to the fee negotiated between the provincial government Continue reading »
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CHARLES LIVINGSTON. Victorian pokies “reforms” may impose big costs on population
The Victorian Government has announced that it will extend existing poker machine licences until 2042, freezing the total number of machines available in pubs and clubs at 27,342 (there are another 2,658 at Crown Casino). The Minister made much of this in her announcement, lauding this as a ‘harm minimisation’ measure. Yet these ‘reforms’ may Continue reading »
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ALICE FABBRI, LISA BERO AND RAY MOYNIHAN. Vested interests -Who’s paying for lunch? Here’s exactly how drug companies wine and dine our doctors
Now you can find out who’s wining and dining our doctors, nurses and pharmacists with publicly available data of drug company funded events. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Making housing affordable. (Repost from Housing Series)
Pearls and Irritations recently posted a series of articles on the theme Making Housing Affordable. The series focuses on Australia’s housing affordability crisis. Most of the articles were posted just before the Federal Budget, but a few were posted afterwards, by way of a reflection on the relevant Budget reforms (or lack thereof). The date Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. Chilcot – The Iraq war and Murdoch’s war on critics. (Repost)
On 1 July 2014, I posted a story about the role of News Corp and Rupert Murdoch in the Iraq disaster. The Chilcot Report confirms even more how News Corp publications misled readers and viciously attacked their opponents. News Corp demonstrated that it is indeed a rogue organisation. See repost below: Continue reading »
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GILES PARKINSON. How the far Right have hijacked Australia’s energy policy
If you ever wondered just how comprehensively the Far Right has hijacked the Coalition’s energy policy, it’s worth reading the speech by NSW energy minister Don Harwin we reported on last week. Continue reading »
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Hidden in plain sight: Aboriginal massacre map should be no surprise
Lyndall Ryan’s work on mapping the massacres of Aboriginal Australians builds on earlier work which has been ignored or glossed over by settler Australians. Perhaps this time, finally, we can make the link between Indigenous dispossession and the position of Aboriginal people today. Continue reading »
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ANNE DUGGAN. The second Atlas of Healthcare Variation – a guide to better practice
The recently-released second Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation reveals marked variations in the rates of common procedures across the country. It’s a valuable source of data to guide better allocation of health care resources through more appropriate, equitable and patient-centred care. Continue reading »
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STEVE LEEDER. Health care: getting it right the first time
Ronald Reagan once famously quipped that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help’. But that doesn’t, for one moment, stop Michael Horrocks, Professor of Postgraduate Surgery at the University of Bath and a former President of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Continue reading »
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TIM COLEBATCH. One census, three stories
In the broad picture, the 2016 census has confirmed things we already knew about ourselves. But burrow down into the detail, and you’ll find much that will surprise you. Continue reading »
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PETER HUGHES. Citizenship changes: poisonous and pointless
The government’s proposed changes to the requirements for Australian citizenship are both poisonous and pointless. They are bad public policy and should be rejected by Parliament. Continue reading »
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GILES PARKINSON. Garnaut: CET may be useless without higher emission targets
Leading economist professor Ross Garnaut says the clean energy target recommended by the Finkel Review could be useless in meeting current emission reduction targets, because technology change and coal retirements will get us there in any case. Continue reading »
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TONY MAHER. Energy future debate needs to put people first
Without bipartisan support for the key planks of energy policy, we will continue to have electricity shortages, higher than necessary prices and investment decisions being made by governments based on populism. Workers shouldn’t be used as a pawn in a political game by politicians. Workers should be centre stage – changes to the energy system Continue reading »
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MICHAEL MULLINS. Cardinal Pell’s preference for spin doctors over truth tellers
Cardinal Pell’s actions and attitudes towards the media over the years have demonstrated a lack of appreciation of its role in truth telling. If, as he stated , he is innocent of the ‘false’ charges laid against him, it is in his interest not to condemn the truth telling media but to trust and embrace Continue reading »
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STEVE LEEDER. A welcome review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule
In 2015 Sussan Ley, then the Minister for Health, established a review of the schedule of fees for medical benefits. The review of the schedule’s 5700 items, involving a rigorous evidence-based process, is now around half way through. When completed it will provide an opportunity for more cost-effective health care and a saving of public Continue reading »
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ROD TIFFEN. The UK Election’s Second Biggest Loser – Rupert Murdoch
A widely circulated tweet claimed that on election night in Britain, Rupert Murdoch stalked out of the Times’s party when the exit polls suggested the Tories were in trouble. As we know, Teresa May’s opportunistic calling of an early election backfired on her, and the Conservatives went from a parliamentary majority to a minority government, Continue reading »
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John Menadue talks to Jon Faine about Rupert Murdoch, the great rent-seeker (Repost)
The interview with Jon Faine was reported in The Guardian on 29 June 2017. News Corp is a ‘disgrace’ and should not get hands on Ten, former manager says. Repost: In an interview on 22 June 2017 with Jon Faine of 774 ABC Melbourne Radio, John Menadue highlights how the Murdoch media attacks people like Continue reading »
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CHRIS BONNOR. Has the Gonski dust settled?
Many claims have been made about the Turnbull Government’s Gonski breakthrough. It seemed to grant the wishes of advocates for greater equity and efficacy in the funding of schools – so much so that I had to re-cast the recommendations in the recent CPD report, Losing the Game, written with Bernie Shepherd. We had always Continue reading »