Australia developing an impoverished, disconnected immigrant underclass – Weekly Roundup
Dec 16, 2023
Slow progress in cleaning up the mess after decades of Coalition neglect and economic mismanagement in immigration, labour relations, school education and economic structure, opinion polls reveal a restive electorate. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
This is the last roundup for 2023. I expect that January will be largely a policy-free period: I plan to be back with the first 2024 roundup on Saturday February 3.
A swag of policies for the end of year
The NDIS is reined in, but it’s still going to become more expensive over time. Repairing a system that has been developing an impoverished and disconnected immigrant underclass. Employer lobbies are complaining about “same job, same pay” legislation: that’s a good sign. MYEFO – not much to see here apart from some fiscal cosmetics.
Our low-growth-low-productivity economy, fashioned by decades of the Coalition’s economic laziness. How to improve performance and equity in school education – spend more money! The national mood has turned gloomy, but why now?
The ideas that spawned neoliberalism. Going cashless – convenient, but it raises many questions about money and its meaning. We enjoy paying taxes so long as we don’t call them “taxes”.
Ian McAuley is a retired lecturer in public finance at the University of Canberra. He can be contacted at “ian" at the domain “ianmcauley.com” .
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