Opinions
The level of public housing needs to return to previous levels
Australia needs more housing, and we definitely need more public housing
May 2023
Defence Strategic Review: A case of ‘so much for so little’?
For a document that self-advertises as “the most substantial and ambitious approach to Defence … since the second World War”, the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) is neither.
Carbon capture and storage is a dangerous rort
There’s nothing politics loves more than a good rort or scandal, like the recent revelations of PwC’s misconduct, which is finally throwing a spotlight on the vast tentacles of the big four consulting firms into the business of government. But it’s concerning that one of the biggest and longest-running rorts in climate change policy—carbon capture
Ending Nazi Symbols: Let’s Get It Right
Australia needs legislation outlawing the public display of Nazi symbols in the service of white supremacist ideology, but it is critical that we get the free speech balance right.
Real wages falls and interest rates rises signal tough times for households and the economy
You can’t sustain household spending while real wages continue to fall, and households are starting to let everyone know
Wages are growing solidly but real wages continue to plummet
Wages are growing the best they have for 11 years, but real wages are now back at the level they were 14 years ago
Don’t worry about a budget surplus, worry about a slowing economy
Rather than be a budget that will fuel inflation, the budget is actually closer to austerity than stimulation
For housing to be affordable, prices must go down, not up. Here’s how it could happen
Labor’s housing policies risk being as ineffectual as the Coalition’s. The real solutions aren’t complicated – but they need political will.
Affordability of a Liveable Jobseeker Payment is a Non-Issue
Commonwealth on Track for Diminutive Deficit or Surplus in 2022-2023 In the lead-up to its 2023-24 budget, the Labor Government finds itself in an awkward position, accepting that the Jobseeker payment is “seriously inadequate” and an impediment to regaining work, yet professing that it lacks the financial capacity to afford a meaningful increase anytime soon.
The Reserve Bank’s decision to raise rates shows a total lack of coherency
Wages growth is rising slowly and inflation is falling faster than expected, and yet the RBA decided to hit the economy again with another rate rise.
April 2023
Poor policies stopping our fair go
The government must change its stance on stage three income tax cuts and JobSeeker before it’s too late.
Latest inflation figures show the RBA was right not to raise rates in April
Inflation is falling steadily but hitting low-income households the most.
After the NSW election, privatisation is politically dead in Australia
Last month’s New South Wales election ejected the final mainland Coalition state government from office.
The Stage 3 tax cuts are bad economics combined with terrible politics. They should be dumped.
The Stage 3 tax cuts were always bad, but with the removal of the low-middle income tax offset, they become a terrible political strategy as well
Tide of Public Opinion Backs the Science
Tasmania’s coastal waters are in trouble and Tasmanians know it. Recently published research in the journal Nature, the world’s leading science journal, found that more than 500 common species of marine life have declined around Australia in the past decade. These declines are most marked in the rocky kelp-dominated reefs around Tasmania. We know that
How to best share the economic pie
Society works best when everyone feels like they have a stake in its success.
Wealth inequality across generations will only fuel voter disenchantment
Millennials are not becoming more conservative as they age – and the rigged housing market is just one reason why
With the impact of rate rises still to come the RBA is wise to pause
Perhaps as much as a third of the rate rises since April have yet to fully hit the economy
NSW minority government is a sign of the times
Elections in New South Wales are always interesting, and this year’s has given us a week of suspense over whether the Minns Labor government would be a minority or majority government.
What the safeguard means for the climate wars
The climate wars are far from over. They will not be over until the fossil fuel industry stops waging them. While their progress has been slowed in recent years, the relentless bombardment of our future by the coal and gas industries continues unabated.
Can a stockmarket gamble pay for the housing crisis?
Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis. Record numbers of Australians are in severe housing stress and it’s not just people with rising interest rates on their mortgages. Fewer and fewer people can afford a roof over their head and more and more people are sleeping rough on the streets or in their car.
March 2023
Stop the fear, give workers a fair pay rise
The whole point of public-sector wage caps is to keep all wages down
Let Them Eat Submarines
Despite electing a Labor government at the last federal election, Australia is about to spend half a trillion dollars implementing the Coalition’s economic, defence and climate policy agenda. It’s odd if you think about it.
Australia is a rich country making sub-par decisions
When former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg learned of Scott Morrison’s secret plan to spend a quarter of trillion dollars on nuclear submarines that, just two years earlier, the navy said they didn’t need, he said: “Everything is affordable if it’s a priority. This is a priority.”
AUKUS: Submarines on the Never Never, or Castles in the Sky?
AUKUS has landed – well, sort of.
The housing market has cooled, but housing unaffordability remains a long way off
House prices are falling but housing unaffordability remains high
Australian Inflation Reflects a Historic Redistribution from Workers to Bosses
The upsurge of inflation since the COVID-19 lockdowns has not had equal impacts on all Australians. Workers and low-income people have experienced the worst losses: both because their incomes, in most cases, have not kept up with prices, and because they are more dependent on essential goods and services (like shelter, food, and energy) than higher-income households.
Science before politics crucial in climate change fight
Just as the recent economic policy debate about tax breaks for multimillionaire superannuants has been overshadowed by sensationalist tabloid journalism (instead of what constitutes a dignified retirement), now the debate about climate policy risks being dominated by history wars and partisan politics – instead of what the science has been telling us for decades.
February 2023
Ultimately, it’s the senate that needs to drive accountability and integrity in politics
Australia’s newest integrity institution, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), will help root out corruption and hold the powerful to account.
Superannuation needs an objective and needs to be reviewed
Superannuation is too important for retirement to be allowed to be a tax dodge scheme for the wealthy. It is time to review the scheme and stop the abuses
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