Posts on sundry matters of life the universe and everything: Culture, Environment, Life, Politics & Government, Science, Social Science and Society, Technology etc.
Midnight Oil, led by the former Hon. Peter Garrett, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Education, are returning to a high-ticket priced venue near you.
Scott Morrison’s 2016 budget got copious praise from Peter Martin, at least in terms of the processes used.
Not so much from his Fairfax mate, Ross Gittins, who said it looked as though it was pulled together with a checklist, but did next to nothing in terms of economics or reform. It was a political document. Continue reading What ScoMo didn’t tell us
Here’s a thread where you can vent about the budget, should you so desire.
Peter Martin has a handy list of what we already know, which is quite a lot.
The ABC does too.
Ross Gittins tells us what not to believe. He reckons they don’t use the appropriate accounting methods to add up the figures. He also says not to obsess so much about deficits. It is the government’s responsibility to borrow to spend on infrastructure and other good things. Continue reading Budget open thread
Cardinal Pell claimed to the royal commission that he wasn’t told about misbehaving priests. Now a number of former officers of the Melbourne Catholic Education Office have given evidence that Pell was in fact told about the somewhat unhinged priest Father Searson. Continue reading Saturday salon 30/4
The release of the Grattan Institute report Hot property: negative gearing and capital gains tax has raised the temperature of the scare campaign for a day or so on Labor’s Positive plan to help affordable housing, aka negative gearing.
Turnbull says Labor’s policy will drive down house prices:
Grattan found otherwise. Continue reading Negative gearing: the election scare campaign continues
Arguably the election campaign started on Sunday with Turnbull’s formal rejection of the ALP’s negative gearing campaign. With 68 days to go the polls are all square in the House of Representatives, and, intriguingly, look set to deliver a hung Senate, with the casting vote resting with pesky crossbenchers. Incredibly, Turnbull may win, but not have enough head room to pass legislation at a joint sitting without negotiating with some of the people he wanted to get rid of.
A few people have been looking at the likely Senate outcomes and the prospects are interesting. Continue reading All square and going nowhere?
NSW Greens Upper House politician Jeremy Buckingham set methane bubbling up in the Condamine River alight, making a video which went viral with 2.2m views from Friday to Sunday. The CSIRO had previously investigated the area and found the methane leakage was probably natural.
Buckingham knows better and accused the CSIRO of “making excuses” for the coal seam gas industry. Continue reading Condamine River CSG fire stunt goes viral
Four hundred years ago on April 1616, William Shakespeare, “widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist”, died apparently from partying too hard on his 52nd birthday. Arguably he is the world’s greatest writer. Continue reading Saturday salon 23/4
Bernard Keane at Crikey has done some fact-checking (paywalled) on Scott Morrison’s the statements on the government’s fiscal policy and has found the Treasurer telling a few porkies. Continue reading Mr Morrison, would you please stop lying?
No more zingers for Bill Shorten, and now voice coaching from Dean Frenkel, a throat singer and lecturer in public speaking and communications at Victoria University, who thinks we all need lessons in elocution. After 14 years as a union rabble rouser Bill tried to soften his image. But: Continue reading Saturday salon 16/4
Is Bill Shorten a populist with a thought bubble, or is Malcolm Turnbull shooting from the hip and attempting to defend the indefensible?
Last year in June Labor voted with the government to kill a Greens motion for a royal commission into misconduct in the banking and financial services industry. As Adele Ferguson said in the AFR, then came NAB, IOOF, CommInsure, allegations of bank bill swap rate rigging and a multitude of smaller scandals.
Labor announced last Friday that in government it would set up a royal commission.
The government claims a RC would damage the reputation of the banks, but Ferguson says it couldn’t get any worse. Continue reading Banks royal commission becomes an election issue
You might recall Craig Emerson singing ‘no Whyalla wipe-out’ when the carbon tax was said to take it off the map. Seems it was always a lot more fragile than Emerson thought in the big bad world of open trade barriers.
Arrium’s share price has tanked in five years from over two dollars to two cents, and the company has gone into receivership. Bill Shorten has called for a national steel plan and the use of Australian steel in government funded infrastructure projects. Continue reading Saturday salon 9/4
