Politically, increasing petrol prices is one of the least popular things a government can do. But is there any point to a carbon tax if it doesn’t cover petrol? Vladimir Putin has just found how quickly…
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On Monday evening it seemed that all television viewers were not created equal in the eyes of the Nine Network regional affiliate stations, WIN and NBN which deemed the first episode of British comedy…
Under the cover of last week’s budget splash, the Federal Government has quietly changed tax laws which currently allow students and potentially jobseekers to claim a deduction for expenses against government…
In a ceremony at London’s Frontline Club on Tuesday, May 10, before an array of television crews from around the world, WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange received the Sydney Peace Foundation’s gold medal…
The Euro, Europe’s adolescent single currency, is in rough waters. This week European finance chiefs signed off on a 78 billion Euro bail-out for Portugal, while calling for Greece to accept stringent…
Should we bother to ask whether some gifts and donations could be interpreted as thinly veiled bribes, or is the distinction always clear? A recent example of the potential ambiguity of gift-giving was…
The Gillard government’s recent budget announcement again raises the issue of how much Australia relies on skilled migrants to backfill skills shortages at a time of economic growth. The shift in emphasis…
With its electoral support eroding, the federal government has been careful not to trigger frustration or disappointment in higher education and research. These have been largely Labor constituencies since…
The full bench of Fair Work Australia ruled yesterday that gender is a major factor in the low pay of thousands of workers in the social care and community sector. There are around 150,000 largely female…
The global financial crisis has occasioned a vast literature purporting to analyse the causes and consequences of the crisis. The crisis literature ranges from morality play narratives, insider accounts…
“Only an election could make an honest politician of this Prime Minister. Only an election can give Australia a government with authority to make the tough decisions needed to build a stronger Australia…
Australian political culture still recognises the remains of traditional commitment to egalitarianism as the mythic “fair go”, but the meaning is often not clear. Opportunity is often seen as the ladder…
Late last month, Ben Bernanke held the first ever press conference by a chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank. For more than an hour, he took questions about the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision…
Victoria now has a Minister for Food Security and the Federal coalition too has rebranded its shadow minister Minister for Agriculture and Food Security. Food security is a notion that over the last three…
“We are animated by but one desire — to do that which is best for Australia, and fair, just, and equitable to all the states, and to all classes and sections of our community.” This quote comes from the…
Australia’s ability to provide appropriate infrastructure for the future remains under question, despite changes to Infrastructure Australia’s role announced in the 2011 Federal Budget. The budget has…
Wayne Swan’s budget tightening measures have launched a fierce debate on what constitutes “middle class welfare”. And what income and wealth levels define the middle class. The Gillard government has imposed…
This week’s budget, with its withdrawal of subsidies for renewable energy, has left many commentators wondering if we’ve turned our back on carbon-neutral power. They should focus on the main game - the…
There is a sublime moment in the first series of The Thick of It, the brilliant British comedy TV series that satirised the inner workings of modern government, where the Minister for Social Affairs and…
Woolworths has unveiled details of its plan to launch an assault on the $42 billion Australian hardware and home improvement market with its Masters store brand, raising the prospect of a new chapter in…
So, Microsoft has announced it will buy Skype in a US$8.5 billion move that has left the technology and business worlds puzzled. Owners of Microsoft shares might be most puzzled of all, maybe even tearing…
Microsoft’s US$8.5 billion Skype acquisition, announced yesterday, gives the US software developer a golden opportunity to expand its business via the internet, including accessing and leveraging the rapidly…
The Budget: What does it have to do with tax reform? This year’s budget claims to “progress the government’s tax reform agenda, improving fairness and integrity in the tax system”. Does it? The short answer…
When looking at the budget it’s useful to remember, in the cold light of day, that politics, at its most fundamental level, is about relationships of power. It is about conflict, both overt and covert…
Apart from the reassuring signals to financial markets about the deficit reduction, the longer term significance of this year’s budget is about restructuring the relationship between welfare and work…