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paper map of australia placed on wall

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Australia has set the bar too low, when it comes to societal expectations around things like civic responsibility. Decades of neoliberalism infecting our governments on both sides of politics has seen a huge slide in respect for the role of government in managing our social contract. The late Kerry Packer was lionised for his tough talk to the senate on tax minimisation and its merits in Australian life. We now face an impending tax revenue crisis, as corporations continue to dodge their taxation responsibilities through clever accounting practices. Wealthy Australians think that it is OK to avoid paying tax wherever they can. Packer told his audience that smart people don’t pay tax where possible and that government’s waste their money anyway. This has become an established narrative in the Aussie cultural canon.Continue Reading

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hands holding an american flag

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Democracy has long been lauded in the United States of America – Home of the Free etc etc. The reality of the situation, however, has been revealed over the last 5 years during the Trump ascendancy. The American political framework is full of holes, which have been effectively exploited by the Russians and local vested interests. The idea of democracy endures as something wonderful but in practice falls way short. The real state of democracy in America is only partially subscribed to by the country’s population.Continue Reading

man standing on stage facing an american flag

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I spent some time listening to Rachel Maddow’s ULTRA podcast last week. This production was very well done and worth taking the time to engage with. The use of the original voices from the Library of Congress lent ULTRA some much needed gravitas, I think. This is aural entertainment on a grand scale and endowers this slice of American history with some creative buzz. The narrator has a great voice and Rachel Maddow takes the listener on a journey back in time firmly held in her vocal embrace. The podcast production tinkles with all the bells and whistles of a radio soap from yesteryear, which was the desired intention, I am sure.Continue Reading

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a kid protesting against the war in ukraine

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Many people have discovered Ukraine for the first time since the invasion by Russia at the beginning of this year 2022. In a perverted sense they could thank Mr Putin for the catalyst in making this so but this would not be entirely accurate. This is because the invasion of Ukraine really began in 2014 and this did not stop the World Cup being held in Russia in 2018. The world took little notice of the earlier incursions and annexations of Ukrainian territory, which obviously encouraged Mr Putin to go the whole hog, so to speak. This time, however, the USA freed from Trump and the European Union were galvanised to take action in the form of more far reaching sanctions and military aid to Ukraine. Still, Ukraine was for many a far flung place in the east of which little was known.Continue Reading

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flag of australia

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Australia has been locked into a cycle of inaction around the major issues facing the nation. Manipulation of the political system by vested interests on climate change and inequality has seen little progress achieved on these important matters affecting the nation. Conflicts of interest in Australia are entrenched within media and government. A lack of transparency around political influence within the two party preferred system remains the elephant in the room. On top of this, the loudest voice in the room via media interest is the Murdoch news organisation with its monopoly of newspapers across the land. Murdoch is a rabid right wing media mogul, as seen by the content on his Fox News and Sky News Australia TV networks. Objective coverage of the news is so far from what viewers get via the Murdoch press it would be laughable if it wasn’t such a serious concern for the country.Continue Reading

paper map of australia placed on wall Stuart Roberts robust defence of Robodebt

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We are living at a time of rapidly rising costs of living driven by spiking inflation and its consequent interest rate increases. The economy is like a dog chasing its own tail right now. Those many Australians who live on the wrong side of the poverty line are sinking further into dire financial trouble. It is in light of these circumstances that it is important to have an understanding of the Wellbeing Budget. Conservatives have derided the concept as branded by hippy yippy fringe concerns and un-Budget like. The Budget, in their eyes, should be about cold, hard economic facts with no room for sentiment. The woman that the hard right despises most, Jacinta Ardern the NZ prime minister, has had a wellbeing Budget and that is proof of its unsuitability for them. Continue Reading

person about to catch four dices

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I have been approached by someone working for a digital marketing company to write an article about a sport of my choice. Yes, they will pay me reasonably generously according to the marketing representative. Further investigation revealed that it is part of a campaign funded by a gambling entity. What a surprise! Gambling and all things sport have become as close as close can be. Indeed, gambling companies are heavily invested in this symbiotic relationship. Gambling feasting on sports mad Australia. Sporting events have always been gambled upon by those who think they can afford to do so. In Ancient Roman times, the circus and gladiatorial arenas were fiercely bet on by punters seeking to back the winning chariot or fighter. Continue Reading

textile australian flag with crumples

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We have record low wage growth in Australia because governments have been enacting this outcome via policies specifically designed to achieve this. The Fraser and Howard governments in the 1970s and 1990s ramped up the pressure by banning industrial action by unions and attacking their membership through non-union agreements. Unions were made out to be the bad guys in continuous attacks on their character in the public eye. The Abbott and Turnbull governments created anti-union organisations like the Australian Building and Construction Commission and the Registered Organisations Commission. Coalition governments have over several decades broken the effective power and influence of the union movement. Why do we have record low wage growth in Australia? Conservatively minded government policies have designed it this way.Continue Reading

Scott Morrison at Press Club

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The former Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who portrayed himself as this easy going bloke from the suburbs has been revealed as a virtual secret dictator in Australia. Morrison clandestinely held 5 portfolios in his government without the knowledge of the Australian public and his fellow cabinet members. The Governor General was also involved in this covert activity – which is now being viewed as the biggest betrayal of democracy and the Westminster parliamentary system for a hundred years. The supposedly affable Scott was actually a massive control freak with hidden hands on the levers of government across health, finance, resources, home affairs, and industry. Continue Reading

people in concert

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I have a confession to make, this fifty something refugee from a life well lived used to be a heavy metal aficionado. Hard noise in the teenage years echoed the testosterone within. My first rock ‘n roll love was dark and heavy, and the first album I ever bought was a headbanging opus. I was totally into one band and that group was Black Sabbath. I was nine years old, and I loved the Satan worshipping boys from Britain. Geezer Butler on bass, Tony Iomi on lead guitar, and, yes, Ozzy Osborne on vocals. These were my foot stomping and riff pounding heroes. I prayed at the dark church of the Black Sabbath. Continue Reading