city sunset street storm

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Let me make one thing clear at the outset of this post, the ALP federal government may be lukewarm in my opinion but the Opposition is no alternative. The Albanese government need to lift their game, as the timidity and treading water approach are beginning to smell of self-preservation. We do not want a government, which is more interested in not offending folk than getting anything progressive done. The Voice rejection was a very disappointing failure for Australia but it is no excuse for ducking the difficult issues facing the nation. Anthony Albanese needs to go watch some footage of former PM Paul Keating and find some backbone real fast.Continue Reading

white windmill

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Have you ever read a positive article about renewable energy published in the Murdoch newspapers or on their networks, like Sky News Australia or Fox News? No? Why is that I wonder? Why do they consistently belittle and denigrate all efforts to transition to this cost effective and potentially planet saving technology? How is the conservative media always being negative about renewables helping the nation and the world? Where is the balance in their reporting and editorial policy on energy matters? Unless you are a complete idiot you have to see that something is going on here. Something underhanded and definitely not in the interest of the country and its people. Greedy men more interested in their wealth than the nation being smart for the benefit of the many.Continue Reading

men standing over an open hatch of a submarine

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Australia has a lousy record when it comes to submarines. It seems submarines bring out the worst in our defence force and our national security aspirations. Hugh White hoists up AUKUS white flag in recent essay. Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at ANU, Hugh White knows a thing or two about this topic and Australian national security capabilities. Younger Aussies may not remember our ongoing challenges with the Collins class submarines. They may not be au fait with our dalliance with the French in regard to supplying us with submarines pre-AUKUS. The Japanese were in the running there for a while too. Basically, submarines and Australia have a perpetually sinking relationship, it seems.Continue Reading

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Life in Australia, a centrist Westminster democracy, and a mixed economy of both planned and free markets has always been a balance between private wealth and the public good. Today, however, we are seeing the uneven fruits of imbalance in the housing sector in particular. Ever since John Howard brought in the capital gains tax discount some 30 odd years ago – inflation in the residential property market has run riot. It has now reached an apogee of unaffordability for many Australians, most of them younger and losing the aspirational dream of home ownership in their lifetimes. Private wealth vs the public good – tough conversations need to be had to address the severe problems around this matter.Continue Reading

Supermarket png clipart illustration, transparent

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During a cost of living crisis, which many in the world are now experiencing, it is easier to get in touch with the essentials necessary for living. Food, shelter, and energy are the essential ingredients for survival in our modern worlds. The financialization of essentials by capitalism is proving to be at cross purposes for those trying to survive in a cost of living crisis. What do I mean by this? The march toward a consumer society has meant that all these basic requirements of life are things you have to buy. Few of us go out and dig up or hunt for our food these days. Putting a roof over our head is an expensive purchase in the 21C. Plus, all of our devices and vehicles run on forms of energy which we have to buy. Neoliberalism promised to make things easier and cheaper for all in this regard but has manifestly failed to do so. We were told that if governments got out of the way and let private enterprise do what it’s best at we would all be much better off. Thirty years of this, ‘the market knows best’ ethos, has placed at least a third of working Australians in dire straits when it comes to affording the basics of life. Neoliberal economic policies have failed us in every essential market.Continue Reading

close up shot of australian dollar

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Coles has some 8, 000 suppliers providing the supermarket lines they sell to their customers. Woolworths is in a similar situation re-numbers of suppliers. Supermarkets making super profits in Australia are hitting the news for all the wrong reasons. The nation is in the midst of a 2 year cost of living crisis with high inflation having stripped the savings from the working poor. A Four Corner’s expose shown on the ABC has shone a stark light on the state of play in our supermarket sector. Coles and Woolworths have some 65% of the grocery market share – this is a powerful duopoly, which puts all the advantages in their corner. Farmers supplying the duopoly are being squeezed into submission economically, as are many other suppliers of their grocery lines.Continue Reading

Vladimir Putin

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Dutton is back on the border issue blaming a weak PM for a boat load of refugees on our northern border. Is Peter Dutton trying to be Australia’s Putin?  Making out that he is the strongman of the Oceana region; keeping us safe from a few desperate people in search of a better life. Immediately, he is finger pointing at the bad guys – the people smugglers. This is the ‘out’ for locking up these vulnerable human beings in offshore detention. Australians are punishing the bad guys and not just the refugees – although it is them who pay the price of their liberty for who knows how long.Continue Reading

assorted color wall paint house photo

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Of course, negative gearing needs to have limits imposed upon it, as does the capital gains tax offset. It has only been political expediency, which has maintained these inequitable economic policies for so long in Australia. Yes, there will be howls of protest coming from those benefitting directly and indirectly from these policies. The real estate sector will be up in arms and crying that the sky will fall down upon us all if these changes are made. The aspirational voter (those who see property investment as their pathway to riches) will be dead set against any changes to either negative gearing or the capital gains tax offset.Continue Reading

The Albanese Prime Ministership So Far

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Anthony Albanese was an unlikely choice for Australia to elect as PM. During his campaign in 2022 gaffes were front and centre. The press pack descended upon these like hungry wolves in search of blood. If Scott Morrison had not been outed as such a compulsive liar and his Coalition government not soiled in Robodebt and Brittany Higgins’ merde, well, you know the story. Albo waltzed into office on a fresh bouquet of wattle bringing with him the hopes of Aussie progressives. Nearly 10 years of LNP incompetence and corruption had left us short of breath for an optimistic future. The Albanese Prime Ministership so far, however, is losing its shine, it seems.Continue Reading

Retro television collage element

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The Australian media landscape is a predominantly conservative one. The ABC stands out as a beacon of social inclusiveness and a leader in this regard. The national broadcaster was the first to feature Indigenous presenters on their roster and to break through the colour barrier. Similarly, the inclusion of presenters with a disability has paved the way for more Australians to see these members of our community in a new light. The commercial networks are never leaders in this space, rather they revel in the comfort zone by featuring attractive exemplars from the dominant white cohort.Continue Reading