WHAT are we to do with this “unrepresentative swill”, as Paul Keating called the Senate in 1989. The question arose again a week ago when WA Labor Senator Mark Bishop said that Labor should pass the whole of the Abbott-Hockey Budget in the Senate so the public would see how mean it was and flock back to Labor. Continue reading “The Senate — reviewer or wrecker?”
Month: June 2014
Rich worse off for being richer
I HAVE finally waded through Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century.
When I say “waded through”, I do not mean “read”, rather the book was read to me from the iphone as I went on my morning cycle ride, because I downloaded the audio version. Continue reading “Rich worse off for being richer”
Why Abbott’s conservative climate pact collapsed
THE TWO dumb Prime Ministers, Canada’s Stephen Harper and Australia’s Tony Abbott are on their own. The so-called conservative alliance against action on climate change died from its own contradictions in under a fortnight. Continue reading “Why Abbott’s conservative climate pact collapsed”
Labor should increase the GST to pay for science, welfare
LABOR could now stop the evolution towards paralysis in Australian politics — with a bit of courage and boldness. It could go beyond merely saying we will oppose the nasties. It could lay out its vision and state now, early in the electoral cycle, the way it is going to pay for it. Continue reading “Labor should increase the GST to pay for science, welfare”
Glad to be part of Mandle’s history
HE DID not have to do it — the Oxford 10-quid MA and Pommy 10-quid immigrant. But there we were, second-year students at Bill Mandle’s place in Downer, or should I say Upper Downer, crowded under a Hills Hoist with a mass-produced cut-canvas hood for just these circumstances – an autumnal downpour in Canberra in March.
HE DID not have to do it — the Oxford 10-quid MA and Pommy 10-quid immigrant. But there we were, second-year students at Bill Mandle’s place in Downer, or should I say Upper Downer, crowded under a Hills Hoist with a mass-produced cut-canvas hood for just these circumstances – an autumnal downpour in Canberra in March. Continue reading “Glad to be part of Mandle’s history”