THIS week’s Productivity Commission Five-Year Productivity Review contains page after page of sensible, mostly obvious, recommendations for change that would improve Australians’ living standards – with one glaring omission. Continue reading “Productivity Commission ignores major issue”
Month: October 2017
Every week, Turnbull’s government becomes more Trump-like
MALCOLM Turnbull’s government grows more Trump-like every week. Last week’s health-insurance announcement and this week’s energy announcement illustrate the point. Continue reading “Every week, Turnbull’s government becomes more Trump-like”
Plebiscite huge own goal for conservatives
WE ARE about to witness the most spectacular own goal on the conservative side of Australian politics since Malcolm Fraser called the early 1983 election and lost. There is enough polling evidence now to presume that the marriage plebiscite has been an utter miscalculation by the conservatives on several fronts. They thought they could defeat marriage equality. They will not. Continue reading “Plebiscite huge own goal for conservatives”
Luther’s 500 years of influence
FIVE hundred years ago this month, Martin Luther, placed (some say defiantly nailed) his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle church in what is now Germany, thus sparking the Protestant Reformation and changing the tide of human history. Continue reading “Luther’s 500 years of influence”
Cognitive ability’s application to politics
RESEARCH published (but not widely published) this week has the potential to change the practice of the art (or perhaps science) of politics. Francisco Perales, of the University of Queensland, was looking at the marriage plebiscite, but his work has much wider application. Continue reading “Cognitive ability’s application to politics”