REMEMBER the good old days when politicians were accused of being poll-driven or focus-group-driven. These were also the days when political leaders who were behind in the polls said, there’s only one poll that counts, imagining that in the time left before the next election they could turn things around. Continue reading “Turnbull better being driven by polls and and focus groups”
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Reflections on WWI and artificial intelligence’s takeover
THIS week marks the centenary of the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele in which my grandfather, Hartley Stening, a British soldier, “won” the Military Medal. I was reminded of this by our family historian, my sister Cordelia. Tens of thousands of men died in the ensuing three months, for virtually no gain other than the greater glory of God, King and Country. The Military Medal was created in World War I for “other ranks” – the cannon fodder.
The Constitution: It is broke; let’s fix it
THE idea of four-year fixed terms has been around a fair while, and is not especially Bill Shorten’s. That is perhaps why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed to discuss it. More importantly, the fact the two leaders are talking about constitutional change is a response to growing disquiet that the system is not working as well as it should and a growing yearning for a bit more cooperation in politics. But the fixed four-year term is a bit like a loose thread on a machine-sewn garment: if you give it a tug a whole lot more thread comes away. Continue reading “The Constitution: It is broke; let’s fix it”
Without dog whistles, Abbott is right on two scores
Tony Abbott’s conservative manifesto correctly questioned Australia’s high immigration and the build-in-Australia conventional submarine program, but there was some dog-whistling in the arguments. On immigration, the dog whistle was a xenophobic call for a slow down so present immigrants could get time to settle in and assimilate. On the submarines, he wanted an off-the-shelf one, but he thought it should be a nuclear one, which would be the thin edge of the wedge for a nuclear power industry that would in turn undermine renewables. Continue reading “Without dog whistles, Abbott is right on two scores”
Turnbull should stare down the reactionaries
ONE morning this week I did an agile, exciting and even innovative traverse of the R. G. Menzies Walk on the northern side of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin. What a progressive Menzies was. Menzies, who founded the Liberal Party (not the Conservative Party, as we were reminded by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this week), certainly did not hold the view that government spending was prima facie bad and spending on aspirational things was self-evidently bad.
Political system needs repair work
HUMAN nature does not change much. Politicians are as idealistic, selfish, greedy, altruistic, competent, incompetent, foolish, smart and gifted as they ever were. So the explanation for Australia’s decade of political dysfunction must lie elsewhere. Continue reading “Political system needs repair work”
The alarming Census: debt and population
ONE OF the most alarming statistics to come out of this week’s release of the 2016 census figures was the dramatic decrease in outright home-ownership over the past quarter century.
It was coupled with a large increase in the portion of people renting – mostly from people who have taken out investment loans.
It bespeaks a gluttonous baby-boomer generation stealing from the next generation, egged on by greedy banks and poor monetary policy, and compounded by cowered do-nothing governments. Continue reading “The alarming Census: debt and population”
Journalistic confidence trivialised at media ball
WHAT does “off the record” mean? When I taught journalism at the University of Canberra I routinely asked my classes this question when covering the treatment of sources. The answers were varied. The question has arisen again in the light of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s speech at the “off-the-record” press gallery mid-winter’s ball and the enlightening Four Corners program on how Chris Masters got his material on the “Moonlight State” that blew apart the systemic corruption in the Queensland Police three decades ago.
WHAT does “off the record” mean? When I taught journalism at the University of Canberra I routinely asked my classes this question when covering the treatment of sources. The answers were varied. The question has arisen again in the light of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s speech at the “off-the-record” press gallery mid-winter’s ball and the enlightening Four Corners program on how Chris Masters got his material on the “Moonlight State” that blew apart the systemic corruption in the Queensland Police three decades ago. Continue reading “Journalistic confidence trivialised at media ball”
Marginal tax rates a scandal of unfairness
THE minimum-wage earners are knocking at the door and just one more increase like the one this month will push them through it. The door is the second tax rung above which they will pay 34.5 per cent of any additional income in income tax and Medicare levy. It is a scandal of unfairness. These people have very few deductions, so once the minimum wage surpasses $37,000 which it will almost inevitably do after the next rise, they will be paying more than a third of their marginal income (any extra income in the form of overtime or penalty rates) in tax. The same marginal rate as all the people earning up to $87,000. How can that be fair? Continue reading “Marginal tax rates a scandal of unfairness”
Diplomacy and science v Trump the barbarian
In ancient times, barbarians were those outside the civilised worlds of Greece and Rome. In more recent times, it was epitomised by Trump at the G7 refusing to join the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Canada in a civilised conversational 700-metre stroll to the piazza of the Sicilian hilltop town of Taormina which has been there since at lease 345BC. Trump had to wait for a golf cart to take him just 700 metres. Continue reading “Diplomacy and science v Trump the barbarian”