Democracy under threat
Two things have happened in the past two weeks that should be of great concern to all Australians. Craig Hill, National Vice President Australian Democrats @AustDems First, the Prime Minister …
PM a bit rich on hoarding
Having implored people to ‘stock up on essentials’ it’s a bit rich to now call them unAustralian for doing so. Why make the call in the first place? There was …
$2m for more phantom water
The Coalition appears to have struck another costly water deal to save the Ramsar-listed Narran Lakes wetlands, this time for ~$2 million. See here for the Guardian story). Three years …
Govt. denies duty of care to Robodebt victims
The Federal Court heard today that the Government considers it has no duty of care to those on welfare who were wrongly and illegally accused of owing, in some cases, …
Palmer buys election for coal
Revelations in the AEC’s report on donations made to political parties for last year’s election show democracy is under attack by big spenders, the biggest of which is Clive Palmer. …
Lack of money transparency ruling democracy
Every year on the first working day in February the Australian Electoral Commission releases records on political donations to Australian political parties for the previous financial year, seven months after …
Consultants’ return on donation investment
Successive Federal Governments have demanded “efficiency dividends” from the Australian Public Service (APS) over the last decade. This has not resulted in the elimination of unnecessary work, more that the work …
Progress on banking slow
It’s 12 months today since the Banking Royal Commission findings were tabled in the Federal Parliament. The Coalition Government promised to implement all the recommendations within 12 months but has …
Minister goes but not the real problem
Now former Minister Bridget McKenzie has resigned but the most serious problem remains. The government (and Phil Gaetens – long time staffer for Liberal Party MPs charged with writing the …