Amnesty for asylum seekers
Justice for the Biloela family is welcome but the appalling treatment of the Murugappans should never be repeated. The Murugappan family should be granted permanent residency in Australia, regardless of …
Our pandemic response action plan
While Australia has avoided the worst of the global pandemic, it has only been because of a combination of geography, luck, and hard border closures. As time goes on, it …
Budget: does this year’s ‘women’s budget’ live up to its hype?
This is the budget that rage built, and it will slowly start to chip away at gender inequality but it’s not doing much for the gender pay gap or the …
Budget: how it fares for young people
This year’s budget may have seen welcome spending for aged care, the National Audit Office and childcare but there are some key areas, which were worst hit by the pandemic …
Budget: the glaring omissions
The ABC $58.6 million went to SBS, AAP, community broadcasting and the media regulator but the ABC’s funding will drop by $10 million for 2021-22. Former ABC bureaucrat, Michael Ward says the …
Budget: Health
New funding for mental health and suicide prevention, women’s health – including long-sought-after investment in endometriosis research and treatment – is welcome in this budget but falls short across the …
Budget: Climate
Action on climate change and reducing Australia’s emissions continues to treated without the sense of urgency that the crisis demands. That’s the main takeaway from last night’s federal budget. Instead …
Budget: Defence
The Defence budget climbed to $44.6 billion in this budget. Most of the new acquisition money is going into platforms that are arguably obsolete now and certainly will be by …
Budget: Aged care
The $17.7 billion package for aged care is welcome but it is $3.5 billion/year whereas the Royal Commission recommended an additional $10 billion a year – much of which was …
Budget: Universities
The budget has done nothing to address the crisis in university funding. The Age newspaper reported that the budget contained $19 billion dollars for universities. Was this an increase in …
