Latest platforms
More affordable housing
The fact that one of the least populated countries on Earth contains the world’s second most expensive housing is a national calamity, and a stunning failure of public policy. Australia’s…
Cost of living and a fair economy
The fairest, most effective way to reduce cost of living pressures for those who need it most is to abolish the lowest income tax bracket. Those on such low incomes…
I’m all for EVs – Heath McKenzie
My family and I are privileged to have an electric car which we love but over the next few years all new transport vehicles will need to be electric…
Why we worry about nuclear bombs
“So long as anyone has nuclear weapons, others will want them. So long as anyone possesses nuclear weapons, they are bound, one day, to be used, by accident or…
Democrats challenge majors on gambling
Former member for Dunkley, the late Peta Murphy, was a staunch advocate for reducing the harmful effects of gambling on the community. Ms Murphy chaired the Parliament inquiry into…
Good health!
Despite Australia’s semi-universal public health care system funded through Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and through subsidised private health insurance, there remains significant inequity in both access to, and…
Australia needs a climate plan
Human-caused global warming is already irreversible on the timescale of people alive today and will worsen in decades to come (NASA). The world must change its approach to energy, recognise the limits to endless…
Political party financing
Without spending caps, our election debates are dominated by those with the biggest bank balance, not those with the best ideas. Alice Drury, Human Rights Law Centre There can…
Let’s have truth in political advertising
We are now in an era of post-truth, an age of disinformation. Political advertising campaigns should be presented in an objective, fair and accessible manner and justified as relevant…
Vaping, by Grahame Elder
The DRILL is back, looking at the evidence behind topical issues. And since the last DRILL on nuclear small modular reactors (nuclear SMRs), the Liberal National party have made SMRs a centrepiece of their ‘clean’ energy policy. Here’s the link to that article if you want to refresh why the technology is a very bad option for Australia in the short term, and probably just as bad in the longer term. But this month I’ve been distracted by vapes, 1st devised by the Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in the early 2000s. By 2019 in the USA, up to 27.5% of high…
Nuclear SMRs, by Grahame Elder
The need for continuous baseload power has been a recurring theme for years, with coal and gas seen as firming options. Nuclear power has also been considered as a non-carbon emitting alternative and given that Australia does not have a commercial nuclear industry, the concept of ‘off the shelf’ nuclear small modular reactors (SMRs) has been raised, particularly by the Coalition. But is this a reasonable response to Australia’s need to transition rapidly to a low carbon future? There are a number of layers to this question. Apart from increasing needs for non-polluting power, Peter Dutton recently suggested that Australia…
