The broody hen sitting on a huge pile of our money
After Peter Costello conducted a fire sale of our assets while stashing away surpluses from the mining boom, he put aside over $60 billion of […]
Politics
All cheers for the new globalization?
By Denis Bright As the Trump Administration looks inwardly to rehabilitate its domestic economy, China’s President Xi is sprinting ahead with a New Globalization Initiative: […]
Kochtopus and getting to know some more players (4)
Before we look at how Steve Bannon met David Bossie and Andrew Breitbart, we need to go back to 1976, before the 1980 American elections. […]
Labor is good for the economy, stupid.
Fair. As soon as Turnbull started peppering every statement about his 2017 Budget with the word fair, it was obvious he was responding to focus […]
Risk assessment does not mean examining the latest Newspoll and doing surveys in marginal electorates
Whilst there has been a great deal of discussion about individual measures announced in the budget, there has been less analysis of what it is […]
Theresa May’s mandate for a revived British global outreach
By Denis Bright Contrary to popular wisdom, Britain’s significance to Australia has probably increased since the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in […]
A dodgy bastard’s budget of lies.
“Rather than justice for all, we are evolving into a system of justice for those who can afford it. We have banks that are not […]
A Budget Primed to Backfire
We will know pretty soon, probably next week, how Scott Morrison’s fiscal statement (aka the budget) has gone down with the electorate. Trying to judge […]
Drug test them all
A burning question arises from Budget 2017. What drugs are Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his team on? There can be no other rational explanation […]
Respectful debate
As our politicians hurl abuse at each other across the chamber each day, they laugh and sneer and interject but it means nothing to them. […]
US propaganda 100 years ago and how the media was influenced (3)
In 1917, one-hundred-years ago this year, American president Woodrow Wilson, declared war on Germany. Mr Woodrow also pioneered the government propaganda system that exists to […]
Barnaby’s baby – boon or boondoggle?
As Scott Morrison announced $8.4 billion is to be spent on an inland freight rail linking Brisbane to Melbourne, Barnaby Joyce went purple with excitement. […]
The Budget: an ongoing lie
As a political commentator, I probably shouldn’t admit that I’ve given up on Q&A. I came to the conclusion late last year that it had […]
Stand up to Dutton; stand up for Australia, Mr Turnbull.
Capping a week of monster surprises, Mitch Fifield, Arts Minister 2.0 , announces government will help media moguls to become even more powerful just as […]
Shopping for the advice you want to hear
As the budget is about to be handed down, there is nervous optimism about a possible increase in infrastructure spending but will it go to […]