After all, everyone else has got one mummy.
The media is at its rancid worst this morning bemoaning the technical absence of a recession when everyone reeaalllly knows the whole place is f#cked.
Ross Gittins defends his right to call it a recession no matter what the data say. Interestingly, a week ago he was writing on [...]
Today’s news that the Australian economy actually grew during the March quarter is remarkable. Sure we’re not out of the woods yet but the contrast between Australia’s performance and that of much of the rest of the world is notable. It appears that exports and consumer spending have been the main factors in the favourable [...]
In a well-executed media stunt (labelled an ‘exclusive’ by the Daily Telegraph, LOL) the NSW Government has come up with an idea to try and carve out a future in the (mis)management of the state’s health system. Apart from being an ‘exclusive’, the stunt also has two other elements designed to give it media appeal: [...]
Yesterday, Andrew Bolt got a bit scathing and dirty on the ABC’s Insiders about veteran press gallery journalist Laurie Oakes. Bolt said that Liberals were ’concerned’ about Oakes’ reporting, whatever that amounts to. The immediate cause of Bolt’s attack was Oakes’ ‘ambush’ of Turnbull during the week over the Opposition Leader’s inclusion on the [...]
Last month, I was alarmed by the Rudd Government’s expressed intentions to arm us to the teeth at great expense in response to some supposed ‘China threat’. I wrote a stream of alarmed posts. Not only didn’t the Government’s position make much sense in strategic terms, but I just couldn’t see how we could afford [...]
Traditionally, the Finance Minister is the tough guy. The Finance Minister is the one that imposes fiscal discipline on his more or less unwilling colleagues all of whom are usually keen to protect their patch and deliver the goodies for their portfolio’s clients. As Peter Walsh (pretty much the creator of the tradition) used to [...]
The British MP expense scandal keeps getting better and better for the media. An easy story to explain, lots of gotcha headlines, resignations, sackings, embarrassment all round and an outraged populace.
When the British get their act together their reformed system will end up looking like the system that applies to our federal MPs.
But this is [...]
The claim that Treasury is an institution independent of government fundamentally misconstrues the relationship between the federal government and the Commonwealth public service. While it is not surprising to see politicians fail Economics 101, it is more surprising to see them also failing Political Science 101. The government now routinely hides behind Treasury and RBA [...]
From Lenore Taylor: “the Prime Minister would rather make veiled threats about double-dissolution elections, or demand to know the Coalition’s economic plans – even though no opposition leader in history (except the hapless John Hewson) has presented comprehensive and fully costed policies until shortly before a poll.”
Yet many pundits (like Mike Carlton on 2GB) seem [...]
Turnbull did his job tonight. Rudd now has a choice. He can accept Turnbull’s proposal to raise tobacco excise instead of means testing private health insurance or he can hold an election this year. Rudd can’t afford to let Turnbull get the better of him in Parliament, so he will have to call the election [...]
