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Keywords: Budget 2019

  • AUSTRALIA

    Let them pick fruit

    • Vivienne Cowburn
    • 13 October 2020
    19 Comments

    An idea that’s gaining traction, in a pandemic where international travel has stopped and many Australians are losing their jobs, is this notion that the unemployed (aka: everyone on JobSeeker payments) should go out into the regions and help the farmers pick fruit.

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  • ECONOMICS

    Economic stimulus to fight poverty

    • Bree Alexander
    • 25 February 2020
    2 Comments

    After taking account of housing costs, it is estimated that 3.24 million people, equating to more than one in eight people, are estimated to be living below the poverty line in Australia. For children, it is estimated to be one in six.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A royal commission for the land

    • Kate Galloway
    • 20 January 2020
    16 Comments

    For our society to function responsively to what is now a dynamically changing context, we urgently need differently oriented governance. This will, no doubt, be unpalatable for some — both in government and in the general public. But without re-setting how we are governed, our land and our society will suffer further destruction.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The arts as a human right

    • Bree Alexander
    • 11 December 2019
    4 Comments

    While we can only speculate on what it means for the future of funding beyond the current budget, alarm bells are ringing for many of us who recognise the symbolic power of rendering the arts invisible at a federal level. A strong, vibrant arts sector is essential to a thriving democracy.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Jobs key to reviving flailing economy

    • Joe Zabar
    • 18 October 2019
    3 Comments

    Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's attack on banks for failing to pass on the full rate cut to consumers is a political distraction. There are two clear signals coming out of the latest cut. First, monetary policy is not enough to spark a revival of the economy. Second, it's now all about jobs. Frydenberg and his officials would be wise to heed these signals.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    History repeating in lacklustre NDIS regime

    • El Gibbs
    • 01 October 2019
    4 Comments

    The latest underspend of the NDIS budget has reached the eye-popping amount of $4.6 billion. Every single one of these dollars is a dollar not getting to disabled people. Every single dollar represents change not being delivered. It's a door being closed, a phone call not being answered. This is getting worse, not better.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Robodebt at the vanguard of government power grab

    • Kate Galloway
    • 12 September 2019
    7 Comments

    A policy genuinely in support of moving into employment would not seek to capitalise on the ambiguity of accounting in the year of transition from welfare to work — which is effectively what robodebt does.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A common good frame for economic stimulus

    • Joe Zabar
    • 26 August 2019
    3 Comments

    While the current economic climate is cause for concern, it is not the time to panic. A more sensible alternative to austerity is for governments, business, unions and charities to look for ways we can together soften the impact of any global downturn. This will require bipartisan agreement to sacrifice some or all of the budget surplus.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Restoring Australia's cultural ambition

    • Esther Anatolitis
    • 20 August 2019
    1 Comment

    At stake here is who takes responsibility for sector development in the arts as both a cultural and an economic good. Because right now, there is no national organisation or government agency whose role it is to take a responsible, long-term, national view, making sure there are programs in place to address key priorities.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Picture is still bleak for people with disability

    • El Gibbs
    • 15 August 2019
    3 Comments

    Disabled people in Australia are being locked up, dying young and living in poverty, because they are disabled, and particularly if they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. It's been 11 years since Australia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, yet disabled people are far from being equal to non-disabled people.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Ovarian transplant pitch demonises menopause

    • Kate Galloway
    • 13 August 2019
    5 Comments

    As a society we have tended to ignore ageing women, and menopause has been read as a signal of our descent into decrepitude. The sales pitch for a procedure to delay menopause buys into this way of thinking. For many women menopause is not a burden, but a gift: no more menstruation, no more pregnancy, new purpose.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Look to Finland for housing solutions

    • Dustin Halse
    • 07 August 2019
    7 Comments

    Robert Harris' The Gang of One ranges through Harris' five published books and a number of uncollected poems. Early work grows from his occasionally lonely, knockabout life and reveals not only a talent for catching the essence of fleeting memories and perceptions but also a mordant touch that gives edge to memory.

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