Issue 15 – 22 October to 28 October 2020
Putting pollies back behind the wheel means a bumpier ride
Ross Gittins, Nine
This budget marks a day-to-day shift in economic power from the econocrats back to the politicians.
The Coalition is spooked by Australia’s credit rating when it should be scared of recession
Greg Jericho, The Guardian
Any government worth its salt should tell Standard & Poor’s to take its warning about stimulus spending and shove it.
Privatisation crusade has long been core business for tribal Libs
Ross Gittins, Nine
The much-diminished public sector now employs only two in every 10 Australia workers. It’s no wonder the beefed-up private sector benefits most from the budget.
Why we need a federal ICAC
Sue Bolton, Green Left Weekly
The level of secrecy surrounding business and government contracts and behind-closed-door briefings of politicians and at local government level can facilitate corruption, or at the very least, dodgy deals.
Is Scott Morrison angry that public servants got Cartier watches – or that the public found out?
Richard Denniss, The Guardian
The hypocrisy of the PM attacking Australia Post management while defending budget cuts to the National Audit Office is staggering.
The government owns this ASIC crisis 100%
Bernard Keane, Crikey
The government has never wanted a tough corporate regulator. Now ASIC has been significantly weakened again, just as the government is loosening banking regulation.
The China syndrome
Suzanna James, Green Left Weekly
There has never been a better demonstration of how corrupt, complicit and hypocritical government institutions have become in their dealings with China than what has gone down with Crown Casinos.
BossKeeper: how JobKeeper lined the pockets of top ASX directors, executives and shareholders
Tasha May, Michael West Media
New Zealand and the US compile public registers to ensure their Jobkeeper-type subisidies are not rorted by businesses. But no such transparency for Australians.
Biden wins popular vote, Trump the electoral college. Here’s the nightmare scenario
Guy Rundle, Crikey
Don’t count your chickens — the divide in America is now so great that the depth of Trump’s support simply cannot be registered by a coastal-oriented media system.
US history proves it: change comes from struggle, not elections
Eleanor Morley, Red Flag
Pinning hopes on the outcome of elections has weakened social movements. When the oppressed take matters into their own hands, things change.
Mass defiance shakes the Thai regime
Liam Ward, Red Flag
In the last ten days, there have been daily mass protests across the country, driven by students and including a few large contingents of organised blue-collar workers.
‘The Aboriginal Gulag’: The Northern Territory’s Criminal Legal System
John B. Lawrence SC, Arena Online
It is no longer an overworked, under-resourced and at times chaotic legal system. It is now not fit for purpose and has become a depraved jailing machine consuming Aboriginal men, women and children at an ever-increasing rate.
Djab Wurrung tree destroyed, protest continues
Alex Milne, Green Left Weekly
Efforts to save the sacred trees in Djab Wurrung country have been dealt a savage blow, with the Victorian government allowing the removal of a 350-year-old yellowbox, known as the “Directions Tree”.
NT police officer to face murder trial over Kumanjayi Walker shooting
Hannah Cross, National Indigenous Times
McCarthyism is now rampant in Australia
Linda Jakobson, Pearls and Irritations
Triumph of the Greens
Tim Colebatch, Inside Story
Coalition Senator says world’s biggest solar farm a “hoax on the gullible”
Giles Parkinson, Renew Economy
Roadblocks in Australia’s Inevitable Energy Transition
Antonia Flowers, Progress in Political Economy
One small idea to save lives, if anyone cares
Michael Pascoe, The New Daily
How we maintain the silence on Palestine: the case for the ABC
Samah Sabawi, Overland
The Corp’s bride
Mungo MacCallum, The Monthly
WA unions win new industrial manslaughter law
Alex Salmon, Green Left Weekly
How think tanks and the media shape Australia’s foreign policy
Tim Cornwall, Independent Australia
After the virus: Radical optimism for the arts
Wesley Enoch, The Saturday Paper
Trial of the Chicago Seven through a liberal lens
Alex Salmon, Green Left Weekly