Issue 45 : 20 – 26 May 2021
Australia’s latest wage figures seem promising – but only if you don’t look too closely
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
The worry is that we need both unemployment and underemployment to be lower than ever to get decent wages growth
Suppressing wages is economic vandalism in the current climate
Emma Dawson | Independent Australia
The Fair Work Commission must reject calls for “wage restraint” from the business lobby at a time when many are banking record profits – with some even pocketing Jobkeeper allowances – at the expense of struggling workers.
Age of uncertainty
Suzanne James | Green Left Weekly
So why does Australia still use aged care at a significantly higher rate than other economically developed countries?
Why the government should ditch ‘stage 3’ tax cuts
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg won’t admit it. But most economists agree that at the right time, the government should take measures to hasten the budget’s return to balance, even – to use a newly unspeakable word – “surplus”.
How Australia’s Covid-19 debt will look after itself
Adam Triggs | Inside Story
Australia’s debt as a percentage of GDP — forecast to peak at 40.9 per cent in 2024–25 — is less than half the average of the other advanced economies we tend to compete with for investment, and a quarter of that for Japan.
A new flagship coal plant failed spectacularly – but it won’t be the last time
Ketan Joshi | Renew Economy
A massive blackout was caused by the failure of a new coal plant. It’s part of a wider trend marking the beginning of the end for Australian coal.
Israel is a one-state colonising power. The two-state solution is a dangerous fantasy
Guy Rundle | Crikey
Palestine/Israel involves 14 million people, the population of three Chinese cities you’ve never heard of, and the numbers of those suffering and oppressed in Xinjiang, yet we are going to go round and round again on what looks like an endless dilemma.
Six myths about unions, Palestine solidarity and the Israel boycott
Nick Riemer | Overland
On May 18, with Israeli missiles still raining over Gaza, Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank did something that the left in most parts of the world can only dream of: stage a widely-observed General Strike.
We have to stop the coming war with China
Corey Oakley | Red Flag
A medium scale war in the South China Sea? It sounds serious, but not unthinkable.
Cache Splash: Australia bucks global trend, ramps up weapons spending
Alison Broinowski | Michael West Media
The US and many of its NATO allies are cutting defence spending in preparation for economic reconstruction in a post-Covid world. Not so Australia, which is increasing its spending on expensive weapons that will not deter any potential aggressor in the slightest.
Vaccine hesitancy a by-product of a society where science has lost its grip
Guy Rundle | Crikey
Back in the good old days, scientists were seen as champions of the people. Today science is seen as a powerful arm of the ruling class.
The New Zealand “Socialists” Who Govern Like Neoliberals
Branko Marcetic
Since releasing its budget substantially boosting welfare last week, leading figures in New Zealand’s Labour Party have been painting themselves as socialists overturning the country’s neoliberal order. But a closer look at the details shows how Labour plays a central role in that neoliberal order.
Marxism vs anarchism: how can we save the environment?
Grace Hill | Red Flag
COVID cases are surging in the world’s most vaccinated country. How can this be happening?
Raina McIntyre | ABC News
Free rego and $15,000 loans: How to encourage electric vehicle ownership
Shane Rattenbury | Nine Newspapers
Peter Dutton’s Defence morning tea storm could be more of a woke trap
Julie Szego | Nine Newspapers
Inflation analysis shows cost of necessities rising fast as many ‘wants’ become cheaper
Michael Janda | ABC News
Australia has not had a gas-led recovery – not in jobs, not in tax receipts
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
Fossil Fuel Fiesta: Australia’s coal and gas giants get more in subsidies than they pay in royalties
Callum Foote | Michael West Media
Capitalism’s fake solutions to the climate crisis
Emma Black | Red Flag
A national disgrace: the National Archives turns to crowdfunding to save irreplaceable historic records
Jenny Hocking | Pearls and Irritations
Denmark: Do not copy Australia’s draconian detention laws
Stephen Langford | Green Left Weekly
‘It’s Raining Motorcars’: Mining and the destruction of Aboriginal Sacred Sites
Jack Green, Seán Kerins | Arena
South Africa: Dockworkers refuse to offload Israeli ship in solidarity with Palestine
Markela Panegyres | Green Left Weekly