Issue 55 : 29 July to 4 August 2021
Things have changed in Australia. But the interest rate is unlikely to for some time
Greg Jericho | The Guardian
Nothing has changed more in my life than what has become considered normal for interest rates.
Sniffin’ glue: Labor gives itself a break on tax and class unity
Guy Rundle | Crikey
As we saw with Chris Bowen’s Dr Franking Credits’ monster in the last go-round, people worry about higher tax on incomes they will never have but imagine they one day might, and on the basis of such mass delusions is our fiscal policy made.
Why government reforms often do more harm than good
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
By definition, the public sector is inefficient and the private sector is efficient, or so people think. But that’s not economics, it’s just prejudice.
Australia: 7,000 Toll transport workers threaten industrial action – World Socialist Web Site
Patrick Davies | World Socialist Website
Campaign for secure work is a worthy cause
Ned K | Vanguard
Federal Court: Qantas wrong to outsource ground staff during pandemic
Jim McIlroy | Green Left
Why COVID-19, the biggest crisis of our age, is a political non-event
Guy Rundle | Crikey
In years past, an event as buffoonishly mishandled as the government’s treatment of the COVID crisis would be a political disaster. Today it barely registers on the scale.
Murdoch press sics cops on its own spawn
Jasmine Duff | Red Flag
Now, as protests against the lockdowns have gained some real momentum, the Murdoch empire has hypocritically joined calls for police to crackdown on the movement it has done so much to encourage.
Labor wants people to be paid $300 to get vaccinated. Is that so crazy?
Kishor Napier-Raman | Crikey
Labor leader Anthony Albanese wants Australians to be paid $300 to get vaccinated. So, naturally, government MPs have spent the morning media rounds telling Australians why it’s a terrible idea.
We must resist the NSW government’s return to school plan
NSW Teachers Federation member | Red Flag
Many are dumbfounded that students and staff will be forced on 16 August into poorly ventilated school buildings for revision and trial exams. 25 percent of active COVID-19 cases in Greater Sydney are aged nineteen or under, despite most not being in school for the last five or six weeks.
Government reliance on army for lockdowns a weak move
John Quiggin | Independent Australia
The political forces inside the anti-lockdown movement
Rick Morton | The Saturday Paper
The day after national cabinet, on July 24, thousands of people across Australia marched in a “Worldwide Rally for Freedom” to protest against lockdowns, vaccinations and the world’s scientists. It was organised out of Germany, by a group known as the “Free Citizens of Kassel”. But they had a lot of local help.
COVID outbreak in Australia intensifies financial stress and class divide
Mike Head | World Socialist Website
The crisis of Australia’s healthcare system
Roxanne Kelly | Red Flag
Lockdown costs should not equal financial ruin for families
Alan Kohler | The New Daily
Locals compare Sydney suburbs under lock-in to war zones
Louise L | Vanguard
Melbourne University’s Robert Menzies Institute Is a Right-Wing Con
Charlie Joyce | Jacobin
After starving universities of funding, Australian conservatives now want to set up an institute dedicated to right-wing leader Robert Menzies. Its only purpose will be to shift public debate to the right and provide Liberal hacks with subsidized employment.
Our leaders would do better if their followers were thinking harder
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
Yes, we get the politicians we deserve. But we’ve lost sight of the truth that well-functioning democracies require diligent citizens, not just honest and smart politicians.
Spy ships and Pine Gap
Brian Toohey | The Saturday Paper
As Australia joins America in war games focused on China, the US-backed Pine Gap surveillance base has undergone its fastest ever expansion.
US cables point to intense Washington involvement in the lead up to the 1975 Canberra Coup
Mike Head | World Socialist Website
Voice a lost cause if not in Constitution
Allira Davis, Bridget Cama | National Indigenous Times
Degrowth economy: The climate solution no one is talking about
Erin Remblance | Independent Australia
Corporate spin: Meat industry denies accelerating climate change
DeSmog Blog | Independent Australia