Monthly Archives:: July 2005

The Value of Simplicity: Flat tax?

One of the universal burdens today is the increasing level of complexity in everyone's lives. From the poor to the rich, everything seems to be hard to understand, time consuming and bureaucratic. Business has pushed a great deal of customer service back onto the customer, it saves them money, but it costs us time. Who wants to call any kind of customer service line these days? more

Health Sector Reform Part 1: Workforce Reform

In early June 2005 the Council of Australian Governments meeting, the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers acknowledged the need for health workforce reform. A report is expected from the Productivity Commission by the end of the year. My concern is that it will only be more of the same, more training the same way, and more employment the same way, when we really need root and branch change. We need to train and employ in quite new ways.

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Industrial relations changes – a further descent

Australian society is one of monumental self delusion. In public discourse, we congratulate ourselves for our ‘fair-go’ dealings with each other. Our alleged egalitarianism and ‘mateship’ is perpetuated by the mass media as a representation of the glue that binds our society. The myth, like all national legends, has clearly been rough around the edges with notable contradictions evident.
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