Ben Eltham

Ben Eltham is contributing author to CPD’s recent publication More Than Luck: Ideas Australia needs now. His chapter jointly written with Marcus Westbury, Cultural policy in Australia argues that Australia’s fragmented cultural policy needs to move beyond its ‘funding paradigm’. Ben is a researcher, writer, journalist and creative producer. He trained to postgraduate level in neuroscience and philosophy at the University of Queensland before spending the next decade devoted to his love for culture and the arts. Ben has worked as a producer at a number of arts festivals including This Is Not Art, Straight Out of Brisbane (where he was the founding director), Melbourne Fringe, Brisbane Festival and Adelaide Fringe. From 2001-2006 he was the Courier-Mail’s arts and theatre critic, from 2007-2010 he was NewMatilda.com’s National Affairs Correspondent and he continues to write regularly about Australian politics, culture and the arts for publications including the ABC’s The Drum/Unleashed, Crikey.com.au, Meanjin Quarterly, Overland, Inside Story, Artlink and Australian Book Review. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Western Sydney’s Centre for Cultural Research.

Articles by Ben Eltham:

Ben Eltham | Gillard’s Cabinet Rejig Settles Her Debts

This article originally appeared in New Matilda here. Only a fortnight ago, it seemed as though Labor would end the year on a roll. The talismanic carbon tax legislation had passed the lower house, the polls were inching in the right direction, and the Government had engineered a cunning tactical manoeuvre to take advantage of disgruntled Liberal-National MP Peter Slipper, … more

Ben Eltham | The Golden Road to Surplus

The latest Treasury figures show why Australia’s economy remains the envy of the rich world. It’s another early Christmas bonus for the Gillard Government, writes Ben Eltham. As first published in New Matilda Step back from all the sound and fury about budget surpluses and the European debt crisis for a moment, and have an unbiased look at the latest … more

Ben Eltham | This Week the News Went Global

Obama’s visit and the APEC forum have put international relations in the spotlight this week. It’s about time, even if the fanfare around a presidential visit drowned out the big issues, writes Ben Eltham First published in New Matilda here It’s not very often that foreign policy breaks through the carapace of insularity in Australian media. For most of the … more

Ben Eltham | First A Media Inquiry, Then Regulatory Reform?

Stephen Conroy’s media inquiry could be far more politically significant than first expected. While Senator Conroy maintains that “I don’t need an inquiry to establish that the Murdoch press owns 70% of newspapers in this country”, if the Government is already at war with News, Eltham asks, “why not finally bring a gun to the gunfight”? Originally published at New … more

Ben Eltham | There Is A Plot To Destroy The Gillard Government

To win office, the Government will have to perform a Herculean feat – and now the Thomson affair has given the Opposition an extra set of cudgels writes Ben Eltham. The Australian Financial Review’s Geoff Kitney had an article this week about Labor’s fortunes. According to the unnamed “seniorALP figures” he interviewed, the anger towards the Labor government is now at … more

Ben Eltham | Mining Boom Blasts Jobs

First Qantas, now BlueScope. These big job losses have nothing to do with the carbon tax and everything to do with high commodity prices. Ben Eltham on the other consequences of the mining boom. First published in New Matilda here. It was a devastating blow for the Illawarra. The closing of blast furnace 6 at BlueScope Steel’s iconic Port Kembla … more

Ben Eltham | Disability Reform Will Be A Milestone

The Gillard Government needs a big policy win. Showing a commitment to a national disability insurance scheme would be the most significant extension of the welfare state in decades, writes Ben Eltham. Originally published at New Matilda.  Of all the lotteries of life, dealing with a lifelong disability must be among the most difficult. An Australian suffers a permanent disabling … more

Ben Eltham | The GFC Is Back – And It’s Here to Stay

Why has the global financial crisis returned? In fact, it never went away. Ben Eltham looks at the global binge that led us to the great recession – and what we should expect from here. Originally published at New Matilda. The thing you need to remember if you want to understand the dramatic gyrations in the world’s markets over the … more