Ben Eltham | A Wealthy Amateur Who Wants Respect

It’s not easy turning dirt into power. Gina Rinehart has the money but she’s struggled to wield national influence. That may change now that she has a bigger stake in Fairfax, writes Ben Eltham in New Matilda: Money and power sometimes walk hand in hand…. Rinehart thinks it is far too costly and difficult to build new mines in Australia. She is against the mineral resource rent tax and the carbon tax, which she claims … more

Ben Eltham | The Mob Violence That Wasn’t

The media has framed it as violent but the tent embassy protest was basically peaceful. It’s this gross distortion – and the heavy-handed response of the AFP – that warrant criticism, writes Ben Eltham Ben asks whether the protesters were really violent: Despite no arrests being made, no physical harm coming to any of the guests of the ceremony, indeed, no real threat to the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition at all, … more

Ben Eltham | The National Riot Mismanagement Squad

As the media continues to distort the tent embassy protest, the behaviour of Gillard’s office is under scrutiny. It’s another media debacle for the embattled PM, writes Ben Eltham. “And that’s the real tragedy of the events outside The Lobby on Australia Day. Instead of focussing public debate on the substantive issues of Indigenous disadvantage and the dismal history of dispossession that has marked Australian history — events which began with the arrival of the … more

 

Melissa Sweet | Federal govt urged to withdraw all support for private health insurance

In this article, Melissa Sweet promotes John Menadue and Ian McAuley’s discussion paper on private health insurance subsidies in Australia. With the government debating whether to introduce means testing on private health insurance, the new report urges the Government to withdraw all support for private health insurance, on equity and efficiency grounds. Given that the government has a stated policy of ‘social inclusion’, it seems strange that the well-off are able to opt out of sharing their … more

John Menadue and Ian McAuley | Govt proposals on private health insurance don’t go far enough

Writing in Crikey, CPD founder and board member John Menadue and CPD fellow Ian McAuley give their opinion on government proposals to apply a means test to private health insurance subsidies. Menadue and McAuley call for even more action than simply means testing, suggesting that a single national insurer would provide the most efficient and equitable means of sharing our health costs. “We are not advocating what some may call “socialised medicine”. Private hospitals serve an … more

Ben Eltham | How Gillard Squibbed On Gambling Reform

The public might support pokies reform but powerful vested interests do not. And if folding on the Wilkie deal didn’t look bad enough, Craig Thomson threw in some extra sleaze, writes Ben Eltham in New Matilda here. Ben takes a look at whether poker reform is dead and how our PM got here: It’s a win for the factions and a loss for the Australian community. The excuse given by the Prime Minister, and gamely trotted … more

 

Ben Eltham | Uncertain times for the economy and your super

The tides of global macro-economics may finally be aligning against Australia, writes Ben Eltham in ABC’s The Drum online. Superannuation was meant to be a powerful savings tool for working Australians, who would otherwise not save enough for their retirement. Yet, many workers saw their super funds shrink in the last few years. It wasn’t meant to be like this. Ben takes a look at the fear in the markets, the global economy & what … more

Ben Spies-Butcher | Numbers don’t back business lobbying

Ben Spies-Butcher writes in The Sydney Morning Herald about the widening gap in wages. Two years since the changes to the IR legislation, the business lobby has been vocal in their criticisms and claims that Fair Work Australia is driving down productivity, increasing paperwork for employers and driving up wages. But Ben takes a look at the broader trends and asks are we living in the land of the ‘Fair Go’? Where is IR policy … more

Eva Cox | ‘Call Me Whatever The Hell You Want’

Feminism, not religion, is at the heart of controversy about Melinda Tankard Reist. Who decides who gets to use the f-word, asks Eva Cox in New Matilda Melinda Tankard Reist last week threatened legal action against a blogger who alleged that she downplayed her religious affiliations in an interview for Sunday Life magazine. This has prompted an almighty discussion about free speech, religion and feminism. The issue of Tankard Reist’s religious beliefs and whether they are … more