Why the right hates the ABC
The Australian government and its right wing, big business backers despise the ABC. If this wasn’t already well established, the recent leadership saga at the organisation has clarified it. The first sign of trouble came when managing director Michelle Guthrie was sacked by the ABC board o...CONTINUE READING
Justice for Bowraville!
Thursday 13 September 1990 was the day my cousin, Colleen Walker-Craig, was last seen in Bowraville, New South Wales. Thursday 13 September 2018 was the day the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal reduced her life, and that of Evelyn Greenup and Clinton Speedy-Duroux, to a few lines of legal jarg...CONTINUE READING
Government lies about emissions, power prices
Late on the last Friday in September, while the attention of the media was focused on the imminent AFL and NRL grand finals, the federal government quietly released a report showing it has failed to rein in greenhouse gas emissions. Environment minister Melissa Price is trying to downplay...CONTINUE READING
What’s the cost of weak unions? About $17,000 a year for our pay packets
If you’re angry about being ripped off by the banks, by power or telecommunication companies, you’ll be in a rage about the gouging of workers’ wages by employers. On average workers are being robbed of $16,750 every year. According to calculations by the Australia Institute, a think tank:...CONTINUE READING
Pokies are a ruling class con
It’s no secret that poker machines are rigged. What appears on the surface as pure chance is in fact a complex algorithm that ensures player losses always exceed wins eventually. What’s not as well known is just how far the scam extends. New South Wales has the highest density of pokies in...CONTINUE READING
‘They cry and call it dog food’ – the aged care disgrace
In the wake of prime minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a royal commission into aged care in Australia, ABC’s Four Corners program on 17 September aired the first part of an explosive exposé on Australia’s aged care system. Families and staff revealed the damning reality of day to d...CONTINUE READING
When profits come before people
Australia has an ageing population and a free market economy. What does the former mean for the latter? The September 2014 edition of the ASX investor update newsletter spelled it out: “Old could be gold for companies that benefit from this powerful demographic trend”. Don’t adjust your ey...CONTINUE READING
Electing Labor is a failed strategy for the workers’ movement
The election of Sally McManus as Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary in March 2017 came with bold rhetoric about the right of unions to break Australia’s unjust industrial laws. All the usual sucks for the bosses condemned McManus’ “outrageous” statements. But she stood her ground...CONTINUE READING
Crime scenes: Aboriginal deaths in custody continue
There are few facts more damning than 407 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander deaths in custody since the end of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991. Except, perhaps, that the figures are hard to find. Among the 339 largely-ignored recommendations of the royal...CONTINUE READING