Most economists are great believers in the need for “reform” – for other people, not themselves. Over the past 30 or 40 years, no profession has had more influence over the policies governments have pursued, but the results have hardly been flash. Even the lightning speed at which an epidemic in part of China became a pandemic reaching every corner…
Author: Humble Comment
comments about current affairs, matters of public interest, posts
Speech in Parliament by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Albanese, on 1 August 2019
Just a few weeks ago we all stood in this House and debated the passing of Bob Hawke, a great Australian who stood for all Australians. Bob Hawke’s prime ministership was characterised by an understanding that together we are stronger. He looked for common ground. Nothing could stand in more contrast with that than what we’ve seen from this government…
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Did Israel Folau actually misquote the Bible? Hell, yes – by John Tait B.Sc (Ed), M.Theol
During the extended Israel Folau debate I have been waiting for a theologian or biblical scholar to come forward and address Folau’s misuse of scripture in his controversial post. The saga rolls on and I am still waiting. I have also been searching media reports curious to know what brand of church Folau attends. It is important to know this to understand…
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Close Unfair Tax Loopholes: End cash refunds for franking credits – SOURCE: The Australia Institute
The complexity of the Australian tax system hides many loopholes, one of the most unfair is the fact that some of Australia’s wealthiest citizens pay negative tax. The tax office actually pays money to people who have paid no tax themselves, and these people are some of the wealthiest in the country. It’s time this perverse tax loophole was closed.…
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Words that matter. What’s a franking credit? What’s dividend imputation? And what’s ‘retiree tax’? – from The Conversation by Peter Martin
Peter Martin is a visiting fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You’re forgiven for being confused. Newspapers need to economise on words. Television and radio reporters need to economise on seconds. So they use shorthand: words like “dividend imputation”, “franking credits”, and yes, “retiree tax”. Which is fine…
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time to act on the ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART
We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart: Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of…
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The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition, and Climate Change: The Lancet Commission report – 27 January 2019
Executive Summary…………………………………………… Obesity is still increasing in prevalence in almost all countries and is an important risk factor for poor health and mortality. The current approach to obesity prevention is failing despite many piecemeal efforts, recommendations, and calls to action. This Commission following on from two Lancet Series on obesity looks at obesity in a much wider context of common…
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Watch out for scams
The Australian Competition and Consumer Division (ACCC) has an excellent web site at https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/. You can subscribe for free to get email alerts on the latest scams. It is very important that friendly trusting decent human computer users sign on to get these alerts. There are some very clever nasty people out there and it is easy to be misled. Below…
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The Voter’s Ballad
I have a ballot paper but I don’t know where to tick There is no major party that doesn’t make me sick As for the independents, they are a sorry lot And even voting Green is not an option that I’ve got. I have a Liberal Party friend who really is quite nice I went and asked politely for political…