Tag Archive | Australia
Economies of scale or a deterrence measure?
I am definitely late to the party on this one but I have an excuse – the Abbott government are providing so much chaff to munch on, I’m overindulging. Yesterday I was alerted to an already three day old article by Michael Safi in The Guardian. Essentially Michael’s article concentrates on changes to the Refugee […]
Education: who will get some?
Commenting on the 2014 federal budget is something I keep trying to stop doing, but every time I look at a newspaper, I get irritated and feel like wrangling these op-ed writers. Today it was Amanda Vanstone that set my fingers itching for the keyboard. I have periodically agreed, to varying degrees, with Amanda. I […]
Taxes versus benefits and other observations
The first Abbott/Hockey budget certainly stirred up a storm of controversy. Not just in the mainstream media, but everywhere. There is a very interesting stream of comments on “Benefit scrounging scum in the news again. Disability is fake, right?” The same author wrote a little flash fiction worth considering on “For The Good Of The […]
Where is Australia heading?
If one is to believe the Sydney Morning Herald articles today, Abbott is deep doodoo. Very deep doodoo. The question for many is where is Abbott and his band of merry men, robbing from the poor to pay the rich, leading Australia? Austerity hasn’t worked too well in more than a few economies around the […]
How much does it cost to COMPLETELY collect and process that $7?
A little background information for overseas readers added after receiving comments. The situation here is all taxpayers pay a 1.5% levy to fund Medicare. Medicare provides a rebate to the patient for medical consultations and other health related services such as blood tests and x-rays. So let’s say the GP charges $65 for a consultation, […]
Australia and corruption or integrity gone AWOL
Am I completely naive? We recognise many third world countries as having systemic corruption. We in our comparative first world luxury go so far as to look down on corrupt regimes or societies, but do we have that right? I have always believed Australia was essentially corruption-free. Of course, history says that isn’t entirely true – […]
Australia is not treating asylum seekers well
If you are following this website, you are probably interested in the topic of asylum seekers. Most probably, Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers. Source: Diac Image Library This is a round up of the latest articles about Australia’s asylum seeker policies, from a variety of publications. These writers are far more proficient than I am, so […]
An interview on No Fibs is a MUST READ
On April 6 I wrote “Who IS the boss around here?” This image may remind readers of one of the topics of the day. Michael Burge was also on the case, publishing the following great articles on No Fibs. You cannot burn a mummy blog Silencing the bird Michael has now interviewed the author of […]
Dear Joe
Dear Joe, Listen, love, I think we need to have a chat about the family budget. I know you are just learning the ropes with this money stuff and all, but you need to look at the basics. Basics always come first. I was actually rather impressed when you said the “age of entitlement” was […]
Destination Madagascar
Continued from The rain seemed relentless. If you have just joined this story and wish to start from the beginning, go to What goes around comes around. Within two days, Jimmy had said. Within two days they would hit Madagascar. Jones realised he hadn’t even thought about where they were going, other than it was close […]
Random Observations of Life 