Peter Whiting. With the Federal Budget to be brought down on 6 October, the economic impact of the pandemic and the appropriate fiscal response are attracting serious commentary. Always high on the list of responses is change to income tax; others argue for delay of increases in the superannuation levy, increases in investment incentives, and […]
A report released in early September summarises the extent and effects of income and wealth inequality before Covid-19, and provides a lens through which to assess the affects of Covid-19, as it continues and governments and businesses respond. The third 2020 publication from the five-year Poverty & Inequality Partnership between the Australian Council of Social […]
Coronavirus will have a temporary effect on much of humanity, but global warming will have a permanent impact on the whole of humanity. Our current federal government relies heavily on science to deal with the former, but largely rejects it for the latter. It could be said that we have had longer than 40 years […]
Review : To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today. The Australian Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement 2020 The ideology of neoliberalism which has enthralled Western governments in particular for some three decades or so, has managed to redefine the meaning and purpose of society. Mutual attachments and obligations, the interdependence which […]
“We see the world in a different light. Politicians need to start listening to us and taking action”, a youth leader says. Nearly 90 per cent of young people say they feel unprepared for future climate disasters, and want politicians to give them a bigger voice on climate change, a new report finds. Conducted in […]
Australia’s youth has been hit hardest by the unemployment crisis, and is bankrolling the financial advantages enjoyed by older generations. Yet, they are told the pandemic is a good opportunity to grow and develop coping mechanisms. Michael Tanner reports on a new form of victim blaming. The mental health of young people – already teetering […]
The Covid-19 crisis has deepened sharply in Australia, with Victoria going into Stage 4 lockdown, and other states on edge. The situation in many other countries is far worse than this, and the prospects immediately ahead fill one with dread. Last month, our editorial noted that various of our articles were ‘urging policy makers to […]
Covid-19 presents us with an opportunity: increased equality in society, resilient to the challenges ahead, or a society ruled by power imbalances, struggling to cope with natural and man-made disasters. Pre-Covid Thirty years ago, it was demonstrated that, in an environment in which access to health care was equitable, health outcomes were determined by position […]
Few of us could have imagined that a virus invisible to the human eye could bring the world economy to its knees. Wealthy countries like Australia and New Zealand have cushioned the blow with modest support for businesses, workers, and the unemployed. But many poor countries are struggling even to keep people alive or working. […]
3 July 2020 Photo Black Lives Matter Rally Melbourne 6 June 2020. Matt Hrkac. flickr cc. Polls conducted over recent months indicate that voters are generally approving the way governments have addressed the Covid-19 pandemic. Our political leaders are enjoying, however briefly, a period of endorsement by their constituents. Another poll of a different sort, […]
Geoff Hanmer University of Adelaide Australia has done better with COVID-19 than anyone dared hope. This opens up the prospect of progressive relaxation of restrictions later this year. Organisations which could participate in an economic stimulus program will need to be in a position then to deliver “shovel-ready” projects to help revive the economy. The […]
