A: No. Why ask such a ridiculous question?
When it eventually dawned on the Australian government that a global pandemic requires governments to spend money, the prime minister was devastated. As treasurer, Morrison handed down the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 federal budgets. All were in deficit. Morrison and the Canberra press gallery called these deficits ‘bringing the budget back into surplus’, a typical tory time machine lie.
The pandemic might’ve reduced the competitiveness of public transport, but it hasn’t altered the main game appreciably – that still remains civilising cars Is public transport the future of our cities?
Cars aren’t going away so it’s time to stop ignoring their downsides and take action to civilise them – make private vehicles smaller, slower, quieter, cleaner, and safer What should we do to civilise driving?
Building a network of safe cycling routes in our major cities isn’t a post-pandemic ‘nice to have’; it’s a necessity. The immediate priority is putting it together very, very quickly Is this the hour of the two-wheeler?
Public transport is likely to take a post-lockdown hit from the pandemic and will have to adapt; but it will remain critical to the functioning of Australia’s cities How will the pandemic impact public transport?
Yet again politicians reach for the High Speed Rail elixir – this time as a prescription for national economic recovery from the pandemic. But it’s snake oil Is High Speed Rail the game-changer we need now?
*Waving from an appropriate distance*
Hi everyone! How are you? How is everyone you know, and those you care about most?
Since Mary posted at the end of February about the effects on mothers of the string of closures we were seeing, things have obviously got a lot more extreme. Here in Australia we had just got through the worst bushfire season of all time, before we were driven indoors once again. This year has really turned into a game of choose-your-apocalypse.
This post is written on unceded lands of the sovereign Darug people. I offer my respects to their elders and express my profound gratitude that our family may live safely here.
It has come to my attention that there are some gaps in Australian public knowledge of how Australian federalism works. While underemployed at home, I thought it might be useful to write up a bit of an explainer.
First Peoples First
Cross-posted from puzzling.org.
…instead of saying they want to reduce government deficits and debt, supporters of “fiscal consolidation” and other such policies should say that they want to lower growth and lower private sector net saving, since that’s what the impact of their policies is likely to be. At the very least, supporters of austerity should indicate which of the other two balances will be reduced along with the government’s budget deficit, and how they will do this. The budget deficit cannot be reduced without reducing the private sector surplus and/or the current account deficit.
Previously we examined the Treasurer’s opinion piece from the Fin Review with our progressive and modern monetary frame and now we examine the message contained within.
From that frame we learned the Treasurer at least admits we are not investing enough in childcare and perhaps schools.
Last night I was interviewed by TRT – Turkey’s answer to Al Jazeera – on a panel moderated by Adnan Azwaz on the Australian fires. My fellow panellists were Professor Mark Howden and Tony Kevin. Azwaz did a good job, and his courteous approach to moderation could teach Tony Jones a thing or two, although he […]
Phil Coorey asked a good question at Morrison’s Press Conference Jan 5th 2020, taking the PM by surprise with his unexpected tack, when he asked the PM if, seeing that the PM belives that reducing Australia’s 1.3% world contribution of Greenhouse Gas emissions to zero would have no effect on Climate Change, then would Morrison pressure Trump to reduce the emissions of the USA. The answer from Morrison was of course no he wouldn’t.
If I was at the Press Conference I would have asked Morrison
On January 4th 2020 Scott Morrison announced that ADF Personnel would be deployed to assist emergency services with bushfire fighting activities. Shortly thereafter a video was posted on the prime minister’s Twitter and Facebook pages summarizing the announcement. The video was backed by a jaunty* musical soundtrack and rythmic finger clicking.