The latest survey by the Conversation should be of interest to everyone. It involved contributions from of leading forecasters in 25 Australian universities, thinktanks and financial institutions – among them economic modellers, former Treasury, International Monetary Fund and Reserve Bank officials, and a former member of the Reserve Bank board. Continue reading Recognised experts agree on that the Australian economy is in trouble→
Protests are rocking France again. This time it’s over the police shooting and killing of a 17-year-old at a traffic stop. Being of Algerian descent, he was not white, and like in the United States, racial killing of black and Brown skinned people by police is commonplace. Continue reading France erupts after police killing of a teenager→
Foreign multinationals operating in Australia are being driven mad by debate in the Senate over stronger tax transparency laws that apply to them. It’s not that the discussion in the Senate is about putting an end to the corporate tax avoidance industry. it is about introducing a little more disclosure to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and that the information should be available to the public. Continue reading Multinationals push back against greater tax disclosure→
The latest Guardian Essential poll pinpointed some telling truths about how Australians feel about where Australia is heading and how our political leaders are responding to the challenges of the day. This is just one poll, of course, and one poll can never tell the whole truth. Continue reading Most of Australia is not happy with the nation’s direction→
I have put some effort into trying to make sense of the present battlefield offensive pf the Kiev forces in Ukraine. After trolling through claims and counter claims and getting a sense of the military strategies of both sides, some things have become quite obvious. These do not sit well with the barrage of media propaganda. Continue reading A peace movement is needed to put an end to Ukraine war→
Back on 18 January, cannery workers at Visy in Shepparton took strike action for 24 hours over stalled negotiations between their union and management for a new agreement. They walked of the job again on 25 and 17 January, and again on 17 March. Strikes have continued for 2 shifts each week.
Donald Trump has finally been arrested and charged with criminal offenses and faces 37 counts of having committed federal crimes. This is over the theft of sensitive classified documents. Not surprisingly, Trump protests his innocence.
Investigative journalist Michael West writes (Michael West Media 1 June 2023) about how the scandal surrounding PwC is not one off, but part of systemic problem involving al the 4 big American finance advisory multinationals. All have been acting as the middleman between the Australian government and big corporations. All have been advising their clients how to avoid paying tax, while securing generous government contracts. They stand above the law, betray Australia, and pose the challenge on how o deal with them. Michael West is a former journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, and columnist for News Corp.
Being able to afford a home to provide for housing needs is an important part of living a quality life. In fact, a decent home to live in should be treated as fundamental human right. If was to be treated this way in Australia, the government would act to ensure this right was met, and what it had to do to achieve this end would be a no brainer. Continue reading It is time to get serious about the housing affordability crisis→
Official site of the May Day Committee (Malbourne)