Labor oppositions campaigning against the privatisation of assets by state and federal governments should think again. It’s in their political and economic interests to allow them to proceed.
Topic: News
Say no to the coal killers
Convicted killer, now Anglican priest, Evan Pederick is the perfect poster boy for the fossil fuel divestment campaign. The convicted and self-confessed terrorist has been taken into the bosom of the Anglican Church and joined forces with other churches to divest their institutions of investments in fossil fuels (and some minerals).
No place for medieval practice in our society
Some conservative Muslims treat women as chattels.
Some conservative Muslims struggle in a liberal society and sometimes, especially among young men, contempt for the host society bubbles to the surface.
So why do liberals cry for religious freedom when that freedom leads to the treatment of women as second-class citizens and emboldens young men? I, for one, will not defend another’s right to be illiberal.
Why there’s no option but action on Australian tax rules
In the year ahead there will be a national discussion about the future of our taxation system. It will have important implications for economic growth and social policy. The discussion will only be productive if all options are on the table, and if participants don’t resort to what Robert Kennedy called “obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans”.
Don’t go too far in advocating constitutional recognition for Aborigines
“Not ready to vote” is the phrase the government has been advised to use as the excuse to delay until 2017 a referendum to recognise Aborigines in the Constitution. Could it just be conceivable that, no matter how much of our money governments spend telling us otherwise, Australians will never be ready for further constitutional recognition?
Nick Cater speaks at AIP’s first public event
The Australian Institute of Progress was honoured to host author and MenziesResearch Centre executive director Nick Cater as the guest speaker at our first public event in Brisbane on Thursday night, September 18.
It’s Clive’s party and his Puppies don’t have voting rights
I THINK my colleague Hedley Thomas is on to something. The Palmer United Party is not a party. Members of the Palmer United Party are, in effect supporters, not members.
Rule D13 of the PUP constitution determines that the six Foundation members are Clive and family. Rule D26 determines that a majority of foundation members can throw out any ordinary member.
Rule W1 determines that the six foundation members exercise all of the powers of the executive until December 31, 2016.
Finally, rule W3 determines that the chairman (and federal president) is fully authorised to exercise all the powers of the interim executive committee.
Nice work, Clive.
Renewables and Fair Work Act stand in the way of employment
AUSTRALIA’S unemployment rate, 6.4 per cent, is at its highest in more than a decade. Suddenly, politics became a whole lot more real, but not necessarily tougher, for the Abbott government.
Brainstorming for a think tank
Today we had 29 people gathered together at the Ship Inn, South Bank to talk about the meaning of progress and future projects for the Australian Institute for Progress. The start of something big!
Becoming a parent is a privilege, not a workplace right
IT is the clear responsibility of an employer to intervene in a worker’s decision to have a child. They must remove all impediments to a parent’s return to work, including holding open a job, and preserving previous pay and conditions. Oh yes, and throw in free childcare.
If these do not happen, it must be discrimination.
This is the world inhabited by the Australian Human Rights Commission. Start with a privilege, make it a “right’’, and convince government to pass laws to shift costs to the employer and taxpayers. Great work. The ACTU would be proud of you.
