Category: Informed Opinion

The U.S. and UK’s Submarine Deal Crosses Nuclear Red Lines with Australia – CounterPunch.org

Why, if naval security was its objective, did Australia choose an iffy nuclear submarine agreement with the U.S. over a sure-shot supply of French submarines? This is a question that Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating, the Australian Labor Party’s former PMs, asked. It makes sense only if we understand that Australia now sees itself as a cog in the U.S. wheel for this region. And it is a vision of U.S. naval power projection in the region that today Australia shares. The vision is that settler colonial and ex-colonial powers—the G7-AUKUS—should be the ones making the rules of the current international order. And behind the talk of international order is the mailed fist of the U.S., NATO, and AUKUS. This is what Australia’s nuclear submarine deal really means.

Source: The U.S. and UK’s Submarine Deal Crosses Nuclear Red Lines with Australia – CounterPunch.org

Spent Matters: The AUKUS Nuclear Waste Problem – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The department admits that the storage and disposal of such waste and spent fuel will require necessary facilities and trained personnel, appropriate transport, interim and permanent storage facilities and “social license earned and sustained with local and regional communities.” But it also notes that the UK and the US “will assist Australia in developing this capability, leveraging Australia’s decades of safely and securely managing radioactive waste domestically”.

That’s mighty good of them to do so, given that both countries have failed to move beyond the problem of temporary storage. In the UK, the issue of disposing waste from decommissioned nuclear submarines remains stuck in community consultation. In the US, no option has emerged after the Obama administration killed off a repository program to store waste underneath Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. The reasons for doing so, sulked Republicans at the time, were political rather than technical.

Source: Spent Matters: The AUKUS Nuclear Waste Problem – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Australia’s old media are on the ropes and are being exposed for bias and conflict of interest dailyKangaroo Court of Australia

Australia's old media

Australia’s old media are now being exposed daily for their biased reporting and failure to declare their conflict of interests which has to mean their days are numbered. The evidence for that statement and reasoning for writing this article is that I noticed that the last 3 videos I have published on YouTube are all…

Source: Australia’s old media are on the ropes and are being exposed for bias and conflict of interest dailyKangaroo Court of Australia

I just want a Ferrari, sorry, a nuclear submarine, no matter the cost – Michael West

Alan Moir on the submarine deal

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just committed Australia to spending $368 billion on somewhere between three and five second-hand US Virginia Class submarines, and a follow on build of eight next generation British AUKUS nuclear submarines. It’s a strategic blunder, writes former submariner Rex Patrick, and it’s not even going to happen the way the PM has suggested.

Source: I just want a Ferrari, sorry, a nuclear submarine, no matter the cost – Michael West

Michael West Media – investigative journalists – always independent

“Let’s drop this now”: calls rise for Albo to ask Joe Biden for release of Assange in tonight’s AUKUS talks

 Michael West | Mar 13, 2023 There will be no better opportunity than now for Anthony Albanese to ask US President Joe Biden for the release of Julian Assange. Michael West reports on the Belmarsh Tribunal and calls for the release of Australia’s number one political prisoner.

Source: Michael West Media – investigative journalists – always independent

Michael Pascoe: Peter Dutton’s venality and other tax jokes

Peter Dutton News Liberal Politics

Peter Dutton’s response to the tweaking is deeply, terminally flawed. It speaks to a darkness at the heart of the modern federal Liberal Party, a darkness that seeks to double down rather than save itself.

Source: Michael Pascoe: Peter Dutton’s venality and other tax jokes

The Australian retreat from Asia is becoming a rout – Pearls and Irritations

Malcolm Fraser at Gough Whitlam oration 2012

Eleven years ago I gave the speech below. I was then pessimistic about our understanding of Asia. The situation has got markedly worse since then, writ large in the unremitting attacks on China stemming from ignorance and parochialism, particularly in our White Man’s Media.

Source: The Australian retreat from Asia is becoming a rout – Pearls and Irritations

Opinion | Dominion, Tucker Carlson, and the Very Big and More Dangerous Lie | Common Dreams

Tucker Carlson

The lying of Fox News and its damages to Dominion are significant. But the real damage is much deeper and more dangerous. And no lawsuit—not even manifold legitimate indictments of Donald Trump—can stop it. Only the decisive defeat of the Republican Party, and a Democratic Party empowered and committed to addressing the real problems plaguing American democracy, can stop it. That is a very tall order. And everything hangs in the balance.

Source: Opinion | Dominion, Tucker Carlson, and the Very Big and More Dangerous Lie | Common Dreams

Caitlin Johnstone: Spreading War Fever in Australia

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age just produced an immense example of conflict-of-interest journalism. A former prime minister called it “the most egregious and provocative news presentation” he had ever witnessed in over 50 years of public life.

Source: Caitlin Johnstone: Spreading War Fever in Australia

The Ghost of Stalin Still Hasn’t Been Laid to Rest

Joseph Stalin died 70 years ago today, having stamped his indelible mark upon the Soviet system. Stalin’s legacy continues to haunt the post-Soviet landscape, right up to the present war with Ukraine.

Source: The Ghost of Stalin Still Hasn’t Been Laid to Rest

We’ve been taken for a ride – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Sydney is now one of the most tolled cities in the world. Every time you pay a toll, much of the money now flows oversees. Some people now pay hundreds of dollars a week in tolls, these pseudo taxes. It wasn’t that long ago that governments borrowed money to build this kind of infrastructure. The Harbour Bridge and Snowy Hydro come to mind. Sure, we were paying it off through our taxes for many years. Now we do it by paying tolls. But the taxes we paid for our infrastructure were far cheaper per person than the tolls.

We have been conned.

 

Source: We’ve been taken for a ride – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Jimmy Carter: How Marjorie Taylor-Greene is damaging his legacy

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jimmy Carter are both from Georgia. That’s where the similarities end.

Time magazine hailed the “new south” on its cover, saying Carter had triumphed over the south’s “demagogic past” and Confederate ghosts. Now, thanks to the likes of Trump and Greene, we’re back in the toxic soup.

Source: Jimmy Carter: How Marjorie Taylor-Greene is damaging his legacy

Murdoch media problems – Pearls and Irritations

News Corp building NYC

 

The good news for the Murdoch media is that it’s not the most distrusted brand in Australia – despite the efforts of its journalists.

The bad news is that – according to the Roy Morgan Research Most Trusted and Distrusted Brands research – it is the fifth most distrusted behind Facebook, Optus, Telstra and Amazon. It just edges out Harvey Norman, whose ads in newspapers provoke much irritation, which rated sixth.

There are probably many reasons for the rating but the main ones are probably its unrelenting attacks on anything vaguely progressive; its rabid commentators; and, it is attempts to re-frame any debate so as to favour the LNP, attack the ALP and wage war on the woke.

Source: Murdoch media problems – Pearls and Irritations

New survey shows majority support for formal separation of church and state – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Message to The LNP

Australia has no formal recognition of government and religion. Would you approve or disapprove of a constitutional amendment to formally separate government and religion?

Australia wide, around 53 per cent were in favour of a constitutional amendment to separate government and religion federally, 13 per cent were opposed and 33 per cent didn’t know.

Source: New survey shows majority support for formal separation of church and state – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The Abdication of Australian Sovereignty to the US – Pearls and Irritations

Two flags. 3D. United States and Australia.

Reducing the risk of Australia becoming trapped in an American war in Asia, again, requires the Australian government to give notice now to the United States that it wishes to withdraw from the FPA.

Source: The Abdication of Australian Sovereignty to the US – Pearls and Irritations

Unite to block the Right’s campaign to divide and conquer – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Painting of a grim man by u/tuskgreen213/

Australia must not allow our politicians and “thought” leaders on the right to push us down the destructive path being pursued by the Republicans.

The American right is waging war on modernity. The radicalised right alliance is sacrificing empirical evidence and truth for theocracy, tribal games and lies. It is determined to reverse the achievements of the Civil Rights era: white Christian man will return to his rightful place as delineator of truth. The contingent is destroying America’s standing to achieve it.

 

Source: Unite to block the Right’s campaign to divide and conquer – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Opinion | Humanity Can No Longer Tolerate Corporations That Exist Almost Entirely to Make Money | Common Dreams

Corporate board members

Since the Establishment of the East India Company, the very first Corporation the planet has been witness to a system of private interest, greed, government bailout, and sponsorship. The separation of powers and good governance are totally corrupted. Nothing has changed in 2023 other than the greater influence corporations have over governments today and publicly flaunted by the the likes of Murdoch and Musk while bigger whales don’t surface.

Society must make the necessary shift from a society that prioritizes wealth accumulation and economic growth to one that puts personal and societal well-being above profits.

Source: Opinion | Humanity Can No Longer Tolerate Corporations That Exist Almost Entirely to Make Money | Common Dreams

Why is Conservatism? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Economically, conservatives serve the big end of town. Socially, they serve tradition. They do not seem to understand that arguing from tradition leads to some very dark places. Or perhaps they do know. It is unclear which is worse. Much like the already rich arguing for Libertarian economics, only those already privileged could argue from tradition. Why is Conservatism? It is a millstone around the neck of humanity.

Source: Why is Conservatism? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

U.S. Hypocrisy on War Crimes Is a Gift to Putin

Rescuers work to free victims from the rubble of a residential apartment complex that was hit by Russian forces in Dnipro, Ukraine, on January 14, 2023. Several people were killed and more than 25 were injured, including children. The attack marked the most significant strike on the central Ukrainian city since the war began. Dnipro had until now served as a safe haven for thousands of displaced people from other regions. (Photo by Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The failure to prosecute American officials and other powerful nations for war crimes has created a jurisdictional mess.

It seems clear at this point that the Biden administration’s position is that increasing Ukraine’s military capacity is a win-win scenario: Even if Kyiv does not expel Moscow’s forces and retake of all of its territory — including Crimea — as Zelenskyy has stated is the central objective, the proxy war will nonetheless deliver a series of potent punches to the vital organs that constitute Vladimir Putin’s reign. Russia will continue to sacrifice the lives of its soldiers and deplete its economic and military capacity — and Putin will be weakened internally and internationally. The goal is that one way or another, Putin loses without having to sacrifice U.S. or NATO lives.

But what if none of that happens? What if Putin survives this brutal war with his grip on power intact? What if Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was right when he said last November that a Ukrainian victory “is maybe not achievable through military means”? What if Ukraine is forced to accept a negotiated solution where it formally concedes the loss of its territory? What type of accountability could then be brought to bear for Putin’s decision to invade a neighboring country?

Source: U.S. Hypocrisy on War Crimes Is a Gift to Putin

Pipe down on The Voice, your White privilege is showing

Referendum- Does the Constitution need to be changed? Or remain racial?

Peter Dutton and his media cabal notwithstanding, The Voice is a well-considered and “detailed” proposition put forward by Indigenous Australians — just respect it. Managing editor Michelle Pini provides the “detail”.

Source: Pipe down on The Voice, your White privilege is showing

Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation lawyers could be jailed for their criminal conduct in the Ben Roberts-Smith caseKangaroo Court of Australia

Alleged rapist Bruce Lehrmann, who numerous women have accused of sexual harassment and/or assault, has instituted defamation proceedings against Channel 10, News Corp and journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden.

Source: Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation lawyers could be jailed for their criminal conduct in the Ben Roberts-Smith caseKangaroo Court of Australia

Has capitalism captured the world? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

My thought for the day

Never in the history of this nation have the rich and the privileged been so openly brazen. (John Lord)

Source: Has capitalism captured the world? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Chris Hedges: Woke Imperialism

Illustration by Mr Fish

Terrible predatory forces are eating away at the country. The corporatists, militarists and political mandarins that serve them are the enemy. It is not our job to make them more appealing, but to destroy them. There are amongst us genuine freedom fighters of all ethnicities and backgrounds whose integrity does not permit them to serve the system of inverted totalitarianism that has destroyed our democracy, impoverished the nation and perpetuated endless wars. Diversity when it serves the oppressed is an asset, but a con when it serves the oppressors.

Source: Chris Hedges: Woke Imperialism

Social repair, especially fixing Medicare, must trump budget repair

Remember the LNP slogan “Privatisation” makes things cheaper? When did that ever happen?

As for how much money it means for the government, Mark Butler also said that the average gap fee for a standard GP consultation is now more than the Medicare rebate for the first time in its 40-year history.

Source: Social repair, especially fixing Medicare, must trump budget repair

Rex Patrick: put PwC top of blacklist for government procurement payments – Michael West

PwC

Big 4 consultancy PwC has been caught red-handed with partners leaking confidential information, obtained while advising the Federal government on combating tax avoidance, so their multinational clients could avoid tax. As the government ponders its response, Rex Patrick argues it’s time to introduce a procurement black list to deal with corporate cowboys.

Source: Rex Patrick: put PwC top of blacklist for government procurement payments – Michael West

Opinion | Why Oligarchs Don’t Just Want to Be Rich, But Kill Democracy Too | Common Dreams

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office

An extraordinary investigative report from documented.net tells how morbidly rich families, their companies, and their personal foundations are funding efforts to limit or restrict democracy across the United States.

Source: Opinion | Why Oligarchs Don’t Just Want to Be Rich, But Kill Democracy Too | Common Dreams

Israel Fascist? – scheerpost.com

Fascism is a system as is Democracy its reality can be factually and statistically measured by comparative analysis to other sovereign states. The discussion here however is not an attempt to do that

In Israel, you are more likely to be killed as a Jew or as an Israeli than you are outside of Israel. And it’s because of Israel being a garrison state, being in a state of perpetual war with its neighbors, not just the major wars of ’67, ’73, and in Lebanon in 1982. But every few years there’s another war in Gaza and thousands of Jews, Israelis have been killed over the past few decades. So Israel is no longer what it was meant to be by the early Zionist movement. And that’s why this increasing alienation between diaspora and Israel. And I’m very critical, by the way, of American Jewish leaders. We mostly talked about the Israel lobby, but the American Jewish leaders have an opportunity to speak out against what Israel is doing and to say that this is against the values of American Judaism, and they very rarely will. AIPAC released a statement which was very supportive of the new government, and they have without, with a few exceptions, a Jewish voice or peace and some other groups, they have not wanted to step foot on this. This is a landmine for them.

Source: Israel Fascist? – scheerpost.com

Nearly 80% find current global economic order unfair: Global Times poll – Pearls and Irritations

World Trade Organisation (WTO) at the entrance of its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Global Times released the second part of the annual survey that covered participants from 33 countries on 28 December, which showed that most participants from Western countries are unsatisfied with the current development of their countries while those from China and many non-Western countries or emerging economies are more satisfied and optimistic about their future, and many participants, especially the ones from non-Western world, believe that China could be a role model for development and able to play a leadership role to guide global development.

Source: Nearly 80% find current global economic order unfair: Global Times poll – Pearls and Irritations

Australia’s Rulers Know They Need American Imperialism to Dominate the Pacific

Yes they proved to be the Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq

When it comes to foreign policy, Australia has long been in thrall to US interests. This isn’t because Australia is an American client state but because the Australian establishment knows that its own interests are best served by US empire.

Source: Australia’s Rulers Know They Need American Imperialism to Dominate the Pacific

Year of the mushroom: Why 2022 was defined by fungi | Salon.com

Close-up of mushroom growing on field (Getty Images/Karim Qubadi/500px)

So what’s next for mushrooms in the new year? There aren’t any signs that the fungi’s surging popularity will slow down. 

While the road to psilocybin legalization promises to be a long and uncertain one, and while the co-opting of mushrooms by the wellness industry could turn some consumers off from the ingredient due to its potential ubiquity, both the aesthetic and culinary attributes of mushrooms are undeniable. 

For those reasons, IMARC, a market research firm, anticipates that the global mushroom market, which was valued at $58.8 billion last year will reach an estimated $86.5 billion by 2027. 

From the couture runway to home kitchens, all things fungus are having a moment

Source: Year of the mushroom: Why 2022 was defined by fungi | Salon.com

In Ukraine, I saw the greatest threat to the Russian world isn’t the west – it’s Putin | Timothy Garton Ash | The Guardian

Ukrainian people in Bakhmut, Ukraine, 15 December 2022.

The time has come to ask whether, objectively speaking, Vladimir Putin is an agent of American imperialism. For no American has ever done half as much damage to what Putin calls the “Russian world” as the Russian leader himself has.

Source: In Ukraine, I saw the greatest threat to the Russian world isn’t the west – it’s Putin | Timothy Garton Ash | The Guardian

Letter to the editor from Morrie Moneyweather Jnr – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Anyways I was writing to tell yous that Dad passed away on May 21 this year but I have been waiten for the right moment. Anyways it looks as though the moment has passed so the shock will be won’t be as much of a jaw dropping moment to yous as it might have been. You know what he was like about getting it “alright.”

Just what he wanted me to tell all you left wing latte sipping loonies of the proletariat. You vodka drinking Bolsheviks who can’t afford a decent bottle of Merlot without any intelligence, like a lot of things, is, beyond me.

You know Barnaby was right about you lot just a lot of commies .The thing is, you commies don’t understand the fundamentals of conversation. The free market and capitalism. Conservatives (LNP) believe in personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, individual liberty and traditional values.

Sorry I got carried away in the moment. I’d ask for forgiveness if I knew how to spell it.

Source: Letter to the editor from Morrie Moneyweather Jnr – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Dirty little secrets exposed in Higgins’ case against Lehrmann

The abandonment of the Bruce Lehrmann trial, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins, is a devastating blow for all women who dare to speak out. Managing editor Michelle Pini reports.

Source: Dirty little secrets exposed in Higgins’ case against Lehrmann

It’s a trap: mooted gas cap plays into the hands of the cartel, locks in high energy prices – Michael West

National Cabinet is to consider capping the gas price at $12 when National Cabinet meets Friday. At that high price, the government is gifting super profits to the gas cartel at the expense of Australian customers and industry. A price of $7, new research shows, still leaves solid profits for gas producers. Is $12 the gas cartel number? Rex Patrick writes.

Source: It’s a trap: mooted gas cap plays into the hands of the cartel, locks in high energy prices – Michael West

Get out of the gutter – » The Australian Independent Media Network

a note to Australian politicians – get out of the gutter, discuss your policies and plans for the future then genuinely accept and act on ideas that come from others outside your tent if you are fortunate enough to win power. We’re all fed up to the back teeth with character assassination, put-downs for the sake of putting someone down and not genuinely considering advice.

Source: Get out of the gutter – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Women cannot revive Liberal “appeal” – Pearls and Irritations

Liberal member for Bass Bridget Archer during a censure motion against former prime minister Scott Morrison in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, November 30, 2022. Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas

A Call for women to defend the indefensible is just that, and will continue to be no matter who is asked.

A few more women here, a slightly richer range of cultural backgrounds there, and what would change? Colour, gender, a subdued tolerance for LGBTQI+ will gradually be true for some. But on the most fundamental matters of human dignity and decency for all, or unconditional protection of people and planet before profits, those “conservative” resistances to questioning “culture” will almost certainly remain the same.

Source: Women cannot revive Liberal “appeal” – Pearls and Irritations

John Barilaro and Detective Sergeant Matthew McQueen firm as most likely suspects who tried to murder YouTuber FriendlyjordiesKangaroo Court of Australia

An arsonist set fire to YouTuber Jordan Shanks (Friendlyjordies) house on Tuesday night (22/11/22) which his lawyer has described as attempted murder. I published the below video on Wednesday (23/11/22) outlining 3 key suspects as being the former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro, NSW Police officer Detective Sergeant Matthew McQueen and Sydney’s Alameddine crime family.

Source: John Barilaro and Detective Sergeant Matthew McQueen firm as most likely suspects who tried to murder YouTuber FriendlyjordiesKangaroo Court of Australia

Opinion | Billionaires Like Elon Musk Are the Most Dangerous People on Planet Earth | Linda McQuaig

elon_musk

Watching Elon Musk reveal himself in recent weeks to be the world’s richest buffoon has certainly been entertaining. However, it could lead to the conclusion that billionaires are silly but harmless—which is far from the truth.

Source: Opinion | Billionaires Like Elon Musk Are the Most Dangerous People on Planet Earth | Linda McQuaig

No such thing as an objective journalist: Notes from the edge of the narrative matrix – Pearls and Irritations

Secretary Antony Blinken

Technology today is even designed in such a way as to have us believe we are less as a species than we in fact are. The algorithms on social media platforms are designed to divide and have us fight each other rather than raise our awareness of humanity. When Jews join Christians to become Nazis betterment of the human condition isn’t their goal. That’s what Israeli has done.  We aren’t individuals we are a species, humans are more alike than they are different. However, doubt and lack of trust have increased and we are the creators of that blunder and not “nature”.

If you find yourself rushing to defend the foreign policy of the most militarily, economically and culturally dominant nation on earth, ask yourself why that is. Ask whom that impulse benefits. Ask how that impulse came upon you. Ask if it could have been put there by propaganda.

It is false to claim that capitalism, competition and greed are “human nature”. I cite as my source for this claim the fact that I am human. The truth is that those who claim capitalism, competition and greed are “human nature” are not actually telling you anything about human nature.

They are telling you about their own nature. And it isn’t even really accurate to call it their “nature”; it’s just their conditioning. And we can all change our conditioning. The only people who deny this are those who haven’t sincerely tried to yet.

Source: No such thing as an objective journalist: Notes from the edge of the narrative matrix – Pearls and Irritations

Conspiracy: the disease that threatens our survival – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Protesters battling with police with Red Ensign flag against Melbourne's lockdowns

Murdoch led us to conspiracies which led us to even the more extreme QAnon mindset along with both militant, religious, and Far-Right groups in the USA and here. Australia’s own homegrown Christian-right dream of a theocratic-led state like ISIS and are calling for one openly.

Andrew Bolt declared, after the bombings in Barcelona, that the Australian Christian youths should have the same commitment as those bombers had in Spain. To the death, he wrote with the blessing of Murdoch’s media. Mind you he doesn’t have the same commitment himself but insists and drives others to have it. He went into immediate hiding for 4 days after the Christchurch massacre and then outpoured own denial to any violence. What did he mean when he said Australian Christian youth were gutless and needed to fight back? He certainly said it, wrote it, and they read it. The Australian militant mass murderer in Christchurch hero-worshipped and listened to a series of far-right guests giving voice to aggression on  Andrew Bolt’s show. The Murdochs didn’t even profit from it yet they promoted it. The fact that Bolt admired the commitment to the death, of the Barcelona bombers says it all. He was a media crusader and recruiter for the radical right and as Judge Mordecai Bromberg declared a lazy and no-talented hack who had no regard for facts.

The same forces are in play in Australia: desperate people, stoked with existential dread at the crimes of the Elites, exacerbate each other’s sense of victimhood. They falsely claim the pandemic was manmade, and vaccines intended to control them or kill them slowly. They celebrate their pure blood and sperm. They wondered if they felt sick after gathering unvaccinated because the government had sprayed them with toxins. (Because conspiracies are unfalsifiable, every consequence of stupidity becomes fodder for paranoia.)

Source: Conspiracy: the disease that threatens our survival – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Could Russia collapse?

So is it speculative to talk about a future Russian collapse? Yes. Is there evidence it is imminent? No. But in many ways that’s the problem: when authoritarian regimes implode, they tend to do so very quickly, and with little warning.

Hence in the Russian case, it’s important to consider all possible eventualities, even if they might appear implausible at the moment.

And, if nothing else, it’s always better to be pleasantly surprised than blindsided by events we inconveniently decided not to foresee.

Source: Could Russia collapse?

Should the West negotiate with Russia? The pros and cons of high-level talks

Labor really, really needs to break some different promises | The Shot

The narrative needs to be that Australia is now aiming so much higher than the previous government ever imagined, that being locked into their mediocre, just-enough, low-tax policies is neither virtuous nor honourable, and in fact, a betrayal of the next generation.

And he needs to do it sooner rather than later, because an ineffective damp lettuce leaf is not going to be the Opposition Leader forever.

Source: Labor really, really needs to break some different promises | The Shot

Alan Kohler: A responsible budget, with no repair and no relief

The last time a new government brought down its first budget, in 2014, it was a disaster for all concerned.

Spending was cut by $14.2 billion over four years and receipts were increased by $3.2 billion – an extraction of $17.4 billion out of the economy – and the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey were extracted within 18 months.

Source: Alan Kohler: A responsible budget, with no repair and no relief