April 2019

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Apr202019

Budget 2019: The dark side of ‘back in the black’: no vision

COVER STORY, ECONOMICS, POLITICSApril 20, 2019

A Budget in surplus enhances Coalition’s May re-election chances Tinkering with rates gives no joy to families on a single income Energy continues to be both a black hole and a blind spot in so far as no action is proposed to restore electricity reliability The Federal Government’s 2019 Budget was framed with two things in mind: to establish the government’s economic credentials by returning the Budget to surplus for the first time since the Howard government in 2007; and to enhance the Government’s political fortunes in the run-up to the May general election. Viewed from this perspective,…

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Apr202019

EUTHANASIA FYI: How to navigate the voluntary assisted ‘dying’ process

HEALTH & EDUCATION, LIFE MARRIAGE & FAMILYApril 20, 2019

Voluntary assisted “dying” is to get some pre-publicity Two VAD “navigators” are to be ensconced in the Peter Mac The Alfred Hospital is to dispense the poisons statewide The drugs administered give no guarantee of a peaceful death When the Victorian Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) Act was debated, it was presented as a private choice made by the individual patient, who is facing death within months and suffering intolerably, in consultation with their doctor. Now it seems assisted suicide is being institutionalised. Ahead of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act commencing operation in June, an assisted suicide advice or enabling…

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POETRY

POETRY LETTERS & HUMOURApril 20, 2019

No More Not enough options, so I need plans.No answers or good ideas most days, so I need a good read after tea.No prospects, so I need good deeds and merits. No expiations, so to make up for the fear and worry, I need earthly necessities and the radio news. No profits, so I must please God more to avoid bad happenings and get answered prayers. No more group Rosaries. All I have left is novenas to the Saints and petitions at the consecration of Mass. No more masses in English vernacular since migration and my novena for wisdom; All…

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Apr202019

CANBERRA OBSERVED Take your tax cuts and be merry, for tomorrow … is another day

ECONOMICSApril 20, 2019

The 2019 Budget delivered by freshly minted Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, together with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s Budget-in-reply speech, focused largely on tax cuts and short-term lures to the electorate at the expense of any solid plan to secure Australia’s long-term future. The country’s short election cycle, the revolving-door leadership malaise and the parliamentary gridlock of the past decade continue to take a toll; and this means that ministers are thinking in short time frames rather than serious long-term policy development. Of course, Labor has brazenly presented a radical overhaul of the tax system, virtually abolishing negative gearing and introducing much…

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