Prime Minister John Howard has handed out a $444 million package to the sugar industry, focused on one year’s relief and aimed at tiding the government over the Federal election. While the media focused on the PM’s package, Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, was quietly pushing further deregulation of the sugar industry through State Parliament. On…
When the Prime Minister recently consulted with cane farmers in north Queensland, leading Burdekin farmer Max Menzel was shown on national television telling Mr Howard that National Competition Policy was “killing our rural industries.” Since then, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has backed a resolution in the new state parliament strongly critical of National Competition Policy…
The Australian Family Association-sponsored report by Monash researcher Dr Bob Birrell, showing that a growing underclass of low-income males is behind the decline in marriage and fertility, has received widespread coverage by Australia’s major, and many smaller, media outlets. It has also challenged the dominant idea that Australia’s declining fertility is because of insufficient support…
Plans to commit an extra 500 gigalitres of water for environmental flows in the Murray River should be postponed, a House of Representatives Committee has recommended. Committee chair Kay Elson said the Committee had received a “considerable amount of evidence” questioning the science underpinning the Living Murray initiative of the Murray Darling Basin Commission (MDBC).…