Despite widespread opposition, Queensland premier Peter Beattie is pushing ahead with forced council amalgamations, writes Peter Westmore. Despite widespread opposition, the Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, is pushing ahead with forced council amalgamations, though federal Labor fears that it may cost Labor seats in the forthcoming federal election. The Prime Minister, John Howard, pledged that the…
Fasten your seatbelts: we’re in for a bumpy ride. The dramatic fall in share prices over recent weeks has been contained, for the moment, by the intervention of the US Federal Reserve to cut the discount rate, the interest rate it charges banks. The sudden recovery of global stock-markets was widely seen as the end…
Mr Howard faces the 2007 federal election with his economic reputation under serious challenge. Having campaigned for years on the basis of his economic credentials, John Howard faces the 2007 election with his economic reputation under serious challenge from rising interest rates, mortgage stress, job insecurity and fears of a downturn in economic activity. Following…
Can we ever revive the great “Australian dream”? Forty years ago, home ownership was the hope and expectation of every Australian family, and home ownership rates in this country were the envy of the rest of the developed world. This was a time when most families still relied on a single income-earner, when employment was…