Although the OECD has praised the Australian economy as being “the most deregulated and privatised in the Western industrialised world”, unregulated entities, such as powerful, monopolistic corporations, have undermined the market’s healthy function by reducing competition. The steady fall in the Australian dollar against our major trading partners, caused by rising interest rates in the…
Labor has won office again while the Liberals have increased their vote, writes Peter Westmore. The Tasmanian ALP won a third straight election victory on March 18, despite a small drop in its primary vote. The ALP held on to at least 14 seats, a clear majority in the 25-seat Legislative Assembly, despite its primary…
Does Australia’s constitutional monarchy have a future beyond the reign of the current monarch? Comments by both the Prime Minister and Queen Elizabeth II, during the Queen’s visit to Australia to open the Commonwealth Games, have reopened the debate on the monarch’s role in the Australian Constitution. Asked by BBC Television how long he thought…
Cyclone Larry has inflicted untold damage on North Queensland’s vital infrastructure and farms. As North Queensland counts the cost of the devastation caused by Cyclone Larry, there are important lessons to be learned from the cyclone’s impact on vital infrastructure such as electricity, telecommunications, roads, bridges and railway links. Only immediate federal disaster relief will…