26 March 2018 The banks are bastards. Every Australian knows that and has known it from birth – it is fixed in our DNA. Deep in our psyche is the indelible picture of Mr Moneybags, the bloated cigar-smoking capitalist, shovelling in the loot and grinding the faces of the poor. By […]
Politics
Joe Biden said, ‘If this is true, it’s treason’. Book review of Russian Roulette
Michael Isikoff and David Corn lay bare the evidence that Trump and Putin have been striving to collaborate for years By Charles Kaiser Whenever I finish a book like Russian Roulette, I ask myself the same question: why is anyone still debating whether there was collusion between the Russians and […]
The next federal election – a ‘generational battle’ is looming.
Talk about missing the point. The media spent all last week working themselves into a lather over Labor’s newly announced policy to abolish cash refunds for unused dividend imputation credits. (If you have no idea what that means, it probably wouldn’t affect you.) By Ross Gittens This promise would be […]
Snowy 2.0: The madness continues
As so many readers of Coffs Coast Outlook are interested in renewable energy I thought they might be interested in the following article on Snowy 2.0. If nothing else it indicates clearly why we’ve gone from some of the worlds cheapest power to some of its most expensive. Andrew – […]
‘This is the exact reason people don’t come forward’: Joyce accuser hits back
The woman who made a sexual misconduct complaint against former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says the way she has been treated since making that allegation shows why people in that situation do not come forward. The WA woman, Catherine Marriott, pictured here to the right of Barnaby Joyce, has […]
Cartoon Corner
Look behind the ‘spin’ and you find “free trade” is covering up a lot of special deals
You may think spin-doctoring and economics are worlds apart, but they combine in that relatively modern invention the “free-trade agreement” – the granddaddy of which, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is presently receiving CPR from the lips of our own ‘heroic lifesaver’, Malcolm Turnbull. By Ross Gittins It’s not surprising many punters […]
‘Well, well, well’. Tender free water ‘deal’ not so great for taxpayers?
Water deal with Eastern Australia Agriculture, which was done without a tender, raises questions over taxpayer value. By Anne Davies Original ABC 4 Corners program from July 2017 linked (45 mins) Cotton growing in a field. Details of the lucrative water licence buyback were released to the Senate. Photograph: Dave […]
‘Do whatever you have to’: Woolworths staff rewarded for spying on pokie players
Woolies is just one of many gambling companies using spying and other techniques to lure gamblers By Frances Markham and Martin Young Woolworths is reported to be instructing staff to ply gamblers with food and drink and to keep dossiers on the private lives. And while Woolworths has been singled out […]
Angry U.S. teenagers trip up NRA and Rubio on guns.
It’s a fragile and possibly naive hope, but there are signs the NRA, the most single-mindedly powerful lobbying group in the US, might be on the run from an opposition led by angry teenagers. By Larry Hackett Here’s why. The most riveting scene of the past 10 days was not […]