Australian Politics

The Reserve Bank’s behaviour last week can only be described as bizarre. It’s a sign that it’s lost its bearings and isn’t sure what’s happening in the economy or where it’s headed. What has caused its befuddlement? Our unexpected return to near full employment.

In short:

The Coalition has vowed to match Labor's pledge to boost Medicare funding by $8.5 billion over four years, describing a drop in bulk billing rates as a "mess" created by the government.

Labor has promised nine out of 10 GP visits will be free from out-of-pocket expenses by the end of the decade, in what will be a cornerstone of its re-election pitch.

What's next?

The Coalition said their funding would come in from November if they win this year's federal election, due on or before May 17, which is the same timeline given by Labor.

Labor has repeatedly warned that Medicare would be worse off under Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, but the Coalition was quick to announce their own $9 billion funding commitment for GPs as Mr Albanese was detailing his plans at a campaign-style rally in Launceston.

The Coalition's $9 billion commitment includes matching Labor's pledge plus $500 million previously announced for mental health support.

In short:

Labor says nine out of 10 GP visits will be free from out-of-pocket expenses by 2030 under an $8.5 billion cornerstone Medicare election funding promise, to be announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday.

The money will fund 18 million extra bulk-billed visits a year, as the government moves to widen free GP access from children and pensioners to a near universal system.

What's next?

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who has accused Labor of reckless spending, will need to decide whether to campaign against Labor's plan, which will cost at least $2.5 billion a year once fully rolled out.

The government has cited one ABS estimate that around 8.8 per cent of visits are delayed on such grounds. The number of people in their 20s not going to the doctor has tripled because of cost over the past three years.

But Labor's plan will also depend heavily on whether doctors take up the proposed incentive, particularly in metropolitan areas where rents and staff costs are higher.

The cost to the taxpayer of the bulk-billing expansion when it begins in November if Labor is re-elected starts at $1.1 billion in 2025-26 rising to $2.4 billion in 2028-29. Over the first four years, the total will reach $8.5 billion.

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/17920934

A major push by Australian superannuation companies to build ties with the Trump administration begins this week in the United States.

The government is hoping the four-day showcase in Washington and New York will help convince Donald Trump not to impose tariffs on Australia, by demonstrating how heavily Australians are investing in the US through their super.

No text article from the ABC yet. The only text article I could find was, ironically enough, from 9 News: https://www.9news.com.au/national/nurses-and-midwives-hold-strike-at-sydney-northern-beaches-hospital/dbe6328b-a810-460f-a301-221999847bef

Paywalled, archive link below

https://archive.md/TDAdY

“You simply can’t achieve something like that by accident. Reckless indifference, perhaps. Wilful acts of bastardry, more likely. Accident, no,” he said.

Henry, who called for personal income tax rates to move with inflation, said not only were young people being hurt by increasingly high average tax rates, other policy areas were stacked against them.

“Young workers are also being denied a reasonable prospect of homeownership,” he said.

“They are burdened by the punishing costs of securing a tertiary education.

“And it is they who will have to bear the multiple burdens of catastrophic environmental destruction.”

As an older Gen X, I agree.

In my defence, I voted Independent for the first 20 years and have only Voted Green for the last 20 and I have never voted for any politicians who has ever won either at a local, state, or federal election.

That said, look what happened when Shorten tried some reform polices at the election before last, Australin's voted en masse for fcuking Morrison! So... what do voters ?

In short:

The NSW government has won a bid to suspend industrial action on the state's rail network.

The full bench of the Fair Work Commission has decided to impose a cooling-off period until July 1.

What's next?

The rail union said it was ready to meet with the government tomorrow to continue talks to "land the deal".

Crossbenchers including teal independents and the Greens say they will attempt to reform the federal corruption watchdog in the event of a hung parliament. The watchdog announced today it would reverse its decision not to investigate corruption allegations brought to it by the robodebt royal commission against six public servants.

a lack of action now to plan for decades ahead will leave the nation with persistent poverty, income inequality and further biodiversity decline across the country.

Seems unlikely to be "bold political action" from voters, consequently not from politcans either.

Vote Green ?

This is it, this "balanced reporting" and uninformed electorate is going to lead to Potato Head getting in.

We had a single election cycle of Labor and they didn't manage to completely fix our economy and all the Liberal fuckery of the previous 2 cycles, so we better give the liberals another chance to fuck us harder.

Every time I run into a Liberal voter I ask the same question "What one thing is most illustrative of them being strong on the economy?"

I have never been given a good answer.

PS not a huge Labor fan either but I know which side of the Overton window I prefer to be pushing on.

Alternative title: Around half of all Australians are brainwashed ghouls 😬

Almost a third supported deporting asylum seekers to their country of origin, regardless of the risk of persecution or violence, while 42% opposed it somewhat or strongly.

The polling also showed voters felt strongly about punitive measures for those in immigration detention, with 50% backing powers to conduct more invasive searches compared with 22% against the measure.

The control group supported offshore detention at 51% while 24% opposed. Support dropped marginally to 49% and 50% after messages against offshore detention, while the group exposed to pro-offshore detention increased to 57% support.

😬😬😬

A step in the right direction in my view in terms of limiting foreign investment purchases though as is mentioned in the article its a small fish with easy workarounds already popular. Also unfortunate that it is only 2 years at this stage.

The new politIcal [sic] donation laws will have a dramatic affect on how federal elections are funded in Australia. Could they entrench the major parties and compromise our democracy?

Bad processes tend to make bad laws. The government’s actions have cast a pall of illegitimacy over its political finance regime. The new framework is unfair and ineffectual in significant ways and yet democracy enhancing in others.

We are all trustees of democracy, with an obligation to protect and deepen democratic practices. An urgent task in that continuing struggle is to protect the strengths of these laws while jettisoning the elements that are egregiously bad.

Mining and manufacturing companies could soon receive major tax breaks after a key pillar of Labor's flagship decarbonisation policy all but passed parliament.

Tax incentives for renewable hydrogen production and critical minerals processing passed the Senate with amendments from the Greens on Monday night after the government struck a deal with the minor party.

The Australian Government website has the best overview of what's actually in it that I've seen

Sandell said while Greens’ primary vote held up, they did not pick up any of Labor voters – despite the party’s decision not to field a candidate in the seat.

In short:

A controversial West Australian MP has legally changed his name to Austin Trump, aka "Aussie" Trump.

A month out from the state election, the response from voters in his electorate has been mostly negative

Political analysts say it is an extreme sign of a nascent trend of conservative politicians aligning themselves with the new US president.

'Extremely cringe', locals say

the notthechaser material continues

• 5 year battle.
• ~$400,000 in taxpayer funds wasted in legal fees.
• Liberal, National, and Labor in anti-transparency unity ticket.
• Minister Bridget McKenzie acted beyond her powers.
• Rex Patrick is a bloody legend.
• We now have it confirmed a Governments documents may not be shredded, and do in fact belong to the Nation and not the Ministers. That is until they find a loophole.