Keywords: Redistribution Of Hope
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AUSTRALIA
- John Warhurst
- 06 May 2016
12 Comments
It was a political budget in a special sense, given the forthcoming election. Yet it turned out to be neither an election-winning nor election-losing budget. It was more continuity than change. In that sense it probably was the best the government could hope for given the nation's economic and financial circumstances. However it falls far short of the sort of budget that might have been expected from a prime minister like Malcolm Turnbull whose image is one off a 'big picture man'.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Falzon
- 19 December 2014
36 Comments
While the horrible tragedy was underway in Martin Place, a remarkable thing happened. We saw, and continue to see, a powerful sense of compassion in the 'I'll ride with you' spontaneous pledges. One one level it was a simple offer of human support. But it was also a deeply profound declaration of a vision for a just and inclusive Australia.
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AUSTRALIA
The Government's McClure interim welfare report is predicated on the big lie that welfare is the problem and the market is the solution. The long wait of the excluded for some of the wealth and resources, for some of the hope to trickle down, is one of the most audacious con jobs in modern history. It is not misfortune. It is not a mistake. It is not the fault of the excluded. It is an attack against ordinary people who are made to bear the burden of inequality.
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AUSTRALIA
The Budget was one of most vicious attacks on ordinary people that we have seen in recent Australian history. We are not in the throes of a fiscal crisis but if we embark on this treacherous path we will be staring down the barrel of a social crisis. But we have a secret weapon. It is called solidarity. Even though we name it openly and proudly, it remains a secret weapon because those who do not practise it can never understand it.
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AUSTRALIA
You don't build someone up by putting them down. You don't help someone into employment by pushing them into poverty. By keeping the unemployment benefit low, successive governments have deliberately humiliated people rather than improving their chances.
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INTERNATIONAL
- John Falzon
- 18 October 2010
5 Comments
There's something disquieting about quietness imposed from above in the heart of a democracy. Anti-Poverty Week is a good time to reflect on how, as a nation, can hear the revolutionary stories of the oppressed and abandoned in our midst.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Falzon
- 20 August 2010
20 Comments
Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Janet Phillips says that for Aboriginal Australians
there's no 'justice'; 'just us'.
How can we turn this election into a building block for a more equal society?
The answer involves weighing up the known
policies and track-record of both sides to assess their
impact on the growth of inequality.
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AUSTRALIA
- Fatima Measham
- 11 August 2010
15 Comments
In Sunday's Liberal campaign launch, Tony Abbott repeated the phrase 'big new tax' five times. Through taxes, we invest in a civilised society that would provide for
us in times of need. Taxes are therefore not a necessary evil. They are a
necessary good.
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AUSTRALIA
- John Falzon
- 11 December 2009
7 Comments
Aside from a few fanatical poverty-deniers, there is a broad consensus that we have a serious problem. Frantz Fanon reminded us nearly 50 years ago that we need a redistribution of wealth. 'Humanity must reply to this question, or be shaken to pieces by it.' We have been shaken to pieces.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Bruce Duncan
- 30 January 2009
6 Comments
Obama embraced Christianity because of his involvement with church groups,
sustaining the moral vision of
oppressed blacks. He has sketched a vision of social renewal that overlaps closely with Catholic
and Christian social thought.
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