Keywords: Income Adequacy
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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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ECONOMICS
In politics, one should never opt for a balanced and thoughtful description of the truth when wild exaggerations will do. Especially when you want to take from the poor and give to, if not exactly the rich, at least the investor class. The dire pronouncements from the Abbott Government in response to the Commission of Audit's 86 recommendations reflect not only the PM's relentless negativity, but also more than a whiff of class war.
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INTERNATIONAL
- John Falzon
- 22 December 2010
3 Comments
Dylan Thomas wrote that 'A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe.' Our 'good poem' is the listening to, and learning from, the people on the margins. But it will only be a 'good poem' if these whispers are translated into collective action.
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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
- Frank Quinlan
- 07 May 2010
1 Comment
'Poverty alleviation is a national goal that should be financed by the
national government,' argues the Henry
report. This sentence cuts through years
of evasion and obfuscation. Poverty is back on the agenda, and it's the Federal Government's responsibility.
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AUSTRALIA
Hopefully the Government's delay in providing a comprehensive response is not a sign of lost momentum, but rather means it is going to work directly with disadvantaged and vulnerable people and the organisations that support them to determine how best to address critical outstanding issues.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 15 December 2008
3 Comments
As Kevin Rudd ends 2008 and his first year on a high, it seems he's every bit the trickster John Howard was. We're heading into one of the worst recessions in living memory, yet the government leapt to a six month high in last week's Newspoll.
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AUSTRALIA
- Francis Sullivan
- 03 October 2007
Political leaders attribute hospital crises to administrative bungles rather than a lack of political oversight or investment. But they can't continue to put off dealing with the rising public frustration at the inadequacy of the system's capacity to meet the demand of an ageing population.
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