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Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Lobbyists, corruption and neoliberalism: Curates Egg

Simplicity is always the secret, to a profound truth, to doing things, to writing, to painting. Life is profound in its simplicity.
— Charles Bukowski, born in 1920



It's been a big week in art ... with Jim Pavlidis


All aboard the Teague train! How did Carlton, the most Rolls-Royce of footy clubs, symbolically morph into the mode of transport favoured by Communist leaders?



GetUp hits back at 'extraordinary attack' by the PM


Left-wing lobby group GetUp has slammed Scott Morrison for an "undemocratic attack" on the organisation, saying "politics belongs to everyone", after the Prime Minister announced a new crackdown.



A New Assessment of the Role of Offshoring in the Decline in US Manufacturing Employment

Offshoring killed American manufacturing jobs.

"Mates of managers are put into management positions who are useless and cannot do that job; this makes the whole place a joke ...”( via SA ICAC). 


No, it’s not OK for the government to use your prescription details to recruit you for a study 



The Department of Human Services (DHS) is under scrutiny this week after the Nine papers revealed the department sent letters to 50,000 patients who were previously prescribed lithium. DHS was seeking to recruit the recipients into a non-government study on bipolar disorder.


GREG BAILEY. Lobbyists, corruption and neoliberalism


The revelations surrounding the fast tracking of visas for Chinese high rollers coming to Crown Casino and betting gargantuan amounts of money have been extensively covered over the last week in the media.  Corruption there certainly seems to be and not a little incipient anti-Chinese sentiment in sheeting this back mainly to wealthy Chinese gamblers. Continue reading 

MARK BUCKLEY. Buyer Beware – Politicians


When you buy a television you have an expectation that the thing will work, and that it will fulfil the purpose for which you bought it. In Australia we have a robust Consumer Law, which is quite exemplary, and quite differently from many of our human rights practices, actually elicits praise internationally. There is one ‘product class’ excluded from its coverage, sadly – politicians, and all their works. Continue reading 


JACK WATERFORD. When loyalty and duty are in conflict



How the new AFP chief juggled his role during an investigation that compromised his own superior
Reece Kershaw, the new Australian Federal Police Commissioner deserved to get the appointment via an open and independent appeal process. He might well have won it, and, assuming that he did, would be walking into the job in a few months confident that he was not facing the jealousies, innuendo and sabotage from colleagues who believe their merits were not considered, or that the selection was contaminated by “politics.”Continue reading