Blogotariat

This post is written on unceded lands of the sovereign Darug people. I offer my respects to their elders and express my profound gratitude that our family may live safely here.

It has come to my attention that there are some gaps in Australian public knowledge of how Australian federalism works. While underemployed at home, I thought it might be useful to write up a bit of an explainer.

First Peoples First

The second most powerful man in Australia is hospitalised with Covid-19. In a crowded field, few men have done more to tear at the fabric of the Australian polity than Peter Dutton.

…instead of saying they want to reduce government deficits and debt, supporters of “fiscal consolidation” and other such policies should say that they want to lower growth and lower private sector net saving, since that’s what the impact of their policies is likely to be. At the very least, supporters of austerity should indicate which of the other two balances will be reduced along with the government’s budget deficit, and how they will do this. The budget deficit cannot be reduced without reducing the private sector surplus and/or the current account deficit.

Last night I was interviewed by TRT – Turkey’s answer to Al Jazeera – on a panel moderated by Adnan Azwaz on the Australian fires. My fellow panellists were Professor Mark Howden and Tony Kevin. Azwaz did a good job, and his courteous approach to moderation could teach Tony Jones a thing or two, although he […]

Emergency information

Fires Near Me (NSW), Vic Emergency (Victoria)

Context

These photographs were taken on 28 December on Bells Line of Road, which runs between western Sydney and Lithgow. Bells Line of Road is the northernmost of two road crossings of the Blue Mountains between Sydney and western NSW.

As one of the longest and hottest days of the year dawned, Australians woke up to the news that two volunteer fire fighters, Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer, are dead. The photos, published by the NSW Rural Fire Service, of each man smiling proudly and holding his baby for the camera are gut wrenching. They are western Sydney dads in their 30s, Aussie everymen.