September 5 – 11, 2020
News
Comment
Comment
James Boyce
The case for a death tax
“The reason Australia doesn’t have a death tax – when almost every other developed nation does – can be traced back 40 years to a fear that old people would move to the Gold Coast to avoid paying one. On such absurd grounds, Australia has forfeited hundreds of billions of dollars and inequality has deepened.”
Comment
Paul Bongiorno
Recession and the long way out
“On Wednesday, when the national accounts confirmed Australia’s biggest economic contraction since the Great Depression, the federal government had a ready and credible excuse. But it was of little consolation to the one million Australians already out of work, or for the 400,000 people who the government expects will lose their jobs by the end of the year.”
Letters, Cartoon & Editorial
Culture
Books
Life
Sport
Grand slam tennis resumes … for some
Grand slam tennis has returned with Australian players including James Duckworth having headed into the US Open ‘bubble’. Journeyman Matt Reid, however, opted to sit out the tournament at home, swapping his racquet for a hammer and chisel at a Sydney quarry.
Puzzles
Quotes
Lodgings
“Sydney prime ministers have Kirribilli House and it’s wonderful … And what do we have when we have a Melbourne prime minister?”
The former president of the Victorian Liberals finds a new passion after his party’s branch-stacking scandal, one more in line with his moral compass: real estate.
Justice
“The appellant, now 54 years of age, will find it difficult to find work if he loses his job as a police officer.”
The Queensland judge throws out Neil Punchard’s jail sentence. The police officer’s wellbeing was considered by the court, seemingly more than he considered the wellbeing of the woman whose address he leaked to the former partner she’d made a domestic violence accusation against.
Teamwork
“I certainly think it’s the right step forward for the players, because I think it unifies the players.”
The men’s tennis world No. 1 expresses his support for unification by forming a breakaway players’ association that excludes women.
Careers
“Even if he’s a homophobic misogynist?”
The Sky News Britain host asks whether Tony Abbott is qualified to join the British Board of Trade. Of course, the former Australian prime minister doesn’t bother himself with this kind of name-calling – just don’t call him a health dictator.
Discretion
“I don’t think there’s any media on this webinar…”
The New South Wales premier breaks with Liberal climate policy, spruiking net zero emissions and saying a legislated target “is the stuff of dreams in Australia”. It appears there was media on the webinar.
Economics
“We don’t have the luxury of movements on monetary policy to boost demand.”
The treasurer says that with interest rates at record lows the government will have to spend big to pull Australia’s economy out of the Covid-19 recession, just a day after he cut its largest pandemic spending program.
