Analysis

On February 27, the federal government received a report on the review of the pensions system conducted by Jeff Harmer, the head of the families and community services department.

The free market has got us into this mess, and the free market will get us out of it.

“We have to cut down a lot of the clutter of anything, clutter of the work, focus product innovation, detail, all that is going on in the business but [we] just need to remove so much of the distraction to enable us to do that well”.

National accounts figures, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on March 4, showed that the Australian economy contracted by 0.5% in the three months to December, despite the federal government’s $10.6 billion stimulus package, which was paid out to pensioners and families before Christmas.

With the looming downturn, the federal government expects that a further 300,000 people will be on the unemployment line by the middle of 2010. It expects that the unemployment rate will reach around 7%, around 800,000 people. Others have predicted unemployment could reach as high as 9%.

Green Left weekly’s Kylie Moon spoke to Matt Wright from Beyond Zero Emissions, a Melbourne-based climate change activist group, about BZE’s campaign strategy and current activities for 2009.

Q&A’s two-party “balance” The ABC’s Q&A’s format has predictably resulted in a deliberate search for Coalition supporters to achieve audience “balance”. The cause of this problem is the format of Q&A, which is built around politicians of the major parties. This is quite different from the predecessor program Difference of Opinion, which was productive of a much greater panel variety than the sterile two-party context.

Government has a responsibility to restore full employment by making an “unconditional job offer” at a liveable minimum wage to all who want to work.

Do you think this headline is too harsh? Do we still need to give these politicians time to act the way many hoped they would?

One of the most prominent Murri campaigners in Brisbane, longtime social justice activist, Sam Watson, will contest Queensland Premier Anna Bligh’s seat of South Brisbane at the March 21 state election. Watson is running as the candidate for the Socialist Alliance.

On January 29 this year, NSW health minister John Della Bosca admitted his department owed $117 million in unpaid bills, but argued this was only a "small proportion" of the budget.

Plastics manufacturer Nylex has been placed in the hands of receivers. Nylex is a well-known name — the company produces the iconic Esky, water tanks, wheelie bins, hose and garden fittings, and interior trimmings for car manufacturers.