Graham Matthews

The final report of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Review is difficult reading for many people with disability because its central aim is cost-cutting, argues Graham Matthews.

Members of the United Services Union in NSW are calling on their executive to support the calls for a ceasefire in Palestine, as the Australian Council of Trade Unions and many others have. Graham Matthews reports.

 

Dances With Empty Prams

Graham Matthews reviews Dancing with Empty Prams, the second book published by Tasmanian-based poet and ecosocialist Susan Austin.

Workers need a fairer, democratically accountable, transparent and responsive alternative to the Reserve Bank of Australia, argues Graham Matthews.

Labor’s threat to slash-and-burn NDIS funding gives the lie to Jim Chalmers’ claim that the budget would offer “more help for some of the most vulnerable in our community”, argues Graham Matthews.

Getting traffic lights installed next to a public school was a years-long battle that parents and citizens finally won. Graham Matthews reports.

The Treasurer’s “values-based capitalism” looks like it will include cuts to public spending, greater private investment, cuts to services and greater upfront costs, argues Graham Matthews

Cost of living

For those of us forced to live with it, Labor’s first budget since 2013 is both a missed opportunity and a threat of worse things to come, argues Graham Matthews.

Scott Morrison said he’s “blessed” to have had two children who are not living with disability. Graham Matthews argues that considering the mess he's made of the NDIS, this may just be one of the few honest statements he’s made.

 

Government action and worker solidarity are key to overcoming the scourge of insecure work and ensuring pay rises keep pace with inflation and productivity improvements, argues Graham Matthews.

As the Berejiklian government tries to soften people up for "opening up", three residents discuss the harsh lockdown in Sydney West.

The National Disability Insurance Scheme purports to support a better life for hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, their families and carers. Graham Matthews, Steve Warren, Terry Townsend and Lisa Macdonald argue for a needs-driven scheme.