October
- Opinion
- Federal election
The teals are strangely silent on Albanese’s flights
Maybe these independents don’t want to disrupt the system which may, one day, yield them a nice little upgrade on their way to Italy.
- Updated
August
- Opinion
- Health insurance
Not-for-profit health cover means no incentive to manage costs
As private hospitals struggle, the insurers that fund patients are content to let their management costs blow out.
April
- Opinion
- Big four
We should be glad banks are speaking up
Australia’s big banks are at the coalface of the economy. Governments should be listening when they highlight the need for change.
February
- Opinion
- Health insurance
Taxpayers shouldn’t have to subsidise Medibank’s four-day week
Rather than lead the pack in extending long weekends to its staff, the health insurer should cut its operating expenses and reduce premiums.
August 2023
- Opinion
- Big four
Greens’ juvenile bank bashing doesn’t measure up
Scepticism about the big banks is an important check on their power. But that is not what silly calls for “tycoon taxes” represents.
June 2023
- Opinion
- PwC tax scandal
Why the attacks on PwC are ideological and overblown
A PwC partner made a mistake and was rightly sanctioned for it. But a private sector that behaved like the public sector would be a loss all round.
February 2023
- Opinion
- Superannuation
Why banning ‘super for housing’ might be politically unsustainable
Raging inflation and normalising interest rates may now test household tolerance for a compulsory system that forces households to pay fees and margins on both sides of their balance sheet.
September 2022
- Opinion
- Jobs summit
If business groups were abolished, governments would recreate them
The jobs summit shows how lobbyists like the Business Council of Australia end up being recruited by politicians to skewer their own members.
July 2022
- Opinion
- Social responsibility
BlackRock shows why finance and fossil fuel politics shouldn’t mix
Governments that unleash fund managers and retail banks to make the hard climate decisions about oil and gas are dodging accountability.
May 2022
- Opinion
- Federal election
Three reasons privileged seats should not vote teal
Claims the Liberal Party has taken these electorates for granted or that they need a bigger voice in Canberra is, frankly, insane.
February 2022
- Opinion
- Anthony Albanese
It’s Labor’s choice to reform bloated health and education sectors
Is Anthony Albanese up to the challenge of driving national productivity by reforming dysfunctional public services?
April 2021
- Opinion
- Climate policy
The West must not give China a free ride on net zero
Giving Beijing until 2060 to meet climate targets will only mean it gets more time to cheat, and better opportunities to pursue its military build-up.
- Opinion
- Gender equality
Tech and virtue signalling don’t mix
Industry leaders that refuse to engage with Christian Porter should be careful about playing politics. Technology companies need to be trusted, expert, and impartial to do business with government.
August 2020
- Opinion
- Governance
Merit has followed Murray out the door
Yes, the former AMP Chair was out of touch with corporate wokeness. He believed in merit, competition and other sensible and well-tested principles.
April 2020
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
How the WHO managed to hang itself out to dry
The global medical body stuck with advice that its own members ignored for so long that it made itself an easy target for White House anger.
January 2020
- Opinion
- Political leadership
Breaking cabinet secrecy would restore trust in government
Greater transparency and jettisoning the bizarre rules that oblige ministers to lie would encourage more positive public perceptions of party politics.