Guy de Maupassant’s rivetting  Boule de Suif tells the story of a group of people travelling by carriage from Rouen to Le Havre during the Franco-Prussian war of1870-71. The travellers include three  well-to- do ‘respectable’ married couples, two nuns, and a man alone who identifies as a ‘left’- leaning democrat. The company is complete with a buxom,…

On the ABC PM program 29 July, about 11 minutes in, Treasurer Joe Hockey is interviewed about the proposed requirement that people on Newstart unemployment allowance will have to apply for 40 jobs a month – a proposal of concern to business in relation to floods of inappropriate applicants for jobs. Hockey made the interesting observation that…

Earlier in 2014, the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews set up a review of Australia’s social welfare system. The interim report of the review panel was released a few days ago. It is a long and complex report with many layers of ideas for changing the present system to make it more efficient and…

One great thing about the Conversation, where I often write, is that it makes accessible the work of  Australian researchers across a great diversity of fields. These include many in which I have had only a passing interest and very little knowledge. One of these researchers, an evolutionary biologist is Professor Rob Brooks who also writes…

Since the Federal Budget was brought down on 13 May, much commentary and analysis has focussed on its fairness and the impact on social equity. Former liberal party leader, Dr John Hewson, for example, has weighed in on this issue in an article  in the last few days. It is of course quite right that broad community…

It is refreshing to read Christine Lagarde’s recent speech to the London School of Economics – the Amartya Sen lecture as a counter to the unending negative assessments which have emerged since the 2014 Federal Budget. What a different mindset this represents to that of the Australian government’s constricted outlook and discourse – as reflected in its…

As the cold truth of the effects of the 2014 Budget come to light day by day, particularly its effects on people on low and middle incomes,  novelist Armistead Maupin’s description of contemporary American life – these new hard times – seems now particularly befitting for Australia. The description is used in Maupin’s  reprise of his Tales of the City…

The 2014 Federal Budget has ushered in a sweeping set of reforms to Australian social and economic landscape. My commentary is – https://theconversation.com/young-people-are-now-on-the-edge-of-our-reconfigured-welfare-state-26697 https://theconversation.com/federal-budget-2014-political-experts-react-26574

The Abbott Government’s National Commission of Audit released its report on 1 May. Here is what I said about it in a hastily written article for the Conversation: Commission of Audit wants to rip up Australia’s social contract There is much more that could be said and many more of the policy recommendations warrant thorough…

A few days ago, the Conversation published my latest article on what is being canvassed for the May budget – a rise in the pension eligibility age to 70 to take effect later in the 2020s. We will know the detail in a couple of weeks. The paper argues that just because life expectancy is…