Welfare

Garnaut can’t see the forest for the trees

GreensBlog - July 4, 2008 - 4:37pm

This was published in Crikey this afternoon. My release from today is here.

Professor Garnaut’s much-awaited Draft Report is, in general, strong on the architecture but terribly weak on the big, over-riding issue – preventing runaway climate change. His policy prescriptions are completely out of step with his science.

When we were looking for a transformative vision to take Australia into the post-carbon world, we got an incrementalist approach with a slow start and even a step backwards on the 2050 target. Read more »

Even libertarians can see "work for the dole" as a bad idea

An Onymous Lefty - June 13, 2008 - 11:36am

Even the libertarians at Catallaxy think work for the dole is a bad idea. Jason Soon's piece is entitled "Let the people surf" (being a conservative doesn't mean being a spiteful bastard), and Skepticlawyer remarks:

I also think mutual obligation is an utterly pointless exercise in time-wasting that allows Centrelink bureaucrats to behave like martinets, as this post ably outlines. Read more »

Special Disability Trusts

GreensBlog - May 16, 2008 - 4:46pm

Although the introduction of the Special Disability Trust (SDT) in September 2006 was welcomed by parents and carers of those living with disabilities, it has not been as widely taken up as expected, during questioning in Senate Estimates it was revealed that only 22 trusts have been established Australia wide to date. [...]