What do Australians think part 2 – family, work and politics

When it comes to helping the elderly with their everyday lives – from house cleaning to grocery shopping – most think government agency should be responsible followed by families. There is also overwhelming support for public funds to help the cost of caring for the elderly.

When asked about how many days a week people spend personally on household work (not including childcare) the cluster is around 10 hours with a similar amount of time looking after family members (eg children, elderly or disabled family members) although for some reason a tiny minority seem to spend more than 80 hours a week on it. This work seems to be fairly well shared between spouses. read more

A short note on an amazing development

There are possibly millions of people around the world today cheering former Vice President, Dick Cheney.

The man who sexed up the non-existent weapons of mass destruction; launched massive unrest and violence in the Middle East; and was probably the power behind the throne in the Bush White House has come out with a devastating condemnation of Donald Trump. read more

The global political gender divide

Peter Dutton is heading down a political path – belligerent and scare-mongering – which many other political leaders around the world are following.

His problem, like his counterparts around the world, is that it is having a significant impact on how women around the world vote and opening up a significant gender gap in voting behaviour. read more

Indefatigable campaigners

In a week Victoria will once again foot the bill for an event- the grand prix – which has been promoted by successive governments despite the huge costs it inflicts on taxpayers. All justified by economic benefit claims which are massively exaggerated.

 Peter and Joan Logan have been indefatigable campaigners against the event – exposing year after year the Grand Prix and Government’s transparently dodgy claims. Their latest expose has recently been published in Pearls and Irritations and is reproduced with permission. read more

What has she been smoking?

The Liberal Party Deputy Leader, Sussan Ley, is a woman of strong and forthright views. Sadly, they don’t always seem to be well-considered, coherent or even close to being rational.

For instance, immediately after Albanese announced he would re-jig the Stage Three tax cuts she announced an incoming Liberal Government would repeal his changes. read more

Theocracy meets dodgy science

If you go to court in the US on any issues to do with abortion or IVF you might end up confronting a judge who decides your case on his personal theocratic beliefs or one who relies on dodgy science.

Recently the Alabama chief justice, Tom Parker, who ruled that embryos are ‘extrauterine children’, gave a clear example of the theocratic foundation of his thinking when he said: “The people of Alabama have declared the public policy of this State to be that unborn human life is sacred. We believe that each human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God, created by Him to reflect His likeness … [they] have required us to treat every human being in accordance with the fear of a holy God who made them in his image.” read more

Dutton’s nuclear policy: a new form of climate denial

When Twiggy Forrest, Private Eye, The Financial Times and Bloomberg all describe why nuclear power is not the answer you have to wonder why Peter Dutton can’t hear the message.

Why Dutton doesn’t was nailed by Forrest at a recent National Press Club address where he said:  “If you think that nuclear came out of nowhere, no, it didn’t. It’s been pushed by the fossil fuel sector as a great way to delay the whole country for 20 years from switching over to fossil fuels forever. read more

An insider’s view of how public relations really works