I largely agree with you, but Max disparaging our preferential voting system - which is one of the best parts of our democracy - rather than accepting the defeat with humility, was pretty disappointing.

Despite the new DOGE rhetoric from the LNP, the political centre of gravity is shifting to reallocating the limited output of a stagnant system to favoured constituencies, rather than any plan for greater productivity or competitiveness.

True of the so-called centre-right, and the so-called left.

Even worse, it's becoming difficult to imagine liberal democratic political systems, implementing the changes required to get things going again.

We need a chainsaw-level deregulation of land-use planning & occupational licencing, but the political appetite is only there for piecemeal reforms.

Wild. I've never noticed backlash here, parents still have to sign a form approving the vaccines, antivax parents can just decline to sign it. Recently there's also been provision for free catch-up immunisations (HPV, etc) for young adults who missed them in school for one reason or another.

Woah, the US doesn't have school-based vaccination programs? We do in Australia and I guess I assumed that would be the case in all first-world countries..

I suppose the counter argument is that: if take-home pay had been higher, consumption spending would have been higher, which would have been inflationary in an economy where demand already exceeded supply capacity, and the RBA would have raised rates more to offset that..?

If Crisafulli makes the policy changes suggested, there's a good chance the forecasts will no longer show us on track, and hopefully there'll be many articles criticising his government to that effect..

Any exercise in forecasting is conditional on certain assumptions - assuming currently legislated policies continue as intended seems about as defensible as any.

From the DCCEEW report. Underlying emissions are declining but the amount of carbon absorbed by land use is also declining from seasonal highs. The headline numbers don't paint the full picture.

Yeah it's the ALP who just passed two bills providing $16b more funding for state schools, 15% payrise for early educators & paid prac for teachers, nurses, midwives & social workers who are vindictive cowards. True lions sit behind animal avatars, moaning & whinging from the sidelines on X/BlueSky