Free Childcare Downunder
We have seen a spate of one-size-fits-all welfare payments and subsidies. You know, instead of governments helping the most needy they make stuff free for all. This is done for political purposes in attracting votes at elections. All this does is increase wealth inequality. Well off property owners should not be receiving government assistance in maintaining their lifestyles. This brings us to the Alan Kohler call for free childcare downunder. While I support the general idea, I question why wealthy Australians should qualify for these types of assistance. How about a carve out for those over a certain income and capital asset threshold? We need to reverse the widening wealth divide after decades of American style neoliberalism funnelling riches to a select few in Australia.
No Free Stuff For All Please
Meanwhile, poor Australians struggle to afford to see the dentist when they really need to. Rents and property prices continue to inflate at record rates. Inflation, following Donald Trump’s inept and corrupt efforts on the global stage, is going to rise steeply again. This means fuel and food costs will increase through 2026 and likely into 2027. Our government should be helping those in economic need not propping up wealthy Australians with free stuff for all. Governments with a progressive bent have been appealing electorally to the selfish right wing element of the population via offering free stuff for all. This only maintains wealth inequality instead of redistributing some of that wealth.
Childcare Should Be Free For Those Who Cannot Afford It
The Coalition created a neoliberal privatised childcare sector profiting from government subsidies in the billions. This is government welfare going to shareholders and investors instead of those who truly need it. Make the childcare sector public, as Alan Kohler has suggested, just like the primary and secondary education sectors. Get the blood sucking private interests out of it. Do you know why we have such massively inflated property prices in Australia? It is because we have a banking sector making billions out of this market. The average profit margin on a home loan is $200K in Australia. The market does not look after things, as the neoliberal economic promise stated. We have an acute housing shortage and governments stopped building social housing decades ago. Australia was built on social housing. The Commonwealth Bank share price is wildly overpriced. Why is that? This used to be a government asset before it was privatised. It used to serve all Australians and not just a select few investors. The housing market in Australia is a disgrace and is ushering in a return to feudalism on economic terms. The OECD has warned Australia about its prospects if nothing is done to correct it.
“The OECD has called on the Albanese Government to broaden the GST, do more to reduce greenhouse emissions and adopt ambitious social housing targets as part of its annual economic survey of Australia.”
It may seem naïve to say so, but housing is essentially about people having a roof over their heads and not primarily an investment vehicle. What has happened since John Howard’s meddling is a distortion of an integral aspect of human life. It has made things much harder for a large portion of our population. Obviously, something has to be done to reverse this and it must be done quick smart.
American Influenced Zombie Neoliberalism Downunder
Returning to the Alan Kohler call for free childcare downunder, whilst it sounds great there needs to be a caveat regarding the wealthy among us. We have a tax system in Australia which taxes income for the working poor but allows asset rich Aussies and millionaires to minimise their taxation imposts. This is wrong and, again, stems from America, where the ruthless manipulation of capitalism has produced a billionaire factory. The extreme wealth inequality in America has seen their top tax rate be lowered from 90% in the 1960s to only 37% now – that is a huge drop. The wealthy have gamed the system and the political process does not serve the majority of folk over there and the same stuff is happening over here. We had two decades of LNP federal governments inspired by their Yank counterparts in this regard. We are left with zombie neoliberalism, which refuses to die even though we have a nominal Labor government.
Trump Shows Where Right Wing Excess Leads
Whilst I support free childcare for all those Australians, who truly need it, and the sector becoming largely public, I do not support rich people getting free stuff from the government. Albanese has too much political motivation and too little principled Labor values running through his veins. It is time to readjust these settings to deliver greater equality and equity for all Australians. Now, is the perfect time because Trump serves as the outrageous reminder of where right wing excess leads you. One Nation is MAGA Aussie style and these folk are kidding themselves if they think a majority of Australians are going to sign up for being exploited by billionaire oligarchs via the culture wars, as in America. Racism and simplistic migrant bashing are no solutions for the complex global challenges facing Australia. Younger Aussies, especially in the cities, are awake to the pitfalls of populism. What I want to see is a better Labor government making more of the tough calls on economic policy going forward.
Hey Albo, Fix The Gas Deals Will You!
“We need an Inquiry into why LPG gas deals have been so financially bad for the nation as a whole. Why do the gas companies pay so little tax and royalties on the huge amounts of gas they export for enormous profits? When elected representatives are deaf to their constituents, you know something is wrong with our democracy. Polling has indicated that 75% of Australians support a 25% export tax on LPG gas. Yet, this federal Labor government has knocked back proposed legislation to make this happen.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of The AI Heresy; What Price Life?; America Matters: Pre-apocalyptic Posts & Essays in the Shadow of Trump; and other titles. NOW AVAILABLE AT APPLE BOOKS & GOOGLE PLAY BOOKS. Google Play Books AUDIOBOOK
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