The difference between Australia and China
Sorry if I sound wide-eyed, but I was mightily impressed when I visited China as a guest of the Australia-China Relations Institute. Those guys are going places.
Ross Gittins is economics editor of the SMH and an economic columnist for The Age. His books include Gittins' Guide to Economics, Gittinomics and The Happy Economist.
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Sorry if I sound wide-eyed, but I was mightily impressed when I visited China as a guest of the Australia-China Relations Institute. Those guys are going places.
The plain fact is that the mainstream politicians have forfeited our trust and lost our respect.
The success of Labor's Mediscare in this election is worrying - but not for the reason you may imagine.
I get criticised by rusted-on supporters of both sides of politics when I say this, but that doesn't stop it being true: there are differences between the two sides' policies, but they're not as great as they want us to believe (and their supporters do believe).
Most of us have highly stereotypical, caricatured views of the parties' respective strengths and weaknesses.
Does the Coalition really want its generous mates to "pay their fair share of tax"? Be sceptical. I am.
The government has taken brave steps to clean up a mess it created years ago but in terms of fairness it falls short.
Many voters have strong views for or against negative gearing. But when rival politicians fall to arguing about their policies, most of us find we don't know enough to decide who's right.
Is there any justification for a royal commission into the conduct of the banks? Is it just a political stunt? All royal commissions are called for political reasons and many are stunts, in the sense that their primary objective is just to bring particular issues into the public spotlight.
How has the Herald changed in 185 years? How should I know – I've been working for it for less than a quarter of that time.
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