The Policy Post

  Early childhood: the neglected frontier that impacts almost everything. Education for our youngest kids is the key to an optimal future – for them and for the country. So why does Australia do it so badly? And what is being lost?

  We’re getting submarines. So what will we lose? The navy wins. Losers will be the army, the air force, Medicare, hospitals, schools, the unemployed – and the nation’s safety.

  How much longer will dementia be out of control? The causes are intractable or unknown. Medical research has hit a wall. And we don’t even detect cases effectively.

  Are our schools really that bad? No, actually. Jason Clare teams up with the Murdoch tabloids to smear the school system. He’s playing a dangerous game.

  In the state that needs GPs most, they’re more out of reach than ever.   Tasmania is our poorest and sickest state. And that fact magnifies Medicare’s worsening failure.

  Quietly, Chalmers moves on WA’s dodgy GST deal. Nobody is going to be happy. A rather large time-bomb, bequeathed to Jim Chalmers by the previous government, is set to explode in just over three years from now.

  Crime levels sink. Prisoner numbers soar. What’s going on? In Australia’s smallest state, a natural experiment shows a humane and rational approach to crime works – and tough-on-crime strategies fail.

  Is Labor serious about health? Doesn’t look like it. Mark Butler’s Medicare “Taskforce” isn’t action on health reform. It’s a substitute for action.

  Progressive politics always (in the end) wins. Here’s why. Throughout modern history, conservatives have won battles but lost the wars. It’s the other side – the reformists or ‘progressives’ – who eventually shape the world.

  How civilised? A scorecard of the 20 richest nations.   The wealthiest countries have no excuse for neglecting their own people. Here’s an assessment of the good – and the not-so-good.