for no good reason except that the Coalition and the Greens want to grandstand to narrow and competing voter bases that can never be pleased., which gets a blank cheque from politicians. Instead of focusing on fixing the biggest disability problems first, it is an uncapped free-for-all.
Nobody is saying emissions can’t be curbed, or the disabled not cared for, or unfairness at work tolerated. But the way we go about these things is self-indulgent and even puerile amid today’s challenges.Polling ahead of the Summit showed that business fears a recession. But what worries them most is not inflation or war, it’s the politically self-inflicted blows of policy uncertainty and political risk.
Defence is now an elevated cost, and will go well beyond the 2 per cent of GDP benchmark used by Western allies. AUKUS has brought impressive bipartisanship. But as the costs and difficulties mount, the habit of political sniping will return, at the expense of the greater purpose. And many Australians will be sceptical of the need for, or the wisdom of, such a deterrent.