In Garrison Keilor’s mythical town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, ‘all the children are above average’. And that’s where we’d all like our superannuation fund returns to be – above average. And that’s what the Productivity Commission is trying to achieve, by suggesting that all default schemes should be chosen from one of the ‘top 10’ or ‘best in show’ funds and underperforming funds should be closed. It sounds great! Where’s the flaw?Read More »
As this year progressed, I found myself with more free time than I want. So I began to look around to volunteer for other organisations. So far, I’ve drawn a blank! I’m a free volunteer, looking for work, but none is to be found! What’s the problem?Read More »
It was the ‘fake honey’ story that finally got me. How could any organisation even conceive of ‘fake honey’, let alone produce it in their products? Each day as I read the news, the headlines are familiar. Another organisation, another industry fails to be ethical, fails to follow the rules. Each day we are shocked…by what is the same issue much of the time: it’s the lack of regulators or lack of regulators enforcing the rules. Here’s how to fix many of the organisation/industry scandals that arise from the lack of regulators.Read More »
I write to you as my local Federal member of Parliament. After the shambolic chaos of your party’s internal power plays last week that led to yet another new Prime Minister and you accidentally being elected Deputy Leader and Treasurer, I realised that the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) you had fought so hard for, though very flawed, was a genuine attempt to plot your way through the minefield of environment and energy policy.
Though I campaigned against it, and against you because of your support for coal mining, I realised that you almost achieved balancing a carbon emissions reductions target, an energy supply guarantee and some commitment to price reduction, in the face of the warring sections of your party. Here’s why I’m sorry now that you failed and what you need to do if you want to be the next leader of your party.Read More »
On July 25, the impending death of Melbourne’s leading thinking newspaper was announced. The planned takeover of The Age by chequebook journalism, entertainment empire is such a clash of cultures that the death of independent journalism at The Age is certain. Why did this happen?Read More »
So we (Victorians) have just stopped using single-use plastic bags in supermarkets and we are feeling very good about ourselves. But this is just a drop in the ocean in our plastics use. Research shows that over 800 million – yes million – pieces of plastic enter Pt Phillip Bay from just its two main rivers each year. Research shows that plastics have infiltrated every ocean, every water supply and many food products. Films such as ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘The Plastic Ocean’ and TV series such as ‘The War on Waste’ show how badly our environment has been and is being damaged by our uncontrolled use of plastic. How can we address this environmental disaster?Read More »
I love wine. But I am influenced by expert ratings and gold stars on the bottle – I can’t taste every wine before I drink it! Over time, I’ve felt that the number of wines receiving high ratings and gold stars has increased significantly – when was the last time you say a wine rated below 90? A bit of numerical analysis supports this: either wines are highly over-rated…or Australia has the best wines in the world.Read More »
Respected thinker Clive Hamilton’s new book, ‘The Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia’, is very scary essential reading. This book’s deep research opened my eyes to China, especially now that Xi is President for life. It’s essential reading because it exposes so much that has long term impacts. If we don’t recognise these factors soon, it may be too late.Read More »
Following the irony of environmental leader China (??) refusing to be the recipient of the world’s ‘recycling’ rubbish, Australian government responses seem to be: ‘OMG, we’ll have to stop recycling’. Another chance for Australia to be a world leader looks like going begging. Surely there’s a better response than putting our head in the sand, as plastic and other recyclable products pile up on ocean beaches, in fish and in us, all over the world.Read More »
I spent 20 days recently with a CEO friend on a group trip with other very smart common friends. After observing her management of the group and reflecting on my own pretty effective use of time, I concluded that effective CEOs, having more energy (a topic I’ve blogged on before), just get a lot more done in their day than the average person. Here’s how.Read More »
