Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Wednesday of this week, the Senate wasted a day debating a bill to make it easier to racially offend, insult and humiliate our fellow Australians, at the direction of the Turnbull government. In response, Michael Cooney, the executive director of the Chifley Research Centre, tweeted a list of 100 issues more pressing for this nation than section 18C. And here they are in less than five minutes:

1. Slow wage growth

2. Underemployment

3. Rising income inequality

4. Unaffordable housing, and too far from employment

5. Decoupling of productivity (going up, which is good) from wages (flat, which is bad) and weakening productivity incentives as a result

6. Widening gender pay gap

7. Rising wealth inequality

8. Inadequate retirement savings for millions in a society where people live much longer

9. The persistent poverty and exclusion of 1 in 20 Australians despite a lifetime of headline-level economic growth

10. Weak domestic demand

11. Climate change

12. Investor uncertainty in renewable energy

13. Air pollution in urban areas (ozone and fine particle levels are not declining)

14. The increasing number of threatened species and ecological communities

15. The continued decline of Australia's biodiversity

16. Pests, diseases and weeds threatening agriculture and forestry, native species, natural regeneration—warming makes it even worse

17. Largely unregulated microplastics and nanoparticles threatening coastal waterways

18. Migratory shorebird populations and saltmarshes are declining

19. Ocean acidification

20. Coral bleaching—the Great Barrier Reef! …

21. Too few kids getting early childhood education

22. Too few families getting childcare when they want to work more hours

23. Early childhood educators not getting paid enough to support their qualifications and to encourage them to stay in the profession

24. Kids who are in childcare not getting quality care and development because of pressure on staff numbers, costs and weak regulation

25. Too many five-year-old children arriving in formal education not ready to learn

26. Corporate tax evasion

27. Regional unemployment

28. Underfunding for family violence prevention and protection measures

29. Affordable housing shortage …

30. Growth of unpaid work

31. The falling share of secure or well-paid work

32. Pay cuts for people on unsociable hours (penalty rates)

33. Sexual harassment in the workplace

34. Bullying in the workplace

35. People dying at work

36. Indigenous child mortality

37. Indigenous kids not getting early childhood education

38. The gap in indigenous school attendance

39. The literacy and numeracy gap

40. The year 12 attainment gap

41. Indigenous unemployment …

42. Indigenous life expectancy

43. Mentally ill citizens don't get the support they need

44. Ageing citizens don't get the homes they deserve

45. Rough sleeping

46. Our veterans are killing themselves. For some of them, coming home is more dangerous than going away was.

47. Veterans find it hard to reintegrate into work—and communities

…   …   …

51.

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Internet is

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Stupid second-rate NBN … a biggie for growth and inclusion

52. Four in ten of Australia's lowest-income households are not connected to the internet

53. Three quarters of people over 65 feel confused about using technology

54. One million people with a reported disability do not have internet access at home …

55. Our national institutions are not corruption-resistant

56. The abuse of state wards

57. The avoidance of tax by the richest—and the most politically connected

58. Wage theft …

59. The mistreatment of prisoners, especially minors

60. Australia's crumbling infrastructure

61. Australia's energy infrastructure—and not just its market incentives—is unready for renewables

62. Widening gender gap in superannuation …

63. One in four children are overweight or obese. It's worse for poorer children and for children outside the big cities.

64. One in four adults are obese. Not overweight or obese but obese (and yes, worse for poorer people and those outside the big cities)

65. Workforce shortages are inhibiting Australia's ability to meet increasing demands for high-quality aged care

66. Workforce shortages will potentially limit the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme!

67. The shortage of nurses is measured in the tens of thousands, on any estimate

68. The number of Australians whose gambling causes them real problems is measured in six figures …

69. The number of Australians whose literacy is level 1 or level 2—the lowest levels—is measured in the millions and millions

70. Youth unemployment/underemployment is at a 40-year high …

71. School funding isn't based on need or on a rational allocation of resources that measures the cost of an excellent school education

72. Investment in the vocational education and training (VET) sector has fallen in real terms, and government expenditure on VET is now lower than it was ten years ago

73. The number of TAFE students fell by more than one fifth in the two years to 2015

74. Compared to 2013 there are 130,000 fewer apprentices in the system today

75. The number of apprentices as a proportion of workers in trades—one in ten—is the lowest it has been for ten years

76. Nearly half of all people who start an apprenticeship don't finish it …

77. Budget cuts to the ATO mean tax rorts drain revenue to support public goods—goods like apprenticeships and training

78. Australia's next head of state will be selected by primogeniture …

79. There is also a specific religious test applied to the selection of Australia's head of state

80. There is the flag of another country right there on Australia's flag …

81. Constraints on good-faith free speech that actually are in the public interest (defamation laws; excessive constraints on reporting on intelligence operations and on defence matters)

82. There is still no land reserved for high-speed rail on the east coast

83. Is the Medicare rebate keeping up with costs so bulk billing stays strong? …

84. One in 20 Australians already say they delay visiting their GP, or do not visit at all, because of cost

85. Getting the Joint Strike Fighter in the air …

86. Working out how many jobs are at risk from automation and machine learning …

87. Working out whether machine learning will create jobs that replace the jobs lost—because if not, new sources of investment start now

88. Working out what the distributional effects are even in the "good" scenario where there are new jobs—will they pay good wages?

89. Redesigning the new technologies of "online auctions for human services" so they operate as humane labour markets

90. Ice. Ice is more pressing than 18C.

91. Restoring independence, prestige, respect and leadership to the APS institutions

92. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to pass 1,000,000 by 2056

…   …   …

95. Gambling—the massive increase in gambling advertising and promotion

96. Leaders nurturing a political culture where ideas are rewarded more than ideology

97. The public rewarding debate over ideas with patience—

And Jason Johannisen's contract renewal! (Time expired)