Not all tax cuts are equal

Saturday Oct 8

%%=v(@salutation)=%%

We may share a monarch, a language and few democratic processes, but Australia is not Britain. Just as well, given the UK is heading down the plug hole while the Albanese government is still enjoying a honeymoon. But is Labor about to be ruined by the planned stage three tax cuts?

Bernard Keane shed light on the tax debate, noting our planned cuts are not the same as those reversed in the UK, while Christopher Warren argued why we mustn’t trust what the financial markets want, and Guy Rundle suggested the left needs to blast Labor.

Elsewhere Crikey also reported on Andrew Thorburn’s brief stopover as CEO of Essendon, whether Australia will be rebuilding part of Ukraine, the wash-up from the conservative action conference, the rise and rise of artificial intelligence, and why the US border control is asking travelling women about abortion.

That plus plenty more below. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.

Peter Fray,
Editor-in-chief

Why the UK pension system nearly collapsed last week (apart from Truss’ stupidity)

GLENN DYER and BERNARD KEANE

If you're stupid enough to cause a big spike in the cost of borrowing by your government, you end up inflicting all sorts of damage.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng (Image: AAP/EPA/Tolga Akmen)

Liz Truss, a failed tax cut for the rich, and a honeymoon that barely began

STEVE RICHARDS

Behaving like a caricature of Margaret Thatcher on speed, the UK's new prime minister has detonated her reputation in record time.

It’s a bad time to ditch those tax cuts — both politically and in policy terms

BERNARD KEANE

Should Labor dump the 2024 tax cuts just because the British dumped theirs? No. It's too soon to decide what will be needed in 2024.

Markets want what the markets want — and that’s not a good reason to oppose stage three tax cuts

CHRISTOPHER WARREN

With the UK's volte-face on high-end tax cuts, it's tempting to apply the same logic here. But pressure from financial markets shouldn't be a trustworthy impetus for change.

Australian quizzed about abortion at US border says DFAT must update travel advice

JULIA BERGIN

Women travelling to or through the US deserve to know that they could be asked confronting questions, say women's rights groups.

Madolline Gourley (Image: Supplied)

There are zero reasons for not blasting Labor from the left

GUY RUNDLE

Don't go easy on Labor when it makes promises that are well-intentioned but easily broken, or when it fails to make a genuine effort.

Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)

Where was Andrew Thorburn’s Christian faith when he was NAB’s CEO?

BERNARD KEANE

If Essendon's now former CEO is so concerned about the importance of personal religious faith in public life, it's strange the bank he ran committed so many crimes against its customers.

(Image: Mitchell Squire/Private Media)

Australia looks at ‘adopting’ a region to help rebuild ravaged areas of Ukraine

AMBER SCHULTZ

The federal government is considering a proposal put forward by the Ukrainian ambassador to rebuild Mykolaiv and Kherson.

(Image: Mitchell Squire/Private Media)

AI can now create videos. What happens when we can’t tell if they’re real or not?

CAM WILSON

Both Meta and Google have showed off DALL-E but for video — text-to-video AI models that can create photorealistic, coherent videos.

Videos created from text prompts by artificial intelligence (Image: Google)

Inside CPAC, conservative elites are fighting their supporters over the future of the right

CAM WILSON

Organisers of Australia's right-wing conference wanted to use the weekend to set the direction of conservative politics in the country. The attendees had other ideas.

Former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, James Morrow, Rowan Dean and Rita Panahi appear at a live filming of Outsiders at CPAC Australia (Image: ADH.tv)

Jacinta Price is the breakout star of the opposition to the Voice to Parliament

CAM WILSON

The NT senator was a big hit at the conservative CPAC conference over the weekend.

Who didn’t get a podium spot at the conservative talkfest?

CHARLIE LEWIS

This weekend's CPAC was, as ever, an array of the right's most easily booked. So who missed out on a gig?

‘Walk in our shoes’: Rachel Perkins on The Australian Wars — and how she hopes it will aid understanding of a Voice

TOM RAVLIC

Arrernte/Kalkadoon filmmaker Rachel Perkins' three-part series interrogates the bloody history of European settlement in Australia.

Rachel Perkins in The Australian Wars (Image: SBS/The Australian Wars)

Independent Helen Haines scores top spot on national anti-corruption body — but calls for committee structure reform

AMBER SCHULTZ

It's a rare move, as despite their representative power on the crossbench, minor parties and independents rarely sit on on committee chairs.

Independent Helen Haines (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

Genetic hangovers or evolutionary benefits? Nobel prize winner explores effects of Neanderthal gene

JULIA BERGIN

What exactly can a dose of Neanderthal DNA get you? Well, there's good, there's bad and there's painful.

Swedish scientist Svante Pääbo (Image: dpa via AP/Hendrik Schmidt)

One Nation, Australian Christian Lobby listed as hate groups by global extremism think tank

CAM WILSON

A global anti-hate think tank's list of 20 Australian hate and extremist groups includes everything from explicit neo-Nazi groups to far-right Australian political parties and lobby groups.

Pauline Hanson (Image: AAP/Lukas Koch)

‘We need time’: NSW Liberals fear the teal train is approaching — and the party is acting too slow

ANTON NILSSON

The NSW premier has downplayed concerns safe Liberal seats could fall to independents at the March election, but some are worried.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and independent challenger for Vaucluse Karen Freyer (Images: AAP/Supplied)

Unsubscribe from Weekender newsletter
Manage your subscription preferences
Contact us