After years of neglect the federal government has shovelled billions of dollars into the mental healthcare system — but the debate on how best to spend it has just began. In the first of a four-part investigation Crikey surveys the long and bitter road towards reform.
November, 2011
Hey, panic merchants: asylum seekers are already living next door
The use of bridging visas will bring Australia in line with other countries that implement comprehensive community-based processing, writes Caz Coleman, a member of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution.
The Power Index: lobbyists, GetUp’s Simon Sheikh at #4
Simon Sheikh and his fellow GetUp! activists are masters at grabbing headlines, raising cash and combating the conservative cacophony that dominates our airwaves and opinion pages. But ask Canberra insiders about the group’s ability to influence policy and you’ll hear one word crop up again and again: overstated. Former finance minister Lindsay Tanner tells The Power […]
Woodside’s Kimberley: red dirt, pristine coastline … and heavy security
When West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said last week that he welcomed the announcement of a permanent US military presence in northern Australia), his words are worth considering in a wider context.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Small business and the light on the hill
Crikey reads have their say.
Morning Market Report: Markets rebound after seven days of losses
After seven days of losses the S&P 500 closed up 2.9% and only four stocks in the index fell.
Media briefs: The Oz kills time … Twitter as a source … new Murdoch vote …
Killing time at The Oz …The scourge of Twitter as a source … Front Page of the Day … The Department of Corrections … Charlotte Church claims Murdoch offered ‘good press’ to sing at wedding and more …
Power Shots: Power Shots: good press for wedding singer … lobby HQs face off …
Church: good press for singing at Murdoch wedding. If angelic superstar soprano Charlotte Church is to be believed, Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers may not have just offered favours to politicians for doing the right thing. They offered the service to singers as well. Church’s extraordinary allegations — which have been denied by News — were made on oath in London’s High […]
Political snippets: The magic 2.5% in Swan’s Fiscal Outlook
When in doubt just wave the magic wand and declare across the board savings of whatever amount you need to make a promise sound plausible.
Video of the Day: Miley joins the Occupy movement
Miley Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray, isn’t someone we’d normally associate with the struggling workers of the world. But the teen pop “star” used footage of global Occupy protests in her newest film clip, dedicating it “to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in”. Shame no one is protesting […]
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Walkleys hangovers bite hard. It took you long enough. Finally, some decent gossip from journalism’s night of nights, the Walkley Awards held in Brisbane on Sunday night. One spy teases: “Which Courier-Mail middle manager put his foot in it by loudly declaring the entertainment at the Walkleys (renowned classical guitarist Karen Schaupp) was excruciatingly boring and […]
Crikey Says: Picking over the mental health sector spoils
Just 20 years ago the federal government was perceived to have no role in mental health. Fast forward to the 2011/12 budget and the announcement from Julia Gillard of a five-year funding commitment of $2.2 billion.
Does Obama actually want to get re-elected?
How to explain Barack Obama’s bizarre series of bungles and thinly veiled attacks on the American public? Is it possible that he actually doesn’t want to spend four more years in the top job? asks Joseph Curl.
The recipe for magical Muppet movies
Michael Schulman approached the new Muppets movie cautiously but was quickly won over. How did Jason Segel and co. do it? Here are the seven commandments for how to make great Muppet cinema.
Regional papers bite the dust, unable to change as tide continues to turn
NSW mastheads The Tweed Daily News and The Coffs Coast Advocate have folded, leaving their journos jobless. The region will be worse without them but the simple fact is they weren’t able to change with the times, writes journogirl.
How Occupy was branded
The twitter hash tag #OCCUPYWALLSTREET spread like wildfire across the world. Canadian magazine Adbusters created it and an accompanying poster, which helped make the movement a viral sensation, reports William Yardley.
film reviews 
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead — bubbling with inspiration
Debut documentarian Joe Cross travelled across America on a juice only fasting diet for 60 days. If the pitch sounds like a glorified infomercial, rest assured his film is actually one of the most inspiring docos about healthy living ever made, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Egypt goes to the polls peacefully
Crikey media wrap: Long queues snaked through Cairo and other Egyptian cities yesterday as its citizens voted in elections for the first time since the disposal of dictator Hosni Mubarak.
A very capitalist thanksgiving
During Caroline Regidor’s first Thanksgiving in the US, she set aside her usual cynicism about retailers using the holidays to boost revenue and had a hoot at New York’s Thanksgiving parade.
Red Q, Un-Dead Q, where does Qantas go now?
Are claims by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce that it has not dropped its Red Q Asia based carrier credible? It appears to be like the parrot in the Monty Python sketch, not dead, just not talking, writes Ben Sandilands.
Essential: majority say no need for a fast return to surplus
The latest Essential poll reveals that 71% of the population are against returning to surplus if doing so means “cutting services and raises taxes” and 58% believe there is no rush, reports William Bowe.
What the whereabouts of Julian Assange tell us about how power works
Amongst so many other things, the current whereabouts of Julian Assange tells us that ‘They’ and ‘Them’ still exist and know how to run things. Does that sound too much like conspiracy country? Peter Chambers explains.
