Analysis

COVID-19 crisis highlights failure of private sector

Unions have an opportunity to step up the campaign against casualisation, as more people can see how unfair the system is, argues Sarah Hathway.

Panic buying or surviving in a dog-eat-dog system?

Panic buying is a normal response in a dog-eat-dog system that is clearly failing to meet essential needs, argues Sue Bolton.

Get mad, but don’t let them divide us

The government and corporate media are on a concerted push to divide us over who's to blame for the COVID-19 spread, argues Zebedee Parkes.

COVID-19: Workers should not be made to mortgage our future

The Coalition government’s second COVID-19 stimulus package allows workers to draw on their superannuation savings to meet immediate needs. It may sound generous but, as Lisbeth Latham argues, it shifts responsibility onto those already struggling.

Audio: Moreland socialist councillor Sue Bolton on social implications of COVID-19

Moreland councillor and Socialist Alliance member Sue Bolton speaks to Green Left Radio about the social implications of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Audio: Socialist Alliance national convenor Alex Bainbridge on political implications of COVID-19

Socialist Alliance national convenor Alex Bainbridge speaks to Green Left Radio about the political implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 panic buying hits the vulnerable

Claudia Forsberg writes the COVID-19 pandemic is unleashing anti-social behaviour that is especially impacting on vulnerable people.

Shut down schools to slow COVID-19

Debate over whether schools should be shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19 have focused on many aspects, but not enough on those who are the most likely to be exposed. Teachers union activist Mary Merkenich puts the case to close schools immediately.

COVID-19: Why it is not wrong to panic

Fresh from the bushfire crisis, communities across Australia are being asked — no, instructed — to “look after each other” during the COVID-19 crisis. That would be fine if governments were not making this simple thing so hard to do, argues Pip Hinman.

Economy over health: Morrison’s neoliberal mission

While many countries have closed schools as a measure to stem the rate of COVID-19 infection, public schools in Australia are to remain open in stark defiance of the “social distancing” requirements of almost every other aspect of social and economic life. Graham Matthews asks why?

Turns out, it's OK to override private interest in the name of social need after all

It is amazing what can be achieved by a potentially uncontrollable pandemic that doesn’t discriminate between rich and poor, doesn’t respect national boundaries and will destroy a global economy quicker than I’ll destroy a bottle of gin if forced to stay at home without sport to watch for more than a day, writes Carlo Sands. 

Climate crisis demands revolution in firefighting

Bob McIlroy is a small farmer in the Bonang region of East Gippsland, Victoria, with 30 years' experience with the local Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA). He spoke to Green Left about the experience of the giant bushfires and what needs to be done.