It’s equally laughable that (the Liberal Party) wants to punish badly-behaved banks by giving them a huge cash bonus.    

The Royal Commission has found that amongst plenty of other shocking behaviour, the big four banks and AMP charged dead people fees, ripped off small businesses, sold dodgy products and squandered retirees’ savings. 

The CBA has been fined more than $700 million for money laundering and counter terrorism breaches. 

Some ANZ and other bank executives have been charged with criminal behaviour during a $2.5 billion share deal.

So while Gilmore might be even more neglected now that Mrs Sudmalis and Mr Schultz are fighting each other, we can be comforted by the knowledge that the Liberal Party will persist with their support for a huge increase in profits for banks and bankers shown to be incompetent, dishonest, contemptuous of their customers and, in some cases, allegedly criminals.  

The headline read: ‘$1 billion boost for Sydney’s rough sleepers’.

Reading further I discovered the money mentioned was not about the NSW government providing (building) low-cost housing for the homeless. Rather, the $1 billion (spent over the next four years) is earmarked for homelessness services.

The Minister for Family and Community Services and Community Housing, Prue Goward, said the government, among other things, would do more to help homeless people to make housing applications, provide offers of temporary accommodation and referrals to other support services.

For instance, included is $61 million for a Homelessness Strategy, with more outreach services for rough sleepers, detailed assessments and support to maintain tenancy.

There will also be $289 million to provide transitional accommodation and the provision of two nights’ accommodation and referrals to other services.

Next on the list is $20 million to a Social Impact Investment (SII) on homelessness, for the purpose I quote: “for an innovative way to find solutions to problems such as homelessness, tapping into the expertise in the private and not-for-profit sectors to come up with new effective programs”.

Have you ever heard such bulldust?

I can imagine the scene: SII directors sitting around the boardroom table.

“Listen chaps and ladies we have a $20 million grant and four years to come up with effective programs to help the homeless.”

Director, scratching his head: “Hmm, that’s a hard one. Never mind, we have four years to come up with something.”

“By the way the duck a l’orange for lunch was scrumptious.”

Not funny, is it?

To date, I have accounted for $371 million in government spending. That leaves $629 million floating around unaccounted. No doubt the cupboard will be bare by 2022.

A centre for the study of Western civilisation, funded by the estate the late billionaire, Paul Ramsay, has been rejected by the Australian National University.

Why? Because it is “not compatible with university autonomy”? Nonsense.

Australian universities host centres for Middle Eastern studies funded by Arab governments. Also Confucius centres funded by the Chinese government.

Such inconsistency is the kind of thing one might perhaps expect in some Arab countries or China. But not here. Genuine “autonomy” is a value to be treasured.

Western cultures and their critical study should help better to sustain it.