You’ve probably never heard of intrathecal care. It’s a new drug-delivery method used by palliative care specialists in which a catheter is inserted near the spinal cord, similar to an epidural. It enables pain relief while allowing mobility and lucidity.  This kind of medical advance changes the game on end-of-life care. The Australian Medical Association estimates it would cost about an extra $275 million a year to make quality supportive care available to all terminally ill Australians who need it. It’s expensive, but certainly possible. It’s a choice that a progressive government could and should make.  

Most politicians are good people who intend to serve the community’s best interest. Unfortunately, a combination of internal party politics, funding requirements and a desire to gain and hold power often stymie the intent.   Good intent and perverting pressures exist in most areas of human endeavour. Training, laws & regulations, and various oversight bodies exist to minimise unacceptable practices in business and the professions. If these fail a Royal Commission is established.   We need an effective code of practice, integrity oversight and transparency of potential conflicts of interest for our politicians. We need a Royal Commission into how politics operates!

Leading pocket money app, Spriggy, has made its first move outside of kids money management with the launch of Spriggy Invest, aimed at enabling parents to invest for their children's future.The app initially offers simple ETF-based options, either locally in Australia or in Global Technology shares.Spriggy benefits from a rapidly loyal customer-based of circa 400,000 Australian households, so the idea to futher monetise this base by offering additional services to families is likely to have been a no-brainer.The investments are managed by the Cache Invest - investment-as-a-service - platform.

An SPI would answer six questions that every member of Parliament and citizen is entitled to know before a Bill is considered:&n