http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/jessica-brown/ Jessica’s research at the CIS focuses on population, family policy, welfare reform, disability pensions, parental leave and foreign policy. She has published widely in these areas. Her most recent report looked at Indonesia’s foreign policy in the context of a shifting regional balance of power. In 2010, along with Dr. Oliver Marc Hartwich, she launched the CIS’ Population and Growth series with a report titled Populate and Perish? Modelling Australia’s Demographic Future. Jessica comments regularly in the media on social policy issues. She has been published in major newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and the Herald Sun and has appeared on television programs such as Q&A, The Drum, and Today Tonight and on radio programs around Australia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from the University of Melbourne, where she majored in Political Science, and has completed a Master of International Studies at the University of Sydney. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-must-crack-down-on-the-disability-support-pension/ Thanks to an ageing population, Australia is facing a budget black hole. We must cut social spending to plug the gap and more Australians need to move from welfare into work, tax expert Greg Smith told this week’s Tax Forum. But as the media and welfare lobby were quick to point out, unemployment is relatively low by world standards. The dole is already lean and mean, leaving little room for cuts. Instead, reforms should focus on a much more intractable issue: Disability Support Pension. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jessica Brown) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-must-crack-down-on-the-disability-support-pension/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/We-must-crack-down-on-the-disability-support-pension/#item6877 Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:35:07 +0000 Jessica Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-leave-for-dads-a-useless-cynical-waste-of-money/ In a patently cynical attempt to relive its past glory, the Gillard government this weekend used Fathers’ Day to announce that it will extend parental leave to dads. Back on Mothers’ Day in 2009, the Rudd government won almost universal plaudits by announcing an 18 week paid parental leave scheme.  In the lead up to the 2010 election the policy was still seen as such a vote winner that Tony Abbott flagged his own extravagant six month scheme, reversing his previous conviction that parental leave would be introduced ‘over his dead body’.  More than a year later, this latest addition of paternity leave - essentially feel-good middle class welfare in search of an evidence base - shows just how anxious to revive its flagging popularity the government has become.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jessica Brown) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-leave-for-dads-a-useless-cynical-waste-of-money/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/paid-leave-for-dads-a-useless-cynical-waste-of-money/#item6652 Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:55:48 +0000 Jessica Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bigger-australia-is-inevitable-but-will-it-be-better/ Listening to the sometimes facile public debate about population growth, it seems that all Australia needs to do to address our population issues is ditch ‘big Australia’ in favour of ‘sustainable population’. With a debate as shallow as this, it’s little wonder that we’ve made little headway in addressing our growing pains. In 2009, when Kevin Rudd dug the first few feet of his political grave with his declaration in support of a ‘Big Australia’, population growth — led by higher birth rates and record migration — was at an all-time high.  With Rudd safely out of The Lodge, Gillard and Abbott raced to the election trying to see who could distance themselves furthest from the former PM’s sentiments. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jessica Brown) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bigger-australia-is-inevitable-but-will-it-be-better/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-bigger-australia-is-inevitable-but-will-it-be-better/#item6065 Sun, 12 Jun 2011 20:00:34 +0000 Jessica Brown | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/population-growth-is-not-all-about-immigration/ A growing population is not the result of over-zealous politicians and bureaucrats or big business trying to expand their market. It is a result of Australians being healthier, living longer, and having more children. It is because people from around the world want to come here to work, travel, live and study. Population growth is neither an impending disaster nor something we should blindly strive for—it is simply happening as a result of our economic progress and the collective desires of millions of people. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Jessica Brown) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/population-growth-is-not-all-about-immigration/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/population-growth-is-not-all-about-immigration/#item5523 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:45:25 +0000 Jessica Brown | Author bios | The Punch