Protecting Australia’s sovereignty was a central justification for Anthony Albanese’s critical minerals deal with Donald Trump. (more…)
Category: Economy
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South Korea, Canada and a middle-power submarine: Can Australia join?
Sometimes, middle-power enthusiasts get overly excited about the potential for said states to work together. It’s almost as if you want to see those “little guys” grab the ball and run it all the way to the try line — or the end zone, for you Americans. (more…)
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Game, set and match to the property industry – unless we change everything
The contradiction at the heart of Australian politics has never been clearer. On the one hand, the Albanese Government has rediscovered the language of national renewal of making things again, of manufacturing revival, of “A Future Made in Australia”. (more…)
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The fog of electricity price disinformation
The federal government should collect and make available data that shows comparative wholesale electricity costs on a global basis and where Australia sits. This information should show average spot prices, average industrial prices. (more…)
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ASEAN leads response to the threat of global economic disorder
Malaysia and ASEAN’s leadership in response to rising protectionism and the threat to ASEAN and global prosperity and security has so far been a masterclass, punctuated by the convening of a Leaders’ Meeting for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on 27 October 2025. (more…)
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Trump’s risky American economy
Trump’s tariffs, migration and fiscal policies are endangering the American economy, and risk destroying American claims to global leadership. (more…)
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Five charts that show how young Australians are getting screwed
Australia is becoming increasingly unequal. The story is unmissably generational: young Australians today face a tougher reality than their parents and grandparents. (more…)
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The key to social cohesion
It’s often said that . Whether or not that’s true is moot – but being under financial stress is definitely bad news. (more…)
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Boosting equity and safety for Australia’s children
In Australia, 37% of students aged between about 5 or 6 and 18 years go to private schools which charge fees – but while those schools are private, they are not run for profit. (more…)
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Bad debt ‘cockroaches’ signal new threats to the global economy
The world appears to have forgotten a key lesson of the global financial crisis: some problems were spotted earlier, but sidelined. (more…)
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Republicans ‘holding US economy hostage’ as nearly half of states face recession
“At a time when costs are rising and tariffs are wreaking havoc on people’s pocketbooks, Republicans are doubling down on their agenda of raising healthcare costs on millions of Americans.” (more…)
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Dental health – time for a small, cost-effective revolution
In the many years I’ve been writing about the dental divide, the only movement I’ve seen is in the increasingly bad numbers around poor oral health, waiting lists and costs to patients. It’s time to see dental caries as a preventable disease. (more…)
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Superannuation and the Canberra Press Gallery’s fantasies
The Canberra Press Gallery was completely absorbed with the supposed politics of last week’s superannuation changes and completely failed to consider their merits and why the changes were therefore made. (more…)
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Trump is pushing allies to buy US gas. It’s bad economics – and a catastrophe for the climate
The price of partnership with the United States has changed. Washington is now using assurances of defence and trade access to pressure allies in Europe and Asia to buy more of its fossil fuels under decades-long contracts. (more…)
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China’s FDI, not the BRI, drives a global green transition
Over the past few years, outward Chinese foreign direct investment commitments in green manufacturing have grown rapidly and now dwarf the Marshall Plan in their scale. (more…)
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Indonesia-Australia economic partnership can power Indo-Pacific resilience
Amid intensifying great power rivalry, middle powers like Indonesia and Australia face a critical question – can economic co-operation help them hedge against strategic vulnerability? (more…)
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‘We can do this’: Rio Tinto’s rapid switch to renewables shows path for quick exit from coal
You might be able to imagine the scene: An Australia sporting minister stands up in front of a vast audience to announce that something is simply not possible – it might be running 100 metres in 10 seconds, kicking a drop goal from 50 metres, or a swimming relay team beating a world record. (more…)
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China-US critical minerals war an opportunity for Australia to get smart
As the Trump administration deepens its tariff trade war with China, the latter has placed fresh curbs on exports to the US of the rare earths and critical minerals indispensable to the production of clean energy tech, as well as defence, computing and AI capabilities. (more…)
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What a surprise spike in the unemployment rate means for interest rates and the economy
The rate of unemployment in Australia is on the rise again. Official labour force data released on Thursday shows that in the month to September, Australia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped from 4.3% to 4.5%. (more…)
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India’s American dream in tatters
The last couple of months have exposed the humiliating realities of the subordinate alliance that India has been gradually sliding into with the US over the last three decades. (more…)
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Rooftop solar takes its biggest bite yet out of coal generators’ lunch, as home battery rebates hit 89,000
Rooftop solar on homes and businesses took its biggest bite yet out of the traditional “baseload” midday lunch on Wednesday, as the combined output hit a record of 15,597 megawatts (MW) at noon AEST. (more…)
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Counting what doesn’t count: How consultants are hollowing out the university
When Western Sydney University announced it would shed hundreds of staff, its vice-chancellor described the decision as part of a “necessary transformation”. (more…)
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Four reasons Australia’s superannuation system isn’t the world’s best
When Australia embarked on its unique retirement incomes system in 1992, the World Bank was quick to encourage other countries to take the same approach to “averting the old age crisis”, claiming it would “protect the old and promote growth”. (more…)
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From play to performance: Sport as the new Roman circus
Reading the recent article Is this the moment that will define cricket’s future? by my former university lecturer and continued mentor, Chas Keys, reminded me how sport, once a shared expression of community, is again being redefined by money and media. (more…)
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Australia’s next big bet lies East, not West
It is in Asia where Australia’s bread is buttered. And Canberra needs a strategy on the security impact that is a gathering tide from the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs on our interests there. (more…)
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Inequality and the future of democracy
Rising inequality and declining living standards have posed a threat to democracy in several democracies, but so far not in Australia. However, the increasing inequality of wealth, driven by housing becoming unaffordable without rich parents, is a threat. (more…)
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The RBA says changing rates won’t raise house prices. I wouldn’t be so sure
The Reserve Bank has always denied that its manipulation of short-term interest rates to slow or hasten the growth in demand for goods and services plays any part in worsening the cost of home ownership. But I doubt this. (more…)
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New school funding agreements deny full funding for public schools
The claim by the prime minister, premiers and their education ministers that public schools will be fully funded by 2034 is a blatant falsehood. (more…)
