The Albanese government has retreated from requiring new data centres to prioritise renewables, allowing states greater control over energy sources as Queensland and the Northern Territory pursue fossil fuels. (more…)
Category: Policy
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New endometriosis tests offer hope – but the evidence isn’t there yet
Long delays in getting an endometriosis diagnosis have prompted much excitement about new saliva, gut and blood tests, but promising early results need further validation before they can be relied on in general practice. (more…)
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Who is lobbying the Australian government? Most of the industry is hidden from view
Much of Australia’s lobbying industry remains hidden from public view, with new research exposing major gaps in the federal register and calls for stronger transparency. (more…)
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Banks claw back credit card rewards
Banks are clawing back rewards as new credit card fee rules threaten their profits, raising bigger questions about competition, cash and who ultimately benefits from Australia’s card system. (more…)
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Trump’s Canada trade war spirals as talks collapse
The collapse of US-Canada trade talks marks a new low between the two nations, with warnings of major economic and human impacts on both sides of national borders. (more…)
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Australia must rebuild its Asian language capability
Australia’s Asian-language capability has declined for decades, weakening our ability to understand and engage with our neighbours. Labor’s new language program may make a difference. (more…)
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The 80,000 native forest jobs claim doesn’t add up
The forest industry claims 80,000 jobs are threatened by a proposed new forest carbon method. But employment data from three states tell a very different story, according to David Lindenmayer (more…)
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The Productivity Commission has exposed the failure of WA’s GST windfall
The Productivity Commission has found that the 2018 GST reforms are failing on efficiency, effectiveness and fairness, while Western Australia continues to benefit from billions in funding. (more…)
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Fighting inflation without making inequality worse
Interest rates are a blunt tool for tackling inflation, and can hurt the people least able to absorb higher costs. (more…)
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Are we getting too good at managing homelessness?
Australia’s homelessness response has become increasingly sophisticated, but emergency accommodation and outreach cannot substitute for a home. The focus must shift towards prevention, permanent housing and addressing the systems that push people into homelessness in the first place. (more…)
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NDIS reforms are coming. Who could lose support?
Proposed NDIS reforms would tighten eligibility, cut some participation funding and move hundreds of thousands out of the scheme, while replacement supports remain uncertain. (more…)
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After Robodebt, why did the ATO remove a protection for people over 70?
The ATO has changed how it treats previously suspended tax debts, raising serious questions about older and vulnerable Australians, retirement savings and whether government has absorbed the human lessons of Robodebt. (more…)
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What courage looks like: David McBride walks free
David McBride has emerged from prison after paying an extraordinary personal price for exposing information about alleged war crimes. His case should leave Australia with more than gratitude – it should leave lasting whistleblower reform. (more…)
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Better education begins with better democracy
Australia’s increasingly segregated school system is weakening both educational equality and social cohesion. Breaking the policy deadlock may require giving citizens a greater role in shaping long-term decisions about education. (more…)
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Australia’s EV boom has caught policymakers napping
The rapid shift from petrol cars to electric vehicles is eroding fuel excise faster than governments expected. A replacement road user charge is inevitable, but a rushed or fragmented scheme could create new problems of fairness, privacy and administration.
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Washington let arms control die. Don’t repeat the mistake with AI
Nuclear arms control worked not because rivals trusted each other, but because compliance could be verified. AI governance now needs the same kind of infrastructure before competition outruns our ability to contain the risks. (more…)
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Migration targets need more than thought bubbles
Australia’s migration debate needs clear targets, credible delivery plans and honest discussion of the consequences – not caps that cannot work or promises that ignore visa backlogs. (more…)
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Australia should vaccinate threatened wildlife against bird flu
With H5N1 now killing Australian wild birds, targeted vaccination could help protect threatened species and prevent local extinctions before catastrophe strikes. (more…)
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Why I support a carbon method for limiting the emissions from native forest logging
Carbon offsets have rightly earned distrust, but the new Improved Native Forest Management method could protect native forests, store carbon and penalise future logging rather than delay decarbonisation. (more…)
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Making Indigenous incarceration strange again
When too many young Aboriginal men come to see prison as a normal stage of growing up, the question is not only what has gone wrong with them – but what has happened to the society around them. (more…)
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When leaders break the deal – Message from the Editor
Much of our focus this week has been on what happens when democracy, or the leaders we elect, let us down. (more…)
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The AI arms race is putting safety last
The US and China are racing to build ever more powerful AI, but speed without safeguards risks catastrophic failure, political instability and dangers no country can contain. (more…)
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Need, not visa status, should determine how we treat the homeless
People seeking asylum and other non-residents face a double invisibility in Australia’s homelessness crisis, excluded from support systems just when they most need help.
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Construction corruption: does not stop at the bottom so follow it to the top
Victoria’s construction royal commission must investigate crime, intimidation and labour abuse on building sites – but also the political, financial and procurement systems that allow corruption to flourish. (more…)
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Australia is failing disabled workers – and it doesn’t have to
Australia spends more than $1.3 billion a year on disability employment, yet people with high support needs remain excluded from mainstream work and can still legally be paid a fraction of the minimum wage. (more…)
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Time to reform Australia’s failed policy on smoking and vaping
Australia’s sky-high cigarette excise and severely restricted legal access to vaping have helped fuel a vast illegal nicotine market, undermining public health, law enforcement and government revenue. (more…)
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AI needs its own Paris Agreement
AI is advancing faster than societies, laws and institutions can adapt, making international governance, verification and shared oversight essential.
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The world’s conflicts should not become Australia’s
Australia cannot control wars and political upheavals overseas, but it can choose whether those conflicts are allowed to fuel division, suspicion and hatred at home.
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Australia needs green energy statecraft
Australia’s iron and steel sector shows why climate policy, industrial strategy and national security now need to be governed together, not treated as separate problems. (more…)
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AUKUS Infrastructure, part 6: It is not too late to change course
In the final part of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, Peter Briggs argues that Pillar 1 cannot deliver on schedule or budget, and that Australia should pause its HEU pathway and assess proven LEU alternatives. (more…)