Labor’s promise to ease living costs and cut taxes may offer relief, but it avoids the deeper question of who owns, controls and profits from the systems making life insecure.
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Category: Policy
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Labor should talk about the cost of capitalism
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AUKUS infrastructure, part 5: The HEU problem
In the fifth of a six-part series on AUKUS infrastructure, the choice of highly enriched uranium raises questions about proliferation, safety, waste, regulation and the civil burden placed on Australian shipyards. (more…)
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With hyperscale data centres, water governance faces its biggest challenge
Hyperscale data centres are adding new pressure to already stressed freshwater systems, testing whether governments can allocate, monitor and protect water fairly.
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Discipline without debate – Message from the Editor
On re-election in May 2025, Anthony Albanese pledged to run a “disciplined and orderly” government – hardly ‘the light on the hill’, but it struck a chord. Many of us were still scarred by the Morrison government’s dysfunction and trampling of due process. (more…)
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Census 2026: Australia’s Muslim milestone is more than a number
The 2026 Census is expected to mark more than a demographic milestone, with new Islamic denomination categories offering a fuller picture of Muslim diversity, representation and belonging in Australia. (more…)
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We know how to prevent homelessness. Why don’t we?
Australia knows many of the pathways into homelessness, yet funding, eligibility and accountability too often begin only after vulnerability has become crisis. (more…)
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Labor’s controlled conference avoided the questions that matter
The ALP National Conference should have tested the government’s reform record and commitment to international law, but factional control turned it into a managed exercise in avoidance. (more…)
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Queensland’s seatbelt fines deserve a Robodebt warning
Queensland’s high-value seatbelt camera fines are being challenged over evidence quality, driver responsibility and fairness, raising questions about whether government revenue is being protected ahead of justice. (more…)
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AUKUS infrastructure, part 1: The docking gap that could sink Pillar 1
The first in a six-part series examines the maintenance reality behind AUKUS Pillar 1, and the looming risk that Australia may receive Virginia-class submarines before it has certified infrastructure to dock and sustain them. (more…)
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Protection for some, pedagogy for others
The racial hierarchy of the Australian government’s response to its envoys’ recommendations leaves Muslims unprotected by the law. (more…)
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Seventy-five years on, the Refugee Convention still matters
At 75, the Refugee Convention remains a vital framework for protecting people fleeing persecution, but it needs renewed political will and international cooperation to work.
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Public life needs fewer empty notes – Message from the Editor
Public life is loud, reactive and full of people mistaking noise for importance. But there is a difference between speaking when something must be said and simply filling the silence. (more…)
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The Victorian prison bill is about much more than fresh air
After being found to have breached prisoners’ rights to one hour of fresh air a day, the Victorian Government is looking to remove that right in the name of operational flexibility. (more…)
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The two stories I tell taxi drivers
Treating everyone the same doesn’t necessarily add up to fairness or national unity. What makes a difference is finding the best way to overcome disadvantage. (more…)
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Indonesia’s rupiah problem is now a credibility problem
Bank Indonesia faces an increasingly difficult trade-off between stabilising the rupiah and supporting growth. (more…)
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Double hedging in the Indo-Pacific
Countries in Asia are hedging against China’s regional ambitions and against the uncertainty projected by the Trump administration. Australia is part of this process. (more…)
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Age bans will not fix social media’s harms
Social media age bans won’t make children safer; requiring social-media platforms to prove the safety of their products will. (more…)
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Australia has served in Africa but failed to learn from it
Australia has contributed to African peacekeeping missions for decades, but that record has rarely translated into sustained policy knowledge or engagement.
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Europe talks tough on China but lacks a plan
Europe is alarmed by Chinese overcapacity, deindustrialisation and US pressure, but remains divided over how to turn tough China rhetoric into policy. (more…)
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Australia needs a capability state
Australia has immense natural, financial and scientific wealth, but has failed to turn enough of it into productive industries, skills and long-term national capability.
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How the Royal Commission should define antisemitism
Drawn from his submission to the Royal Commission, Gareth Evans argues for a definition of antisemitism that protects Jewish Australians without suppressing legitimate criticism of Israel. (more…)
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The government asked charities what reform was needed; it has the answer
Reforms to strengthen protections for public interest advocacy by charities need to be legislated this year. (more…)
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The next Basin Plan is a disaster in the making
Members of the Murray-Darling Basin Knowledge Alliance explain why the original Basin plan was flawed and the proposed new plan will also fail to protect and restore the rivers of Murray-Darling Basin. (more…)
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Productivity is the symptom. Rentier capitalism is the disease
Australia’s unfinished economic reform goal should be to make Australian capitalism work better by directing capital towards productive enterprise and away from dependence on asset inflation. (more…)
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From compliance to opportunity in AI: the key is capability
The Australian conversation about AI has settled around risk and regulation. Its economic promise will turn less on the rules Australia writes than on the capability built around the technology. (more…)
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Future pharmacy should put patients and taxpayers first
A new report from The Grattan Institute recommends that responsibility for setting pharmacy remuneration be shifted to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority, in order to ensure Australians can safely and easily access essential medicines. (more…)
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Thirty years after Dolly, cloning is not what we expected
Thirty years after Dolly the sheep, cloning has not delivered armies of identical animals or resurrected mammoths – but it has transformed disease research, conservation and our understanding of cells.
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The unfairness we’ve learned to walk past
Allowing homelessness to continue is a choice. Ending it must become one too. (more…)
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Entitled schools are taking on entitled parents: what about the students?
Governments have fostered a sense of entitlement in private schools. They should be enforcing the principle of putting students first. (more…)
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Defence policy deserves more than slogans and selective history
Pat Conroy’s speech at the National Press Club was not a convincing presentation of the ALP’s record on defence. (more…)