In the grand tradition of diplomatic overreach, Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister recently offered some sweet and spicy talking points to our media: semiconductors are tanks, China is akin to WWII Germany, and if Australia doesn’t fast-track Taiwan into the CPTPP, we might all wake up speaking Mandarin under a fascist AI regime, as reported by News Corp and 7 News. (more…)
Category: Policy
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For 35 years after Vietnam, we had a self-reliant defence policy. We need it again
The US is almost always at war, not in defence of values and democracy but in its “manifest destiny” as the world hegemon. (more…)
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Cutting through the spin – Ten logging ‘myths’ in the new ABARES report
Australia’s native‑forest debate has long been characterised by falsehoods generated by industry and arms of industry such as parts of government. (more…)
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How should Services Australia be constructed?
The Robodebt Royal Commission recommended that the government “undertake an immediate and full review to examine whether the existing structure of the Social Services portfolio and the status of Services Australia (SA) as an entity are optimal” (Rec. 23.1). (more…)
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The question that wasn’t asked
Australian support for the US alliance is progressively evaporating. The longer Trump remains in the White House the greater the separation grows. (more…)
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Australia has 120 health workforce policies. But with no national plan, we’re missing the big picture
Australia’s health workforce is under pressure. Wait times are growing. Burnout is rising. Yet the country is awash in policy – just not the kind that solves these problems at the root. (more…)
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Labor vulnerable nowhere in particular, everywhere in general
The best attempt at a post-election pendulum was published recently by Dr Kevin Bonham, who also did a terrific job explaining developments during the preference count in the recent Tasmanian election. (more…)
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The sham of Australia’s recognition of Palestine: Hope, but light on glory
Australia’s recognition of Palestine, like that of other Western countries, is a step in the right direction, but it remains a sham. (more…)
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Trump’s fantasies and the American economy
Donald Trump’s bluster is likely to lead to lower American living standards and higher inflation. But his advisers want to keep their jobs, and won’t tell him that. (more…)
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Australia leads the world on rooftop solar, now it needs to catch up with how to manage it
It is an irony of no small significance that Australia, while leading the world in per capita uptake of rooftop solar, finds itself in 2025 well behind the pace on how best to manage this huge and valuable resource as part of a modern, increasingly renewables-powered grid. (more…)
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Layered perversion of Australia’s defence policy
An amazing thing has happened. Our taxpayer-funded think-tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has commissioned analysis by Robert Macklin which shows that the public debate on Australia’s defence has been biased. (more…)
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Algal bloom: first peoples ngamath-sea country
A civilisation that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilisation. – Aime Cesaire. (more…)
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To meet 21st century challenges, business regulation needs urgent reform
A new parliamentary term in Canberra for a re-elected government with a huge majority is a timely opportunity for long-term policy and regulatory reform. One necessary focus is the ecosystem for business success in society under 21st century conditions, in an age of existential threats. (more…)
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The GST — past, present, future — and always tense
There’s little elegance in the way Australia approaches tax reform. It’s never a highway cruise. (more…)
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Tax, productivity growth and equality
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ upcoming economic summit has triggered renewed debate over the links between tax, productivity, growth and equity. And inevitably arguments between the right and the left – can we understand both and find a way through? I hope so. (more…)
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An entirely new approach to public policy
At the outset of the second term of the Labor Government, we may reasonably ask: What policy innovations will the prime minister and his colleagues bring forward? (more…)
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Australia employs ‘straddle’ diplomacy with China and the US
The approach is not doctrinal, but is about speaking frankly to both Washington and Beijing. (more…)
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Top Australian writers urge Albanese to abolish Job-Ready Graduates, calling their humanities degrees life-changing
“Earning a humanities degree was not only life-changing, in terms of opening up a world of knowledge otherwise beyond my reach, it also turns out to have been enormously productive – for me and many, many people around me,” said Tim Winton this week. “My little arts degree has created jobs and cultural value for over 40 years.” (more…)
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An Australian pathway to productivity, resilience and budget sustainability
The wisdom of serious reform: The forthcoming August 2025 Government Roundtable seeks a better future for all Australians. And, indeed, our society has well-known and well documented lists of policies that can reliably deliver on that desired outcome. (more…)
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Will Albanese and Xi “cooperate” to acquire “common ground” in the fullness of time?
China policy and related diplomacy has recently made important progress based on the postponed resolution of apparently hard differences, but how long can the “reservation” of difficulty delay the explicit correction of the separation of economy and security? (more…)
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Progressive patriotism fails the independence test
Anthony Albanese’s recent John Curtin oration sparked hope among some that Australia might pursue a more independent foreign policy. (more…)
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Time to clarify the scope for bipartisan cooperation in a new Federal Parliament
It would be wise if the Prime Minister and the new Leader of the Opposition were to meet early in this new Federal Parliament to clarify what they think is the desirable and possible scope for bipartisan cooperation. (more…)
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No simple solutions for specialist problems
A referral to a specialist doctor should set patients on a smooth path to the care they need. But it can be more like an alpine hike, with steep fees and treacherously long waiting lists. It’s putting lives at risk. (more…)
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Navigating a bipolar world
The US might yet save us from ourselves by adding conditions to the nuclear submarine agreement that no Australian Government could accept. (more…)
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The geopolitical context of Albanese’s China visit
Prime Minister Albanese and I have a few things in common. We were both born on 2 March and we have both been in car accidents, and as I write this, we are both in the People’s Republic of China. (more…)
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Is Australia finally coming to terms with East Asia?
Comedy and economic development have one thing in common: timing is everything. (more…)
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The politics of a police criminal organisation
In 1972, police at an Aboriginal settlement at Papunya, several hundred kilometres west of Alice Springs, closed down a travelling Slim Dusty concert after some of the young men somehow got access to alcohol and became drunk. (more…)
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Abandoning our fears: how Australia should respond to US-China regional confrontation
A presentation by Professor Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister, to the University of Melbourne Australian Peace and Security Forum Webinar Abandoning our Fears: Finding Peace and Security in our Region, 8 July 2025. (more…)
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Albanese’s visit to China is a moment for statesmanship
Membership of the Chinese Communist Party has just exceeded 100 million. It has long been the largest political party in world history. (more…)
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The housing crisis is everyone’s problem
The housing crisis has been decades in the making but we cannot afford decades to solve it. (more…)