Polling points to a rapidly fragmenting electorate, with One Nation attracting unprecedented support and the major parties facing growing voter dissatisfaction. Ignoring the trend is no longer an option. (more…)
Category: Politics
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A carbon tax is a good idea
A carbon tax would help substantially in tackling two of the major problems facing Australia today: climate change and paying for the government services that we want. (more…)
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A no-party party could work for community independents
A party of community independents funded on the same basis as the other parties might be just what we need to deliver good government and a vibrant democracy. (more…)
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The poll numbers tell a deeper story than One Nation’s rise
A poll on attitudes to public policy confirms that the economy remains people’s dominant concern, but there is resistance to reforms that would make for a fairer distribution of income and wealth. (more…)
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Judge blocks Trump’s attempt to rename the Kennedy Center after himself
A US federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s attempt to rename the John F Kennedy Center after himself violated federal law, reaffirming that only Congress can alter the institution’s name.
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“He’s Māori!” Hāhona Ormsby – a New Zealander in the gruesome Israeli prison system
Eugene Doyle recounts the testimony of New Zealand activist Hāhona Ormsby, who says he was beaten, humiliated and sexually degraded after being detained during Israel’s interception of the Global Sumud flotilla. (more…)
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Victoria: the police state
The Victorian Government relies too heavily on policing as the default solution to every social issue and is granting the police unchecked powers. (more…)
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Australia can’t have it both ways with China and the US forever
For two decades Australia assumed it could maintain beneficial ties with both the United States and China indefinitely. That assumption has collapsed. Work to build a greater resilience and autonomy, with our region, will take years, but that work must begin now. Nick Bisley reports. (more…)
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Securing the NDIS for future generations: government half-think
The Government is not considering both sides of the ledger when it comes to funding the NDIS. It’s not just about cutting costs but also raising revenue. (more…)
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US stalks Cuba
The Western world is hiding in the corner, averting its gaze as the US moves ever-closer to yet another war of aggression this time against the small, impoverished island nation of Cuba, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio signalling that a US war on Cuba is almost inevitable. (more…)
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Poets, philosophers, parklands and parliament
The world could be different if we were governed by a different breed of humans who understood that politics require morals and imagination. (more…)
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Sport, community and the commodification of belonging
The debate over T20 cricket reflects a much broader transformation. Across the sporting world, emotional attachment, community identity and cultural traditions are increasingly being converted into commercial assets.
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Catholic Australia in the time of Pope Leo
The Trump–Leo standoff could happen in Australia, though both political and clerical leaders here are much more cautious about church–state relations. (more…)
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The many careers of Miles Franklin
Miles Franklin has been the subject of several new artistic works in the last five years. Her brilliant life still has plenty to tell us about our nation. (more…)
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Antoun Issa’s novel of loss and rebirth
Deepcut News co-founder and journalist Antoun Issa captures his mother’s true experiences of love, heartbreak and new hope during the violence of civil war in Lebanon, in his new book Rebirth. (more…)
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One Nation is not the worker’s friend
Is One Nation the worker’s friend? Or a fully owned subsidiary of Gina Rinehart, as Jim Chalmers suggested? (more…)
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Politics and sport: what’s really in our heads and hearts?
Opinion polls – and the women and men who devise, conduct and analyse them – often get a bad rap. And some of the time that is understandable. (more…)
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Why are China’s young people fed up?
Decades of misguided economic policymaking have left China in a demographic hole that it seems incapable of climbing out of. As the “world’s factory,” the country is churning out everything except the people whom it will need to sustain its economic development and social stability. (more…)
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China–India rapprochement is pragmatic
The volatile geopolitical environment has seen China and India address frictions and rebuild bilateral relations. But fundamental grievances remain. (more…)
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Three Australias: new polling shows deepening divide
Changing voting patterns are no longer a reaction to short-term events, they are a rebellion against inequality, says Kos Samaris. (more…)
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How to pick a new, better anti‑corruption commissioner
The abrupt resignation of the National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton is a pivotal moment for the federal watchdog. For years, questions over the commissioner’s leadership, arising from concerns about his ability to manage conflicts of interest, had undermined public confidence and trust in a key Australian integrity institution. (more…)
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Gender inequality still haunts the economy – here’s how to fix it
Why do gender pay gaps and other disparities persist despite converging education levels and mounting evidence that the public opposes such forms of inequality? The problem lies less in outdated beliefs and biases than in entrenched structural constraints to women’s economic advancement. (more…)
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The facts about the suburb of Lakemba
Pauline Hanson is wrong. Lakemba’s residents are welcoming, hard working and kind. (more…)
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Don’t forget the plight of Palestinian Christians
The brutal beating of a French Catholic nun in Jerusalem has caused revulsion. It should also remind us of the marginalisation of Christians in the Palestinian homeland. (more…)
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A chance to re-create the NACC
The eventual departure (in six weeks’ time) of Paul Brereton from the position of Commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) provides the Albanese Government with the opportunity to review and reform a body that has failed to live up to the expectations of most people who wanted the Federal Government to establish the Commission. It is unlikely to do so, not least because the Government did not share the aspirations for the NACC of most of those who urged its creation. David Solomon reports. (more…)
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Why the criticisms of Labor’s tax changes are mostly wrong
Labor’s tax policies will improve intergenerational equity and ensure more equal tax treatment of income from labour and capital. (more…)
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Some further thoughts on the Federal Budget
The income tax reforms in the 2026 budget do deliver greater equity, despite the protests from those who think they will lose out. (more…)
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Deep fakes, doctrine and dunces hats: can the Pope school all of us on AI?
In his new encyclical on AI, Magnificat Humanitas, Pope Leo seeks to lead a global conversation on the need to ensure that human dignity guides us in this brave new world. (more…)
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What the White House doesn’t understand about Iran
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are ruthless, but they are not irrational, reports Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh. (more…)
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A breakthrough year for batteries in Australia but solar and wind lag
Australia is now the third-largest utility-scale battery market in the world, behind China and the US, but structural barriers are impeding investment in big solar and wind projects. (more…)