The significance of last Friday’s Federal Court decision to prevent Optus’ “TV Now” service from broadcasting was made clear to me while waiting for a bus in Melbourne’s suburbs. Earlier that day, I had…
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UPDATE: Workers for transport company 1st Fleet were handed redundancy notices when they arrived for work this morning, after the company ceased trading. Are we seeing something of this same attitude recently…
As mentioned already on this site and others, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed British mathematician Alan Turing. The outline of his remarkable life and sad ending has by now…
The idea that improving efficiency makes sustainability problems worse seems counter-intuitive. But what if aiming to do more with less is actually doing the wrong thing right? If sustainability is our…
The government has announced its commitment to the introduction of a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), with money to be set aside in next week’s federal budget for a 2013 start-up in four locations…
You can tell a lot about a person’s emotional state by looking at their face. A quick glance can give you an idea of whether a person is, say, happy or angry, allowing you to modify your behaviour accordingly…
The Australian Federal Government’s Convergence Review, released yesterday, had a mammoth task. It was trying to establish just how to regulate the future standards, conduct, and technical aspects of today’s…
The proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been one of the most controversial pieces of public policy in Australia’s recent history. There has been the predictable divide between irrigators calling for…
In mid-April, in the largest nationalisation since Russia’s acquisition of Yukos in 2003, Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, seized a majority stake in the oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos…
What are we going to do about media regulation? This week saw release of the 81 page report of the Convergence Review, an Australian Government document that deals with broadcast regulation and offers…
Is there a role for deliberation about electoral rules? For many, the answer would be “no”. For them, the notion of principled discussion informed by careful reflection is deeply incongruous with the grubby…
Will the damning, and somewhat surprising, verdict brought in on Rupert Murdoch by a committee of British parliamentarians, spell the end of the reign of the Wizard of Oz? The answer depends on what is…
The recent announcement that Australia is on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol target for greenhouse gas emissions is an indication of satisfactory performance, not an exemplary outcome. The target is 108…
Bad oral health can have a significant negative impact on people’s quality of life. It can also affect other diseases that they may be suffering. But whether oral ill-health causes general health problems…
A recent post by The Conversation columnist Rob Brooks, Analytic thinking erodes religious belief, is just another in a long line of articles, books and opinion pieces seeking to perpetuate the myth that…
Treasurer Swan’s commitment to bring the government budget into surplus in 2012-13 may be a political imperative, but is not good economics. The focus for prudential fiscal management should instead be…
Despite its association with totalitarian societies of the left and right, indoctrination is also a common feature of societies that describe themselves as free: those where the coercive powers of the…
The pressure is on Australia’s major banks to pass on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 50 basis point cut in full to Australian households and businesses. In a surprise move, the RBA slashed Australia’s…
On paper, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) proposed by the Productivity Commission looks like a great idea. Through Commonwealth funding, it would provide specialist accommodation, transport…
This week, the Australian Government listed several koala populations as “vulnerable”, giving them special protection. As a koala researcher and conservation planner, I am most impressed with Minister…
There will be a future mining boom, as heralded in recent media stories. But this mining will take place in a location even more hostile than the Australian Outback – space. More specifically, the ore…
The Convergence Review’s final report is remarkable for its blandness and predictability. Despite the cries of fear and loathing from the Murdoch stable that the cold hand of government intervention was…
UPDATE: The Reserve Bank of Australia has cut Australia’s official cash rate by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points, to 3.75%. In the likely event that the Reserve Bank Board chooses to ease the target…
The proposed Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been one of the most controversial pieces of public policy in Australia’s recent history. There has been the predictable divide between irrigators calling for…
It should be easy for the Gillard Government to accept the recommendations of the Convergence Review. On the surface it seems all very sensible: a converged Press Council and Australian Communications…