Convincing more Australians to get on a bike would undoubtedly deliver health improvements that come with reduced waistlines. But ditching bike helmets isn’t the answer. The health benefits of more cycling…
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Home – Articles, Analysis, Comment
Displaying 51351 - 51375 of 51757 articles
Reports of the death of the Murray Darling Basin food bowl are grossly exaggerated, to borrow a phrase from Mark Twain. Farmers have been up in arms about plans to give more water to the environment, but…
Woolworths has unveiled details of its plan to launch an assault on the $42 billion Australian hardware and home improvement market with its Masters store brand, raising the prospect of a new chapter in…
The Federal Government has a strong tale to tell about the main health initiatives announced in last night’s budget. But there’s another, untold part of the story that belongs to the bigger narrative of…
So, Microsoft has announced it will buy Skype in a US$8.5 billion move that has left the technology and business worlds puzzled. Owners of Microsoft shares might be most puzzled of all, maybe even tearing…
Microsoft’s US$8.5 billion Skype acquisition, announced yesterday, gives the US software developer a golden opportunity to expand its business via the internet, including accessing and leveraging the rapidly…
In the extensive debate about the killing of Osama bin Laden there has been very little discussion of the legal (and possibly moral) aspects of the US operation. This is especially true in the United States…
The Budget: What does it have to do with tax reform? This year’s budget claims to “progress the government’s tax reform agenda, improving fairness and integrity in the tax system”. Does it? The short answer…
When looking at the budget it’s useful to remember, in the cold light of day, that politics, at its most fundamental level, is about relationships of power. It is about conflict, both overt and covert…
The NHMRC budget escaped the threatened $400 million cut in last night’s Federal Government budget announcement. Instead, the 4% annual increase it has received in recent years will continue for another…
Sadly, the major environmental policy announced in the Federal Budget yesterday was not an environmental policy at all but the change to the Fringe Benefits Tax. The government announced changes to the…
Apart from the reassuring signals to financial markets about the deficit reduction, the longer term significance of this year’s budget is about restructuring the relationship between welfare and work…
We were chilled by the prospect of a radical weight-loss austerity budget, but it did not occur in health. While liposuction was applied to several programs – hearing services and general practice-based…
Last night’s federal budget is a good time to analyse the government’s take on the economy and its economic policy agenda. In this budget, the Treasurer is cautiously upbeat about Australia’s medium term…
Decent people take comfort in the idea that money is not profoundly connected with happiness. There are statistics that suggest that as income increases happiness does not rise to an equal degree; and…
The Gillard Government has reiterated its commitment to education in this year’s budget, and universities in particular. Universities with regional campuses were the biggest winners, receiving $110 million…
The Commonwealth and state governments share a portion of the revenue windfalls of a mining boom through income taxation and royalties. However, both the current arrangements, and proposed changes by the…
“Why don’t scientists just get together and figure out what’s going on?” It’s a common question we hear about global warming. The answer is simple: “They have.” The largest effort to pull the relevant…
New technology about to be released by Microsoft has the potential to revolutionise workplace meetings, removing the need to “be” anywhere for those all-important face-to-face encounters. If you believe…
Treasurer Wayne Swan has released his budget, with $22 billion in cuts and a return to surplus by 2012 - 2013, initiatives to increase workforce participation, plans to boost infrastructure investment…
Samoa’s prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has announced plans to shift the International Date Line to the east – a move that will see the Pacific nation divided from its near neighbour, American…
Federal Budget night has become widely held as the most crucial event in Australia’s political calendar. After all, any statement of how more than $300 billion is going to be raised and a similar amount…
Apparently desalination plants are the answer to keeping Australian cities supplied with water. All that is required is to remove enough salt from an unlimited source of water to provide for each city’s…
Sydney in February displayed in full technicolor what is one of the big stories in Ireland - the latest phase of our history of being an emigrant race. As we walked around the city, stopped for coffee…
We depend on antibiotics to treat what previously were fatal conditions. But the more we use them, the more the bacteria they fight become resistant to all the weapons in our arsenal. Bacterial resistance…