In recent days, newly re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter has attempted to counter persistent corruption allegations by attempting to assemble a “council of wisdom” to clean up the international sporting…
As we watch the spot fires of democratic uprisings flicker across Syria it is worth remembering that the government’s response so far has been mild. The religious tensions of the country and disaffection…
Let’s get serious, Senator Faulkner, the problem is the process of candidate selection. John Faulkner’s excellent speech last night describes a process of ALP decline that has been underway for most of…
Throughout the heated debate around live animal exports over the past week, there has been an implicit assumption that the mistreatment of Australian cattle only ever begins after the animals have left…
Do you believe in climate change? It’s seemingly a simple question. But there are many reasons why it is not. Who is asking, why, and who is being asked? This is why we read such widely varying reports…
In a decision hailed as ground breaking Fair Work Australia has recently determined that gender is a key factor in women’s low pay. Essentially the argument is that workers in the female dominated community…
Now that the Federal Government has finally succumbed to public pressure and suspended live cattle exports to Indonesia, it is worth considering why we were so caught off guard by the shocking revelations…
This will be the century of urbanisation, when seven billion of almost 10 billion people will live in urban settlements. In Australia our urban sprawl is consuming land at a per capita rate that few countries…
The current debate about government funding to private schools is misdirected. The issue is (or should be) not at what level should private schools be funded, but whether they are entitled to any funding…
This week the media in AFL states have been discussing racist comments made by members of crowds at Australian Rules games. Sudanese-born North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw was racially abused while playing…
The first promotional interview for my new book The Bogan Delusion brought it home very strongly. As the drivetime radio host in Perth and I chatted amiably about the superficial aspects of the possible…
Australia has long prided itself on being an equal society, and for most of the 20th century our housing was a mirror of that value or belief. Almost all houses were single-storey detached and, with the…
As a five member panel headed by noted business figure and University of NSW chancellor David Gonski reaches the final stages of its review into the structure of school funding in Australia, lobbying by…
As a senior public servant I became increasingly frustrated that too many government initiatives, always well meant and often well implemented, simply ended up compounding the problem of passivity and…
On 15 May 2011, one week before Spanish regional and municipal elections, young people gathered on Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square to start a protest known as 15-M movement. It has since acquired a universal…
Share markets in the US and around the world are expected to fall again this week following sharp declines on Wall Street last week. The Dow Jones industrial average closed on Friday down 2.3% for the…
Since the 1970s, Israel’s leaders have insisted that their Palestinian interlocutors acknowledge Israel’s “right to exist” as a pre-condition for negotiations on a settlement of the conflict. Amongst other…
A poll of international investors last month found that 85% expect Greece to default on its debt this year. As market expectations go, that is very high. Moody’s has since downgraded Greece’s already abysmal…
The news that NBN Co has found a way to move forward from the crucial cost-of-construction issue must have surely lifted the Gillard Government’s spirits. NBN Co, the government-owned corporation in charge…
Welcome to “In Conversation”, the first in a series of discussions between leading academics and major public figures in Australian life. Today Politics Professor John Keane is in conversation with Senator…
As the International Energy Agency says the world faces a bleak future as emissions fail to fall at a fast enough rate to combat climate change, the challenge is on for governments to act globally, but…
The latest emissions data from the International Energy Agency suggest that our current methods for dealing with climate change have not worked. This means we will have to adapt to climate change, for…
There is unfinished business in Australia, and it’s time to start a serious conversation about resolving it. We need to talk about the planned referendum on Indigenous recognition in the Australian Constitution…
The American Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s angst-ridden visit to Islamabad exemplifies the global concern about Pakistan, and its future. Indeed, the country has witnessed a new escalation in terrorist…
Corruption in the developing world is a major cause of poverty. Corruption is certainly not limited to poor nations, and since the 1980s, western countries have been able to use Information and Communications…