Innovation is not a topic that attracts much serious political debate in Australia. It improves living standards and the economy, but we’re missing out because of the government’s short-sighted approach…
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Displaying 13251 - 13275 of 13308 articles
With the South Australian parliament passing its latest euthanasia bill to committee stage, there is a real possibility locals will be given the right to end their life. And with an unprecedented number…
FOOD SECURITY - The World Bank has warned rising food prices have risen 36% in the last year, reaching dangerous levels and pushing millions into poverty. The unrest in the Middle East, Africa and Haiti…
Once a place is heritage listed, it’s protected, right? Wrong. Politics and a flawed statutory regime are undermining the independence of the listing system, and threatening Australia’s national treasures…
The Australia Dictionary of Biography has rightly been described as a national treasure. Established over 50 years ago, it has generated 18 volumes of over 11,500 biographies of notable and representative…
Was it a surprise that President Obama’s launch for the 2012 election was so low key? That he tweeted his intention to raise US$1billion? That he posted what the New York Times called an “understated…
Despite savage public sector cuts, the British government has ring-fenced money for musical education. While music may not appear to have as significant a hold on the Australian cultural imagination as…
While global warming deniers have been effective in their aim of sowing doubt in the public mind, the most powerful argument used over and over has been that cutting emissions will cut growth, and that…
In the late 1980s and early 1990s social and cultural researchers and thinkers began to articulate how changes in the organization of global capitalism were affecting cultural life. The shift toward networked…
Australia has many world class universities but some are failing their students by not providing the on-campus, life changing experiences available elsewhere. Many students live a protected life at home…
Let me begin by asking a question. Why is it when we think of Indigenous footballers we do so in a way that sets them apart? To put it simply, why do many of us think that there is an inherent genetic…
We are entering an era of massive population transfer - a rural exodus of unprecedented proportions. In Asia and Africa farmers and peasants are being lured to mega-cities. This brings myriad benefits…
Last night on the popular interactive current affairs program, Q&A, Kevin Rudd admitted that he isn’t perfect. Rudd told viewers and studio audience members that he was “wrong” to shelve the Emissions…
Australians expect paper-based elections to provide privacy, integrity and transparency. Why should we abandon these principles just because the election uses a magical device called a computer? The iVote…
News of a new bus route will most likely be greeted with indifferent silence, but lobbying for a new train line can keep thousands of potential commuters busy for years on end. It seems that everyone loves…
New laws in Victoria have introduced fines for childcare providers who send children to “time out” or a “naughty step”. So was the super nanny wrong? Is the “naughty corner” really that bad for a child’s…
Foundation Essay – Universities are still often known as ivory towers, other-worldly spaces of solitude where privileged elites known as academics seek refuge from the harsh realities of the world. Although…
On March 20, the day after NATO and US air and naval forces began the implementation of a no-fly zone over Libya authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 1973, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the…
Before the Fukushima reactor was swamped by a tsunami, there had been a wave of enthusiasm for nuclear power. The problems in Japan have probably ended the risk of Australia going down the nuclear path…
If we talk of ‘two cultures’ today, it’s not the divide between arts and sciences that we should have in mind. The crucial issue is the gulf between commerce and higher education - especially between business…
My family has just come home from a barbeque, the second we’ve attended this weekend. That’s been quite a common occurrence for us in the last couple of months. Our house in Fairfield, a residential suburb…
Objective analysis of good microdata on students can yield results that are highly relevant to educational policy. This should come as no surprise, since it is the case in most other disciplines. To learn…
Bashing planning has become a national sport, and in NSW, we’re the best at it. Stuck in traffic? Blame the planners. Housing stress? Planners are too slow and too stingy with land release. In the perception…
If you’re in politics, population matters. Rival studies on what constitutes a sustainable Australian population project wildly different statistics. But behind the figures are real people whose lives…
Australia prides itself on its attractiveness to tourists, but for many, to the eternal frustration of Melbourne, visiting Australia is synonymous with the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Opera House. It…