Both Labor and the Coalition should be looking to upscale small and medium enterprises to compete globally, if they are serious about innovation.
CSL Limited
Policies for encouraging research, development and startups are good but both major parties need to move beyond this to help Australia innovate.
The uncertainty in financial markets from Brexit throws a spanner in the works of the election campaign in its final week.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Business Briefing: Zombie measures, crackdowns and Brexit worries
The Conversation 14,4 MB (download)
As the world tries to get a handle on what a Brexit means, D-Day looms for both Labor and the Coalition.
In announcing the costings the Coalition has sought the mantle of better economic managers.
AAP/Adrian Muscat
The Coalition says it has costed its additional expenditure and will deliver $2.3 billion in savings, in contrast to Labor.
Was the Liberal Party right about Medicare funding?
AAP/Peter Boyle
Has the Coalition invested an average of $5 billion per year more than Labor into Medicare?
Various scandals have forced the major parties in this election campaign to tackle policy on business and finance regulation.
Joel Carrett/AAP
How would each of the major parties better regulate the finance and business sectors?
Malcolm Turnbull and his colleagues have pointed $1 billion of the government’s existing green energy funding towards the Great Barrier Reef.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Coalition has ramped up the race to fund the Great Barrier Reef’s protection. All three major parties have promised hundreds of millions of dollars, but where from, and what will they be spent on?
Is Labor right to say that public sector infrastructure investment has fallen by 20% under the current government?
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
Labor says that public sector infrastructure investment has fallen 20% under the Abbott-Turnbull government. Is that right?
CSIRO has the know-how to develop commercial-scale green energy, with a clear plan and enough money.
CSIRO
The Coalition has asked CSIRO to develop a “roadmap” towards commercialised clean energy. It’s a good idea as long as the plan is clear, and there’s enough money behind it.
‘Labor leader Bill Shorten was wrong to claim an immediate GDP boost from his party’s education policy.’
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Both parties are proposing to spend more on education, yet there is no guarantee that either will lift outcomes substantially.
South African President Jacob Zuma, flanked by ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe (left) and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
A key question ahead of local government elections in South Africa is whether the African National Congress will retain control of seven of the country’s eight metropolitan municipalities.
What should government and students contribute towards university degrees?
from www.shutterstock.com
Increasing the amount that students pay towards their degree is likely to be on the cards of higher education in this year’s election.
‘The Coalition’s position on Gonski could change before the election.’
from www.shutterstock.com
While Labor’s policy proposals for schools are all mapped out, the Coalition has yet to specify its plans for education.
Everlastings in the Australian Alps. But will they be?
John O'Neill/Wikimedia Commons
We’re set to hear very little about nature conservation in Australia’s upcoming election campaign. Here’s why that’s a huge oversight.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dismissed jeering during his speech to the New South Wales Liberal Council on Saturday.
David Moir/AAP
The Coalition and opposition are tied on 50-50% in the latest Newspoll despite Malcolm Turnbull having an overwhelming 57-19% lead as preferred prime minister.
Charles Kennedy 1959-2015.
Andrew Milligan / P
The former Lib Dem leader remembered as anti-war orator and master communicator with a gift for relating to his audience.
With power comes responsibility.
Duane Jones Cheshire1963/flickr
It may all come down to how broadcasters interpret their impartiality requirements.
Parliamentary arithmetic can be fun when you know how!
PA/Dominic Lipinski
In 2010, there were more than 1,000 potential coalition options. Here’s how to make friends in 2015.
Oh no. Are they coming this way?
EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga
A coalition would solve Labour’s short-term number problem and could damage Sturgeon’s plans in the long term.
David Cameron meets the leaders of the Northern Ireland parliament.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
A beginner’s guide to the politics of the UK’s most overlooked parliamentary parties.
Ed also uses his as a doorstop.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
With the polls showing the Conservatives and Labour firmly stuck in neck-and-neck position, they are playing on multiple chessboards in a desperate scramble for votes. Their latest move has been to publish…