Do fossil fuels need saving from efforts to combat climate change? The Australian government seems to think so, but that sort of thinking is out of date.
The new defence white paper marks a return to seriousness in its approach to spending.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Treasurer Scott Morrison, already under fire for not having tax policy out, has got into a stoush with former prime minister Tony Abbott over how much work was done before the leadership change.
The 2016 Closing the Gap report represents Malcolm Turnbull’s first substantial statement on Indigenous affairs since assuming office.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Though commendable as a means of keeping Indigenous disadvantage on the policy agenda, the annual Closing the Gap report has come to reflect a lot of what is wrong with Indigenous affairs.
Girls are socialised early and told normal functions of the female body must be spoken of, if at all, in strictest privacy, indirectly, and not to men.
from shutterstock.com
There are endless euphemisms for women’s conditions and body parts. If you can’t name a body part, how can you seek medical help if something appears to be wrong with it?
A recent Human Rights Watch report condemned Australia for its ‘abusive’ approach to asylum seekers.
AAP/Eoin Blackwell
Strong evidence backs the increasing weight of international sentiment opposing Australia’s human rights record. Australia may already have pariah status in terms of its asylum policies.
Tony Abbott sought to rule rather than govern, in much the same way that Kevin Rudd did. Both unravelled.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Even many Americans don’t know much about organisations like the Alliance Defending Freedom and the Heritage Foundation. But these groups play a critical role in advancing conservative policies.
Are today’s politicians more cynical and power-hungry than their predecessors?
AAP/Sam Mooy
Tony Abbott’s plan for a long-term political future provides an irritant for Malcolm Turnbull but, at least between now and the election, it shouldn’t be much more than that.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott will recontest his seat of Warringah at the next election.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
2015 started as it finished, with terrorist atrocities, intractable conflicts and political upheavals that toppled several leaders, including Australia’s prime minister, Tony Abbott.
Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull’s predecessor as prime minister, enjoyed a close relationship with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe.
AAP/Ian Waldie
Australia looks set to continue to confront its core foreign policy dilemma: balancing relations between its largest trading partner, China, and its key security partners, the US and Japan.
It’s been a decade since the Cronulla riots, but have the attitudes that fuelled these violent tensions changed in Australian society?
Paul Miller/AAP
A decade on from the Cronulla Riots, Australia needs to reflect upon the lessons that should be learnt following the riot which divided a nation.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has hit out at various countries for not being dedicated enough to the mission against Islamic State.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The task of defeating Islamic State (IS) might take decades, Tony Abbott has said in his third high-profile intervention in two days on terrorism, Islam and the fight against IS. As Bill Shorten called…
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said that he was not going to rush into a decision about his future.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Debate, serious discussion and deliberation are valued highly in a democracy not just for their own sake, but because they are considered essential to testing the quality of ideas and arguments.
Central to Islamic State’s propaganda is the idea of a final battle between the West and the armies of Islam.
Reuters
With such an even split among the public and political leaders, here are five reasons why now is not the right time to be putting boots on the ground in Syria.