As Australia commits to joining a coalition in the Strait of Hormuz, preventing escalation of any conflict should be the primary concern of all players.
Sludge cakes the landscape in the aftermath of a burst mining dam in Brazil.
EPA/Antonio Lacerda
Contemporary mining disasters echo the devastation caused by Victoria’s gold fields. Victorians campaigned for some of the world’s first laws against industrial pollution.
Mourners in Dayton, Ohio on Aug. 4, 2019 after a mass shooting there killed at least nine people.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo)
More than 40 percent of U.S. adults have a gun in their household, making it hard to get guns off the streets – even if new gun restrictions are passed.
Recent AFP raids on media outlets raised fears of a chilling effect on investigative journalism, but a new book finds it is thriving against the odds.
David Gray/AAP
Despite media companies’ revenue declining in recent years, a nine-year study reveals that the greatly feared death of investigative journalism has not occurred.
Australia and Russia could soon be the last remaining developed nations without fuel efficiency standards, with New Zealand proposing new rules and financial incentives to get more people driving cleaner cars.
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New Zealand has proposed new fuel standards, along with a consumer rebates for cleaner cars – paid for by higher costs for high-polluting cars – to cut its rising transport emissions.
Boys play on a beach in Kiribati in 2014. Cuba is training doctors to tend to people on the Pacific island nation, struggling with disease amid the worsening effects of climate change.
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Cuba is offering a compelling example of how we can take care of each other during the climate crisis with its work training doctors on Kiribati, a nation that is being devastated by climate change.
Homeless Somalian refugees Rahma and Anisa sit on the bank of the Ciliwung River at night hoping to catch a cool breeze in Jakarta.
Aaron Bunch/AAP
Ideally, Australia would introduce constitutional protections for media freedom. But, in the meantime, four laws need urgent reform to better balance those freedoms with national security.
While some may not believe slavery and human trafficking happen in Australia, the unpalatable truth is that they do. Here are four examples of what they can look like.
Scott Morrison is relatively inexperienced on foreign policy, but he’s certain to be tested by China in his first full term in office.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Scott Morrison has been PM for nearly a year, but his foreign policy priorities remain unclear. With his mandate secured, he now has both the opportunity and obligation to show his true colours.
China has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in renewable energy.
Qilai Shen/EPA
The 2001 federal election was a watershed moment for Australian national security that has set a policy agenda for almost two decades.
Joh Bjelke-Petersen with his wife, Flo, on their wedding day in 1952. Bjelke-Petersen made an ill-fated bid for PM in 1987 that ripped the Coalition apart.
Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd/Wikimedia Commons
Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen was Queensland’s longest-serving premier, but an inquiry into corruption brought his hopes of becoming the next prime minister of Australia to a sudden end.
The story of Australia has been studied and explored many times by researchers. Look what they’ve revealed, so far.
Supporters of incumbent Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is running for re-election, react during his campaign rally in Jakarta, Indonesia, 13 April 2019.
Bagus Indahono/EPA
Evidence from Australia shows the Ardern government’s moves to eliminate certain firearms from New Zealand will improve community safety.
Labor wants housing to be a federal election issue, but to solve the problems of recent decades Australian governments need to comprehensively rethink their approach.
Julian Smith/AAP
The problems with housing systems in Australia and similar countries run deep. Solutions depend on a fundamental rethink of our approach to housing and its central place in our lives and the economy.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University
Faculty Member, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University; Visiting Fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University., Georgetown University