Gobies are one of the largest and most widespread fish families in the world, but even so, the presence of endemic species in the Great Artesian Basin spring complexes of central Australia is a little…
Forgot your purse? Don’t worry – read on for digital payment options.
Money has come a long way from gold coins stamped with the Emperor’s likeness. Today, the vast majority of money is digitised – in the US, notes and coins comprise only 7% of cash in circulation.
So with…
The integrity of the scheme relies on listening to the people whose lives are affected by disability.
Image from shutterstock.com
Legend has it that before the introduction of Medibank (now Medicare) in 1974, then-prime minister Gough Whitlam convinced the premiers at a Commonwealth-states meeting to introduce a national disability…
In aiming for a deficit in 2013-14, Treasurer Wayne Swan has made a future surplus more likely.
AAP
Recent years have demonstrated the enduring strength of a core Keynesian insight: deficit spending may result in higher growth and enable states to move more quickly into surplus. In this light, Australian…
Ignore the hype: the Coalition’s IR policy won’t boost productivity in Australia.
Paul Miller/ AAP
More than jobs, inflation, security or disputation, the Coalition’s just-released policy on industrial relations claims to be about productivity.
The policy is replete with over 30 references to “productivity…
Lake Eyre has only filled three times in the last 150 years.
NASA/Lake Eyre
Australia is famous for its natural beauty: the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kakadu, the Kimberley. But what about the places almost no one goes? We asked ecologists, biologists and wildlife researchers…
Things are going from bad to worse for early-career researchers.
SandiaLabs
More than 1,000 senior university academics this week signed an open letter to the prime minister, Julia Gillard, opposing A$2.3 billion worth of cuts announced to fund the Gonski reforms to school education…
There are no short-term fixes to the long-term issues surrounding education in Australia.
shutterstock
Everyone, it seems, has a “fix” for education. The government has staked improvement on extra funding while others say a higher bar for teaching graduates is needed, and some view the prestige of the profession…
Search terms can give insight into the likely future behaviour of economic actors.
Ahmad Nawawi
What a curious thing the stock market is; so powerful, yet so flighty. Like a school of sardines, it moves as one, changing direction nimbly when danger looms or advantage beckons. What it will do next…
An influential economics paper — which has now been shown to have several methodological flaws — was used by policymakers to justify austerity drives around the world.
AAP
The economic literature is full of excellent articles that are not read outside small academic circles. There are, however, important exceptions. “Growth in a Time of Debt”, by Carmen R. Reinhart and Kenneth…
Barack Obama’s recent budget pursues the goals of full employment and fiscal balance, objectives that were heavily emphasised under Bill Clinton’s leadership.
AAP
Is it 2013 or 1999? Barack Obama’s evolution into a more successful Bill Clinton may be complete with the issuance of his recent budget.
On the one hand, Obama’s budget cuts entitlement spending by adopting…
So high speed rail might be a good investment, in future. It just might also be the worst of the possible rail projects to fund at this moment in time.
AAP
Transport Minister Anthony Albanese today released the second phase report for Australia’s High Speed Rail Study. The AECOM report plots out a preferred route from Brisbane to Melbourne, predicts how many…
Glass has been smashed by the critics … but is that reaction justified?
Slinky2000
It was labelled one of 2012’s most important inventions and “the next big thing”.
So it was, with great fanfare, that Google sent its first batch of Google Glasses out into the geekdom in March – and…
Emotional health problems after childbirth are burdonsome and common.
storyvillegirl/flickr
Post-traumatic stress can result from life-threatening events such as military combat, violent assault or natural disasters. Women who feared that they or their baby would die or be seriously damaged during…
A tiny male Red-finned Blue-eye, half the size of your little finger.
Adam Kereszy
The Red-finned Blue-eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis) grows to a maximum of three centimetres long. As males reach adulthood they develop the vivid colouration suggested by their common name. In contrast…
Media organisations should push for media rights and freedoms on a more regular basis, not only when they’re under threat.
AAP/Lukas Coch
It is just a week since the Gillard government withdrew the four media reform bills for which it could not garner the necessary support from the crossbench MPs.
The proposal that concerned me most as…
The broad economics of the scheme and the fine details of its implementation remain unclear.
Image from shutterstock.com
While the Labor party’s misguided leadership coup hogged the limelight last Thursday, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Bill passed through parliament.
The government also announced the…
Cyprus is making a last-ditch bid to negotiate a bailout deal from the IMF, the EU and the ECB.
AAP
Last week, the Parliament of Cyprus rejected a bill that would impose a levy of 9.9% on bank deposits over the insurance threshold of €100,000 and a levy of 6.75% on deposits below the insurance ceiling…
Stephen Conroy’s approach threatens Australia’s standing as a free, Western democracy.
AAP/Lukas Coch
It’s a great shame when political and commercial vested interests drown out compelling and principled arguments for free expression in this Australian media reform debate.
First, I declare my own interest…
Don’t worry – your Reader data is still in there.
Ed Yourdon
Google HQ’s recent announcement that its Reader platform is to be discontinued has been met with concern – even alarm – from its legions of loyal users. So where do we go from here? What will happen to…
As a publicly traded company, Facebook faces a responsibility to increase its revenue. But is its revamped news feed a step in the right direction?
AAP
Late last week, Facebook broke the news of another major change to users' news feeds, sparking interesting discussion across the globe. Described by Mark Zuckerberg as your new “personal newspaper,” the…
Migraines often cause nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and noise.
Shutterstock/Emilia Ungur
If you, or someone close to you suffers from migraine, you’ll know it is much more than your average headache – migraine is a debilitating disorder that can even affect your sight and speech.
Migraine…
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s media reforms have been called an attack on freedom of speech, but is the criticism deserved?
AAP/Lukas Coch
The ongoing criticism in the major news media of Communication Minister Stephen Conroy’s very soft and watery proposed media reforms is predictable but still breathtaking.
Conroy’s proposals go nowhere…
Barriers can reduce the number of suicides at a particular location but broader means restriction measures are more complex.
AAP/Dan Peled
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk’s recent announcement that barriers are to be erected on the Story Bridge in an effort to reduce suicides is very welcome. Studies consistently show that barriers have…
The Peter Costello-led Queensland Commission of Audit has unveiled what Costello describes as an economic blueprint for conservative governments, as a confluence across jurisdictions looms.
If implemented, the recently delivered Queensland Commission of Audit – dubbed the Costello Report – will represent the biggest shake-up of Queensland’s public sector since the election of the Wayne Goss…
