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President Xi Jinping has a PhD in Marxism and recently directed more resources to the study of the works of Marx and Mao Zedong. AAP/Jason Reed

To make sense of modern China, you simply can’t ignore Marxism

How does one come to understand China? Many wish to do so, especially in light of China’s growing global influence. For some, language is the key that opens the door. With Chinese language, one is able…
Singer, songwriter, poet and writer, Steve Kilbey has recently released his memoir, Something Quite Peculiar. debra/Flickr

Speaking with: Steve Kilbey, lead singer of The Church

Bassist and lead singer of The Church, Steve Kilbey is one of Australia’s most prolific musicians. The band released their 25th album, Further Deeper, in October and will play The Queenscliff Music Festival…
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest might be be down $2 billion, but the decline in commodity prices is just one of many factors hurting Tony Abbott’s budget bottom line. Nikki Short/AAP

Productivity could trump the iron ore price, but who’s counting?

In the wake of a falling iron ore price that has cut his personal fortune by more than A$2 billion, Andrew Forrest has remained unperturbed, saying: “I didn’t count on the way up, and I’m not counting…
The China-Australia FTA is more important to Canberra than Beijing, placing China at a distinct advantage. www.shutterstock.com

The noodle-bowl effect: Australian trade is increasingly complex

Fact: over 585 regional trade agreements have been signed. Almost 400 are already operating. Australia is a signatory to at least 12 of them. An intricate web of cross-cutting free trade agreements (FTAs…
Logging has left Victoria’s mountain ash forests in danger of collapse. David Blair

A job for Victoria’s next leaders: save the Central Highlands

Whoever wins power in Victoria’s election tomorrow will no doubt have a long to-do list. Here’s an urgent item: protect the mountain ash forests of the state’s Central Highlands. We have discovered that…
A mechanism of independent scrutiny – such as a royal commission – remains the best way forward for alleviating defence abuse. AAP/Alan Porritt

Royal commission could shine an independent light on defence abuse

As I was showering five or six senior [others] attacked me – they turned off the lights, tied my hands behind my back and proceeded to do things to me. I was held down whilst one of them put his penis…
Gaultier’s clothes adopt elements of satire, visual puns and the ridiculous to critique what we wear. NGV, Brooke Holm

Jean Paul Gaultier: how to make (or bake) a blockbuster

French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier – whose designs are featured at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) until February 2015 – has always had an unsettling relationship with museum fashion exhibitions…
Daddy Cool’s Ross Wilson learnt to sing harmonies in a choir, aged 10. AAP/ Joe Castro

The secrets of self-taught, high-performing musicians

We rightly marvel at the skills of a talented musician, especially witnessing them perform live. But how does someone become so skilled? Obviously hours and hours of dedicated practice is a necessity…
Legalised programs may be underused if doctors do not support them. boodoo/Flickr

Legalising medical cannabis: lessons from Canada’s policies

A bill to permit medical cannabis use in Australia is set for debate in Senate. If medical cannabis use is legalised, doctors could become gatekeepers between patients and a controversial drug. Lessons…
What is a Small Private Online Course? And how is it different to a MOOC? Shutterstock

Explainer: what is a Small Private Online Course?

If you have studied an online course at a university over the past couple of decades, you’ve probably already experienced a SPOC, or Small Private Online Course. SPOC is a new term for an old concept…
The inner suburbs of Melbourne are surprisingly more leafy than the outer suburbs. Andrew

Fewer trees leave the outer suburbs out in the heat

When you look out of your window in the morning, how many trees do you see? Your answer might depend on what suburb you live in. As you go further from the city centre, the amount of tree cover in a suburb…
Indonesia raised its subsidised fuel prices by more than 30% as an effort to escape the country’s current account deficit. EPA/Hotli Simanjuntak

Indonesia’s fuel subsidy cut, a bitter pill that had to be swallowed

Indonesia’s move to cut fuel subsidies, raising the prices of petrol and diesel by more than 30%, could be a game-changer for Indonesia’s economy. The subsidies, which have kept fuel prices in Indonesia…
Under Ted Baillieu, the Coalition government set up an anti-corruption commission, but not the one promised in 2010. AAP/Julian Smith

How to turn IBAC into a corruption watchdog that works as promised

Before the 2010 election, the opposition – now the government – promised Victorians an anti-corruption commission. This was to be closely modelled on the New South Wales Independent Commission Against…
What are we voting for? Certainly not decisions made in MPs’ own interest or that of political parties or business cronies, but the present system lets that happen. AAP/Andrew Brownbill

It’s hard for voters to trust leaders who won’t promise true integrity

The Accountability Round Table (ART), a non-partisan organisation, wrote to the three major political parties two months ago seeking their position on three important arms of Victoria’s integrity system…
It can take more than three years for a public servant to climb back to their same level of pay after losing their job. Alex Proimos/Flickr

When public servants lose jobs it takes years to get back on track

By 2017, some 16,500 public servants will have lost their jobs, or have been shuffled into other positions within the public service, in the government’s ongoing drive for budget savings. The long-standing…
A grand jury decision not to indict a police officer over the shooting death of Michael Brown has sparked protests and questions over the system’s efficacy. EPA/Michael Reynolds

Only in America: why Australia is right not to have grand juries

The idea of the grand jury is already familiar to many Australians through American television legal drama. But its profile just skyrocketed with a grand jury deciding not to indict policeman Darren Wilson…
Our tendency to think that we will “beat the odds” is risky, and mostly wrong. malik ml williams

Before you go … are you in denial about death?

For most of us, death conjures up strong feelings. We project all kinds of fears onto it. We worry about it, dismiss it, laugh it off, push it aside or don’t think about it at all. Until we have to. Of…
Remote households trying to telecommute rely on satellite connections to high-speed broadband – which sometimes don’t work. AnnieAnniePancake/Flickr

NBN benefits regional centres, but rural Australia is still left wanting

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull reiterated the importance of the National Broadband Network (NBN) for regional and rural Australia in an address to the NBN Rebooted conference in Sydney last week…
For patients, the availability of beds is more important than the overall number. Emily Orpin/Flickr

Victoria votes: more hospital beds doesn’t equal better health

Scanning through the media coverage of the major parties’ health policies one could be forgiven for thinking that hospital beds are the key to health. Sure, hospital spending dominates the health budget…
Was the Coalition too quick to take up Gerard Henderson’s IR club theme? Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The enduring myth of the industrial relations club

The Abbott government will soon ask the Productivity Commission to review the Fair Work system. In parallel with that review, we need a more sophisticated debate about our workplace relations framework…