The mid-year budget update released on Tuesday — known as MYEFO — largely tells close observers what they knew already. The Commonwealth budget doesn’t add up. Revenues don’t cover outgoings. The numbers…
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There is something both utterly predictable and wonderfully larrikin about federal attorney-general George Brandis’ appointment of the Institute for Public Affairs’ (IPA) self-described “classic liberal…
Before this year’s federal election, then-opposition leader Tony Abbott promised an approach to higher education policy that would be characterised by “masterly inactivity”. Since then, education minister…
Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s first budget update has revealed a massive blowout to the bottom line and a warning of a decade of deficits ahead. The government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO…
The latest climate talks in Warsaw may have achieved little in the way of action on climate change, but they were even worse for biodiversity. In fact, since early climate talks in the 1990s, biodiversity…
The use of performance- and image-enhancing drugs such as steroids is on the rise in Australia, with more users accessing sterile injecting equipment from needle and syringe programs (NSPs). Between 1995…
A council in Western Australia recently prohibited negative body language such as shrugging, eye-rolling and sighing in the workplace, but a blanket ban on certain gestures is destined to fail. Body language…
Speech is the one of the most important forms of communication between humans. The internet has opened doors for us to communicate with people across the globe – but the technology often leads to misunderstanding…
The Government’s push to reform competition laws will continue next year with a review focusing on the key groceries, utilities and automotive fuel sectors. These are the sectors that most regularly affect…
Indigenous education has been prioritised by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the states at the recent COAG meeting. The focus is on truancy, with a school attendance target of 90-100%. “Punitive” measures…
This exhibition is not just about art, it is about us: the land, the sea, our ancestors. Those words were spoken by Waka Munungurr, ceremonial leader and senior custodian, Djapu clan, at a preview viewing…
Consumer Sentiment fell by 4.8% in December, but despite the drop other indicators still point toward a robust Christmas period for retailers. Retail trade recorded its strongest result for three consecutive…
Your team is decimated. You’re surrounded by zombies. And they’re closing in. Normally, you lean forward, turn off your console, step away and play again once you’ve had the opportunity to regroup. But…
Since 1803, when its first newspaper was published, Australia’s media have been owned largely by private enterprise. Except for the Government Gazette, which was confined to publishing official government…
I was shocked when the local preschool teacher asked me when my son was coming to preschool… I had no idea he was even permitted to attend the local preschool. Those are not the words of a mother during…
Placebos have a longer history than medicine as we know it, and have a huge effect on all kinds of diseases and health conditions. But it may now be time to rethink their role. The placebo made its debut…
Australia has a problem with its power system that goes to the core of many issues we’re facing at the moment — increasing coal and gas prices, changing electricity usage, and climate change. That’s the…
What is sign language? Before we answer that question, it might be useful to first consider what a “language” is. Spoken languages are naturally developed complex systems that use a set of conventionalised…
Oddly enough and against trend – all those Scandinavian crime novels bobbing up in translation – I spent most of the year travelling Australia in crime fiction. From East (Peter Cotton’s Canberra in Dead…
Media reports preceding the mid year economic and fiscal outlook suggest we should expect a deficit of just under A$50 billion, a further deterioration of Australia’s budget position since the pre-election…
Warning: this is not a list of the best movies of 2013. There were plenty of movies released this year that stirred up debates about cinema and who makes it. They were the ones that made me sit up and…
Now that Ford and Holden have announced the 2017 closure of their Australian manufacturing and assembly operations, what are the prospects for the industry and its key remaining participant, Toyota? Unlike…
The suggestion that bald men are more virile than their well-thatched contemporaries is probably an old wives’ tale, but it must be conceded that old wives are likely to be unusually authoritative in this…
China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has just released some remarkable data on the addition of new electric generating capacity in 2013. China’s electric power system has been growing at a tremendous…
Privatisation of the public realm is increasingly seen by governments as a relatively painless user-pays way of addressing their budget problems and parks have not escaped the trend. Public spaces such…