The Euro, Europe’s adolescent single currency, is in rough waters. This week European finance chiefs signed off on a 78 billion Euro bail-out for Portugal, while calling for Greece to accept stringent…
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The Government’s plan to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products has been raised at the Council for TRIPS meeting in Geneva this week. In a note to TRIPS delegates, the Indonesian Government has…
Ask us what we mean by “science” and you’ll find us a little circumspect. In fact, we think the word “science” is close to useless. This might seem odd, given we work at the Australian National Centre…
Should we bother to ask whether some gifts and donations could be interpreted as thinly veiled bribes, or is the distinction always clear? A recent example of the potential ambiguity of gift-giving was…
The western liberal’s capacity for self-flagellation is seemingly endless. There is no enemy that the liberal west did not create. There is no inhumanity that the west did not begin. There is no crime…
Energy efficiency is globally seen as the biggest and best option for cheaply reducing greenhouse gas emissions and dealing with rising power bills. But in Australia it still struggles for recognition…
The Gillard government’s recent budget announcement again raises the issue of how much Australia relies on skilled migrants to backfill skills shortages at a time of economic growth. The shift in emphasis…
With its electoral support eroding, the federal government has been careful not to trigger frustration or disappointment in higher education and research. These have been largely Labor constituencies since…
The full bench of Fair Work Australia ruled yesterday that gender is a major factor in the low pay of thousands of workers in the social care and community sector. There are around 150,000 largely female…
The tobacco industry has launched a national media campaign today, questioning the Federal Government’s proposed plain packaging legislation. It will also release a series of confidential government documents…
The global financial crisis has occasioned a vast literature purporting to analyse the causes and consequences of the crisis. The crisis literature ranges from morality play narratives, insider accounts…
The most serious environmental problems facing our planet require cooperative solutions. Ensuring the sustainability of the Murray-Darling river system requires the cooperation of several states. Preserving…
Google’s so-called Chromebook will be launched next month in the US and much of Europe, and, not unusually, “some time later” in Australia … The move was announced at the company’s flasghip I/O conference…
February’s events in Christchurch brought people’s attention to the patently obvious: that old brick buildings collapse in large earthquakes. There is no shortage of past lessons regarding this fact…
On the opening day of the Warrnambool jumps carnival in western Victoria this year, five-year-old horse Casa Boy died when he fell at his first hurdle. Just one month later, Shine the Armour also died…
Universities in Britain are being changed beyond recognition by budget cuts which may be crippling for some institutions. Many of the reforms are inevitable in the current global recession, but they will…
Having a “broken” or a “heavy” heart is a description often used by people who are feeling down or depressed. It turns out they’re not that far off the mark. People with depression are three to four times…
“Only an election could make an honest politician of this Prime Minister. Only an election can give Australia a government with authority to make the tough decisions needed to build a stronger Australia…
For a brief moment in 2008 asylum seeker advocates were optimistic. This moment of optimism has now gone. As the government announces plans to send newly arriving asylum seekers to Malaysia and also enters…
Australian political culture still recognises the remains of traditional commitment to egalitarianism as the mythic “fair go”, but the meaning is often not clear. Opportunity is often seen as the ladder…
Ever downloaded a Hollywood flick from the internet? If the answer is “yes” then you could be next on Rambo’s hit list. As reported recently, an American federal judge has agreed to allow the U.S. Copyright…
Any parent would tell you that seeing children fuelling up on sugar-laden cake, lollies and soft drinks at a birthday party is a sure-fire recipe for a bunch of rampaging hyperactive kids. The connection…
Quick, consider the following: all polar bears are animals. Some animals are white. Therefore, some polar bears are white. Is this conclusion logically implied or not? There is a 75% chance you might endorse…
A vision splendid of the sunlit plain extended? The federal budget acknowledges the profound impact of flood, fire and cyclones on our economy. It compensates, rebuilds and funds mental health programs…
This might surprise you, but there may be literally thousands, or even tens of thousands, of devices and components surrounding you right now that work because of our understanding of quantum physics…