Recent conversations about carbon pricing are still framed within gentle themes of continuing growth and well-being, where no one has to pay more for anything without being compensated. The words that…
Over a million Australians are now green electricity generators: how much difference will the shift to an ETS make?
Heidi Blanton
There is little doubt that Kevin Rudd’s plan to bring forward international linking and trading of emission permits is a smart political move. It removes a key option for Tony Abbott. Now Mr Abbott is…
Reducing emissions with a trading scheme rather than a tax can be risky business.
Brian Yap
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told Australia we’re shifting to an emissions trading scheme one year earlier than anticipated, with Treasurer Chris Bowen suggesting it will address “cost of living pressures…
Is Bob Katter exaggerating when he says Coles and Woolworths own 80% of the groceries market?
APH
“The Americans are screaming blue murder because WalMart and their competitor have now reached about 23% market share. Here we have two supermarkets with a market share of over 80%, so if they decide to…
Did Foreign minister Bob Carr’s controversial claim that the majority of asylum seekers coming to Australia are economic refugees go too far?
APH
“People are coming here, not now as a result of persecution, but because they’re economic refugees who have paid money to people smugglers.” - Foreign minister Bob Carr, Meet the Press, June 9. There is…
Legal, political and even sporting considerations will weigh on the mind of prime minister Kevin Rudd in selecting a new election date.
AAP/Lukas Coch
NOTE: This piece has been updated on July 2 to reflect the scheduled sittings of federal parliament. One of the most important decisions now for new prime minister Kevin Rudd is selecting the date for…
Tony Abbott might think his approvals plan will simplify things, but it will unleash new complications.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
While the political focus in Australia was on the Labor Party leadership challenge, the Opposition released its policy for “a one-stop-shop for environmental approvals”. The policy claims that handing…
Reducing carbon pollution has bi-partisan support. It wouldn’t hurt to re-open debate on the method.
takver/flickr
Carbon pricing has helped to destroy three political leaders - Malcolm Turnbull, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard - since 2009. Why would a re-minted Prime Minister Rudd want to touch such a poisoned chalice…
Tony Abbott has a history of supporting medical research since his time as health minister under John Howard.
Paul Miller/AAP
The Coalition’s Policy to Protect and Streamline Health and Medical Research Funding is one of the first documents off the blocks this election. Short and sweet, it is designed to appeal to medical researchers…
While she may look elsewhere, ultimately Julia Gillard has no-one to blame for her political demise but herself.
AAP/Lukas Coch
In the middle of the 2012 winter, an influential supporter of Julia Gillard laid out for me the intricacies of the Labor caucus’ power structures, the labour movement’s web of personal antagonisms and…
Now that the Labor leadership issue has been resolved once and for all, the attention will soon turn to the opposition’s attempts to win government at the election.
AAP/Alan Porritt
With such unprecedented turmoil inside the Labor Party over leadership it is not surprising that we have all forgotten about the opposition. You know, the government-in-waiting, the other mob, the Coalition…
Now that he’s deposed Julia Gillard, what lies ahead for Kevin Rudd in the election campaign?
Alan Porritt / AAP
The federal Labor caucus has decided to put aside its disdain for former leader Kevin Rudd and return him to the Labor leadership. The reason for this is simple: with Julia Gillard as leader, Labor was…
The aftermath of the Bali bombing in 2002 that killed dozens of Australians. Do our intelligence services need further investment to prevent such tragedies from occurring again?
AAP/Dean Lewins
The Coalition has promised it will “rebuild” Australia’s frontline national security agencies if it wins government at the upcoming election. Shadow attorney general spokesman George Brandis has laid out…
Children don’t have the right to vote - but maybe they should.
www.shutterstock.com
People tend to prefer present gratification to conserving resources for the future. This tendency is made worse by election cycles that encourage politicians to concentrate on policies that will get them…
If Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott continue to lead their parties at the upcoming federal election, we should see a focus on policy, not personality politics.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Leadership speculation grips Canberra again. With opinion polls pointing to a landslide Coalition victory in September, there are reports that Labor MPs may look to oust prime minister Julia Gillard in…
Your MP may accept climate change is a problem, but is he or she doing enough to fix it?
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Brad Farrant, The University of Western Australia and Mark G Edwards, The University of Western Australia
Politicians are in the unique position of being able to enact climate policies that can prevent or minimise great harm to millions, if not billions, of people. They have an ethical responsibility to understand…
Australians will vote on constitutional recognition for local government in September - but what are the reasons behind the referendum?
AAP/Sophie Marr
The federal government has announced that Australians will be voting in a referendum on September 14 - federal election day - to decide whether local government should be recognised in the Australian Constitution…
Both sides of politics need to take the carbon tax fight to the election.
Flickr/Leonard John Matthews
If climate change features prominently in the federal election campaign, it will almost certainly be driven by the Coalition. Under Tony Abbott, the Coalition has long smelled blood in the water on climate…
Despite a promised repeal of the carbon tax, the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan may miss the opportunity to drive energy innovation.
AAP Image
It looks likely that the next Federal Government will be a Tony Abbott-led Coalition Government. Mr Abbott promises, if elected, to repeal the carbon tax. Labor may block that repeal, but if they do Tony…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott is under pressure to drop his signature paid parental leave scheme ahead of this year’s federal election.
AAP/Dave Hunt
There is an odd consensus emerging between conservative Liberals opposed to their own leader’s paid parental leave scheme and defenders of the Gillard government’s version of the same policy. Into the…
The remaining A$3.5 billion needed to fully fund the NDIS will still need to be found from other sources.
Image from shutterstock.com
The announcement that opposition leader Tony Abbott will support a 0.5% increase to the Medicare Levy to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) takes the politics out of about half the additional…
Certainty of funding is important and that’s why an income tax levy or premium is the way to go.
Image from shutterstock.com
While an income tax increase may be hard to sell to some people in the community in the lead-up to a federal election, it’s the right choice for a sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS…
Labor has traditionally had a strong support among female voters, but this could be set to change in 2013.
AAP/Lukas Coch
A “gender dimension” now envelopes national politics unlike anything we have observed in the past. Julia Gillard’s popular but arguably unfair [accusation](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-10/international-reaction-to-gillard-speech/4305294](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-10/international-reaction-to-gillard-speech/4305294…
Believing climate change isn’t happening won’t make it go away.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
As we head into an election, you’d be justified in asking what your local member is basing their climate change decisions on. If your MP says “I don’t support policies to prevent dangerous climate change…
Who has the voter’s eocnomic interests at heart plays the biggest role in determining voter allegiance.
AAP/Theron Kirkman
Graham Richardson, the legendary Labor numbers man, pronounced last week that “if I was religious, I would pray that my long-held view that Labor will be slaughtered under Gillard’s leadership would be…