Bitter battles about money hang heavily over the Council of Australian Governments meeting, though Tony Abbott wants it to concentrate on the less divisive topics.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will chair a meeting on domestic violence, flanked by the rest of Australia’s political leaders – but will they finally commit to long-term, bipartisan action?
Lukas Coch/AAP
For decades, successive governments have cherry-picked reports on domestic violence for the easy fixes, and ignored the hard stuff. So no more summits and royal commissions – it’s time to act.
Rupert Murdoch has tweeted that Tony Abbott’s chief of staff Peta Credlin should stand down.
AAP image/Jason Reed
News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch has made an extraordinary intervention in the Coalition controversy over Tony Abbott’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, declaring via Twitter that she must go. In a series of…
Today’s state and territory leaders have an opportunity to emulate the founders of the federation and make history by breathing new life into Australia’s system of government.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Federation in 1901 is now the middle point between 2014 and the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. Despite this, most views of federation, if Australians have one at all, are probably shaped by its…
Does COAG help the Prime Minister and the Premiers collaborate - or create a platform for empty grandstanding?
Alan Porritt/AAP
The reform of Australia’s federation is under review. In this special series, we ask leading Australian academics to begin a debate on renewing federalism, from tax reform to the broader issues of democracy…
An unintended consequence of competitive federalism has led states to abandon high benefit-cost ratio projects for inferior ones.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Calls to lift the GST rate to placate the states financial challenges will serve to only exacerbate an already severe vertical fiscal imbalance and prolong a deeply unsatisfactory chapter in Australia’s…
Abandoning health reforms will undoubtedly lead to worse performance, including longer waiting times, across the health system.
AAP Image/Quentin Jones
Yesterday was a sorry day in the long history of health reform in Australia. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council issued its five year score-keeper’s report on health reform progress…
Former Victorian premier John Brumby, pictured at a COAG meeting in 2008, wants an Australian federation with a better balance between roles, responsibilities and revenue.
AAP/Paul Miller
More than 100 years after Federation, the government’s White Paper on Reform of the Federation presents a historic opportunity to reconsider federal-state relations and responsibilities. How can state…
Ever thus… there is a quite a history of the federal government pulling funding from the states.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The states have some justification in being annoyed about being stripped of $80 billion worth of federal funding for health and education funding. These programs were negotiated on the basis of shared…
The Liberals, headed by Will Hodgman, has trounced Labor in Tasmania; will “coast to coast” state coalition governments transpire?
AAP
Over the weekend, Tasmanian voters resoundingly rejected Labor, while South Australians drove a cliff-hanger result that will probably be decided in the coming days. It’s not quite yet the “coast to coast…
Australia’s environmental laws are there to protect places like the Great Barrier Reef.
Flickr/eutrophication&hypoxia
The new Federal Government has approved a broad framework for achieving a “one-stop-shop” that will hand to state and territory governments the final decisions on projects assessed under Australia’s main…
The school funding row left NSW premier Barry O'Farrell and prime minister Tony Abbott with fences to mend ahead of Abbott’s first COAG meeting.
AAP/Paul Miller
Personality matters in Commonwealth-state relations. A change of leader always brings with it a different approach to managing the relationship between the jurisdictions that make up the Australian federation…
What is a meaningful role for the Commonwealth government in the early 21st century?
AAP Image/Paul Miller
SECURING AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE: As the Commission of Audit reviews government activity and spending, The Conversation’s experts take a closer look at key policy areas tied to this funding – what’s working…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott (front left) and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman (front right) are keen to overhaul COAG, but will they succeed where others have failed?
AAP Image/Dan Peled
Tony Abbott will face a fired-up “states’ union” at his first meeting with Australia’s premiers and chief ministers next month, with Queensland Premier Campbell Newman calling on the federal government…
The progress women made in the workforce decades ago appears to have stalled.
State Library of South Australia/Flickr
Bella Counihan, The Conversation; Charis Palmer, The Conversation e Kylar Loussikian, The Conversation
Australian girls and women start out on an equal footing with males in school and higher education, but fall behind in workforce participation and leadership roles, according to a new report prepared for…
Increased longevity often comes with multiple health conditions and disability.
Image from shutterstock.com
Women live longer and healthier lives than men but face lower rates of pay, are less likely to participate in paid work and accumulate less superannuation to retire on, which leads to disadvantage later…
Hate to burst your bubble but there’s a lot more left to do in reforming early childhood education.
Child image from www.shutterstock.com
The latest Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reform council report released this week showing small improvement in the quality of Australia’s early childhood education comes as federal and state…
The latest report into Australian education shows some positives and some negatives.
School image from www.shutterstock.com
Educational outcomes in Australia are showing signs of improvement, particularly in the early years and in Year 12 attainment, according to the latest reports from the Council of Australian Governments…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne