Since 1975, Griffith University has been proudly doing things differently. With more than 55,000 students, its community spans five campuses across South East Queensland, Australia. Ranking in the top 2% of university’s worldwide, Griffith’s teaching and research is focused on addressing the most important social and environmental issues of our time.
President Barack Obama’s $US447 billion jobs plan appears to be struggling. Republican resistance to some aspects of the rescue deal announced last week - particularly around government spending - was…
Arthur Sinodinos has long been mooted as a potential successor to retiring former Howard minister, Senator Helen Coonan. Now that Sinodinos - long serving chief of staff to former Primer Minister John…
Business leaders are insisting changes be made to the Fair Work Act to boost productivity. Retailers apparently face a crisis because of penalty rates, and an MP agrees that penalty rates stymie productivity…
MEDIA & DEMOCRACY: Today, Anne Tiernan looks at how voters have become consumers of political marketing, as part of The Conversation’s week-long series on how the media influences the way our representatives…
AUSTRALIA 2050 – There’s no way of predicting what the environment will be like in 2050, but there are many possibilities. I will sketch out two extremes. The first is bleak. The first independent national…
The past several weeks on global financial markets has been quite some roller coaster ride. As the US flirted with the prospect of default and Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country’s credit rating…
AFTER THE INTERVENTION: Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh of Griffith University explains why mineral wealth rarely ends up in Indigenous hands. Native title creates the potential for indigenous communities to share…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used the example of Spain to indicate how Australia’s energy mix could be transformed. The potential for this transformation is nothing more than wishful thinking…
How often do we hear the argument that Australia’s moves to limit carbon emissions will achieve nothing unless China finally takes some action? This fails to recognise that China’s city mayors, the government…
Many of us eagerly await those few weeks when we can escape the daily grind and break away to some breathtaking holiday destination. But with increasing concern over climate change and the emissions generated…
In the lead up to the carbon price announcement, much of the criticism of the scheme has talked about the damage to Australia’s exports. But the move to price carbon could save us from a far worse economic…
The Australian government has begun to focus on the issue of financial inclusion, as reflected by an allocation of $60.6 million in this year’s federal budget. This follows earlier government support for…
I, along with many Australians, listened to the news coverage on Monday morning of the Lowy Institute’s annual survey, with reasonable disappointment and initial surprise. This is a respected polling exercise…
In the degreasing after the 2011 New South Wales election a lot was made of the supposed influence of western Sydney voters, their electoral motivations and allegiances. Western Sydney surely has its problems…
Imagine the following conversation between a finance academic and his or her supervisor during an annual performance review: Academic: So, do you think I am ready for a promotion? Supervisor: Well, I see…
Do you believe in climate change? It’s seemingly a simple question. But there are many reasons why it is not. Who is asking, why, and who is being asked? This is why we read such widely varying reports…
Politically, increasing petrol prices is one of the least popular things a government can do. But is there any point to a carbon tax if it doesn’t cover petrol? Vladimir Putin has just found how quickly…
Former US presidential speechwriter, the late William Safire, outlined the components of a perfect political speech as follows: “tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em – then tell ‘em – then tell ‘em what…
Oil is a finite and non-renewable resource. Its production is going to peak. “Peak oil” is the point at which half of the world’s original endowment of oil has been extracted. This is the point at which…
I’d like to respond to a recent article for The Conversation by Martin Sevior, an active scientist and church leader. Sevior argues that – apart from fundamentalism – science and religion are complementary…