News & Analysis
Articles & Opinions
“Stitch up” Labor and Coalition Deal on Electoral Reform
Last night, Liberal Senator Jane Hume announced they’d done a deal with the Albanese Labor Government on electoral laws – and some twelve hours later, it became law, having been rushed through both houses of Parliament. Labor’s compromises with the Coalition have worsened the bill even further: Instead of a disclosure threshold of $1,000, which
Ensuring workers’ safety in the climate crisis
As I watched the fires in Los Angeles unfold in January this year, my mind of course reflected on the 1999-2000 Black Summer bushfires in Australia. Both these seasons have wrought significant damage to humans and other animals, and to land, infrastructure and property. There has been a huge personal, collective and financial toll involved.
Productivity is often mistaken for wages. What does it really mean? How does it work?
Australia’s productivity growth has reverted to the same stagnant pattern as before the pandemic, according to the Productivity Commission’s latest quarterly report. Productivity is complex and often misunderstood in media and policy debates. So before we read too much into this latest data, here are six key things to understand about productivity. 1. It’s about quantities,
The hands of the Doomsday Clock show the world is ignoring a potential three-headed catastrophe
The apocalyptic “the end is nigh” was a popular meme for the image of despair and exclusion from the accelerating prosperity of America and the West.
For the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to be meaningful, an enduring peace must be the objective
When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire? When it is between Hamas and Israel, with Donald Trump as a late arrival to the treaty birthing suite in the role of midwife.
Off the Charts
Housing affordability is on a very dangerous path
If housing affordability keeps going the way it has over the past 20 years, an average house in Sydney will be worth 24 years of an average salary.
.The major parties, not the independents are the big spenders at election time
The government says the electoral laws changes are about limiting big spending by independents, but community independents spent less per seat than the major parties at the 2022 federal election.
.Coal Mine Tracker
Since May 2022, the Federal Environment Minister has approved 10 new coal mines or expansions.
There are 22 additional proposals for new or expanded coal mines currently waiting for Federal Government approval.
If approved, the lifetime emissions from all 32 projects would be equivalent to keeping all of Australia’s coal-fired power stations operating for an additional 95 years.
Hunter Valley Mine Watch
No new coal mines are needed in the Hunter Valley. Avoiding dangerous climate change requires keeping coal in the ground, and with the world moving away from coal as an energy source new coal mines will simply compete with existing coal mines for a declining market.
Total coal production gap
Rehabilitation cost shortfall
HeatWatch
HeatWatch puts current Australian research about temperature increases due to global warming into context, using data from the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO.
Adelaide: HeatWatch projects up to 49 days over 35°C per year by 2090
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