Opinions
The gas industry is gaslighting us
Barely a week goes by without another shrill headline about a supposed gas shortage and alarmist claims that the lights will go out unless multinational companies are allowed to extract more gas.
Whenever you see these headlines or hear scary claims from the gas lobby, there are two things you need to know.
Big profits, but don’t be suckered into thinking mining dominates Australia’s economy
Mining companies love to talk about how much they contribute to Australia’s economy. But really their biggest “contribution” is their profits – and they want to keep more of those.
The mining industry is the biggest whinger in the country
The mining industry is now surely the biggest whinger in the Australian economy. This week it launched an all-out assault on the federal government at Minerals Week in Canberra, with chief executive of the mining industry’s chief lobby group the Minerals Council, Tania Constable, warning the government: “Undermine it at your peril.” Relative to its
The logging industry should be bound by Australia’s environment protection laws just like everyone else
This week, a private member’s bill to end native forest logging was up for debate. It sought to repeal legislation that exempts logging in much of Australia’s public forest estate from our national environment laws.
Chalmers is right, the RBA has smashed the economy
In recent weeks the Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been criticised by the opposition and some conservative economists for pointing out that the 13 interest rate increases have slowed Australia’s economy. But the data shows he is right.
Why Dutton’s playing a very dangerous political game
Peter Dutton and Donald Trump have a knack for political division. There’s no doubt that stoking fear and the politics of division can be brutally effective, but the last thing Australia needs is to import the damaging culture wars of the American far right, dominated by bonkers conspiracy theories adhered to by militant acolytes untroubled
August 2024
The 9 to 5 is back! Time to put the phone on silent
If you’ve ever flicked off an email before bed, texted your boss out of hours, or received an ‘urgent’ work call after clocking off, you’ll be glad to hear some respite is just around the corner. A new right to disconnect from work, for employees in businesses with 15 or more staff, comes into force
Closing Loopholes Protections, Including Right to Disconnect, Come Into Effect 26 August
New labour rights coming into effect on 26 August, including the ‘Right to Disconnect’.
Who is holding the purse strings?
Next month, the Albanese government is due to announce its proposed changes to Australian electoral laws. It has been a long road. The minister responsible, Senator Don Farrell, had planned to introduce the laws by the end of last year.
In picking Tim Walz as her running mate, Harris has redrawn the battlelines in the race for the Whitehouse
On Tuesday morning US time, US Vice President Kamala Harris called Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to ask him to be her running mate in her campaign for the presidency.
Fossil fuels are gobbling up construction capacity and it’s hurting at home
In the wake of the Reserve Bank’s latest forecasts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing calls that government should cut back on infrastructure investment to relieve inflation pressures and free up workers and resources to build much-needed housing.
July 2024
Would you like a recession with that? New Zealand shows the danger of high interest rates
New Zealand’s central bank raised interest rates more than Australia and went into a recession – twice.
A second Trump presidency would send Australia down a dark economic path. Here’s how it might play out
While Kamala Harris has restored some hope for Democrats in November, the likelihood of a Trump presidency still remains very strong. And if that happens, Australia may find itself more damaged than any other major country.
Biden out, Harris in? Why this risky, unprecedented move could be the circuit breaker the Democrats needed
President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside as the Democratic nominee in this year’s presidential election certainly had a sense of inevitability about it. Yet, it is still unprecedented in the modern era for a sitting president to drop out of a presidential race this late in the process. We are really in uncharted waters for American
Australian workers’ living standards have been destroyed – and there is little good news ahead
Over the next few weeks, the Reserve Bank will ponder just how strong the economy is.
Two-thirds of Democrats want Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. It’s time he listened
The cracks beneath US President Joe Biden’s feet continue to widen. While the shock of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump seemed like it might relieve some of the pressure on Biden, the story of his viability as both president and candidate continues to feed on itself. Ever since his disastrous debate performance against Trump
Renewable hydrogen: Superpower, or green mask for fossil super villains?
My children are aged three and four. They love anything with super powers – Spiderman, vampires, Paw Patrol, everything.
Should Australia ban fossil fuel advertising?
A tobacco-style ban on fossil fuel advertising would be a decisive win for Australia – and the climate.
A bloodied, defiant Trump could become the defining image of the US election
The shots fired at Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday are being investigated as an assassination attempt of the former president and current Republican presidential nominee. Assassination attempts on presidents and presidential nominees are littered throughout American history. What happened in Pennsylvania is horrifying, but sadly not surprising. I’ve been really struck by how
Understanding the Future Made in Australia
The Albanese Government’s industrial policy framework – the Future Made in Australia Act (FMAA) – has finally been unveiled.
Why Queensland is Miles ahead of the game
Canberra doesn’t really have a fossil fuel industry, which perhaps explains why we lead the country in decarbonising our economy.
Value for money? The princely salaries of private school principals
While public school funding lags, principals of private schools are paid up to four times their state system counterparts.
History shows American political violence is nothing new: Thomas Jefferson said ‘the blood of patriots’ is liberty’s ‘natural manure’
If you select “virtually any date in US history, it would be possible to find the same poisonous ingredients [… that] percolated violently to the surface on January 6th, 2021,” writes journalist and historian Nick Bryant in his new book, The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself. Over two centuries ago, in 1787, Thomas Jefferson,
June 2024
Muddled answers and outright lies: what the Biden-Trump debate says about the dire state of US politics
There are no parallels for the first debate of the 2024 US presidential election cycle.
As the Coalition goes nuclear, Labor is free to ensure fossil fuels are burned with abandon and little scrutiny
The sham of Australia’s climate change policy has been made clear in the past two weeks.
Why the US government’s pursuit of Julian Assange was becoming both damaging and untenable
Today, in a surprise development likely weeks in the planning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was able to leave the United Kingdom for the first time in more than a decade after reaching a plea deal with the US government.
Bring out yer dead! Amid nuke hype Tanya Plibersek approves Gina Rinehart’s gas pipeline
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has just approved a new coal seam gas pipeline in Queensland.
Households are hurting. Savings are weak. The future’s uncertain. Is a rate cut near?
The Reserve Bank’s decision to keep rates steady reinforced that the economy at this moment remains one with both good and bad signs, and the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, is refreshingly upfront about the difficulties.
Obsessing over the inflation rate misses one key point: the economy is more than just how fast prices are rising
Over the past few weeks some economists and commentators have become rather obsessed and unhinged about Australia’s inflation rate.
Machiavelli would have known what to do about PwC
Today, the name of Niccolò Machiavelli is a byword for cynicism and hunger for power, but there was one profession so parasitic and selfish even he could not stomach it.
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