The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates for the first time since November 2020 – so is the Australian economy out of the woods?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s letter to the Tasmanian salmon industry, promising new federal environmental laws to protect the foreign-owned businesses, sets a dangerous precedent and undermines government process.

Today’s long-overdue decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates is a good start.

And some of you get annexed (maybe).

We discuss Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and what they’ll mean for Australia.

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.

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 Wrap with Amy Remeikis On September 30, 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stood outside 10 Downing Street and declared the Munich Agreement had appeased German Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s territorial aims. “I believe it is peace for our time,” he said. “…Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.” Germany violated the agreement almost immediately. 

Without addressing the wealth inequality crisis, Australia’s economy and society will suffer.

The Australia Institute is inviting politicians and candidates to show they are willing to listen to the science and pledge their support for protecting the critically endangered Maugean skate. Several politicians and federal election candidates have publicly endorsed the petition, including: Andrew Wilkie MP, Independent Member for Clark Senator Nick McKim, Australian Greens Peter George,

Slashing public service jobs won’t make government more efficient.

As Australia enters a new school year, a submission from The Australia Institute highlights the growing disparity between public and private school funding, revealing that taxpayers are helping fund lavish private school facilities and the high salaries of private school principals. In a submission to a New South Wales inquiry into private school profits, the

Superannuation tax concessions benefit the richest Australians most – so why is the government finding it so hard to make modest changes to the system?

The federal government’s stalled changes to superannuation rules would make the nation’s super system fairer, at a time when so many Australians are doing it tough.

In Australia, prize-winning artists, writers and musicians pay more tax than some multinational fossil fuel companies with turnover in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Today’s students are finishing their degrees with much larger debts that take longer to pay off, and some young people are now paying close to $50,000 for a three-year bachelor’s degree.

Just some things.

Bri Lee, one of Australia’s most exciting young writers, joins us to discuss her debut novel, The Work, and the politics of power and privilege.

A $10,000 fine issued to Santos for a large oil spill off the coast of Western Australia is little more than a slap on the wrist for the multi-billion-dollar gas company. But it’s a slap in the face for anyone concerned with protecting Australia’s natural environment.

The busiest shopping weekend of the year is upon us, where shopping malls become a desperate frenzy of overindulgence and waste. But spare a thought for those who can’t afford even the trimmest of trimmings this Christmas.

The Australia Institute surveyed 1,009 Australians between 13 and 15 November 2024 about their attitudes to future property prices. The margin of error is ±3%. Key findings: About as many Australians want property prices to decrease in the future (36%) as want them to increase (33%). One in five (18%) want them to stay the

Extreme heat is the number one cause of weather-related illness and death in all parts of Australia, except Tasmania. Older, poorer, and sicker people are more vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat. Our new report identifies the locations around Australia in which the greatest number of vulnerable people will be affected by extreme heat. Targeting these areas for support will ensure the greatest number of vulnerable people are helped during periods of extreme heat.

This month, the Australian economic debate was hijacked by a report from the world’s most powerful consulting firm: McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm apparently found that declining living standards represent a “national emergency” – and the care economy, regulations and Australia’s corporate tax rate are to blame for low productivity growth. The only problem?

It’s official: the Reserve Bank of Australia will have its board split in two, and two new appointees will join the reconfigured monetary policy board, whose job it is to make decisions on interest rates. The move was recommended by an independent review panel in 2023. The new members of the monetary policy board, one