News & Analysis
Articles & Opinions
Election entrée: Speakers from other parties
Every Australian parliament – federal, state and territory – has had a speaker from a party other than the one in government at some point.
Who votes with whom? Beware claims that use voting records to argue politicians have similar views
Sky News says community independent MP Allegra Spender supports more Coalition motions than Greens motions. But They Vote for You says Spender votes with Greens MPs more often than Coalition MPs. That both those claims are made about the same person is proof that voting comparisons are fraught. It is just as confusing when it
Election entrée: Things that are only milestones in the post-war era
For many journalists, the past – specifically the past before 1945 – is a foreign country. Election coverage is replete with references to “firsts” or “milestones” that assume that Australian history began in the post-war period. But a longer view would help us better understand the political processes around us. Journalists described the 2010 federal
The four things (mostly) missing from the major parties housing platforms
The housing crisis continues to grip Australia and it’s a central part of this election campaign. Unfortunately, while both major parties have made housing policies key parts of their election platforms their policies mostly tinker around the edges and fail in four key ways. They do not address Australia’s distortionary, expensive, and regressive tax concessions
Busting myths on Q+A | Richard Denniss highlights
How is it that in Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, we feel poor?
Off the Charts
The Liberal Party’s proposed funds are just boondoggles of budgetary make believe
The announced funds are an exercise in dodgy budgeting and do nothing to properly tax Australia’s mining and gas companies.
Uni Canberra is spending big on things not needed, while cutting staff to save money
Australia’s beleaguered university sector is never far from the headlines these days. Former Labor leader and current University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Bill Shorten probably doesn’t envy his former ministerial colleagues who are currently on the campaign trail, but nonetheless, he’s in the news today. The Canberra Times reports that Shorten is announcing a new voluntary
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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