Writer
Kim Carr
Kim Carr is the longest-serving member of the Australian Senate. He is a former minister and shadow minister for higher education, innovation, industry, science and research. He is chair of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee and serves on several other committees, including the Environment and Communications Committee. Professor, the Hon Kim Carr, is Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow, at Monash University.
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Our R&D system is in crisis. It’s time to act
Near on a decade of neglect has left Australia’s national innovation system in a lamentable state, as the Academy of Science has observed. Continue reading »
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The Federal Labor Caucus did not endorse AUKUS
The $368 billion AUKUS deal raises many more questions than we have had answered to date. Continue reading »
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Kim Carr: We need answers on both subs deals
Now the government’s scrapped its $90 billion contract with France to build diesel submarines, many unanswered questions about the new deal to acquire uncosted nuclear boats appear connected to the murky politics of the old one. Continue reading »
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News Corp opts for a bet each way on climate change
News Corp’s climate change campaign allows the company to shift its public without being committed to much at all. Continue reading »
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Trust is the first casualty in time of plague
Who are the people who marched in Melbourne and Sydney at the weekend, chanting about freedom and demanding an end to lockdowns? One answer is obvious. They are people whose idea of freedom seems to mean being free to put the lives of others at risk by dismantling controls on the transmission of covid-19. Continue reading »
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We’ve got you on file: Australia’s McCarthyist moment
Some people think that McCarthyism – casting doubt, without evidence, on the loyalties of people in public life – was dead and buried with the Cold War. Continue reading »
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Pipped at the Post: How the government tried to sell Australia Post
Parliamentary privilege is far more than a means of protecting politicians from being sued for what they say in parliamentary proceedings. It is a powerful tool for any Australian seeking to hold governments to account. By giving evidence under privilege to a Senate committee, former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate was able to expose the Continue reading »
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We can and must reverse the dramatic decline of trust in Parliament
Nearly half of all legislation is now delegated legislation, i.e. made by ministerial orders, and some of it cannot be disallowed by Parliament. Such an extraordinary accumulation of power in the hands of the federal government is dangerous for democracy. A recent Senate committee report proposes strengthening the parliamentary committee system to increase accountability. Continue reading »
