Best of 2025 - States increase pressure on Commonwealth to address hospital cost increases
Hark back to December 2023. National Cabinet endorsed a historic agreement setting the parameters for future Commonwealth-state sharing of public hospital costs over the next decade.
Recent articles in Economy
10 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Could the Teals win Senate seats in an expanded parliament?
Important discussions are taking place within the government and before the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters about increasing the size of the federal parliament.
9 January 2026
Best of 2025 - More Boomers are choosing not to retire. Why? They don’t want to
As the great bulge of babies born after World War II has moved through their life course, the world has changed to suit them and their needs.
9 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Koalas, carbon credits and the fine print of conservation
We congratulate the NSW Government for establishing the Great Koala National Park, which will protect a nationally significant koala population.
9 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Disengaging from the dangerous alliance
When, in the course of close — some would say politically intimate — relations between allies, the dominant partner demands that the subordinate partner betray its democratic principles as a cost of receiving favourable treatment, the time has come to terminate the relationship. Such is now the state of the Australia-US alliance.
9 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Government is planning hardship for older Australians living at home
Aged care has again been in the media for all the wrong reasons. Two failures are attracting particular attention.
8 January 2026
Best of 2025 - What game is he playing? The PM and AUKUS
As the Australian prime minister prepares for his visit to the UN in New York next week, Robert Macklin looks into what Anthony Albanese might be hoping for on the trilateral security deal.
8 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Blaming China won’t keep the lights on – or pay the power bill
Sky News is back on the beat with a familiar headline: “The $20,000-per-person climate tax: Cost of Australia's green agenda to become astonishingly clear this week when new emissions targets are set.”
8 January 2026
Best of 2025 - A smart productivity play: Stop subsidising loss-making native forest logging
On 7 September 2025, NSW set the proposed 476,000-hectare boundary for the Great Koala National Park and halted native-forest logging within it (plantation harvesting continues), with formal gazettal slated for 2026.
7 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Intergenerational equity and tax reform
Much of the discussion about the need for tax reform to preserve intergenerational equity is confused. The main challenges facing young people, in particular, are the limitations on the supply of housing and climate change.
6 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Labor says its second term will be about productivity reform. These ideas could help shift the dial
In his victory speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted social policy as a major factor in Labor’s electoral success, particularly Medicare, housing and cost-of-living relief. He was justified in doing so.
6 January 2026
Best of 2025 - An economic reform agenda for Labor
The recent election was won by looking ahead. But a better economic future requires an economic reform agenda, and getting agreement will not be easy. However, there are encouraging signs that the government is up to the task.
6 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Who’s afraid of big, bad China?
Be afraid, be very afraid. But not of China. To the contrary, the proper management of co-operative relations with China is essential to Australia’s future.
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