Category Archives: Uncategorized

Australia’s coal-fired generation capacity could be little more than a twinkle in Tony Abbott’s eye by as early as 2050, when it will have been all but snuffed out by cheap renewables and battery storage, and household energy investments.

Australians’ trust in the United States as a world leader has dropped to a record low as two out of five people consider President Donald Trump a “critical threat” to Australia’s interests, according to the latest Lowy Institute poll. 43 … Continue reading →

Critics of President Trump routinely accuse him of “gaslighting” — that is, of deliberately repeating misinformation to the extent that the public starts doubting verifiable facts and believing in Trump’s self-serving talking points. Trump told us after the Singapore Summit that ‘I … Continue reading →

Foreign Minister Lavrov asserted Russia’s role in the current process as a stakeholder in the stability of northeast Asia; he flagged the need to revive six-party talks; it also seems Putin will meet Kim Jong-un soon.   [If President Trump thinks … Continue reading →

New figures show that government funding increases have massively favoured private schools over public schools across Australia since 2009. Total government funding per student in public schools was cut between 2009 and 2016 while large funding increases were provided to … Continue reading →

Beyond the daily media coverage of the frenetic efforts of a failing Prime Minister, the biggest unexplored story in Australia of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership has been the massive expansion of state surveillance under his watch.

Italy is not Greece. But not all the differences are encouraging. Its economy is 10-times bigger. Its €2.3tn public debt is seven-times bigger; it is the largest in the eurozone and fourth largest in the world. Italy is too big … Continue reading →

The problem with exporting live sheep is that the practice is inherently unpleasant.  

Australian budgets rarely make news in Britain. But the Sunday Times was moved to feature the Government’s decision to commit just under $50 million to mark the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival at Botany Bay in 1770. Two points were … Continue reading →

With debate continuing over Australia’s domain names registration arrangements, the company appointed by the federal government to oversee the process has added three highly qualified new directors to its board.

Canberra is giving indications it believes an 18-month tilt to a marked anti-China stance might now be corrected. There are hints the Turnbull Government recognises that being the most rhetorically hostile to China of all US allies does not serve … Continue reading →

Nothing if not always controversial, and some would say divisive, George Pell is now at a decisive fork in the road. One way could lead to gaol after being sent to trial on May 1st to face multiple charges of … Continue reading →

We give up our public space, our neighbor-to -neighbor conversations and ultimately our personal mobility for the next car, and the next one. More and more countries and cities are turning to congestion taxes.

As Anzac Day comes round once more so we must prepare for the accompanying bombardment of nationalist myth-making. Our sense of national consciousness, so the story goes, was born on 25 April 1915. A nation was born on that day … Continue reading →

If you think the banking royal commission is big, you’re wrong. It’s much bigger.

Chemical weapons have been a feature of the Syrian conflict since 2011. Are we any closer to a strategy to deal with their use — and with the forces fuelling the wider conflict?

Josh Frydenberg and Malcolm Turnbull would like us to believe that if only recalcitrant states could sign on to the Commonwealth’s “National Energy Guarantee”, energy policy will be set on a stable path.  A more realistic view is provided by … Continue reading →

A federal government led by Malcolm Turnbull will “never” back policies that accelerate the shift to renewables, effectively tackle climate change, or help to phase out coal plants.

Australia’s fertility rate continued its steady decline in 2016-17 and fell to 1.732, close to the level when Peter Costello rang the alarm about low fertility accelerating our rate of population ageing. It is also a level well below that … Continue reading →