Former prime minister Tony Abbott claims “unelected and unaccountable” public servants stymied his government. History records a long running battle between our governments and the so-called ‘mandarins’ who are supposedly there to serve them Politicians come from varied backgrounds and bring with them a range of skills and experiences. But ultimately it’s often the actions Continue reading »
Public policy
John Frew’ s recent essay asserts that public schools are increasingly burdened with students facing complex challenges while private schools lure more desirable students with questionable claims of better academic outcomes and stricter discipline. As a principal of 20 years, I must disagree with Frew’s depiction of public schools as a “toxic environment in which Continue reading »
The most comprehensive study of Australian social cohesion — The Scanlon Foundation Research Institute Social Cohesion Mapping 2024 Report — has highlighted strains in Australia society which are not yet dire, but are disturbing. The Report is an annual survey which gauges Australians attitudes, perceptions and behaviours across 1000 indicators of social cohesion, multiculturalism, wellbeing Continue reading »
The world, thankfully, has come a long way from the time when animals as well as humans were put to death for unacceptable behaviour. Regrettably, Australia, a self-proclaimed abolitionist, is only really serious about capital punishment when the lives of its citizens are at stake. In 1662, in Connecticut, an otherwise respectable churchgoer named Potter Continue reading »
In August 2023, nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six babies in the neonatal unit of a UK National Health Service (NHS) hospital. The Australian media has reported on the current instalment of the saga (viz. a judicial inquiry into conditions at the hospital where Letby Continue reading »
Michael Lester in conversation with Professor Ian Chubb AC—policy adviser at the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), former Chief Scientist of Australia, and former Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of several universities—now appointed to lead a once-in-a-generation review of Australia’s faltering research and development funding and efforts. The recently announced national science and research priorities are Continue reading »
The death of cricketer Phillip Hughes ten years ago to-day (November 27) was one of several hundred workplace fatalities in 2014. The manner of his death raises a key concern for occupational health and safety. Best practice is to remove the source of danger. Second or third best is to minimise its ill-effects. School cricket Continue reading »
Reports of malfeasance involving staff at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, the ACT’s supposedly human-rights-compliant prison, are now too numerous and too frequent to lack substantial veracity. Yet, even in the very teeth of the ACT election campaign, it seems they can be virtually ignored. There’s no votes, it seems, in the treatment of our most Continue reading »
The federal government recently released a Productivity Commission’s Report on children’s services. It found too many changes were needed for the government to say more than that they were “looking at it”. The report is significant and was passed to the Government to guide possible reforms to its role in funding of services to deliver Continue reading »
Negative gearing costs Australian taxpayers billions each year. Its defenders say abolishing it will cause a rental crisis. That’s not true. One of the great urban myths of Australian political history is that “rents went through the roof” after then-Treasurer Paul Keating abolished negative gearing for property investors in July 1985, and as a result Continue reading »