The recklessness of Australian politicians and mainstream media and the damage which that has caused, is abundantly clear in the latest poll, carried out by the Lowy Institute on Australian attitudes to China. The irresponsibility began with Clive Hamilton’s ‘Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia’ (2018), with its provocative cover picture of a massive Chinese Continue reading »
Economy
About 65% of Australian adults and a quarter of children are overweight or obese and about 60% of Australians are trying to lose weight at any one time. Overwhelmingly, the evidence indicates that being obese increases your risk of premature death. And yet policies to reduce obesity have been startlingly unsuccessful. Instead obesity is increasingly Continue reading »
Following a series of investigations by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Vice World News, the Horticultural Committee heard testimony from individuals who have spent time working on the farms
Prosaic economic factors, not politics, are driving the growth in China-Australia trade, ensuring “China will only become more important as Australia’s trading partner of choice,” writes James Laurenceson. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has made clear that Australia’s relationship with China is “not going to go back to where we were”. There will be no “reset”. That’s Continue reading »
In an opinion piece published in The Weekend Australian (10 June 2023), Paul Monk offers his response to critics of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine agreement. A central focus of his critique is this open letter signed by more than 100 academics. As two of the principal co-authors of the letter, we requested a right of Continue reading »
A heavily-staged 'PM Connect' event did little to dispel impressions that Britain's PM is deeply out of touch with voters
Should the US go to war with China, Taiwan’s largest chip maker, TSMC will be the first target to be blown up, according to a strategist at the US Air Force’s Air War College. Not by China, but by the US military. US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on his visit to Beijing is clearly Continue reading »
The parliament wisely gave a treasurer the power to reign in the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) when it was not acting in the best interests of the Australians. Jim Chalmers should use it. Reserve Bank governors in Australia have never achieved the same mystique as Montague Norman, the Governor of the Bank of England Continue reading »
Near on a decade of neglect has left Australia’s national innovation system in a lamentable state, as the Academy of Science has observed. The most recent science funding tables show that government expenditure on Research and Development (R & D) as a percentage of GDP are at the lowest levels since records began. Further, that Continue reading »
It’s easy to gain the impression that there are just two school sectors in Australia: elite private schools and public schools, the former being exclusive and over-funded, the latter inclusive and cash-strapped. True to a point, but in dwelling on this dichotomy we are missing bigger policy issues that cry out for resolution. The contrasts Continue reading »