Yesterday
Supermarket inquiry ends not with a bang but a whimper
Instead of wagging fingers at the big chains for the economic challenges, politicians must get serious about tackling some of the underlying causes of inflation.
This Month
CFMEU is still Building Bad nine months later
New reports of criminal activity underline how inadequate the measures taken have been to stamp out illegal CFMEU-linked behaviour.
Three questions about higher defence spending
If the Defence Department is to receive more taxpayer money, it should not be treated as a sacred cow.
Australia must heed turning tide of banking regulations abroad
APRA’s regulatory mission creep is unlikely to help banks and insurers compete more effectively against nimble start-ups and tech giants expanding into financial services.
Appeal to aspiration to avert a minority government
A hung parliament would just exacerbate the populism, opportunism, and polarisation that are already destabilising the political system.
Australia cannot afford a phoney budget debate next week
The budget and budget reply will be failures if they do not include a genuine plan for fiscal restraint and do not explain how higher defence spending must be paid for by cuts in other policy areas.
Five years after Covid, Australia is unprepared for next global storm
Neither major party has offered a credible path for “growing the pie”, fixing the budget and preparing the nation’s military for a new era of disruption.
White House should stay out of Australian universities
The US risks shooting itself in the foot by forcing other countries to comply with Trump’s anti-DEI, America First ideology.
Trump’s tariff shock must shake Canberra’s complacency
If the president’s actions spark a tit-for-tat global trade war the damage to Australia’s economy could be substantial.
Speaking truth to Trump not as easy as Turnbull says
Australia’s leaders simply cannot ignore the possible implications for the US alliance when crafting their public rhetoric about the serving commander-in-chief.
Mullen is on the money on genuine board diversity
The right way forward is a proactive approach to genuine diversity that would rightly reject performative box-ticking.
Defence spending is election issue Labor and the Coalition are avoiding
Both sides of politics are refusing to engage seriously with the “guns versus butter” fiscal challenge Australia now faces.
Women need credible pathways to reach C-suites
Organisations should focus on broadening the diversity pool by providing support and development opportunities to women.
Honesty about wind and gas is best energy transition policy
The willingness to lead and tell the truth about the energy transition is lacking across the political spectrum.
Wong should have sent a stronger message about China and US uncertainty
The foreign minister missed an opportunity to be firm about the challenges from Beijing and the US, and Australia’s defence.
Australia must control the controllables to compete with Trump’s America
While Trump is sending America in a more productive and competitive direction, Australia is going nowhere fast.
The age of uncertainty calls for a new reform era
The Summit is an opportunity to drive an important conversation about how we can develop a policy framework that enables Australia to ride out the gathering storms.
Zelensky was right. But he didn’t read the MAGA room
The best outcome for Australia would be if Trump is pursuing a grand China strategy. But we also need to hedge against him cutting deals with tyrants.
February
Chinese warships a wake-up call to step up our maritime security
The clear and present China threat that sailed so close to home must mobilise the political class to take action.
Labor still lacks real aviation competition policy
The proposal to turn nationalised Rex into TWU Airlines is another sign that Labor remains all too open to political interventions in the aviation sector to suit vested interests.