February
Kendrick Lamar and Japanese punk: Meet Victoria’s new chief justice
Richard Niall, KC, was welcomed to his new role this week, and was provided with some advice by the current head of the Federal Court.
January
Three-year terms keep us stuck in short-term thinking
As campaigning starts earlier each election, politics becomes overtly tactical, the public service enters zombie mode and business watches on frustrated as nothing gets done.
December 2024
Anyone for tennis? Albanese needs to avoid the January jinx
A wander through some recent prime ministerial summers shows us that the season is stuffed with political danger.
November 2024
‘Like bears to a honey-pot’: how the Future Fund got political
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ planned changes to the nation’s $230 billion savings account might be unfinished business for Labor.
Inside Canberra’s hidden $180b spending boom
Australia’s budget numbers are increasingly a mirage as billions in spending are labelled as ‘investments’ to improve the fiscal optics.
October 2024
The map that Canberra doesn’t want you to see
Australia’s military integration with the US proceeds apace, but is the Albanese government coming clean on the risks?
Has everyman Albo reached the limit of his talents?
Anthony Albanese wanted to appeal to voters beset with “conflict fatigue”. Now they are unconvinced that he is fighting for them.
September 2024
ScoMo’s new private office may need new private toilet
The former prime minister is lining up his office in Sydney’s CBD.
Why Australia’s miners are so alarmed by Albanese
The powerhouse industry is aghast at the government’s policies on industrial relations and environmental changes and has broken diplomatic cover to say so.
Labor celebrates gender equality milestone
Women in the ALP caucus will this week celebrate the 30th anniversary of a landmark vote to enshrine gender quotas in party rules for the first time.
With a half-smile, Bill Shorten bows out of politics on his terms
The former federal Labor leader has no regrets about calling it quits to become a university vice chancellor.
NSW Libs ‘robbed Abbott in 2010’, now Dutton wants to avoid a repeat
Frustrations with the state Liberal Party division stem back to a belief it cost Tony Abbott victory in 2010.
August 2024
High-level dialogue shows China chill is ending
The resumed annual face-to-face meeting of government and industry has been crucial to stabilising the relationship.
July 2024
Revolving door of PMs embarrassed Australia: Albanese
Anthony Albanese has acknowledged Labor’s contribution to the chaos that blighted Australian politics for almost two decades.
It’s not just Labor that let the CFMEU off the leash
Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson and some independents have played a role in enabling the militant union.
June 2024
Director urges equality advocates to leave their echo chamber
True gender equality benefits men as well as women, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz says, but advocates need to convince boys of that or risk going backwards.
Winners and losers in South Australia’s budget
About one in four households will share in a $51.5 million one-off cash payment over the next three weeks, with low-income households getting the $243.90 bonus.
May 2024
HMC Capital lobs bid for Symphony Infrastructure Partners
Sources say it is going toe-to-toe with a handful of infrastructure investors in the auction’s second-stage.
Both sides are pushing buttons on migration, one is being more subtle
Migration long ago became a lazy method, adopted by both sides of politics, to generate growth in the absence of any reform or productivity agenda,
‘True energy impact’: Di Pilla defies gloom, appoints Gillard to $2b fund
The ASX-listed HMC Capital is banking on plenty of investor interest to defy a gloomy market outlook on the transition to clean energy for its latest vehicle.