13+ hour, 2+ min ago   (537+ words) Australia is struggling to fill critical skills gaps while hundreds of thousands of qualified migrants work below their capabilities. A longer-term migration strategy could help unlock that wasted talent. Australia has a skills shortage. So why are we wasting hundreds…...

12+ hour, 28+ min ago   (489+ words) Repeated reversals and broken promises are feeding a broader collapse of trust that reaches from economic policy to government transparency and defence. Anthony Albanese has acquired another cross to bear over recent months. It’s one that will dog him, the…...

21+ hour, 34+ min ago   (953+ words) Australia’s population debate cannot be separated from environmental decline, inequality and economic wellbeing. With continued growth adding pressure, zero population growth deserves a serious place in the national conversation. Not one of Australia’s political parties with seats in federal parliament…...

21+ hour, 19+ min ago   (908+ words) Australia needs a larger, self-reliant nuclear-powered submarine force, but AUKUS is too costly, too dependent on the US and too uncertain to deliver it. AUKUS was always a very bad deal, secretly negotiated without expert input. Instead of waiting for…...

5+ day, 12+ hour ago   (180+ words) Australia’s military exports are growing, but parliament and the public still lack clear information about what is being exported, where it goes and how it is used. This is of particular concern as Australia, under successive governments, has set a…...

5+ day, 12+ hour ago   (734+ words) Restoring home ownership requires substantially lower house prices – and for most existing homeowners, falling property values need not leave them materially worse off. Housing affordability has declined dramatically over the last half century, and particularly in this century. As a…...

6+ day, 13+ hour ago   (179+ words) Australia has no shortage of wealth, projects or policy targets. What it lacks is a coherent strategy for building the capabilities its future society will need. That is why 2088 is a useful horizon. It lies beyond the careers of today’s…...

1+ week, 21+ hour ago   (973+ words) Australians are becoming less connected, trusting and satisfied with life, but resilience remains – and tackling insecurity could help rebuild social cohesion. Look around the world and you would think the world is burning and Australian society is burning with it....

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (1157+ words) Joshua Black’s ‘Performance Politics’ traces how Australian politicians have used memoirs, publishing and television to shape public personas and secure their political legacies. The most striking example of performance politics in Joshua Black’s entertaining book comes when an audience member…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (954+ words) Australia cannot make housing more affordable while protecting homeowners from falling prices. The current downturn may reveal how serious politicians really are about fixing the system. Do the two sides of politics want more affordable housing or not? They would…...