I’m not against the ‘Big Four’ — they have things to offer. They just shouldn’t be offered everything. Setting aside the egregious behaviours of a few, the bigger problem is their extraordinary exclusionary access and influence. It has created an oligopoly across the public sector, federal and state, of a…
Every debt has to, eventually, be repaid. Right now, the day of reckoning is fast approaching for one of the most crippling — but least discussed — debts burdening government across Australia … technology debt. Technology debt is the cost of generations of incremental investments in legacy technologies to tease…
The Albanese government came to power promising a refresh and a rethink of Australia’s international policy. In just under 15 months in office, this has manifested in three major reviews across the main domains of Australian statecraft: the defence strategic review (released in April 2023), the new international development policy…
As we recently pointed out, the current ACCC inquiry into bank deposits reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of banking – and deposits. The inquiry, therefore, is not off to a good start. If the ACCC continues on its current course, the inquiry findings will not be well-founded and the recommendations will…
The way we do politics is all wrong, and the Voice highlights how bone-headed our system is. As the political scientist and my former co-director Ian Marsh said: ‘Firstly, political incentives undercut bipartisanship. Secondly, since the primary channel for the leaders is the media, there is no systemic ability to…
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties is considering a defence cooperation and status of visiting forces agreement with Timor-Leste. It is designed to enable Australia to participate in more frequent and sophisticated bilateral military activities in areas such as maritime operations, military training, logistics support and humanitarian assistance and disaster…
Early Chinese immigrants to the United States brought a lot with them, including medicines. One of their most popular — and effective — treatments was a liniment for arthritis and joint pain derived from fats found in the Chinese water snake. Eventually, an enterprising white showman took to selling his…
The lead-up to Saturday’s meeting between Australia’s defence and foreign affairs ministers and their US counterparts was low-key, as were the expectations. But optics and substance are not always perfectly matched with Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), and of course, it’s never entirely clear what goes on behind closed doors.…
In Part 3 of our series on productivity, Sean Innis explains why the power of GDP to describe what we (really, really) want may be waning and what this means for the future. Gross Domestic Production is not a term that rolls easily off the tongue. It sounds like what…
In Part 2 of our series on productivity, Sean Innis explores the surprisingly interesting history of the most important piece of political arithmetic in the world today – GDP. Australia’s productivity growth languishes. For the past two decades, growth in productivity has sat well below its 60-year average. In the…
One of the things still worrying me about robodebt was the attention to detail. By that, I am not referring to the crude system by which hundreds of thousands of Australians on benefits received letters between 2016 and 2019, wrongly demanding they repay Centrelink money they did not owe. I…
In Part 1 of our series on productivity, Sean Innis reflects on why this key driver of Australia’s economic performance has fallen. Australia’s economy sails under uncertain skies. To tame inflation, interest rates have been increased. This has hurt households and a recession lurks. Globally, the lingering economic impact of…
There are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in history. While the federal government has been working to address this problem through legislation and multi-sector consultation, it is up to the corporate sector to take a proactive leadership role in eradicating slavery from supply chains…
If our response to the royal commission’s findings is limited to punitive and technocratic measures we will miss a major opportunity. We must use it as a foundation for better government. Commissioner Catherine Holmes’ report reveals technical, legal and ethical failures and provides an opportunity to move past the obsolete…
In the wake of the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation verdict, some serious questions must be addressed. The attacks of 9/11 triggered a chain of events that eventually ended in ignominy for the West and its coalition of the willing, when its forces in Afghanistan were expelled in a chaotic withdrawal a…