Everything you need to know about Labor’s first budget in 6 charts Everything you need to know about Labor’s first budget in 6 charts Published by The Conversation 26 October 2022 Kate Schwager / Wednesday, October 26, 2022 0 7048 Article rating: No rating Jim Chalmers’ first speech as treasurer outlines the enormity of the global economic situation – inflation, energy and supply chain issues, and a continuing war in Europe – and signposts that this is a budget that’s much more about what he’s taking away (or reallocating) than new announcements. It’s not often we get two budgets in the one year, and this one is in stark contrast to the Coalition’s before the election. Read more
Cotton on: one of Australia’s most lucrative farming industries is in the firing line as climate change worsens Cotton on: one of Australia’s most lucrative farming industries is in the firing line as climate change worsens Published by The Conversation 14 October 2022 Kate Schwager / Monday, October 17, 2022 0 9495 Article rating: No rating Milton Speer, University of Technology Sydney; Joshua Hartigan, University of Technology Sydney, and Lance M Leslie, University of Technology Sydney The northern Murray-Darling Basin produces 93% of Australia’s cotton. Cotton is one of Australia’s biggest agricultural industries – worth about A$2 billion each year – and a steady supply of water is crucial for production. Read more
Megadroughts helped topple ancient empires. We’ve found their traces in Australia’s past, and expect more to come Megadroughts helped topple ancient empires. We’ve found their traces in Australia’s past, and expect more to come Published by The Conversation 6 October 2022 Kate Schwager / Thursday, October 6, 2022 0 5504 Article rating: No rating Kathryn Allen, University of Tasmania; Alison O'Donnell, The University of Western Australia; Benjamin I. Cook, Columbia University; Jonathan Palmer, UNSW Sydney, and Pauline Grierson, The University of Western Australia Most Australians have known drought in their lifetimes, and have memories of cracked earth and empty streams, paddocks of dust and stories of city reservoirs with only a few weeks’ storage. But our new research finds over the last 1,000 years, Australia has suffered longer, larger and more severe droughts than those recorded over the last century. Read more
How does the government’s long-awaited anti-corruption bill rate? An integrity expert breaks it down Published by the Conversation 28 September 2022 Kate Schwager / Sunday, October 2, 2022 0 7367 Article rating: No rating The prospects of Australia securing a strong federal anti-corruption agency have taken a huge leap forward, with introduction of the Albanese government’s much awaited National Anti-Corruption Commission bill into federal parliament. It’s 17 years since Transparency International Australia first recommended this reform, and five years since a Senate Select Committee agreed unanimously it was time to give it serious consideration. Read more
Grattan on Friday: National Anti-Corruption Commission set for easy birth thanks to Albanese-Dutton accord Published by The Conversation 29 September 2022 Kate Schwager / Thursday, September 29, 2022 0 8303 Article rating: No rating Though they’d be the last to admit it, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have more in common than you might expect. They’re both unapologetic pragmatists. Albanese, a left fighter in the distant past, is the prime minister who looks for consensus where it’s possible and useful, including with his opponent. Dutton, who built a reputation as a head kicker of the right, as the opposition leader is seeking to reinvent himself as a more nuanced player, willing to negotiate when circumstances or interests demand or justify it. Read more