Last week’s budget was Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ third and – for practical purposes – final for the current parliamentary term. Even if the 2025 election is delayed long enough to give Labor another budget, that speech would represent more of an election manifesto than any deliverable legislation. We are therefore […]
A central focus of this week’s budget is the treasury’s forecast for inflation. By this time next year, inflation is projected to be back within the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target range. Inflation has dropped dramatically from its peak of 7.8% just 18 months ago, but the last mile – getting from the present […]
The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down this week by a senate committee that reviewed the bill, showed why. The report lays bare the potentially devastating impacts of this hastily drafted bill. These impacts would go well beyond the cohort of former […]
The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue at Wednesday’s special national cabinet meeting on the issue of violence against women. After the meeting […]
The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021–22 to 2022–23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC). There were 34 women killed in intimate partner incidents in the financial year 2022–23, which is the equivalent of 0.32 […]
There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Palestinian conflict and China. But there’s one more country closely watching the race: Iran. Another Trump presidency could pose immense risks for the Iranian leadership, especially given […]
Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask themselves whether they are equally happy for courts in China, Russia and Iran to determine what Australians can see […]
Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late last year. Now a draft NDIS reform bill has been tabled. In this series, experts examine what new proposals could mean for people with disability. […]
