National affairs
10 May 2018
The prime minister and the Victorian premier are talking infrastructure after a long federal funding drought
National affairs
9 May 2018
Why has the government chosen to fight the next election on weak ground?
National affairs
9 May 2018
To deliver tax cuts and budget surpluses the treasurer will need to stay lucky
National affairs
8 May 2018
Don’t spend too much time looking for a post-budget bounce. It won’t happen — or it’ll be over well before the election
National affairs
4 May 2018
The latest Gonski report points a way to the future of school reform, but has not broken with its disastrous past
National affairs
3 May 2018
Macronmania came to Australia this week, but back in France the president might be facing his “Thatcher moment”
National affairs
3 May 2018
The likely cut in migration numbers has consequences well outside the home affairs minister’s own portfolio
National affairs
3 May 2018
Could Labor lose the federal seat of Perth?
National affairs
2 May 2018
Cautious in parts, extravagant in others, the Victorian budget is built on a boom
National affairs
2 May 2018
Do parties really “give” their preferences to each other?
National affairs
1 May 2018
Are we all the losers in the High Court’s quest for consensus?
National affairs
29 April 2018
Increasing the Superannuation Guarantee will help the rich at the expense of the poor
National affairs
29 April 2018
Burgeoning numbers of untried prisoners are fuelling an unsustainable rise in Australia’s prison population. Only a shift in resources will bring the figure down
National affairs
25 April 2018
Newspoll’s revised figures suggest that Malcolm Turnbull did better last year than we thought. It’s another reason to give up our obsession with polls
National affairs
23 April 2018
The government is toughening penalties at last, but the regulators can do much more, says a former central banker
National affairs
20 April 2018
Buried in a Treasury report is the data that shows where most of the jobs are going
National affairs
20 April 2018
The second Gonski report has been presented to the federal government, and will soon to be made public. Will it back innovative ideas to improve schools — and if it does, will…
National affairs
19 April 2018
What went wrong when Family First was absorbed by the Australian Conservatives — and what does it say about how people vote?
National affairs
13 April 2018
And the truth about China’s intentions probably lies somewhere between
National affairs
13 April 2018
How did the target become a ceiling?
National affairs
6 April 2018
Automated welfare didn’t end with the robodebt controversy. Here and overseas, governments are turning vital decisions over to computers
National affairs
5 April 2018
The former treasurer rode a worldwide economic boom to fame; now there are calls for his return to parliament
National affairs
5 April 2018
Party hardheads know that a change of leader would be a disaster. That leaves only one alternative
National affairs
28 March 2018
Would a stronger prime minister pull Peter Dutton into line?
National affairs
28 March 2018
By the time a new lord mayor is elected in May, quite a few electors will have voted twice
National affairs
28 March 2018
By promising special funding deals for Catholic schools, Labor is reviving the earliest deal-making in the “state aid” battle. What did that compromise actually achieve?
National affairs
23 March 2018
One week, two political campaign scandals: Cambridge Analytica’s data-harvesting and Labor’s funding scam in Victoria highlight the temptations facing parties desperate to win…
National affairs
23 March 2018
#MeToo leapt to prominence by naming names, but it also kicked off a quiet revolution in the media (including a long-overdue New York Times obituary for Charlotte Bronte)
National affairs
22 March 2018
Finance’s share of the Australian economy is higher than ever, leaving us vulnerable to a growing global liquidity bubble
National affairs
19 March 2018
Shared hopes and fears were on display at the weekend’s meeting in Sydney