I’ll be voting “yes” for constitutional recognition of the Voice. I’ll vote “Yes” because that is what most Aboriginal leaders have called for, because defeat would set back reconciliation and because it’s Labor policy, and I’m a member of the Labor Party. But I think the politics surrounding the Voice are problematic. There is broad […]

John Menadue is a former private secretary to Gough Whitlam, secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under both Whitlam and Fraser and a former ambassador to Australia. Menadue edits the online public policy journal ‘Pearls and Irritations’. This week’s edition contains a series of articles critical of the Albanese Government’s early foreign […]

Clive Hamilton, is a Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) and the Vice-Chancellor’s Chair in Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University. He is the author of the 2018 book, ‘Silent Invasion: China’s Influence in Australia. Hamilton is a former Green Party Senate candidate. The Greens do not see China as a threat to Australia and […]

What should the incoming Labor Government do in relation to the 2030 emissions reduction target? Labor ran on a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. This was slightly lower than the 45 per cent target the party took to the 2019 election but higher than the Coalition’s 2030 target. Independent […]

Federal Labor has a good job in neutralising the Religious Discrimination Bill as an election issue. Morrison’s legislative package ended up including an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act to prevent gay students from being expelled from religious schools. But it reneged on his earlier written assurance to Anthony Albanese by not extending protection from […]