All welcome to country

A mantra paying respect exclusively to past, present and emerging Indigenous Elders is an incomplete and exclusive gesture when we should be respecting and caring for all our older citizens.

The long, dark history of antisemitism in Australia

Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent conflict has sparked a fresh wave of anti-Jewish demonstrations by radical left and right wing activists and extremist Islamic groups, but there is a long and sorry history of anti-semitism in this country.

The face of evil

Adolf Eichmann presented himself as a petty apolitical bureaucrat following orders in a vain attempt to escape the gallows, but his own words revealed him to be a ruthless ideologue committed to the Nazi regime and its ghastly goal of annihilation.

Moral fights

Our commitments to moral values can hamper rather than motivate progress towards basic humanitarian goals, indeed, moral motivations frequently exacerbate rather than relieve suffering, injustice and hatred.

The great energy rip-off

Australia’s sky-high electricity prices are often blamed on the gradual switch to renewables or global inflationary pressures but the fact remains that network businesses have pocketed supernormal profits of $11 billion – on top of “normal” profits of $16 billion – since 2014.

The identity trap

Yascha Mounk’s new book skewers the fashionable but flawed paradigm of post-Marxist identity politics which splits people into social groups to stoke conflict and revel in ‘oppression’.

Why don’t Jews feel safe?

Jewish organisations have criticised Foreign Minister Penny Wong over her latest comments on the Israel-Gaza conflict, while Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has said Jewish Australians “have never felt less safe”.

Australia’s seismic tremor

Shockwaves from the violence in the Middle East have exposed and exacerbated the growing fault lines in Australian society, and only a fresh commitment to liberal values and national unity will help to heal them.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt

Politics is a people business, and appealing to emotions – or ignorance – can be more effective than rational, fact based campaigns.

Addressing Australia’s gambling problem

A QUT researcher has called for stronger government policy to regulate the online gambling environment, restrict marketing, establish behaviour change programs and provide better support for people with a gambling problem.

Eyes wide open

An unprecedented public announcement by senior officials in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance has identified China as the most sophisticated and sustained thief of intellectual property in the world.

First, do no harm

A prominent Monash academic argues that the medical system remains rife with overtreatment, overdiagnosis, and the medicalisation of normal conditions.