Latest Story
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Why China’s ‘debt-book diplomacy’ in the Pacific shouldn’t ring alarm bells just yet
Michael O'Keefe | May 20, 2018Talk of Chinese “debt trap” diplomacy is nothing new, but a recent report by Harvard University researchers has resurrected long-held fears that China’s debt diplomacy poses a threat to Australian interests in the Pacific.
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Career, culture and character: New Zealand’s three women Prime Ministers
Elizabeth McLeay | May 20, 2018When Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand’s Prime Minister in 2017, not only was she the youngest PM in 150 years, but she was also the country’s third female leader. When it comes to women in politics in general, there seems to be a lot that we could learn from our neighbours.
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Sacred activism: a movement for global healing
Martin Winiecki | May 20, 2018Our natural sense of interdependence has been replaced by an addictive focus on personal short-term profit. Could a new spirit of ‘sacred activism’ help restore our balance with the planet, each other and ourselves?
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Hypnosis offers help for chronic back pain suffers
Open Forum | May 19, 2018Chronic low-back pain is the leading cause of disability in Australia and drugs can be ineffective and cause problems of their own. New research suggests that hypnosis, combined with pain education, can help sufferers find relief.
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LGBTI rights in Africa
Tinashe Jakwa | May 19, 2018When it comes to LGBTI rights in Africa, arguing against Western interventionism is a front for advocating the acceptance of discriminatory legislation. However the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held no hope for a return to African societies’ traditional acceptance of diverse sexualities and gender identities.
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Can the National Resilience Taskforce help protect Australia?
Paul Barnes | May 19, 2018Australia faces a range of natural and man-made threats to its vital infrastructure. How should the government’s resilience taskforce tackle the challenges which lie ahead?
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Logging burns conceal industrial pollution in the name of ‘community safety’
Chris Taylor | May 18, 2018Rather than ‘hazard reduction burns’, a large proportion of the smoke which has fouled Melbourne this autumn was produced by the intensive burning of debris left behind after clearfell logging. This is essentially industrial pollution.
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The legacy of a great scientific hoax
Rohan Long | May 18, 2018May 18 marks International Museum Day to raise awareness on the importance of museums to social development. The University of Melbourne’s anatomy museum features fossil models from an entirely fictional early human, for example, a forgery that derailed the study of our evolution for decades.
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‘Solar gardens’ could empower all Australians
Open Forum | May 18, 2018The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced funding for a feasibility study that could allow the third of Australians who rent, live in apartments or live in low income housing to access the benefits of rooftop solar energy.
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The power of collaboration between PNG and Australia
Jeremy Palme | May 17, 2018Members of the inaugural Pacific Connect Business Network Dialogue in Papua New Guinea share their stories on Open Forum. This is the first in a new series of blogs from our PNG partners, in the lead-up to the Pacific Connect Forum in Sydney this September.
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The error in thinking at the root of science denial
Jeremy Shapiro | May 17, 2018There are three important issues on which there is scientific consensus but controversy among laypeople: climate change, biological evolution and childhood vaccination. Many science deniers do cite empirical evidence, but the problem is that they do so in invalid, misleading ways.
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Outdated surgical choices put women at risk
Open Forum | May 17, 2018Australian women are undergoing unnecessarily invasive hysterectomies due to a lack of surgical skills among gynaecologists.