• Politics and Policy

    More than a gesture required


    Liam Gillespie |  February 10, 2025


    Higher penalties for violence and bans on Nazi gestures must be accompanied by broader action to deal with the underlying social, political and cultural conditions that have enabled groups like the NSN to emerge.


  • Business

    Are tax breaks broken?


    Kerrie Sadiq |  February 10, 2025


    Tax breaks for businesses are designed to encourage investment and economic growth, but – apart from filling the nation’s roads with aggressive Ute drivers – do they really work?


  • International

    We three kings


    Eric Storm |  February 10, 2025


    The United States should be a bulwark against the oppressive authoritarianism and aggressive imperialism of Russia and China but, with the election of Donald Trump, the attitude seems to be ‘if you can’t beat them, join them.’


Latest Story

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    BEST CONTRIBUTION AWARD: Lenovo’s notebook winner announced!

    editor     |      March 1, 2008

    Lenovo ThinkPadWe are pleased to announce Nick Mallory as the lucky winner of our "Best Contribution to Open Forum" Award. He has won a ThinkPad R61 from our sponsor Lenovo – congratulations, Nick! Thankyou to everyone who participated and contributed their ideas to the site. Our competitions for the Best Contribution and Best Participation awards will continue, so stay tuned for more great incentives!  

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    Freedom of bad news, or freedom from bad news?

    tamaraplakalo     |      February 27, 2008

    Can reporting too much of the bad stuff actually create more bad stuff? 

    People buy perceptions. Malcolm Gladwell did a great job of illustrating this in his book Tipping Point when he described the role of graffiti cleaning action in combating the crime wave in New York back in the 1980s. It was, by all accounts, a matter of focusing on perceptions that the NYC chose as the way of creating a feeling of more security and crime-rate reduction in what was becoming an unlivable city, full of fearful residents.

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    What about Dad?

    Douglascomms     |      February 26, 2008

    Paid maternity leave misses the point!

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    We’re governing the life out of innovative organisations

    StephenWilson     |      February 14, 2008

    If we’re going to cultivate innovation, originality and creativity, then we need less governance, not more.

    What on earth are managers up to these days? Here I write of the rise and rise of robotic, one dimensional, management-by-formula, and question if it is throttling innovation.

    In linguistics, there is a rhetorical fondness of the imaginary “Martian Linguist” who, according to Chomskian thinking, on a visit to Earth would deduce from the evidence that all humans speak the one language, with only minor local variants. Well, I’m thinking that if management theorists from Mars were to watch the goings on at most board rooms today, they could be forgiven for thinking that all human enterprises are actually engaged in the same activity – compliance!

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    Contemporary democracy and the shift in power from bureaucracy to business and individuals

    Peter Fritz     |      February 12, 2008

    A World Economic Forum report predicts multinational corporations and individuals will exercise more power than governments by 2030…

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    Ten Common ‘Mistakes’ to Avoid, and ‘Needs’ to Meet, when Seeking to Create a Better World

    Stuart Hill     |      February 11, 2008


    Some thoughts on Kevin Rudd’s ‘1,000 Great Minds’ initiative (Australia 2020 Summit) and what might need to happen to improve its chances of success

    Because of the holistic nature of the approach being advocated, all of these areas overlap and are highly interactive and interrelated.

    1. Getting the usual ‘experts’ together, to then plan for a better future. This always leads to tinkering with existing (flawed) plans, and excludes those most affected by such plans.

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    To smack or not to smack: Is that really the question?

    alison gordon     |      February 7, 2008

    The act of smacking children has evolved over the past few years into a debate over whether it's an essential and effective form of discipline, or simply a less obvious form of physical and psychological abuse.

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    Car industry woes?

    proberts     |      February 5, 2008

    The car industry, of course is doomed…or is it?

    In this year when there is more bad news coming from the car manufacturing sector, it is sometimes hard to appreciate just how much things have changed since the bad old days of protectionism.

    Our cars used to be expensive and somewhat dated technologically as they were engineered, designed and manufactured for our rather small domestic market. Nissan was forced to close its local manufacturing and Mitsubishi has long been teetering on the edge.

    But while Ford is vulnerable, Toyota is powering ahead and GM Holden's progress has been spectacular. Adelaide-made Commodore and Caprice cars are exported to the Middle East where they are the number one selling car and the United States. The Caprice itself is manufactured in Shanghai and sold as a Buick in China.

    In fact Commodore was created from the ground up for global markets and a number of North American cars are to be based on its engineering unperpinnings. Soon to go into production are Melbourne-engineered vehicles including a new Chevrolet Camaro supercar.

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    Innovation requires a collaborative approach

    tamaraplakalo     |      February 4, 2008

    Does Australia need a National Innovation Policy? A recent initiative by the Victorian Government to create a co-ordinated national approach to innovation suggests the country’s top policy makers believe that it does.

    The argument underlying the initiative suggests that Australia’s current contribution to the global pool of knowledge (2 per cent), is not enough to sustain future growth or maintain current levels of social and economic prosperity.

    In the climate of industrial-age driven economic boom, which positions Australia as a satellite economy fuelling its growth through primary resource exploitation, innovation is a term that mainly refers to the innovative ways of increasing productivity levels to satisfy short-term economic demands. The real challenge, however, lies in developing the national ability to respond to long-term challenges Australia is facing not only as an economy, but as a society as a whole.

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    Government suppression of cheaper energy

    DaS Energy     |      February 1, 2008

    Government raising energy costs to inflate revenue.

     Government supressing technology efiiciency.

    Govermnent interfrence in free market supresses lower cost.

    At what price do we keep burning Coal.

    Eleven times the true tarriff rate for power.

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    Cost Comparison of Energy

    DaS Energy     |      February 1, 2008

    Government price fixing high energy cost costing more than eleven times it market rate.

    Recapturing Carbon is a cost added to burnt coal.

    Not releasing Carbon is a cost subtracted. 

    This is Australia.

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    Thoughts on innovation: What are the incentives for risk-taking?

    Peter Fritz     |      January 31, 2008

    There is often confusion over the terms "creative thinking" and "innovation". Many view them as one and the same, but in reality they are very different. One means ideas, the other means action.