The Reserve Bank last week chose to keep interest rates high even as more people are losing their jobs.

The public wants the ads banned but the government keeps bowing to pressure. Now, with its whopping majority, what’s the excuse? Two years ago this week the Murphy report was delivered to the government, recommending the banning of gambling ads. And for two years the Albanese government has failed to act in the face of pressure from vested interests. Over those two years Australians have gambled away another $60bn. In June 2023 Labor MP Peta Murphy said: “Australians are the biggest losers in the world when it comes to gambling. We have a culture where sport and gambling are intrinsically linked. These behaviours are causing increasingly widespread and serious harm to individuals, families and communities.” Continue reading...

The legal challenge came after the Victorian Liberals' administrative committee decided to lend former lead...

Greta Thunberg and Madleen crew are in Israeli detention as Israel kills 70 people in Gaza, including more aid seekers.

Critics assail Israel for employing a strategy the U.S. used in World War II, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Albanese’s commitment to the climate crisis appears too often to be built on the idea that being better than the Coalition is enough – but that’s not how it works * Want to get this in your inbox when it publishes? Sign up for the Clear Air Australia newsletter here Fans of naked political cynicism have had plenty to cheer of late. Those hoping for something more from their elected leaders – a bit of principle and coherency, say – have had no shortage of reasons to lament what Michael Stipe once called the downhill slide into abysmal. In Australia, there is cynicism right through the Albanese government’s proposed approval of a 45-year life extension for one of the world’s biggest gas developments. Continue reading...

Greens leader Larissa Waters and independents Allegra Spender and David Pocock vow to use balance of power to strengthen rules on influence industry

Industry Minister, Tim Ayres, has hinted at a future federal gas reservation policy. He may be unaware of the prohibition of discussing it.

Experts say hugely profitable east coast LNG producers pay little in resources rent tax and Woodside project won’t help country’s energy shift

Political heat is rising over $15.8 million in federal funding for an exclusive Melbourne girls’ school with a new $85 million aquatic and sports centre.

The agency tasked with policing corruption failed to follow its own rules — wrongly dismissing a complaint about one of its commissioners and breaching a legal duty to report such matters to its overs...

The radio journalist's death came a day after Israeli air strikes on a hospital in Khan Younis killed a well-known Palestinian journalist, Hassan Aslih.

Proposed changes would ‘strip away’ the rights of workers, particularly those with psychological injuries, lawyer argues * Australia news live: latest politics updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A contentious overhaul to Australia’s largest workers’ compensation scheme would make it “virtually impossible” for people to lodge successful claims and strip away the rights of employees, unions and experts have argued. An inquiry into the proposed changes, which Chris Minns’ government claims are necessary to avoid unsustainable costs, began on Friday. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

A decision on Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia has already been delayed twice.

Even the Productivity Commission is backing way from the for-profit model. We need to ensure that our human services serve humans A series of ABC 7.30 reports tells a familiar story of failure in human services. Inadequate staffing, dangerous incidents brushed under the carpet, ineffective regulation and, at the back of it all, for-profit businesses, either ASX-listed or financed by private equity. This time it’s childcare but the same problems have emerged in vocational education, aged care, prisons, hospitals and many other services. Every time the answer we get is the same. More and better regulation, we are told, will make the market work better, allowing competition and consumer choice to work their magic. Continue reading...