News
Archived news for December 2011 | Recent news
Household electricity prices to rise, year on year
An agreement to try to reach a deal by 2015 on emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases is the bottom line of the past fortnight's...
A challenge for Shorten, IR insider
Bill Shorten is presented with an excellent opportunity to prove himself to be a minister who is not dictated to by the unions. The Australian...
Durban deal isolates Gillard
Durban's meek outcome doesn't bode well for international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions or the sustainability of Australia's domestic...
Struggling welfare state in EU is a stark warning
The question as to how European nations arrived at their present state of economic dysfunction is perhaps as important as what they should do to...
Gillard left out on a limb in Durban talks
The absence of an outcome at the Durban climate change talks has significant implications for the Gillard government and its carbon tax. The...
Corporate welfare looms as major hurdle
The idea the Australian automotive industry can remain competitive on the global stage, while being propped up by trade barriers and subsidies,...
Our building regulations need a major overhaul
How many separate approvals are required before an owner can move into a new house in Melbourne's designated urban growth area? Twenty? Fifty?...
2016 holds hope for Republicans
Looking at the current crop of Republican presidential hopefuls, it's no wonder many conservatives are despondent. To call the field lacklustre is...
Selling the ABC and other tricky media issues
The media talking about itself can be very self-indulgent not to mention annoying to outsiders. Yet the politics of media have exploded in the last...
The 'Right' morally culpable for Breivik's actions, really?
Serial killers and terrorists often claim to be making political statements through violence. But we don't immediately have to take their word for...