Opinions
OPINION
Victoria's duck hunting season begins amid declining support and compliance concerns
At 8am, 18th of March, Victoria entered its duck hunting season for 2026. That’s right, until thirty minutes after sunset on 8 June, native waterbirds can be shot for “sport” across 3.5 million hectares of public land in Victoria.
OPINION
Newcastle Uni shows how university governance is rotten in regional universities too
As a regional university, we so often escape the scrutiny applied to our metropolitan or more prestigious cousins like UTS and ANU. But the governance failures and mismanagement at the University of Newcastle (UoN) are as acute as those making the national news.
OPINION
Australia's gun laws need reform: tightening the "genuine reason" requirement
Recent Australia Institute research showing that perhaps 200,000 people in NSW have gun licences that they don’t need highlights a key aspect of Australia’s gun laws that has not been well implemented. To own a gun here, you need a genuine reason to. Post-Bondi, Australia’s gun laws are in the spotlight and understanding their details and history will be important if they are to be strengthened effectively.
OPINION
Is our constitutional system democratic?
An extract from The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution by Rosalind Dixon and William Partlett, published by UNSW Books
OPINION
See What You Made Me Do: Foreword
This is the new foreword, written by Clare Wright, for the new updated edition of 'See What You Made Do' by Jess Hill
OPINION
The Ruin of Magic: Longing and belonging in strange times
This is an edited extract from "The Ruin of Magic" by Kate Holden, published by Black Inc.
OPINION
Why we garden: On the joy and wonder of growing things, even when we don't have to
An edited extract of 'Why We Garden' by Hannah Moloney, available in stores nationally from April 14.
OPINION
Don’t listen to Norway: CCS will lock in fossil fuels in the middle of a climate crisis
If you hear it as it’s told by Norway’s Ambassador to Australia, Anne Grete Riise, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been a mind-blowing success over here where I live, in the land of brown cheese and black oil. But the interview paints a dangerously overstated view, failing to highlight the reality of how CCS has played out in Norway. Not only are we not a ‘best case’, but we also demonstrate the ways in which CCS can distract from real decarbonisation efforts.
OPINION
ANU spent $6k on a 'non-significant' meeting. Then why do they pay tutors even less for a semester?
Last year the Australian National University (ANU) was getting some bad press, so they engaged a company called Bastion Reputation to help with the media fallout from restructures and the heavily criticised leadership of its Vice Chancellor, Professor Genevieve Bell. The meeting cost $6,000, which is more than ANU paid me for a full semester of tutoring in 2023. According to a response to an FOI request, the meeting did not warrant any notetaking and was “not significant”.
OPINION
Faster giving, faster change: billions in philanthropy is moving too slowly to meet the moment
Australia has more than $11 billion sitting in philanthropic funds that have already received generous tax deductions. Much of that money is intended for public good, but only a small portion is required to reach charities each year.
