Opinions
OPINION
The special fossil fuel industry carve out hidden deep in Australia's nature laws, revealed
To the casual observer, the long overdue reform to our federal environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) – looked like a win for nature and climate.
OPINION
CGT reform isn’t left or right, it's good policy and good politics
The last time Labor proposed to wind back the expensive and inequitable capital gains tax discounts their vote soared in the highest income electorates.
OPINION
Fixing our housing crisis means fixing investor tax breaks
For years, Australia’s housing crisis has been treated as a mystery. Prices keep rising. Rents keep climbing. More people are locked out of a safe, affordable home. And yet many are scared to mention the policies that helped get us here.
OPINION
Japan’s swing to the right: North Asia has become trickier
Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, may be a demon on the drum kit. She is most certainly a skilful politician. Her decisive victory in Japan’s elections last weekend shows just how deft she is in playing the China card.
OPINION
What did Adani get for the money it gave to the Queensland Liberal National Party?
If only we knew then what we know now. In August 2025, Queensland’s LNP Government announced it was abandoning a court case against Adani over unpaid coal royalties, a case that started in 2023 under the Labor government.
OPINION
As beautiful as they were powerful: Jon Kudelka’s political cartoons were made with true conviction
The media and cartooning world shifted mightily between Jon Kudelka’s earliest contributions to The Mercury in Hobart in the early 1990s and to his last regular gig at The Saturday Paper, before the diagnosis and treatment of his glioblastoma sparked retirement in April 2025.
OPINION
The 'angry men' theory of One Nation is wrong
Take a moment to imagine 'a typical One Nation voter.' If you’re imagining someone middle aged or older, you’re on the right track. If you’re imagining someone who lives in rural or regional Australia, you’d be right. Likewise, you’d be correct if you’re imagining someone with a TAFE qualification or high school education, rather than a university degree. But what about their gender?
OPINION
‘Disunity is death’ – but Labor’s cowed caucus has a cost too
Caucus solidarity – the rule that once Labor’s political arm has made a decision, all caucus members are bound to it regardless of personal views – has been treated as both a threat and novelty by party outsiders. It has always been thus.
OPINION
Fossil fuels aren’t just heating the planet. They’re leading to major biodiversity harm.
Last year’s changes to the EPBC Act won’t do nearly enough to address the damage fossil fuels are doing to our environment.
OPINION
What is the future of Australia’s embattled writers festivals?
For more than 65 years, book lovers have descended on Adelaide every summer for Australia’s longest running literary festival. That is, until this year, when around 180 invited authors (including me) boycotted Adelaide Writers Week, following the board’s decision to “uninvite” Palestinian-Australian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. The festival was cancelled.
