Democracy & Accountability

Fatima Payman

I certainly raised a few eyebrows last week when I walked into the press pack with my biggest adversary, Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson, to stand on a unity ticket asking the Prime Minister to properly resource our parliamentary offices. I wish I didn’t have to resort to such a tactic, but I was out of options, and I knew this was a surefire way to get his attention.

Bill Browne

In the last couple of weeks, two very consequential political debates have come down to a single vote. And these two narrow defeats prove that individuals matter, democracy matters, and parliament matters. Nothing is predetermined.

Amy Remeikis

With all the talk about Australia’s migration “issue”, there is one question that has remained noticeably absent. What problem are we solving? No one can answer it. Not really. There are plenty of declarative statements being thrown around blaming migration for Australia’s falling living standards and real wages, but no actual proof.

Fiona Katauskas

Josh Bornstein

A YouGov poll of more than 1000 Australians shows that the conservative parties’ opposition to regulating Big Tech is deeply unpopular with the electorate. A staggering 93 per cent of Australians agree that online platforms should be required to provide a safe online environment that prevents illegal and harmful content.

Joshua Black

To borrow a concise definition from foreign policy expert Thomas Wright, the Overton window is the idea that there is an “acceptable range of political discourse in a society” at a given time. In democratic systems, leaders and parties tend to stick within these boundaries to remain popular and legitimate.

Fiona Katauskas

Nick Feik

Here’s a question you’ve probably never asked yourself: Why does Nauru Airlines exist? There’s a simple answer – Australia’s offshore detention regime. Australia’s “resettlement” program in Naoero requires air transport, and Nauru Airlines is the only airline that flies to Naoero, so our government needs Nauru Airlines to keep the offshore regime up and running. But Nauru Airlines isn’t viable as a commercial airline.