The Sydney Swans scandal: How should the club, the AFL and the media respond?

When news broke this week of an alleged sexual assault involving the Sydney Swans AFL team in Melbourne, old faultlines in the way the sport handles accusations against its players re-ignited.  Everything from the players involved, to the language used by the club, and the way the media reported t…

“I would perish”: The human cost of the PM’s NDIS cuts

Over six days of public hearings, Australians with a disability told parliament what losing NDIS support would mean for their independence, their families, and their everyday lives. Despite more than 4,000 submissions and calls for reforms to be paused, the government’s overhaul of the scheme pass…

How Trump’s anti-vax agenda is infecting Australia

Last week Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines, sprouting links to autism – which have been definitively disproved by scientists and health organisations around the world. During Trump’s second term, the misinformation from the president and his health secret…

Should Australia be preparing civilians for war?

For most of Australia’s recent history, preparing for war has meant preparing the military.  Now, the government is turning its attention on the rest of us.  A new parliamentary inquiry will examine Australia's civilian preparedness and whether we could keep fuel flowing, supply chains moving and…

David McBride on being sent to prison

Whistleblower David McBride has been released from prison on parole, after serving 27 months for leaking classified Defence documents to journalists. Those documents helped expose allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. Years on, he’s still the only person to have been se…

Immigration, gambling deals and Australia’s “gayest party”

After years of pressure to tackle gambling harm, the Albanese government is trying to get its long-awaited reforms through parliament, looking to cut a deal with the Opposition, sparking a debate over just how far the government is prepared to go to get its reforms through.  Meanwhile, immigration…

‘Getting Murdoched’: How the Murdoch media attacks its targets

For decades, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has helped shape politics and public debate, and in doing so, has often left lasting consequences for some of the people caught in its sights, from politicians, to public figures to everyday people. The consequences can be devastating.  Journalists Matthe…

How Nigel Farage ended up facing off with a bin

Just when you thought world politics couldn’t get any more ridiculous: tonight, far-right British politician Nigel Farage is set to face a by-election of his own making. His main opponent? A joke candidate by the name of Count Binface, who says he’s an alien space warrior, and wears a superhero cos…

Is super a fairer way to fight inflation than interest rates?

The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent: a relief for those with a mortgage.  But as the bank weighs up future interest rate hikes to try and combat inflation, some economists say there’s a fairer way to keep spending under wraps and spread the pain aro…

Where is One Nation’s money coming from?

As One Nation’s political clout rises, so too does its bank balance, courtesy of the very elites Pauline Hanson often rails against. Now an investigation by the Brisbane Times and SMH has detailed some of the places One Nation’s cash is coming from: from exclusive parties hosted at Gina Rinehart’s…