The Policy Post

  Populism and the fight for democracy. Liberal democracy is facing its most perilous time since the rise of fascism a century ago. Between the GFC and now, their number has fallen by a third. Populist authoritarians thrive. What’s happening? And why?

  WA’s $40 billion fraud on the rest of us. Jim Chalmers has just added $11 billion to the cost of Western Australia’s dodgy GST deal. It’s an extraordinary case of political extortion. But is it even legal? And will WA have to give the money back?

  An unbroken record of failure. The last time the Labor party in Tasmania won a parliamentary majority was seventeen years and six leaders ago. Even against a tired, inept Liberal government, they still look unelectable.

  The cost-of-living crisis hits health care The health cost crunch has just become more savage than it’s been for decades. But it’s been developing for a long time – and governments have ignored the problem.

  These are the people we’re locking up. Prisons don’t work. When you look at the lives of people being imprisoned, it’s no wonder.

The decline and fall of the intelligent political insult. It’s not that our politics have become unexpectedly polite. It’s just that the wit has vanished.

We're spending billions on 'wellness' crap. Why? The alternative medicines industry rakes in billions, but consumer protection has gone missing. The regulator doesn't have the power or the money to do its job ... and powerful interests like it that way.

Transformation of a nation. In a little over 50 years, Australia changed from a dull, arid, insular monoculture into one of the most diverse nations on earth. It hasn’t been easy and it’s not over yet. I lived through it all, so it’s my story too.

How alien abduction explains Donald Trump. When given a choice between truth and a lie, vast millions of people unerringly choose the lie. What on earth is going on – and what does it mean?

It’s doing your head in: the hidden mental toll of all those crises. We live in a time of anguish: interest rates, cost of living, rents, mortgages, healthcare, the pandemic, the GFC, job insecurity, climate change. It’s having its consequences.