The Policy Post

  We’re desperate for a new, better world. Who can deliver it? Parties of the progressive Left are the last, best hope to rebuild democratic societies and avoid domination by the populist far right. But are they up to the job?

  Who’s to blame? It didn’t take long for the nation's leading political opportunists to hijack the Bondi massacre for their own purposes.

  Too many guns. For three decades, Australia’s much-praised gun laws almost eliminated mass shootings. But we now have more guns than ever; and this post from almost three years ago has suddenly, and appallingly, become relevant again.

  Anatomy of a blame game. As public hospitals sink further into disarray, federal and state governments go to war over money. And nobody wants to take responsibility for fixing the system.

  The resistible rise of the modern fascist. Western liberal democracy is under more stress than at any time in eight decades. But today’s wannabe fascists are more mortal than most of us realise.

  The over-hyped world of AI. Artificial intelligence won’t change as much as the promoters claim. But, for some, its impacts will be disruptive – and sometimes disastrous.

  We should be so much better than this. Post-stroke treatment neglects the most effective – and cost-effective – options. Patients, the health system and the whole economy pay the price.

  A politics for a disintegrating world. The western democracies face a time of upheaval that could lead to breakdown and chaos. But only if we let it.

  Climate change, security … and Indonesia. Australia can, with difficulty, handle most of what climate change throws at us. Our biggest, nearest neighbour cannot.

  Democracy’s crisis of confidence. Autocracies are winning the trust of their people. Democracies are losing it.