Editor's note
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Senate estimates hearings have evolved into a key tool for holding the Australian government to account for how it spends taxpayers’ money. This coming week’s hearings will attempt to get to the bottom of some of the biggest issues of Australian politics today.
What did Australia and the US sign up to in their refugee resettlement deal? What does ‘clean coal’ policy mean for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Australian Renewable Energy Agency?
What are the plans for the Murray Darling Basin Plan, the ABC and the airport and rail link to be built in western Sydney? And, by the way, how did Australia Post chief’s $5.6 million pay come to be secret?
Today, The Conversation brings you a guide to some of the issues being put under the microscope in the week ahead.
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Asylum seekers and the US refugee deal
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Malcolm Turnbull responded to the Washington Post story at a glass factory in Melbourne’s south on Thursday.
Joe Castro/AAP
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Malcolm Turnbull should walk away from the deal he struck for the US to take refugees from Nauru and Manus Island.
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Australia provides permanent protection to thousands of refugees every year.
Khalil Ashawi/Reuters
Mary Anne Kenny, Murdoch University
The term 'genuine refugee' is thrown around often, yet few know the complicated process of how someone is deemed to be one.
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Clean energy
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The World Bank has highlighted steps to improve sustainable energy investment.
Alan Pears, RMIT University
Australia is near the back of the pack of rich nations when it comes to policies for clean energy. But there are things we can do about it.
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Solar thermal technology is still an outside bet - and not the kind of investment the CEFC was set up to make.
WorleyParsons/AAP Image
Craig Froome, The University of Queensland
Environment minister Greg Hunt wants the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to focus on new technologies, not wind and solar. But that's not what it was set up to do, and Australia already has an agency for that.
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Australia Post
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Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour earned $5.6 million in 2015-16.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Carl Rhodes, University of Technology Sydney
It’s not just that Ahmed Fahour earns a lot of money. Australia Post had, until this week, been able to keep its CEO's salary top secret.
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High-speed rail
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China has the most extensive high-speed rail network in the world, which has helped reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Jason Lee/Reuters
Peter Newman, Curtin University
High-speed rail is now a well-established technology and Australia needs it, as long as the project ticks all the boxes needed to deliver both private and public benefits.
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Are we there yet?
Mattinbgn/Wikimedia Commons
Peter Newton, Swinburne University of Technology
A fast rail link between Sydney and Melbourne was first proposed in 1984. So why haven't we done it yet?
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Murray Darling Basin
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The Murray-Darling is a complex freshwater ecosystem.
Murray River wetlands image from www.shutterstock.com
Lin Crase, University of South Australia
Tempers have flared once again over the long-term plan to return water to the Murray-Darling River and improve its health.
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Public broadcaster
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That the ABC is too big and too expensive for an affluent democracy such as Australia is nothing but a myth.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Brian McNair, Queensland University of Technology; Adam Swift, Queensland University of Technology
Due to Australia’s small population and high concentration of few media voices, public broadcasters play a pivotal role in shaping the media ecosystem and cultural landscape. With the ABC and SBS under…
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Featured jobs
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Australian Catholic University — North Sydney, New South Wales
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University of Melbourne — Parkville, Victoria
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Southern Cross University — Bilinga, Queensland
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University of Western Australia — Perth, Western Australia
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Featured events
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UNSW , Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia — UNSW
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CSIRO, 3-4 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, 7004, Australia — University of Tasmania
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Law School LT 106, Law School Annex, Eastern Avenue, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006, Australia — University of Sydney
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55 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia — University of South Australia
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