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Editor's note
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Many of you would have been to see a specialist at least a few times in your life, and experienced the same feeling when you left: bill shock. So why is it specialists in Australia are up there with the most expensive in the world? Here, Stephen Duckett points to a few possible reasons, none of which the government couldn’t solve.
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Alexandra Hansen
Section Editor, Health and Medicine
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Top story
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Some specialists charge a premium because they claim to be exceptional in their field. But how are patients to know if that’s true?
from www.shutterstock.com
Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute
To work out how to reduce the out-of-pocket costs for specialist care, we first need to identify why they are so high.
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Politics + Society
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Nick Economou, Monash University
Malcolm Turnbull’s postal plebiscite on marriage equality is on the cusp of recreating the mistakes of Doug Lowe’s Tasmanian dams plebiscite.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra; Nicholas Klomp, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan and Nicholas Klomp discuss the week in politics.
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Adele Webb, University of Sydney
Ambivalence among voters is reason to think about how democracy is working for us as a community. To keep democracy alive we need to be sceptical about the exercise of power and keep it in check.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
After spending a year immersed in the parliamentary machine, broadcaster-turned-senator Derryn Hinch is keen to see a more efficient Senate.
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Business + Economy
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Paul X. McCarthy, UNSW
While Pandora continues to lead in the US in streaming music all the signs from investors, user momentum and tech talent indicate Spotify is on the verge of seizing the crown.
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Akshaya Kamalnath, Deakin University
Google has fired the author of a controversial diversity memo. It would have been better to create more forums for discussion.
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Arts + Culture
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Hanne E.F. Nielsen, University of Tasmania; Elizabeth Leane, University of Tasmania
What would possess an Antarctic expedition to take dairy cows to the icy continent? Back in 1933, Admiral Byrd did so for reasons of image-making, publicity and territorial ambition.
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Nathan Hollier, Monash University
Despite dire predictions, bookstores are doing well: they are curators of taste and community hubs. But their challenges are many – from the arrival of Amazon Down Under to a 'post-truth' climate that devalues knowledge.
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Science + Technology
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Kenneth McNamara, University of Cambridge; Aaron W. Hunter, University of Cambridge
Australia was a different place 275 million years ago - wild storms surged through icy seas, and marine animals lived a tenuous existence. But brittle stars had a survival strategy.
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Tom Lee, University of Technology Sydney; Berto Pandolfo, University of Technology Sydney
Even our most anonymous objects, like the portable electric drill, are sources of cultural expression. It's time to learn their history.
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Environment + Energy
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Susanne Becken, Griffith University; Bela Stantic, Griffith University; Rod Connolly, Griffith University
Mining social media posts from tourism hotspots such as coral reefs could turn tourists into environmental citizen scientists without them even realising it.
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Health + Medicine
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Claire Roberts, University of Adelaide
The new study on birth defects and vitamin B3 has important implications, but researchers didn't actually give any of this vitamin to humans.
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Columnists
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Featured jobs
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RMIT University — Melbourne, Victoria
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University of Western Australia — Mount Waverley, Victoria
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Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute — Melbourne, Victoria
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Central Queensland University — Rockhampton City, Queensland
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Featured events
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Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Spencer Rd, Parkville VIC 3052, Parkville, Australian Capital Territory, 3010, Australia — The Conversation
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Allan Scott Auditorium, Hawke Building, UniSA City West Campus, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia — The Conversation
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Alliance Française Brisbane, 262 Montague Road, West End 4101, Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia — The Conversation
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Level 6, 14–20 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3051, Australia — Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
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