Jacinda Ardern's threat to Australia

Editor's note

Jacinda Ardern was sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand yesterday. During her campaign, she said she would end the current university fee arrangement with Australia if it stops being reciprocal, which would happen if the Turnbull government’s higher education reforms went through. This means Australians studying in New Zealand, and vice-versa, could see their tuition fees quadruple. Pii-Tuulia Nikula writes that this tit-for-tat policy decision-making is just a minor element in a much wider erosion of New Zealanders’ rights in Australia, and until now there hasn’t been any retaliation.

Sophie Heizer

Assistant Education Editor

Top story

New Zealand Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern holds firm on her promise to block Australian students from tertiary education if reforms go through. Reuters

Students will suffer if Australia and New Zealand change tertiary fee agreement

Pii-Tuulia Nikula, Eastern Institute of Technology

New Zealand's Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern has vowed to take retaliatory action if the Turnbull government changes fee arrangements for New Zealanders studying in Australia.

Politics + Society

'They shot my two daughters in front of me': Rohingya tell heartbreaking stories of loss and forced migration

Ronan Lee, Deakin University

Interviews undertaken in refugee camps on the Bangladesh/Myanmar border paint a grim picture that explains why so many Rohingya fled Myanmar so quickly.
Turnbull government says no to Indigenous "Voice to Parliament"

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

The government has rejected the Referendum Council's call for a national Indigenous representative assembly to be put into the constitution, taking the debate about recognition back to square one.
Grattan on Friday: Cash takes a hit in the government's pursuit of Shorten

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

The government's obvious attempt to use the recently established Registered Organisations Commission for political purposes is an abuse of power.
We cannot deny the violence of White supremacy any more

Yolanda Moses, University of California, Riverside

White Americans have been in denial about the fact that police go after Black men and other men of colour. But the research and statistics kept by state and federal agencies show this happens.
The Australian Federal Police needs to be free to do its job without political interference

Terry Goldsworthy

The AWU case is not the first time the AFP has been embroiled in politics, nor will it be the last.

Health + Medicine

Five claims about coconut oil debunked

Rosemary Stanton, UNSW

Coconut oil is being hailed as the new "superfood", helping us lose weight and kill harmful bugs. But how do the claims stand up to scientific scrutiny?
I've always wondered: what's behind the belly button?

Hannah Dahlen, Western Sydney University

The umbilical cord drops off a baby's belly button after birth. What happens on the inside is far more fascinating.
Gluten free diets aren't easy, but if you slip up a dietary supplement could help

Finlay Alistair Macrae, Melbourne Health

Enzyme supplementation won't cure those with coeliac disease, but it could make life much easier for many sufferers.

Business + Economy

The behavioural economics of an A$1,800 iPhone

Brendan Markey-Towler, The University of Queensland

Will you buy the new iPhone straight away? Or do you buy your smartphone based on its cost-benefits? Either way Apple might be using your own psychology against you.
Did Westpac just mansplain gender diversity to its competitors?

Alison Pullen, Macquarie University; Carl Rhodes, University of Technology Sydney

Westpac’s focus on the bottom line benefits of gender diversity overlook the fact that equality is a political imperative, not a corporate one.
Government spending on Indigenous people is rising, so why do so many still live in poverty?

Nicholas Biddle, Australian National University

Despite an increase in government spending in the Indigenous sector, many key outcomes for Indigenous equality are not being met.

Arts + Culture

Friday essay: journey through the apocalypse

Cassandra Pybus, University of Tasmania

Wooredy and his second wife Truganini set off into the Tasmanian wilderness with settler George Robinson in 1830, on a "conciliatory" mission to find other original Tasmanians. Their stories bear witness to a psychological and cultural transition without parallel in modern colonialism.
George Michael: Freedom documents a star at war with fame

Liz Giuffre, University of Technology Sydney

George Michael's posthumous documentary Freedom reveals the star's tension between pop-stardom and privacy.

Cities
Last of the Millers Point and Sirius tenants hang on as the money now pours in Alan Morris, University of Technology Sydney All but a handful of the former public housing tenants are gone. But despite the government again rejecting the recommended heritage listing of the Sirius building, the fight to save it isn't over.

Environment + Energy
Australia still lags behind in vehicle emissions testing Zoran Ristovski, Queensland University of Technology; Nic Surawski, University of Technology Sydney Australian vehicles have been accused of creating more emissions than their manufacturers advertise. But are Australian testing standards up to scratch?

Science + Technology

South Korea's public broadcasters are in an impossible political position

Ki-Sung Kwak, University of Sydney

Compared with their counterparts in other democratic countries, South Korea's national public broadcasters are politically vulnerable.
In for the long-haul: the challenge to fly non-stop from Australia to anywhere in the world

Chrystal Zhang, Swinburne University of Technology

Airlines want to stretch their routes even longer with non-stop flights to almost anywhere in the world.