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Labor is tackling the big things as if there’s not a moment to waste.
Today, Environment Minister Tony Burke will introduce legislation to enshrine an emissions reduction target. Tomorrow Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver an economic statement he says will be “confronting”.
But Labor is also in a hurry on small things. On Sunday, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke used regulations to strip back the powers of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, and late on Friday July 15, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones unveiled regulations that would cut the amount of information super funds are required to hand their members.
They’ll no longer be required to reveal individual political donations and payments to unions.
He has also hit pause on a planned expansion of the super performance test from 80 so-called MySuper funds to all publicly-available funds, an expansion that would have embarrassed the bad performers.
He has even thrown into doubt the requirement that super fund directors act in the “best financial interests” of their members. He is worried about “regulatory complexity”
This morning I ask whether there’s a difference between supporting funds, as the minister is keen to do, and supporting their members.
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Peter Martin
Section Editor: Business + Economy
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Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The requirement that super funds act in the best financial interests of their members is up for review, as is the nature of the performance test that weeds out poorly-performing funds.
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Susan Hester, University of New England; Aaron Dodd, The University of Melbourne
Effective biosecurity involves more than just what happens at the airport. And it doesn’t come cheap.
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Catherine Renshaw, Western Sydney University
This week’s executions have reminded the world about what’s happening under the generals. It’s time for Australian policy to change
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Holly Cope, University of Sydney; Catherine Herbert, University of Sydney; Clare McArthur, University of Sydney; Valentina Mella, University of Sydney
Almost half of the rehabilitated possums in our study were killed by foxes shortly after release. Keeping wildlife wild during rescue is hard – but necessary.
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Stewart Riddle, University of Southern Queensland
The new Liberal leader says education is a top priority and ‘activists’ are driving ‘non-core’ subjects in schools.
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Libby (Elizabeth) Sander, Bond University
Stay connected but switch off too. Working from home requires a delicate balance to protect your wellbeing and get the job done. Here are some tips.
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Tony Blakely, The University of Melbourne; Andrew Waa, University of Otago; Driss Ait Ouakrim, The University of Melbourne
Legislation now entering parliament aims to make Aotearoa New Zealand smokefree by 2025. Forecast effects show huge potential health gains, especially for Māori.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Michelle Grattan discusses politics with politics + society editor, Amanda Dunn
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Mark Giancaspro, University of Adelaide; David Brown, University of Adelaide
We need a uniform regulatory framework balancing the risks and benefits of e-scooters, and clarifying avenues for compensation.
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Adrian Beaumont, The Conversation
Preference flows from the 2022 federal election show changes to the slow to the ALP across the board.
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Health + Medicine
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Janet Hoek, University of Otago
Modelling studies estimate the smokefree generation policy could halve smoking prevalence within 14 years among people aged 45 and younger and achieve a more than a five-fold health gain for Māori.
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Kate D'Cruz, La Trobe University; Mark Brown, La Trobe University
A decade on from the establishment of the NDIS, we spoke to participants. Their feelings about it ranged from frustration to joyous gratitude.
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Science + Technology
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Tomás I. Fuenzalida, Australian National University
Carefully squeezing plant leaves can reveal how much water they contain – and touch could reveal many other hard-to-measure properties of plants.
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Environment + Energy
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John Turnbull, University of Sydney; Emma Johnston, University of Sydney
The recent State of the Environment report assessed nature’s impact to Australians’ wellbeing for the first time. Here’s what it found.
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Arts + Culture
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Sarah Casey, University of the Sunshine Coast; Juliet Watson, RMIT University
The word ‘feminism’ was unlikely to be heard in Neighbours’ early days, but today characters are talking about Clementine Ford.
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Andrea Waling, La Trobe University; Alexandra James, La Trobe University
Vabbing is the act of taking one’s vaginal secretions and using it as a perfume – while not a new trend, it is taking social media sites like TikTok by storm.
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Nicola St John, RMIT University; Emrhan Sultan, RMIT University
The Productivity Commission has proposed inauthentic Indigenous art should be labelled. But ‘fake art’ is only part of the problem.
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Books + Ideas
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Sam Baron, Australian Catholic University
The Matter of Everything is a partial account of the history of physics, which leaves out a lot, including the story of some key women scientists.
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Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University
Gold Coast QLD, Australia
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PhD Scholarship
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State Library of Queensland
Brisbane QLD, Australia
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Casual
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