|
|
|
|
This time last year – which feels like it was actually about seven years ago – we were in a reasonably optimistic place. With vaccines on the way and the long lockdowns over, particularly in Melbourne, it seemed as though the worst of the pandemic was moving behind us, and life would begin to return to normal.
It wasn’t to be. As Frank Bongiorno writes, the federal government squandered the opportunity to capitalise on Australia’s relatively good position in managing COVID, failing to build quarantine facilities, botching the vaccine procurement and then mismanaging its rollout – which was so pronounced that “strollout” was later declared word of the year.
It was an inauspicious start to a year that would see, in Bongiorno’s words, “a remarkable leeching of (Scott) Morrison’s standing and authority”, not least in relation to state and territory leaders (who had their own problems).
Now, the year draws to a close with the government in general and Morrison in particular nursing serious wounds. Whether they prove fatal or not we will know in the first half of next year.
|
|
Amanda Dunn
Section Editor: Politics + Society
|
|
Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
Whether it’s been the vaccine rollout, a federal ICAC, political scandals or the treatment of women, the Morrison government has had a shocking year. But will it pay for it in 2022?
|
Jo Caust, The University of Melbourne
Circus Oz was a revelation: so joyous, funny, imaginative, talented, witty – and so Australian.
|
Nicholas Wood, University of Sydney
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for children aged 5-11 from January 10, after it cleared the final regulatory step. Here’s what you need to know.
|
Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute; Hal Swerissen, Grattan Institute
Australia needs a new home-care model – one that provides much more personalised support to help older people get the services they need and that manages local service systems for them.
|
Rigissa Megalokonomou, The University of Queensland
Research tracking teachers, classes and their grades over many years shows gender bias has long-term impacts on students’ performance and their post-school study choices.
|
Alisa Hass, Middle Tennessee State University; Kelsey Ellis, University of Tennessee
Tornadoes in December aren’t unusual in the Gulf Coast and lower Mississippi Valley states, but the Dec. 10-11 outbreak was extreme and far-reaching.
|
Sybil Derrible, University of Illinois at Chicago; Juyeong Choi, Florida State University; Nazli Yesiller, California Polytechnic State University
Government agencies have detailed plans for responding to disasters, like the December 10-11, 2021 tornados. But one issue doesn’t get enough attention: cleaning up the mess left behind.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Monash University; Emma Jane McNicol, Monash University; Naomi Pfitzner, Monash University
A new study finds that while there have been improvements in the way victim-survivors are treated at work, there is still much to be done.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
Hoi Lun Cheng, University of Sydney; Amanda Salis, The University of Western Australia
Your body might need a nudge to return to its pre-lockdown weight. And it’s probably better to act now than wait.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Ben Singh, University of South Australia; Carol Maher, University of South Australia
About one in five Aussies currently own a wearable fitness tracker of some kind. Yet many people doubt their effectiveness. Let’s see what the research suggests.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Sophie Adams, UNSW; Baran Yildiz, UNSW; Naomi Stringer, UNSW; Shanil Samarakoon, UNSW
Almost one in three Australian homes now have solar panels – but as even more solar systems are installed, we face a growing challenge of managing temporary solar shutdowns.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Huw Griffiths, University of Sydney
In an unexpected pleasure, Paige Rattray places the stage directions of Arthur Miller’s play front and centre.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Max Rashbrooke, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The number of New Zealanders with ‘negative net wealth’ is large and growing – reflecting widening economic inequality that remains an urgent political priority.
-
David William Trodden, University of New England; Michael Adams, University of New England
A 1971 High Court ruling on rugby league contracts set an important Australian precedent on human rights. Fifty years on, we need to decide if players deserve the right to a presumption of innocence.
-
Flavio Macau, Edith Cowan University
If you own a diesel car with an AdBlue tank, your engine is programmed to not start once you run out of it. But Australia can handle the looming diesel engine additive shortage – if we don’t panic.
|
|
| |
Featured jobs
|
|
|
|
— Canberra ACT, Australia
|
|
— Canberra ACT, Australia
|
|
— Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
Featured Events & Courses
|
|
— Victoria, Australia — The Conversation Weekly Podcast
|
|
— Australian Capital Territory, Australia — Politics with Michelle Grattan
|
|
— online webinar, Perth, Western Australia, 6009, Australia — The University of Western Australia
|
|
— Virtual event, Caulfield East, Victoria, 3145, Australia — Monash University
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
