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At The Conversation we’re committed to politics coverage that goes beyond sound bites, photo ops and the gaffe of the day. We agree with US media academic Jay Rosen: if the media lets political spinners define the agenda we have no hope of talking about the things that matter to us most.
That’s why we asked you, our readers, to help us #SetTheAgenda. Your response has been terrific. So far, more than 6,000 people have answered our survey, providing thoughtful suggestions for articles and also giving us some great data about what matters most to you.
Climate change (65%) and the environment (28%) topped the list as the issues that have the greatest impact on your lives. The cost of living (20%), misinformation (17%), housing (15%) and aged care (13%) comprise the remaining top spots on the list, followed by education, mental health, gender equality and COVID-19.
But numbers only ever tell part of a story: if you lean on them too heavily you can miss important insights. That’s why we are going to spend some time reflecting on all your article ideas and feedback, such as this comment which is a great template for how we can cover the election:
“I want to know their policies, how they plan to successfully implement their policies and what benefits the general population and Australia as a whole can expect from them. More about the evidence based positive change they will make, much less bashing the others ‘at least I’m not that guy’ nonsense.”
The #SetTheAgenda survey will be open for a while yet, so please fill it out if you haven’t done so yet.
We are also going to host two events during the campaign to give you a chance to hear from our Chief Political Correspondent Michelle Grattan and tell us the questions you want answered.
The first will be held at The Church of All Nations in Carlton at 6pm on Friday April 29. It will feature Michelle Grattan in conversation with Politics + Society editor Amanda Dunn and Sean Kelly, author of The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison. Seats are limited, so if you’d like to attend please book here.
The second event will be held at 2pm on Sunday May 1 at the Woollahra Library at Double Bay in Sydney. I will interview Michelle Grattan and take questions from the floor. Book here.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read The Conversation and for sharing your thoughts. The health of our democracy depends on citizens who are willing to participate and stay informed. On that score, the signs couldn’t be more promising.
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Misha Ketchell
Editor & Executive Director
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Misha Ketchell, The Conversation
At The Conversation we’re committed to politics coverage that goes beyond sound bites, photo ops and the gaffe of the day. That why we asked you, our readers, to help us #SetTheAgenda.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
This is the first in a two-part series on the major parties’ Treasury spokespeople. You can read Carol Johnson’s profile of Jim Chalmers here. When Josh Frydenberg was studying law at Monash University…
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Carol Johnson, University of Adelaide
Intellectual and a talented communicator, Chalmers may turn out to be a far more innovative politician than his current cautious election rhetoric suggests.
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Peter Christoff, The University of Melbourne
Notwithstanding COVID, this political term has been framed by extreme events such as the Black Summer bushfires and floods – and it will show at the ballot box.
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Rod Tyers, The University of Western Australia; Yixiao Zhou, Australian National University
Modelling suggests Australia would lose half of its export income and one fifth of its jobs if a new “bamboo curtain” cut the economies of China, Russia and like-minded nations off from the West.
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Katherine Wynn, CSIRO; Michelle Colgrave, CSIRO
A new ‘protein roadmap’ produced by CSIRO reveals foods set to fill fridges by 2030 as health, environmental and ethical concerns push consumers away from meat.
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Paul Griffin, The University of Queensland
Based on the little data we have so far, Omicron XE appears slightly more contagious than other COVID variants.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Labor has clung to its 53-47% two-party lead in the latest Newspoll, but Anthony Albanese’s ratings have taken a knock after his error-prone first week of the campaign.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Scott Morrison and NSW treasurer and leading moderate Matt Kean are publicly at loggerheads over the future of the prime minister’s controversial captain’s pick for the seat of Warringah.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
In the second instalment of the Wentworth Project, voters didn’t like Scott Morrison one bit. But they couldn’t think of much positive to say about Anthony Albanese.
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Gorana Grgić, University of Sydney
The Biden administration has a difficult task in punishing Russia for its invasion without becoming embroiled in a full-scale war.
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Morgan Harrington, Australian National University
The rate of voter participation in federal elections by people living in remote Indigenous communities have been in decline. Past policies have put obstacles in place, and these need to be addressed.
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Philipp Kastner, The University of Western Australia
Politicians aren’t necessarily the best mediators. International experts on peace mediation should be involved.
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Anika Stobart, Grattan Institute; Kate Griffiths, Grattan Institute
We can expect political ads to continue to ramp up over the coming weeks. The onus will be on each voter to sift through the spin for the facts and for the policies that matter to them.
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Ian Kemish, The University of Queensland
The Pacific will remain a priority, no matter which party wins the election. But there could be subtle differences in tone and priorities.
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Intifar Chowdhury, Australian National University
About 85% of Australians between 18 and 24 are already enrolled to vote on May 21.
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Tom van Laer, University of Sydney
The federal election campaign is underway and political advertising has really started to ramp up. But who is each party targeting and what’s their key message?
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Anthony Albanese has had a bad first week of the campaign - Labor hopes Easter can be used as a circuit breaker.
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Health + Medicine
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Elizabeth Westrupp, Deakin University
You can still tell the truth without ruining everyone’s Easter. Here are some tips.
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Carol Maher, University of South Australia; Ben Singh, University of South Australia
Despite knowing the health benefits of exercise and the harms of inactivity, many of us still struggle to find the motivation to get moving.
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Lesley Russell, University of Sydney
Such an expansive scheme is very expensive. It has been costed at A$77.6 billion over the next decade, funded with new taxes on big corporations and billionaires.
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Science + Technology
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Sam Baron, Australian Catholic University
Cutting-edge theories of physics suggest time may not be real – but even if they’re right, life can still go on as usual.
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David Bean, Federation University Australia; Andrew Greenhill, Federation University Australia
Despite the recent Kinder chocolate recall, there’s no cause for wider concern about chocolate safety.
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Nathan Kilah, University of Tasmania
It’s totally fine to eat chocolate with a white film on the surface. But what is it, how did it get there, and how can it be avoided?
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Environment + Energy
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Christian Downie, Australian National University
Until now, export credit agencies - publicly-owned banks - have gone under the radar on fossil fuel financing. That’s about to change.
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Fiona Backhouse, Western Sydney University; Anastasia Dalziell, University of Wollongong; Justin A. Welbergen, Western Sydney University; Robert Magrath, Australian National University
Let us introduce you to this shy performer and convince you that the Albert’s lyrebird is worthy of as much attention as its limelight-stealing sister species, the superb lyrebird.
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Gregory Moore, The University of Melbourne
Variegated plants can be more expensive than their all-green counterparts. But there are ways to protect your investment.
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Education
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Olivia Johnston, Edith Cowan University
Some students in higher-ability classes said they felt more confident and motivated, but students in lower streams reported conforming to teachers’ low expectations for achievement.
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Arts + Culture
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Helen Young, Deakin University
The Lord of the Rings paperback edition could be said to have sparked the commercial fantasy genre as we know it.
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Lauren Samuelsson, University of Wollongong
From the Easter Show to the ‘busy lady’ competition in the Australian Women’s Weekly, we’ve been competitive cookers for over 100 years.
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Darius von Guttner Sporzynski, Australian Catholic University
Tadeusz Kościuszko was a revolutionary thinker who was Commander in Chief of the Polish-Lithuanian armed forces.
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Books + Ideas
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Helen Young, Deakin University
The Lord of the Rings paperback edition could be said to have sparked the commercial fantasy genre as we know it.
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Ronan McDonald, The University of Melbourne
How do editors decide what books get reviewed? Spoiler alert: it’s not meritocratic.
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Belinda Castles, University of Sydney
In her new essay collection, Elena Ferrante tells the compelling story of her reading and writing life, and the battle between form and wildness.
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Kerrie Davies, UNSW Sydney
Kate Grenville suggests we read Elizabeth Macarthur’s letters as ‘a wonderful piece of fiction, sustained over sixty years’. They were exercises in doubleness, concealment, and delicious irony.
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Jen Webb, University of Canberra
The poems in The Honey of Man may cast a harsh light on human cruelties and stupidities, but they avoid hopelessness or helplessness.
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Business + Economy
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Jeff Borland, The University of Melbourne
Even the government’s pledge of 1.3 million extra jobs might not be enough to keep unemployment below 4%. The pledge ought to be the unemployment rate itself.
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Bradley Hastings, UNSW Sydney
Up to 40% of all jobs now are tipped to be taken over by AI and robots in the next few decades. My grandmother, born on a farm almost a century ago, has some advice on how to cope.
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