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Here’s a confronting question: do we care enough about COVID? Frank Bongiorno writes that the prevailing myth about Australia during the pandemic was patient endurance of lockdowns and curtailment of freedoms (especially perhaps for Victorians, who had to do this more than most) in the name of the common good. But where once we hung on to daily press conferences and reacted in horror when infections reached double, or triple figures, we now seem prepared to
tolerate many deaths every day and an overall death toll now past 11,000. Have our senses been blunted?
Our utilitarian tradition of government, providing “the greatest happiness for the greatest number”, has a dark side too, Bongiorno says: historically, it has shown itself poorly-equipped to look after the most vulnerable people. And that is what we are facing now, because much as we might want it to be otherwise, COVID cannot be wished away.
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Amanda Dunn
Section Editor: Politics + Society
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Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
Australia’s utilitarian tradition of government – the greatest good for the greatest number – has a dark side: there are always those whose voices struggle to be heard and whose needs are overlooked.
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Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia
Cases may be stabilising but this could be the dip before a new wave.
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Thilak Mallawaarachchi, The University of Queensland; John Quiggin, The University of Queensland
How Sri Lanka ran out of foreign currency to pay for imports is a story of fiscal imprudence, unsustainable exchange rate policy and chronic mismanagement.
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Tayanah O'Donnell, Australian National University
Property buybacks and managed retreat from high-risk areas were once seen as far-off options as the planet warms. Now this ‘last resort’ adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority worldwide.
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Damien O'Meara, Swinburne University of Technology; Jessica Balanzategui, Swinburne University of Technology; Joanna McIntyre, Swinburne University of Technology
The death of this iconic show warrants a health-check for the Australian TV industry.
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Daryl Higgins, Australian Catholic University; Sophie Havighurst, The University of Melbourne
The good news is there are evidence-based strategies that can help you discipline your child without using violence.
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Phoebe Holdenson Kimura, University of Sydney
If you’re preparing to come off the pill, it’s hard to know what to expect, particularly if you’ve been on it for a long time.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The public would be kept up to date on progress towards meeting Australia’s 43% emissions reduction target with an annual ministerial statement and oversight by the Climate Change Authority
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Natalie Klein, UNSW Sydney; Rob McLaughlin, Australian National University
International and Australian laws need to be updated to cope with the newest drug-trafficking technique threatening maritime security: remote-controlled narco-drones.
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Jenny Maturi, The University of Queensland; Jenny Munro, The University of Queensland
In Australia, the discussion around gendered violence is increasingly focused on diversity. However, policy and services continue to be based mostly on the experiences of white, Anglo-settler women.
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Health + Medicine
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Nicole Lee, Curtin University; Paula Ross, Australian Catholic University; Steven Bothwell, University of Newcastle
Despite decades of research, no-one has been able to identify a set of personality traits or a personality type that can predict whether someone will have problems with alcohol or other drugs.
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Science + Technology
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Ben McAllister, The University of Western Australia
Regular matter makes up just one-sixth of all the matter in the universe. What would it mean to finally understand what makes up the rest?
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Kelly-Ann Allen, Monash University; Jonathan Reardon, Durham University; Joseph Crawford, University of Tasmania; Lucas Walsh, Monash University
Peer review is an essential part of academic publishing, but it can be exploitative, opaque and slow. There’s plenty journals, publishers and universities can do to make the system work better.
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Environment + Energy
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Gregory Moore, The University of Melbourne
Seen from above, parts of our cities now have very little green space, and we’re losing the green corridors that enable wildlife to move between the remaining urban habitats.
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Books + Ideas
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Helen Young, Deakin University
Sensitivity readers are increasingly employed before a book is published, if the author is writing about cultures outside their lived experience. But what exactly do sensitivity readers do?
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Charles Barbour, Western Sydney University
Irony is linked to the ability to say one thing while thinking another – which means it’s also intrinsic to being human. What does new research into artificial intelligence and irony reveal?
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