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What has the COVID pandemic taught us about Australians generally and our governments in particular? Let’s start by considering the question of trust, says Frank Bongiorno: on many indicators, Australians’ trust in their governments, state and federal, has climbed during the COVID crisis. So we can assume that, despite the grumbling about various things, Australians are relatively happy with the way the pandemic has been handled.
This is not to say the approach has been flawless. The decision-making has at times been negligent, even callous, where minorities are concerned. And while Australians like to think of themselves as egalitarian, the pandemic has highlighted that, just like in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, some are more equal than others.
But what it has shown above all, Bongiorno writes, is the Australian people’s discipline: their willingness to do what is necessary to bring the virus under control. So despite the inevitable uglinesses that have occasionally raised their heads, “the existence of this surprisingly wide and deep well of social discipline is by far the most important thing that we’ve learned about Australians in the age of COVID”.
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Amanda Dunn
Section Editor: Politics + Society
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AAP/James Ross
Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
The federal government has had a patchy pandemic, to say the least. But COVID has also highlighted remarkable social discipline in the Australian people.
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We can learn from how the Howard Springs quarantine facility in the Northern Territory works when planning Victoria’s new hub.
Glenn Campbell/AAP Image
Philip Russo, Monash University; Brett Mitchell, University of Newcastle
We have the chance to build a world-class, dedicated quarantine facility. Here's how we could do it.
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Cardinal George Pell preparing to make a statement at the Vatican in 2017.
Gregoria Borgia/AP/AAP
Rick Sarre, University of South Australia
There is a clear legal reason why publications including The Age and news.com.au have copped hefty penalties.
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Luis Ascui/AAP
Adrian Esterman, University of South Australia
We've learnt two cases linked to Melbourne's COVID outbreak were in fact 'false positives'. Here's what that means, why it can happen, and how common it is.
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Shutterstock
Vanessa Bryant, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute; Alex Holmes, The University of Melbourne; Louis Irving, The University of Melbourne
While we don't know exactly what causes it yet, there are a few leading theories put forward by researchers around the world.
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Shutterstock
Gail Iles, RMIT University
Venus wouldn't attract much attention if it were outside our solar system. Its skies are filled with sulphuric acid, its land abounds with extinct volcanoes and its surface is mostly red hot lava.
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Education
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Jacqueline Ullman, Western Sydney University
A recent report shows alarming rates of homophobic language used in Australian schools. And worse, it shows that, at least from the perspective of students, teachers rarely intervene.
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Richard Colledge, Australian Catholic University
Many Australian students specialise before they've had a good general education. American undergraduates do get that, and perhaps Australia has gone too far down the path of early specialisation.
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Business + Economy
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Adam Triggs, Australian National University
Shared ownership means Australian industries are far more concentrated than traditional metrics suggest.
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Yogi Vidyattama, University of Canberra; John Hawkins, University of Canberra
Most of the budget's housing measures shuffle the queue, rather than increase the number of homes.
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Charles Livingstone, Monash University
Evidence to the Victorian Royal Commission into Crown's Melbourne casino shows the emptiness of 'responsible gambling' strategies.
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Environment + Energy
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Barry Hunter, Indigenous Knowledge; Alice Buhrich, James Cook University; Asa Ferrier, La Trobe University; Gerry Turpin, James Cook University; Patrick Roberts, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Australians should see the rainforest as a cultural landscape – one that has been managed and maintained by people, rather than just a relic unchanged since the dinosaurs.
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Ian Wright, Western Sydney University
Many flood-ravaged homes have not been repaired, while others are infested with mould. Farmers are dealing with financial stress and the memories of livestock killed in traumatic circumstances.
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Craig Stevens, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Louise Kregting, Queen's University Belfast; Vladislav Sorokin, University of Auckland
Ocean waves are a massive source of energy, but it's challenging to design power generators for the harsh environment. Allowing marine organisms to grow on engineered structures could help.
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Health + Medicine
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Rajib Dasgupta, Jawaharlal Nehru University
COVID treatment guidelines in India specify higher doses of steroids than other countries, which could be to blame for the rise in mucormycosis or "black fungus".
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Science + Technology
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Alice Clement, Flinders University
Tilly Edinger was the first person to apply a deep-time perspective into different species' brain evolution. She did this by focusing on the hollow space within a dead animal's skull.
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Kenny Travouillon, Western Australian Museum
Very few bilby and bandicoot fossils have ever been found. Four new discoveries help fill in the picture of how these elusive animals evolved.
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Arts + Culture
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John Willsteed, Queensland University of Technology
At the beginning of 2020, author John Willsteed had plans to revisit Barcelona's towering Gaudí cathedral. He's still planning and dreaming of its scale and detail.
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Joanna Mendelssohn, The University of Melbourne
In its centenary year, the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales could not resist the symbolism of awarding the Archibald Prize to Peter Werner’s portrait of the 100 year old Guy Warren.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
National Cabinet also agreed on a range of other measures, including making the vaccine available to all Australians aged 40-49.
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Emma Christopher, UNSW
Australia's use of Pacific Islander workers in the late 19th century was part of a much bigger story of British sugar barons and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher discuss the week in politics.
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Rodney Tiffen, University of Sydney
Journalists should be permitted to express themselves on social media. As this week illustrates, though, doing so can lead to a dilemma for their employers.
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Columnists
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Featured jobs
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Featured Events & Courses
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191 Boundary St, West End, Queensland, 4101, Australia — The Conversation
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Free webinar, Online, Victoria, 3000, Australia — Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
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Online, Workshop , Victoria, 3000 , Australia — Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
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