Month: October 2026

Tyrants and demagogues love sports and the governing bodies that preside over them. Despite strictures, injunctions and warnings about dealing with unsavoury regimes, a sporting body or organisation can always be relied on to ignore […]

RMIT University Media Release The Australian government’s proposed digital duty of care is an important step towards tackling online harms against women and girls, but there is a risk that platforms could over-censor legitimate information. […]

By Charles Livingstone and Jenn Lacy-Nicholl Gambling businesses in Australia have a long history of effectively influencing and controlling government policy and regulation over a national pastime that makes the nation the world’s biggest gamblers […]

Chapter 9: The Lens That Cannot See – What the Algorithmic Gaze Shows and What It Hides Continued from Chapter 8 9.1 The Question Across the preceding chapters, a consistent pattern has emerged. Robodebt, the […]

By Denis Hay   Description Scams and misinformation in Australia: what is illegal, what slips through, and how to check emails, texts and YouTube claims. I receive suspicious emails and text messages that appear designed to […]

By Christina Watts With the rise in illicit tobacco sales in Australia, tobacco control policy has become a headline issue. But while the debate over tobacco taxation has dominated public discussion in recent times, Big […]

By Graeme Orr   Mining magnate Gina Rinehart and close associates have reportedly gifted over A$3 million to the One Nation Party in the last financial year. In cash and even an entire aircraft. ‘Reportedly’, […]

By Gabriele Gratton Running political parties and election campaigns costs money. Lots of it. In 2024–25, Australian political parties took in approximately A$490 million. Of this, around A$347 million came from private and other non-government […]

UNSW Sydney Media Release Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Tax at the School of Accounting, Auditing & Taxation, UNSW Business says: Some objectivity re taxation of discretionary trusts would be welcome in debate Both major […]

Taunting the Bullies: Navi Pillay‘s Nobel Peace Prize win The Nobel Peace Prize is an institution long stuffed with straw. Established by the inventor of dynamite Alfred Nobel, its very creation suggested less contrition than […]

The Political Bird Bath: An Essay on “Shared Values” and the Language That Buries Truth A Sarcastic Enquiry Addressed to the Third-Party Reader The essay is written for a third-party reader who may or may […]

Chapter 8: The Proxy Model Domesticated – How the State Uses Providers to Mediate Its Relationship with Citizens Continued from Chapter 7 8.1 The Shift from Provider to Purchaser The state did not always deliver […]

Three weeks before Americans go to the polls, the midterm elections are beginning to take shape. Early voting is under way in some states, campaign spending is intensifying, and a growing number of competitive races […]