Category: The Conversation

It sounded a touch desperate – Prime Minister Scott Morrison imploring backpackers to “come on down” to Australia, as the Omicron crisis escalated. “Enjoy a holiday here”, said the one-time managing director of Tourism Australia, and “at the same time join our workforce and help us”. The backpacker flow

After decades of calls, a patchwork of treaty processes are being developed across Australia. However, without a history of treaty-making or treaty law in Australia, serious questions arise about the best approach. Getting treaties right is crucial for First Nations peoples’ well-being and for building a reflective, assured, and

Kirsty Wigglesworth/APBoris Johnson’s time as the United Kingdom’s prime minister is under immediate threat. Johnson, who likes a classical analogy, will know that civil servant Sue Grey’s imminent report into the “Partygate” scandal is the bureaucratic equivalent of the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Johnson

ShutterstockThere’s just over a week to go before term one starts across the country – except in Queensland which has pushed back the start of the school year. We are yet to see states and territory plans for how to open schools safely, and to minimise the inevitable

Public hospitals – never with much spare capacity – have been severely stressed by the latest COVID wave. The current Omicron outbreak has loaded even heavier demands on hospital beds, both for those who need oxygen and for the severely ill in intensive care wards, as well as those who

Last month, the Australian government published the Indigenous Voice co-design final report. It’s the latest step in the debate about how Australia should and shouldn’t recognise a distinctive Indigenous presence in public life. Some of the report’s recommendations, which the government accepts, will help policy-making to work better for Indigenous

Well, it’s official: 2021 was one of the planet’s seven hottest years since records began, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declared this week. The year was about 1.11℃ above pre-industrial levels – the seventh year in a row that the average global temperature rise edged over 1℃. The WMO report

Photo by John Lamparski/Getty ImagesEvery time we see a “fashion moment”, we use the words of André Leon Talley, from his description of Galliano’s 1994 Japonisme show. Talley, who died yesterday age 73, was a flamboyant, over-the-top figure from the fashion industry, inclined to snobbery and rather overbearing.

Tracey Nearmy/APMany Australians are probably unaware that neighbouring Indonesia has assumed the G20 presidency and will host the crucial meeting of the world’s largest economies for the first time in October. The theme for the summit in Bali will be “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”. We can all

ShutterstockFor billions of people across the world, life as we knew it stopped in 2020. Families and friends were separated. Masks mandated. Hand washing essential. Every trip outside became risky. As news of deaths, variants and long-term effects of COVID trickled in daily, we were forced to

With Australia’s official COVID-19 infection numbers topping 100,000 a day, the federal government has slashed its last remaining pandemic support payment. The decision is ill-timed, irresponsible and heartless. It is stripping away support for those most affected by the pandemic at the time they need it most. It will

In less than 24 hours the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will update the Doomsday Clock. It’s currently at 100 seconds from midnight – the metaphorical time when the human race could destroy the world with technologies of its own making. The hands have never before been this close to