Democracy and Economy

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Rules-based order collapse: Australia’s chance for independence

Dr Albert Palazzo The present international crisis presents Australia with an opportunity to seek an independent path in the world that will also make the nation more secure in an increasingly tumultuous world, writes Dr Albert Palazzo.
Hope is not a plan. Australia faces a fuel crisis of its own making.

Albert Palazzo Had a series of governments in Australia met their fuel reserve obligations and implemented steps to better isolate us from global disruptions, our situation would not be so dire.
How can our democracy be strengthened?

Australia and the world currently face enormous environmental, peace and human security challenges. Democracy is necessary for security within Australia and also in order to play a positive role for peace internationally. We must ensure that our humanity and system of governance are strong enough to face these challenges and that we do not fall…
Long COVID cost the Australian economy almost $10 billion in 2022 – new research

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 10–20% of people suffer from long COVID after they recover from the initial COVID infection. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and “brain fog”, but more than 200 different symptoms have been linked to long COVID. The condition affects daily functioning and can be debilitating. Our research, published…
Promoting Accountable Government

Whistleblowing is one of the most effective ways to detect and prevent corruption and other malpractice. Whistleblowers’ disclosures have exposed wrongdoing and fraud, helped save millions in public funds, avoid disasters for health, the environment. Whistleblower’s important role in safe guarding the public good is repeatedly proved by the scandals they uncover, such as industry-scale…
The era of privatisation is nearly over. But cleaning up the mess left behind will take years.

The failure of the National Electricity Market, premised on the idea of competition between private companies, has led state and federal governments to re-enter the business of electricity generation, storage and transmission. The disastrous experiment with private prisons in NSW is being unwound.
There are alternatives to Anglo-American capitalism, however unlikely they may sound

The Club of Rome may have been a bit premature with their famous claims about the “limits to growth“, but that doesn’t mean they were wrong. What’s 50 years in the life of a planet, after all?