Turnbull dumps emissions legislation to stop rebels crossing the floor
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has done a backflip on his proposal to put the emission reduction target into legislation, in the face of rebel backbenchers threatening to cross the floor.The new plan...
What happened in the Bawa-Garba case and why was reinstating her the right decision?
UK's Dr Bawa-Garba had an otherwise good record as a doctor, before being found guilty of manslaughter. Screenshot, YouTubeA UK doctor’s medical registration has been reinstated after it was ini...
This is what policymakers can and can't do about low wage growth
Households feeling the pinch from frozen wages feeds into slower economic growth, and policymakers need to find a solution.Bacho/ShutterstockThis is longer than the usual Conversation article, so allo...
VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on the NEG showdown and a ray of parliamentary unity after Fraser Anning's racist speech
Michelle Grattan speaks with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini about the week in Australian politics. They discuss the next hurdles in legislating the National Energy Guarantee now tha...
Drought, wind and heat: when fire seasons start earlier and last longer
The New South Wales Rural Fire Service declared the earliest total fire bans in its history this week. The entire state was declared to be in drought on the same day. The combination of winter drought...
Aretha Franklin and her community opened their doors and their hearts to me
Listening to the world pouring out its heart today, mourning and celebrating Aretha’s remarkable life, I wonder just how much my words could possibly add anything of substance to all of this.Are...
The majority of people who see poaching in marine parks say nothing
Marine parks protect fragile ecosystems, like coral reefs.Justin RizzariWhat would you do if you saw someone breaking the law? Would you report the offender to the police? Confront them? Or would you ...
Choose This Day Who You Will Serve
In our current confrontation with Radical Islam the battle lines are portrayed as those between a secular society, us and a religious society, them. I reject this portrayal as a betrayal of the fai...
How to get away with fraud: the successful techniques of scamming
Fraudsters use specific social engineering tactics to gain the trust of their victims.ShutterstockIt is easy for those of us who have ignored emails from Nigerian princes or refused to transfer money ...
Ten habits of people who lose weight and keep it off
Before you go for seconds after your meal, have a glass of water and wait five minutes before checking in with your hunger again.from www.shutterstock.comMost people who diet will regain 50% of the lo...
Friday essay: where is the Great Australian Opera?
Peter Coleman-Wright and Merlyn Quaife during a dress rehearsal of Bliss in 2010: it is one of few important local operas over the past three decades to have been staged a second time.Tracey Nearmy/AA…
We're going to get a better detector: time for upgrades in the search for gravitational waves
An artist's depiction of a pair of neutron stars colliding.NASA/Swift/Dana BerryIt’s been a year since ripples in space-time from a colliding pair of dead stars tickled the gravitational wave de…
Vital Signs: Turkey shows the economic pain of global democratic backsliding
Vital Signs is a regular economic wrap from UNSW economics professor Richard Holden (@profholden). Vital Signs aims to contextualise weekly economic events and cut through the noise of the data affect…
Tokyo's heatwave suggests risky temperatures for the 2020 Olympics. Here's what the city can do
The Northern Hemisphere is currently suffering an unprecedented heatwave. In Japan, more than 100 people have died and tens of thousands more are in hospital due to heat-related illness. Tokyo, which …
Grattan on Friday: Malcolm Turnbull's NEG remains in snake-infested territory
Malcolm Turnbull had a party-room victory but a god-awful week, and it wasn’t because his approval plunged in Monday’s Newspoll. His energy policy is back in the mire, and Tony Abbott is b…
Australia has a long way to go on responsible gambling
At the beginning of August, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) released its sixth review into Crown Casino’s operations. The review made 20 recommendations, 11 o…
Marvel meets Mesopotamia: how modern comics preserve ancient myths
Gilgamesh (right) in his first appearance as an Avenger in the Marvel comic Avengers Vol 1 300Marvel DatabaseAncient Mesopotamia, the region roughly encompassing modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of S…
The royal commission should result not only in new regulation, but new education
The Financial Services Royal Commission has not only shown that banks and their representatives have behaved appallingly, but that we need better-educated consumers.It is naive not to expect new schem…
A recipe for mummy preservation existed 1,500 years before the Pharaohs
The Turin mummy was deliberately preserved, not just desiccated by dry, hot sands. R. Bianucci, Author providedAncient Egypt continues to throw up one fabulous surprise after another. Today my colleag…
Research suggests bigger banks are worse for customers
Yet again this week, the Hayne Royal Commission has brought disturbing news of misconduct toward customers of our largest financial institutions. This time super accounts have been plundered for the b…
Truth to power: my time translating Behrouz Boochani’s masterpiece
Behrouz Boochani photographed on Manus Island.Jason Garman/Amnesty International via AAPThe GM picks me up from the airport. I call him the GM because after the PNG Supreme Court ruled the Manus Islan…
Coming out at work is not a one-off event
It's a mistake to think of coming out as a once-off declaration: many LGBTIQ+ people have to come out to new colleagues and workplaces again, and again, and again.Nadia Snopek/ShutterstockFor many LGB…
We asked five experts: is it possible to catch up on sleep?
If you try to go too long without sleep, your body will just force it upon you. Stephen Oliver/UnsplashIt’s Friday and you’re clocking off, and after a few sleepless nights you want to tuc…
Aboriginal traditions describe the complex motions of planets, the 'wandering stars' of the sky
Venus shines bright in the sky above Victoria.Flickr/Indigo Skies Photography, CC BY-NC-NDAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story may contain images and voices of peo…
In the outrage over the Trump-Putin meeting, important questions were overlooked
The outrage over Trump's comments at the joint press conference meant an opportunity for meaningful debate about policy was lost.AAP/EPA/Anatoly MaltsevIn a now famous Fox News interview with Donald T…
Australia could house around 900,000 more migrants if we no longer let in tourists
International tourists use many of Australia's resources, including adding to fossil fuel consumption.from shutterstock.comMany who fear Australia’s population boom believe we should be cutting …
Size isn't everything when it comes to the proposed UniSA-University of Adelaide merger
Merging UniSA and the University of Adelaide could produce a number of benefits.Michael Coghlan/flickr, CC BY-SAThe proposed merger between the University of Adelaide and the University of South Austr…
View from The Hill: A ray of bipartisan good comes out of obscure senator's hate speech
Immigration has become one of the most divisive issues in Australian politics. It has created open fractures within government ranks and sparked dog whistling; it’s being exploited to nefarious …