How the fast-track law could expose future NZ governments to expensive trade disputes
Getty ImagesResources Minister Shane Jones has reportedly asked officials for advice on whether oil and gas companies could be offered “bonds” as compensation if drilling rights offered by the present government were extinguished by any future administration.Such a move would...
Crisis of faith: why Australian women have so little trust in religious institutions
ShutterstockThe Albanese government is weighing up the costs of delivering an election promise to protect religious people from discrimination in Commonwealth law. Such protections were relatively uncontroversial when included in state anti-discrimination laws. However, the religious discrimination debate became toxic...
Terminal lucidity: why do loved ones with dementia sometimes ‘come back’ before death?
Pexels/Andrea PiacquadioDementia is often described as “the long goodbye”. Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the qualities that make someone “them”. Dementia eventually takes away the person’s ability to communicate...
Australian artists only earn $23,200 a year from their art – and are key financial investors in keeping the industry afloat
Arts companies and individual artists in Australia are supported by government arts agencies, philanthropists, industry bodies, private donors and patrons. However, it is frequently overlooked that a major source of support for the arts in this country comes from...
Exploitation, brutality and misery: how the opium trade shaped the modern world
Opium poppy heads.Daniel Prudek/Shutterstock.In the final pages of Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories, Amitav Ghosh volunteers a startling confession. Though he had spent many years working on the book and had “accumulated an enormous amount of material”, he decided...
This group rid one Australian river of its privet problem – and strengthened community along the way
Lekali Studio/ShutterstockPrivet is a popular garden hedge. It grows quickly and responds well to being pruned. But in natural areas, privet is a problem. Like 72% of weeds in Australia, privet escaped from our gardens. Now it wreaks havoc on...
Making merry: how we brought Melbourne’s Merri Creek back from pollution, neglect and weeds
Adam Calaitzis/ShutterstockI met with a friend for a walk beside Merri Creek, in inner Melbourne. She had lived in the area for a few years, and as we walked beside the creek, past trees, native grasses, a small wetland echoing...
QANTAS has finally settled its ‘ghost flights’ lawsuit for $120 million. What’s next?
Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets for domestic and international flights that had already been cancelled. On Monday, both parties reached...
Can I take your order – and your data? The hidden reason retailers are replacing staff with AI bots
Linus Zoll / Google DeepMind / UnsplashYou might have seen viral videos of Wendy’s drive-thru customers in the United States ordering their fast food from the firm’s generative AI bot Wendy’s FreshAI. Most show a very human-like transaction punctuated with...
The steamiest movie of the year has almost no sex in it. How did Challengers do it?
Metro Goldwyn Mayer PicturesAt the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), and her dual (and duelling) admirers. Art...