Latest
Minister backs carbon capture, days after Labor downgraded it
Capturing carbon and storing it is a “key mechanism” in the fight against climate change, Resources Minister Madeleine King says.
- 34 mins ago
- Jacob Greber
- Exclusive
- University
‘No political plaything’: Labor to end research grant veto
Changes to the Australian Research Council will ensure government ministers cannot veto grants at whim.
- 34 mins ago
- Julie Hare
- Exclusive
- Productivity
Beware of ‘picking winners’ about to plummet, PC boss warns
Michael Brennan has warned the government not to succumb to the allure of industry policy targeting high-profile emerging sectors where prices are set to plummet.
- 34 mins ago
- Ronald Mizen and Michael Read
Health review calls for COVID inquiry before memory is lost
A high-level review of the Commonwealth health department has called for a major review of the national pandemic response in the next 12 months.
- Tom Burton
Pharmacy Guild bends ears at Labor national conference
Guild president Trent Twomey was a familiar sight in Brisbane as he vigorously pressed his case with decision-makers.
- Myriam Robin
- Exclusive
- Carbon challenge
Victoria’s quiet new curveball to Japan on hydrogen
The Victorian government has thrown up an additional planning barrier to major hydrogen projects, as the Japanese backers of a $3 billion project raise concerns about the controversial project going ahead.
- Patrick Durkin
Opinion & Analysis
If nuclear power stacks up overseas, why wouldn’t it in Australia?
Canada, the US, UK and Japan are incorporating small modular reactors into net zero energy transitions, so that nuclear power can back up intermittent renewables.
Editorial
University funding plan is a game-changing own goal
Forcing higher education to tax itself to fund Australia’s advanced research is a nonsensical non-starter of an idea.
Higher education leader
How to stop Biden hurting our renewable industries
The Future Fund helps Australia to match the distorting largesse now being handed out by the Biden administration.
Former Labor minister and economist
Coal power stations could have new lives with gas
Converting Australia’s coal-fired electricity plants to gas would make more sense than trying to keep them going, and could help Australia’s faltering energy transition.
Indigenous advocate
Yesterday
- Opinion
- The AFR View
If nuclear power stacks up overseas, why wouldn’t it in Australia?
Canada, the US, UK and Japan are incorporating small modular reactors into net zero energy transitions, so that nuclear power can back up intermittent renewables.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- University
University funding plan is a game-changing own goal
Forcing higher education to tax itself to fund Australia’s advanced research is a nonsensical non-starter of an idea.
- Vicki Thomson
- Opinion
- Climate policy
How to stop Biden hurting our renewable industries
The Future Fund helps Australia to match the distorting largesse now being handed out by the Biden administration.
- Craig Emerson
- Opinion
- Energy transition
Coal power stations could have new lives with gas
Converting Australia’s coal-fired electricity plants to gas would make more sense than trying to keep them going, and could help Australia’s faltering energy transition.
- Nyunggai Warren Mundine
Strong practical help for firms hit by cyberattack
Firms and public agencies hit by cyberattacks are being promised a quick, compassionate and discreet response, aimed at minimising harms, says cyber defence leader, Abigail Bradshaw
- Tom Burton
Deterrence is Australia’s best defence: Conroy
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says defence contractors and his department need to take more risks as the nation confronts a deteriorating strategic environment.
- Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Defence
Defence needs to harness the power of private capital
Defence’s next campaign should be making national security an attractive asset class for investors.
- Hayley Channer
This Month
Fix education and training to boost productivity: BCA
Australia’s education system is a major drag on productivity, says the BCA, but it doesn’t need to be.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Best help for clean industries is getting the basics right
Australia cannot come close to matching the massive US climate subsidies. The response should be to remove self-imposed handbrakes on productivity, investment, and global competitiveness.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Australian economy
BCA calls for smarter choices, urgent action
The council warns that Australia can’t just rely on continued good luck to create economic success in a new global era of decarbonisation, protectionism and extreme national competition. That requires hard, smart choices for what we do best.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Australia must diversify its economy and lead on decarbonisation
Global industry policy is being reshaped, led by the US investment in the energy transition. The National Reconstruction Fund should play an important role here.
- Tim Reed
The P-word: The single biggest issue holding Australia back
Jim Chalmers will cite 2020 topping off the worst decade for productivity in 60 years and zero growth in the years since as the key economic issue to be tackled.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Foreign relations
Camp David summit unties one of Asia’s hardest knots
Joe Biden has pulled off what American presidents have been seeking for the past seven decades: a rapprochement between Seoul and Tokyo.
- Updated
- James Curran
- Defence
- ALP
AUKUS embedded without true defence of policy
Labor has its political fix on national security. But what has been deferred once more is a fully developed explanation of the policy in real defence and strategic terms.
- James Curran
The data that signals ‘students’ are coming for work, not uni
Universities are bleeding money as thousands of international students enrol in dodgy colleges as a means of accessing paid work.
- Julie Hare
- Opinion
- University
Beware the big unis’ push for two-tiered research system
The “hub and spoke” research model proposed by Australia’s richest universities ignores mid-sized institutions’ profound influence on advancing knowledge.
- Karen Hapgood
Jason Clare’s big university targets ‘totally unrealistic’
The idea that 55 per cent of young people will have a degree by 2035 is not just unrealistic, but fails to ask students what they want.
- Julie Hare
Building a nuclear workforce will take time
Not everyone will need to be a nuclear scientist. But Australia will need a lot more engineers.
- Updated
- Gregor Ferguson
China’s fresh property mess, and nine more opinion reads from this week
From Australia’s most pressing foreign policy dilemma to China’s fresh mess, and what Chanticleer columnists learnt from earnings.
How a $4.6b fraud wave unfolded, and nine other great reads for the weekend
Welcome to the weekend. To start off your day, we’ve curated 10 great reads to enjoy.
