The 2026 Australian federal Budget has triggered outrage from conservative commentators, who are branding it everything from a “Whitlam budget” to outright “Marxism”. But the reaction says more about the collapse of the bipartisan consensus on neoliberalism than it does about the Budget itself. After four decades of governments protecting
Treasurer Jim Chalmers had delivered his fifth budget – but the first for this term which commenced over a year ago – and it’s a mixed but ideologically revealing budget: it contains some redistributive reforms, especially on housing tax concessions, but it also preserves the deeper neoliberal framework that has
On Tuesday night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver what is being regarded as one of the most important federal Budgets in many years, promising action on housing affordability, productivity, cost-of-living pressures and long-awaited tax reform.Of course, we’ll have to wait to see whether this will be the case or not,
This week’s briefing outlines the big issues to look out for: Labor’s defining Budget test over tax reform, housing affordability, gas exports and cost-of-living pressures, as the Albanese government faces growing demands for economic change while navigating the rise of One Nation, deepening tensions with China and mounting questions about
In this episode of the New Politics podcast, we examine the interim findings of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion following the devastating Bondi Beach attack that killed 15 people and injured more than 40 others. While the Commission’s initial recommendations on gun control, policing resources and intelligence
The interim findings of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion have been released with a certain level of caution, containing a series of recommendations that, on the surface at least, appear to be largely uncontroversial – mainly relating to gun control measures and increased resources for policing. Yet
The conflict now expanding across Iran and Lebanon – and forced on by Israel and the United States – is no longer a short-term regional crisis; it’s placing a great deal of pressure on the global order that countries like Australia have depended on for many decades. What began as
This week’s briefing outlines the big issues to look out for: the truths being withheld in the antisemitism inquiry… a US strategy unravelling in the Middle East… a federal Budget shaped by fear rather than reform… and a Liberal Party victory that masks the deepening fractures on the right.The interim
In this episode, we explore the latest incident involving Donald Trump, framed as an assassination attempt but unfolding in a political environment where truth itself has been eroded beyond recognition. As conspiracy theories mix in with official narratives, we examine how years of attacks on “fake news,” media manipulation and
This week, we examine how Anzac Day in Australia has become the latest battleground in an escalating culture war, with scenes of booing at Dawn Services during Welcome to Country ceremonies, and the increasing influence of right-wing political groups such as Advance Australia and Fight for Australia. What was once
What began as peaceful protest in Brisbane – the usual placards, people calling for an end to the war in Gaza and justice for Palestinians – has been transformed into a test case for the limits of political expression in Australia. This demonstration descended into a confrontation with police, not
The debate over taxing Australia’s gas exports has returned with the same predictably and, of course, the same paralysis. At Senate Estimates last week, the question of a 25 per cent export tax on liquefied natural gas was the centre of attention again, not as some radical leftist idea but
The 2026 Australian federal Budget has triggered outrage from conservative commentators, who are branding it everything from a “Whitlam budget” to outright “Marxism”. But the reaction says more about the collapse of the bipartisan consensus on neoliberalism than it does about the Budget itself. After four decades of governments protecting
Treasurer Jim Chalmers had delivered his fifth budget – but the first for this term which commenced over a year ago – and it’s a mixed but ideologically revealing budget: it contains some redistributive reforms, especially on housing tax concessions, but it also preserves the deeper neoliberal framework that has
On Tuesday night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver what is being regarded as one of the most important federal Budgets in many years, promising action on housing affordability, productivity, cost-of-living pressures and long-awaited tax reform.Of course, we’ll have to wait to see whether this will be the case or not,
This week’s briefing outlines the big issues to look out for: Labor’s defining Budget test over tax reform, housing affordability, gas exports and cost-of-living pressures, as the Albanese government faces growing demands for economic change while navigating the rise of One Nation, deepening tensions with China and mounting questions about
In this episode of the New Politics podcast, we examine the interim findings of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion following the devastating Bondi Beach attack that killed 15 people and injured more than 40 others. While the Commission’s initial recommendations on gun control, policing resources and intelligence
The interim findings of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion have been released with a certain level of caution, containing a series of recommendations that, on the surface at least, appear to be largely uncontroversial – mainly relating to gun control measures and increased resources for policing. Yet
The conflict now expanding across Iran and Lebanon – and forced on by Israel and the United States – is no longer a short-term regional crisis; it’s placing a great deal of pressure on the global order that countries like Australia have depended on for many decades. What began as
This week’s briefing outlines the big issues to look out for: the truths being withheld in the antisemitism inquiry… a US strategy unravelling in the Middle East… a federal Budget shaped by fear rather than reform… and a Liberal Party victory that masks the deepening fractures on the right.The interim
In this episode, we explore the latest incident involving Donald Trump, framed as an assassination attempt but unfolding in a political environment where truth itself has been eroded beyond recognition. As conspiracy theories mix in with official narratives, we examine how years of attacks on “fake news,” media manipulation and
This week, we examine how Anzac Day in Australia has become the latest battleground in an escalating culture war, with scenes of booing at Dawn Services during Welcome to Country ceremonies, and the increasing influence of right-wing political groups such as Advance Australia and Fight for Australia. What was once
What began as peaceful protest in Brisbane – the usual placards, people calling for an end to the war in Gaza and justice for Palestinians – has been transformed into a test case for the limits of political expression in Australia. This demonstration descended into a confrontation with police, not
The debate over taxing Australia’s gas exports has returned with the same predictably and, of course, the same paralysis. At Senate Estimates last week, the question of a 25 per cent export tax on liquefied natural gas was the centre of attention again, not as some radical leftist idea but
