Around 56 million years ago, Earth suddenly got much hotter. Over about 5,000 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere drastically increased and global temperatures shot up by some 6°C. As we show in new research published in Nature Communications, one consequence was that many of the world’s plants
Recent outcomes on poverty alleviation raise concerns about the merit of Australia’s peak welfare body. read now...
Trust is quite important in the latest State of the Service report from the Australian Public Service Commission. In commissioner Gordon de Brouwer’s report message, he argues that “Australia is performing above the OECD average on key composite measures including trust, prosperity, and satisfaction with public services”. In contrast,
Commonwealth departments and agencies have started telling taxpayers how well they are cutting back on consulting services, with some reporting they failed to meet self-imposed targets. The strategic commissioning framework is designed to encourage bureaucrats to slash how much they spend on external consultants, given Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ and Finance
As David Graeber notes in The Utopia of Rules, the term bureaucrat has become a synonym for a ‘civil servant’. During a press conference in 1986, Ronald Reagan expressed a common concern about government bureaucracy: “I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the
You could call it a case of the electronic eyes have it. The Minns government has committed to ensuring its next big toll road, the Western Harbour Tunnel, is free of the 1990s-vintage e-tag technology. You know — the unreliable adhesive transferable radio transponders that ping toll gates as drivers
Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon were wed on Saturday as fresh data exposes the severity of Australia's housing affordability crisis, and the teen social media ban is just nine days
Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au. Monday December 1 Rural healthcare “I worked in healthcare in Central West NSW from 1980 to 2016. During the earlier decades, there was a strong network
Australia has finished its first official Submarine Maintenance Period on a US nuclear-powered submarine. Navy personnel and Australian Submarine Corporation staff worked with US crews to complete more than 160 tasks on USS Vermont (SSN 792). ASC has revealed that Vermont, a Virginia class fast-attack submarine, spent around four weeks
An electric vehicle milestone has been reached in NSW, with the government revealing more than 100,000 cars have been registered in the state. In 2025, NSW EVs accounted for 8.6% of new light vehicle sales, representing a significant increase from sales numbers five years prior (0.7%). The NSW government has
Australia is getting its first independent national environmental regulator following the passing of Labor’s environment protection reform bills. The suite of bills, which passed last Thursday after the government was able to secure a last-minute deal with the Greens, will see the establishment of a National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA)
Jonathan Raa/Getty ImagesThe first Asian yellow-legged hornets observed in Auckland in winter were two old and slow males. Many people were concerned and worried. Now, at the end of spring, what we’ve seen is a potential nightmare. Over recent weeks, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) response team has discovered
Around 56 million years ago, Earth suddenly got much hotter. Over about 5,000 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere drastically increased and global temperatures shot up by some 6°C. As we show in new research published in Nature Communications, one consequence was that many of the world’s plants
Recent outcomes on poverty alleviation raise concerns about the merit of Australia’s peak welfare body. read now...
Trust is quite important in the latest State of the Service report from the Australian Public Service Commission. In commissioner Gordon de Brouwer’s report message, he argues that “Australia is performing above the OECD average on key composite measures including trust, prosperity, and satisfaction with public services”. In contrast,
Commonwealth departments and agencies have started telling taxpayers how well they are cutting back on consulting services, with some reporting they failed to meet self-imposed targets. The strategic commissioning framework is designed to encourage bureaucrats to slash how much they spend on external consultants, given Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ and Finance
As David Graeber notes in The Utopia of Rules, the term bureaucrat has become a synonym for a ‘civil servant’. During a press conference in 1986, Ronald Reagan expressed a common concern about government bureaucracy: “I think you all know that I’ve always felt the nine most terrifying words in the
You could call it a case of the electronic eyes have it. The Minns government has committed to ensuring its next big toll road, the Western Harbour Tunnel, is free of the 1990s-vintage e-tag technology. You know — the unreliable adhesive transferable radio transponders that ping toll gates as drivers
Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon were wed on Saturday as fresh data exposes the severity of Australia's housing affordability crisis, and the teen social media ban is just nine days
Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au. Monday December 1 Rural healthcare “I worked in healthcare in Central West NSW from 1980 to 2016. During the earlier decades, there was a strong network
Australia has finished its first official Submarine Maintenance Period on a US nuclear-powered submarine. Navy personnel and Australian Submarine Corporation staff worked with US crews to complete more than 160 tasks on USS Vermont (SSN 792). ASC has revealed that Vermont, a Virginia class fast-attack submarine, spent around four weeks
An electric vehicle milestone has been reached in NSW, with the government revealing more than 100,000 cars have been registered in the state. In 2025, NSW EVs accounted for 8.6% of new light vehicle sales, representing a significant increase from sales numbers five years prior (0.7%). The NSW government has
Australia is getting its first independent national environmental regulator following the passing of Labor’s environment protection reform bills. The suite of bills, which passed last Thursday after the government was able to secure a last-minute deal with the Greens, will see the establishment of a National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA)
Jonathan Raa/Getty ImagesThe first Asian yellow-legged hornets observed in Auckland in winter were two old and slow males. Many people were concerned and worried. Now, at the end of spring, what we’ve seen is a potential nightmare. Over recent weeks, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) response team has discovered