Warning ‘dire combination’ poses regional food crunch
Choked fertiliser supply chains teamed with an El Nino event could trigger food shortages and instability in the Indo-Pacific region, former national security leaders are warning. The Australian Security Leaders…
Aussies face ‘poverty premiums’ on insurance payments
Some Australians are being charged a “poverty premium” by insurers because they can’t afford to make annual payments on policies. Industry group Financial Counselling Australia and the Financial Rights Legal…
Housing costs crisis needs ‘decades’ of falling prices
Australia’s housing downturn might need to continue for a generation if home ownership is to become affordable again. Home prices fell 0.4 per cent nationwide in June after a 0.3…
Rocky year in shares as miners dig market out of a hole
Australia’s stock market has lagged well behind its global peers during the past year, with two sectors racking up heavy losses. Overall, the local bourse ended the 12 months to…
NDIS price caps. The ceiling became the flaw
The NDIS was meant to create competition to keep disability service prices low. Instead, most service providers charge the maximum allowed. Claudia Weisenberger reports. The majority of NDIS providers who…
Mining town denied Coles store as watchdog tests powers
Supermarket giant Coles has been blocked from setting up a new store in a regional mining town in an unprecedented move to protect local competitors. Australia’s second-largest supermarket chain has…
Robert Pether stuck in Iraq. UN experts on torture voice concern
Robert Pether, the Australian engineer jailed for five years on trumped-up charges, remains in Iraq facing life-threatening illness, unable to leave for treatment. A group of UN experts on cruel…
A generational shift is transforming the US-Israel relationship | Kenneth Roth
The Iran war has accelerated the fraying of ties. An end to unconditional US support would force a reckoning with reality A generational shift is under way in the relationship…
Only a royal commission can get to the bottom of mounting claims of misconduct on Victoria’s Big Build | Deborah Glass
Premier Jacinta Allan blames inflation, not corruption, for the rising cost and says existing agencies have the matter in hand. But do they? Follow our Australia news live blog for…
I’ve worked closely with both Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer. A single quality separates them | Nazir Afzal
Personable warmth is something that mistrustful voters sorely need, and Burnham has it. But he’ll also need a little of what Starmer has to succeed in No 10 Keir Starmer…