Comment

ANALYSIS: “We need better local gas pricing For Australia, that means doing something hitherto unthought of: telling multinationals that the cost of doing business here is to provide better prices for Australians. These firms can then make up the difference through their export price.”

The man who sets Australia’s defence policy is an alcoholic former Fox News commentator who is known for his gross financial mismanagement and on at least one occasion paid a settlement to a woman he was accused of raping.

Before reflecting on the peaks and troughs of Australian politics in this tumultuous year, I want to emphasise the significantly more challenging environment, both globally and domestically.

My 17-year career at State Library Victoria ended two years ago, after months of white-anting by management and the most miserable time of my working life.

I have worked tirelessly to change the system ... through formal channels, advocacy and collaboration. As each attempt hits a wall, I am forced to ask myself: How much more harassment can I endure just to earn a degree?

ANALYSIS: “We need better local gas pricing For Australia, that means doing something hitherto unthought of: telling multinationals that the cost of doing business here is to provide better prices for Australians. These firms can then make up the difference through their export price.”

About once a decade, travel expenses and politicians’ access to entitlements crash their way into the headlines, usually to the discomfort of a government as the opposition ratchets up pressure for a ministerial scalp.

Bruce Lehrmann is a liar. For years now, he has lied about the night he raped Brittany Higgins. He has made a small industry from this lie. He has sold it to television networks, in exchange for cocaine and sex. He has laundered it in the Murdoch press, where he has been invited to mock his victim and her husband.

I make it a rule to try to look beyond orthodoxy, to eschew certainty. In my experience, certainty is for fascists and fools. Even that which I hold dear and true, such as my faith, I enrich with doubt and struggle. I believe a questioning, open mind nourishes a beautiful soul.

A new word has recently been added to Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary, which means it can be used officially in our lexicon – even by the ABC. ‘Enshittification’ is self-explanatory. Coined to describe the modus operandi of the high-tech IT sector, the word certainly also applies to Australia’s current national security policies.