Comment

I recently watched a television special marking the 25th anniversary of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. I felt not merely transported in time but taken to an entirely other universe.

I am furious. Angry, certainly, about the federal government’s proposed freedom of information laws, which mock the very idea of transparency, but seething especially about the justification for them, a continuation of the rhetorical trickery that allows grotesque and nasty policy like robodebt to be born and survive inquiry.

Not for a very long time has a single meeting between a prime minister and an American president been such a pivotal event for a government and its opponents.

Effective leadership is much more nuanced than just the strength and charisma of the individual appointed to lead. It has as much to do with their capacity to build and inspire a unified team to deal with the tasks and challenges at hand.

Late last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used a speech at the British Labour Party’s yearly conference to define himself as a defender of ‘democracy itself’. He placed himself in this category alongside his ‘mate’, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Soon after Labor’s thumping election win, Jim Chalmers was assuring doubters he would not be ‘changing policies we took to the election’. Within three months, however, that determination was undercut by Anthony Albanese quietly telling the treasurer to come up with a more saleable prescription on superannuation reforms.

Of all the things Scott Morrison does not understand, and the list is long and often embarrassing, somewhat in the shape of his prime ministership, China would rate very close to the top.

What is the most significant news story of the past couple of weeks? Trump’s Gaza deal? The attack on a British synagogue? Closer to home, is it Andrew Hastie’s political manoeuvrings? … Certainly, those stories have made the headlines. Tucked away in one newspaper, though, was a story that may define the future of humanity. This story will eventually touch every one of us, wherever we live, whatever our faith or culture.

If our super system were a country, it would be the eighth largest economy ... it has also contributed to more democratic control of capital and a more even spread of wealth than in most places on Earth.

The chair of the recent Senate inquiry into the quality of governance at Australia’s universities, Tony Sheldon, can describe the situation in a single word: rotten. While not employing the same colourful language, the Senate’s interim report, recently released, is no less damning.