Comment

Anthony Albanese’s burst of courage, changing his election campaign position of doing nothing on significant tax reform, has triggered more than the expected sound and fury. It is also proving a net positive for his government.

To borrow from Paul Keating, with respect: lately, all the parrots in the pet shop have been squawking about reform. Specifically, that the Albanese government will, or should, focus on further reform given the magnitude of its historic election win a year ago, and the challenging global and domestic circumstances that have evolved.

The Baby Boomer dominance is over and with it the Howard-Costello era that shaped policies to suit them. Albanese and Chalmers are drawing a line under that period ... Since the introduction of these more generous concessions, house prices have risen more than 400 per cent.

Over the six weeks leading up to May 9, GetUp spent $600,000 campaigning against One Nation in the Farrer byelection. Then we lost, badly.

A few days before Anzac Day, David Malouf died. Malouf was an elegant man of Australian letters. He wrote into the soft spaces. An Australian of Lebanese and British heritage, he peered into our soul with an outsider’s eye and a tender heart.

ANALYSIS: A High Court battle over trespass and covert filming at an abattoir will decide whether the footage belongs to the abattoir owners or the activists, in a copyright case that has implications for whistleblowers and press freedom.

I am anticipating this Tuesday’s budget particularly keenly, as the treasurer has flagged a “productivity package”, alongside tax and spending reforms, to improve the country’s long-term prosperity and budget position. It’s action that our economy sorely needs.

One has to feel for Chalmers. Not since the global financial crisis in 2008 has a budget’s framing been so difficult, so great is the energy price shock on the Australian and world economies. Could this end up being as bad as the GFC? Could it be even worse?

Australia’s capacity to secure an edge in technological innovation, and to capitalise on it, will be fundamental to our growth and competitiveness in an extraordinarily unpredictable and challenging future.

The range of contemporary missiles and drones has increased the amount of an enemy’s territory that a military must control if sailing through a strait is to be done without the risk of harm. Warships are not useful in this situation – it takes a large land force.