Comment

A win for One Nation would give the party a significant boost, helping to build on its already considerable momentum ... Barnaby Joyce would have a companion in the chamber, serving notice to the Coalition and Labor that the threat One Nation poses is no longer so remote.

Australia cannot hold the weight of our diversity and claims for equality if there is not both a consensus and a commitment to what being Australian means. That is the first question we must ask ourselves: Who are we?

A lot of comparisons have been made with the 1979 oil price shock in recent weeks. The difference is that, in 1979, Australians had no choice but to absorb the shock. This time, many who can are quietly plotting their exit from petrol and diesel.

There is a view in the engine room of the federal government that the real leader of the opposition at the moment is not Angus Taylor but United States President Donald Trump. No one has done more to put Anthony Albanese’s government on tenterhooks than the mercurial incumbent at the White House.

Australia needs a mature, balanced debate on immigration and it needs it as an urgent priority. Unfortunately, it is a policy area too easily abused by political opportunism, misinformation and emotion. Recent public discourse has been riddled with exaggerated statements seeking to create fear and alarm.

There is a pattern in history that keeps repeating. It is that every meaningful stride towards equality has always been met with a coordinated backlash and a corresponding retreat into grievance and contempt. The same pattern of backlash is happening to the feminist movement and to its vision to advance gender equality.

Australia has long been regarded as a successful multicultural society, integrating people from many different social and cultural backgrounds. Now, however, the sense of shared community that underpins this success is showing signs of strain. Racism and cultural intolerance have re-emerged as pressing social concerns.

It’s a timely visit for Mark Carney in Canberra, where the Canadian prime minister had fresh evidence for his contention that the old-world order is not coming back. Anthony Albanese agrees with his counterpart’s view that middle powers like ours need to actively pursue complementary strategies to advance their security and prosperity.

In some respects, Albanese was already ahead of his Canadian counterpart’s wake-up call ... What remains now is to clearly establish a productive working relationship with Carney, to develop effective middle power coalitions.

This week, the full bench of the High Court heard a challenge to Victoria’s changes to its campaign financing laws, brought by a pair of independent candidates. It is not the only case in the works.