Commentary After a year of ongoing energy crises—both global and local—nothing should surprise the industry anymore. Nevertheless, when Premier Daniel Andrews announced a re-nationalisation policy for Victoria on Oct. 20 it caught many people off-guard. If they win the next election, the Victorian Labor party—currently governing Australia’s second most-populous state—will be reviving the State Electricity…

Commentary Following the 1987 Australian federal election, then Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed senior party figure and powerbroker Senator Graham Richardson as minister for the environment. At that time, the Hawke Government sought to claim the “green agenda” against the perceived growing influence of the Greens in Australian politics. Richardson’s period as environment minister was…

Commentary To say that the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia (blue is the party’s official colour) is in crisis is to make a pitch for understatement of the year. However, it is true. There are elections coming up in the two most populous states. The Liberals in Victoria face further electoral oblivion in November and…

Commentary It looks like nuclear energy may be back on the table in Australia, again. A nuclear technology ban has been in place in Australia since 1998, which prevents the building of nuclear reactors for power generation. The Liberal Party (Australia’s centre-right party, currently in opposition) has announced they are considering it in the energy…

Commentary A scathing joint report into the activities of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Victoria by that state’s Ombudsman and Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), released on July 20, found a “catalogue of unethical and inappropriate behaviour and concerning practices” inside the party. As far as they affected public office and public funds, the…

Commentary The Australian Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) recent decision to increase the federal minimum wage by 5.2 percent and 4.6 percent for award minimum wages was higher than most expected. Usually, the FWC strikes a balancing act between the demands of unions and employer groups. But this year, there can be no doubt the commission…

Victoria’s ministerial newcomers will be sworn in at Government House after being unveiled on the weekend as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Premier Daniel Andrews unveiled a new-look frontbench on Saturday and crowned a new deputy premier as the government gears up for the November state election. Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan is James Merlino’s…

Commentary Voice. Treaty. Truth. These are the words used to describe the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) main policy for Indigenous Australians. Now that the ALP has claimed power in Canberra after nine years in opposition, it is time to consider what these words mean genuinely. The Labor party policy platform notes a constitutionally enshrined Voice…

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he wants to see Labor have two terms in government and is calling for the party to be disciplined to ensure it can “entrench” major reforms. In an address to the Labor Party Caucus, Albanese said the centre-left party needed six years to really lock in major programs…

Commentary The 2022 election saw both Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese play the same game—cling to the political centre and attack each other’s personalities rather than their policies. This meant there was little differentiation between the parties for voters to choose from. Soon after, the results came in, with voters rejecting bland, centre-ground politics, which…