Asylum seekers continue to suffer because of poll-driven policies and their fate remains an enormous political problem for Australia. John Menadue, of the Centre for Policy Development, adds up how expensive trampling on human rights really is.
May, 2011
Video of the Day: Backstage with Swannie’s kids
Watch a different perspective on budget preparation — from Wayne Swan’s “very proud” kids who star in and film this family-oriented nano doco.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Dominique Strauss-Khan
Crikey reads have their say.
Morning Market Report: Markets rebound, commodity prices up
The FOMC minutes leant themselves to US economic recovery and helped commodity prices rebound.
Daily Proposition: see the scariest Aussie flick ever made
Snowtown isn’t just a brilliant piece of blood-curdling cinema, says Luke Buckmaster, or just one of the best local features of this or any year. It’s the most frightening Aussie flick ever made.
Political snippets: Get ready to spend twice as much
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development is predicting that Australia expenditure on long-term care (LTC) for the elderly as a share of GDP is expected to at least double, and could even triple, by 2050.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Left rallies in Queensland ALP. After weeks of speculation the internal dramas in the Queensland Left faction of the ALP appear to be coming to a head. Former assistant ALP state secretary Terry Wood has nominated against current incumbent Jackie Trad in a ballot for who will get the Left’s top job at party HQ. […]
Crikey Says: Crikey says: Turnbull, Libs feeling the cold
It’s the political parlour game equivalent of Where’s Wally? Where’s Malcolm?
How do you halve emissions by 2025? Look to the UK…
The United Kingdom is set to become a world leader on clean energy and climate policy, after announcing an ambitious plan to halve carbon emissions by 2025, reports Amber Jamieson.
How the government can get serious about cutting PBS spending
The cost of the PBS must be sustainable but there is a difference between saving money and ensuring cost-effectiveness. The treatment of macular degeneration provides a compelling example, writes Ken Harvey, Richard Day, Willie Campbell, and Wendy Lipworth.
PHOTO GALLERY 
Colour photographs of the great depression
Rare colour photographs of The Great Depression, owned by the US Library of Congress, have surfaced online in a beautiful collection published by Mail Online.
Aaron Sorkin on print media and web-based journalism
West Wing scribe and Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin divulges his media diet to The Atlantic Wire and shares his concerns about the “glamorization of inexperience” that come with web-based journalism.
Jury to hear from Strauss-Kahn’s alleged victim
The 32-year-old women at the heart of the Strauss-Kahn sex controversy is expected to testify to a grand jury prior to Friday, when the jurors will announce whether a case will be brought against him, reports Dominic Rushe.
Jericho: Hockey’s budget reply address was an embarrassment
Joe Hockey’s budget reply address was a ludicrous quasi economic lecture capped off by a grilling from the press gallery, writes Greg Jericho.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides movie review: exhausting amusement
Another Pirates of the Caribbean movie, another excursion into cinema as an extended amusement park ride. The latest installment has so much action it becomes borderline monotonous, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Jetstar pilot contracts slammed as ‘home detention’
Independent South Australia Senator Nick Xenophon has ridiculed the new Jetstar contract for pilots as ‘treating them like Lindsay Lohan under home detention,’ reports Ben Sandilands.
healthcare Supporting calls for senate inquiry into a fairer distribution of health
Yes, the government is acting on services for the mentally ill but it is, as described by Professor Patrick McGorry, only a first step, writes Melissa Sweet.
Long-term help wanted. Desperately.
An OECD report on ageing out this week foreshadows that spending on long-term care in OECD countries is set to double, even triple, by 2050, driven by ageing populations, reports Richard Farmer.
Barr: Fame’s a bitch
Having starred in and created a long-running hit sitcom, Roseanne Barr was once the toast of tinsel town. But, in a colourful reflection on her years in the TV industry, Barr reiterates the familiar message that fame ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.
travel And the winner is… Azerbaijan! Azer-where?
Azerbaijan — a country that was on no one’s mind a mere week ago until it soared to glory at 2011 Eurovision. With the ink on its name barely dry on the victor’s podium, Jay Martin offers a definitive list of the greatest things about visiting the country.
The digital economy: trading coins for clicks
The future of money could be far less about dollars, superpowers or coinage if virtual currencies ever cross the line from virtual to real, writes Charis Palmer. Bitcoin electronic currencies says it is changing finance the same way the web changed publishing.
First shots: Bolt attacks ‘Left-wing judges’ as News rallies troops
Andrew Bolt has fired a warning shot ahead of the looming judgment in his racial discrimination case, using his regular column in this morning’s Herald Sun to launch an attack against “left-wing” judges.
