The challenge now is for a national debate on the content and implications of the 123 recommendations, writes Robert Wells.
COAG
Murray-Darling: same mess it always was
In the first of a two-part series, Bernard Keane looks at just how little has changed — and how much has been spent — in the fight to save the Murray-Darling Basin.
The elephant in the child care reform strategy
Despite the Government already spending over $56M to fund child care and save centres, it refuses to look at how the current funding model made such collapses inevitable.
Closing the gap: let’s talk about things that work
Closing the Indigenous gap was never going to be easy, but the reception of the Productivity Commission report will unfortunately make it harder, writes Eva Cox.
Fred Chaney: COAG should not rush into closing the gap
The fundamental challenge for governments today is no different from the fundamental challenge we have faced over the last 30 years, how do we deliver on our good intentions? asks Fred Chaney.
Carbon footprint trigger sets off business alarm bells
A review of the Environmental Protection Act will suggest to COAG that any development proposal with a high carbon footprint should require federal approval. Business is concerned.
Future of clean energy jobs in Senate’s hands
It’s time politicians and big polluters stopped arguing or seeking excuses for inaction and got on with the job, writes John Connor.
Indigenous affairs money scattered but plentiful
In percentage terms, it’s still better than just about any other government has done before.
Murray River a toxic open drain – why don’t we care?
How did this become okay? Asks the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.
The new “quiet revolution” in Indigenous affairs
One has to give credit where it is due. The Rudd government has quickly woken up to the fact that ‘closing the gap’ will not magically happen with business as usual, writes Professor Jon Altman.
Big Bang reform v Rudd, Mr 5%
The Rudd Government is a 5% government, focussed on the unglamorous world of regulatory harmonisation, better consumer information and greater efficiency of administration, writes Bernard Keane.
Should there be national registration for public health workers?
Australia is moving towards national registration for core health and medical professionals, but there are no safeguards regarding public health officials, writes Peter Sainsbury.
Hey Rudd, when you bribe someone, you should get something back
Yesterday at COAG Kevin Rudd’s “cooperative federalism” met old-style politics, and came off second best – along with the Murray-Darling Basin and, in particular, the immensely stressed lower reaches of the system in South Australia.
Mungo: Rudd’s world tour is no junket
No one could seriously consider Kevin Rudd’s 17 day trip to America, Europe and Japan as a junket, and no one has criticised it as one, writes Mungo MacCallum.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Comments, corrections, clarifications, and c*ckups
Earth Hour … COAG and the Murray-Darling deal … The Oz’s and the SS Macklin … the last act of Orkopoulos … binge drinking … mortgage stress …
Richard Farmer’s political bite-sized meaty chunks
The too hard basket is a wonderful thing … Do as I say not as we do … Guess who featured in that foreign policy speech … Memories of Gough … A batch of election indicators …
Murray-Darling Basin deal: the devil’s in the details
Victoria has at last signed up. We can now look to one federal authority to manage the unfolding environmental disaster in the Murray-Darling Basin, writes Richard Kingsford.
The boring, bureaucratic reality of COAG
Ministerial meetings sound like the pointy end of Commonwealth-State relations, but in reality, ministerial meetings are highly formal affairs, writes Bernard Keane.
COAG and Aborigines. They knew
When the Prime Minister, Premiers, the Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory and the President of the Australian Local Government Association sat down in Canberra back on 13 April for “detailed discussions on significant areas of national interest” child abuse in indigenous communities was on the agenda but there was no hint of crisis.
