Australia’s addiction to importing labour does nothing for wages — or building our current skills base
Business calls for a massive increase in skilled migration reflect an addiction to the mindset of using cheap foreign labour to keep wages suppressed — and will guarantee persistent housing unaffordability.
‘Gladys wants it’: how premier’s key staffer described gun club plan to public servants
A former staffer has told NSW ICAC 'I spat my water out' when he heard of Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire's relationship — a sentiment apparently shared by former premier Mike Baird.
Net zero attracts net stupidity and net self-righteousness
A noisy minority continues to hold the country to ransom and it's time the federal government bit the climate bullet.
This rorting nation: government hands out $25bn in non-competitive grants
A new report shows the number of confidential 'closed non-competitive grants' by the Morrison government has surged in recent years.
$730k to LEGO: arts rescue package looks like the building blocks of another rort
Arts groups have serious concerns about Paul Fletcher having 'ministerial discretion' over a multimillion-dollar support scheme for the industry.
Just what is the point of Barnaby Joyce?
For someone said to be one of the country's best retail politicians, Joyce and his National Party have few achievements to brag about.
Farewell, NSW, my job here is done…
And now John Barilaro. Another one bites the dust as the state government shitshow just keeps on giving.
Crown AGM set to be a cracker — and it won’t be the only one
Remuneration strikes, withdrawn constitutional amendments and 'Twiggy' Forrest dodging scrutiny. Stay tuned for scandals and dramas in this year’s corporate AGM season.
Palmer loses another High Court bid against WA — and this one could be his last
Has Western Australia seen the last of Clive Palmer's legal onslaughts? Time will tell, but his latest High Court result doesn't bode well for him.
Dear Leslie: I burn with indignation over our warming planet
Protesting, waving signs and shouting slogans doesn't work when no one is listening. Ethicist Leslie Cannold shares your pain.
Australia locked out the world. Now it’s returning the favour
Since COVID, Australians struggle to work out how to open up to each other, let alone relate to other countries. But it's time to remedy that.
Inflation fears mount as northern hemisphere’s energy crisis feeds price rises across the board
Australia is not in nearly as bad a position as some countries on food and energy shortages. But that doesn't mean we're in the clear.
COVID and school: it’s not just a learning experience. It could save kids’ lives
Children will be exposed to COVID if schools reopen. But evidence of long-term physical and mental harm under lockdown may make exposure the lesser of two evils.
Don’t mess with Texas … stay home staffers … bad news for wizard fans
We can't expect Ted Cruz to have a real idea about what's going on in 'Texas of the Pacific' Australia, but maybe he should do a little research. Plus more from the Crikey bunker.
Scary side of back to normal — out goes day-drinking, in comes office chit-chat
It's been a time of reckless dressing and drinking and plenty of navel-gazing. But that's coming to an end, and it'll be life-changing.
The life and death of a shopkeeper
Soner Kurtoglu put his heart and soul into his small bazaar in the back streets of Melbourne's Richmond. Now he's gone, taken by a vicious virus.
Violent anti-vaxxers are wrong. But can their tactics hold any lessons for climate activists?
Climate change's promise of death and destruction is violence, so why shouldn't its victims be violent in self-defence?
The world will be asked to work together on climate. What chance that’ll happen?
It's the economy, stupid. Diplomacy is all well and good, but it's the economics of climate that's at the heart of the world 'coming together'.
Follow the money — or pay more for it
A greener future is going to require mobilising a different kind of green: dollars. Trillions of them, in fact.
Has Wagga ever staged the Olympics? No. So why did it need an Olympic-standard shooting range?
A senior NSW bureaucrat tells the NSW ICAC 'it wasn't necessarily a good use of funds'.
Planned Perrottethood: how does the NSW premier appeal to women?
Dominic Perrottet has made headway on some issues that will appeal to female voters, but his stance on abortion and same-sex marriage will not.
Matt Canavan’s mining cosplay and Twitter trolling are setting him up for reelection
The LNP senator doesn't need Australians to love him — in fact, he's counting on the opposite.
Was Ten a good faith reporter of the Parliament House scandals?
The Ten Network was an important player in the coverage of the workplace and gender issues that roiled Parliament House earlier this year. But did it have workplace issues of its own in its press gallery office?
How News Corp’s ‘best of both worlds’ status is normalised by the media
News Corp enjoys the dual status of a political party and a media organisation, with the power of one and the non-accountability of the other. And the rest of the mainstream media is complicit.
Nobel Peace Prize for crusading journalists shows accountability reporting really matters
As authoritarianism grows seemingly unchecked, new Nobel laureates Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov know that fearless reporting is more vital than ever.
Colin Powell may be gone, but his doctrine lives on in Joe Biden
As the Biden administration and a new generation of US policymakers learn the hard lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, the words of the former secretary of state ring true: 'you break it, you own it'.
Pandora Papers reveal the fatal flaw in the West’s fight against autocracy
Western countries and the anonymous financial secrecy tools they provide are playing a critical role in propping up autocratic regimes — the same ones they purport to fight.
Build Back Better — US takes its fight with China on the road
The West finally has an answer to China's Belt and Road Initiative. Will it stand up?
‘Without truth, no democracy can stand’: why we are calling out the prime minister
Today Crikey publishes an uncomfortable but important investigation that exposes the prime minister as a systemic, consistent and unremitting public liar.
A national leader with a readiness to lie and a reflex to do so when under pressure
Scott Morrison lies. A lot. And it's particularly true when he's feeling the political heat.
The truth is precious. Let’s not take it for granted
It’s easy to be cynical about politics and politicians, but we mustn't forget how important the truth is to a functioning democracy.
Bruce Pascoe and the making of myth: beyond the culture war, what does it all mean?
A new book offers a forensic unmasking of Bruce Pascoe's work and suggests he is devaluing the true history of Indigenous Australia. Can the issue be investigated without becoming mired in the culture wars?
Bruce Pascoe has become too big to fail — almost impossible to question
Even before questions surrounding Bruce Pascoe's scholarship were raised, it's hard to ignore that Dark Emu has become big business — not least for the companies that support him.
‘The truth is the truth — and should not be hidden because of right-wing agendas’
Lawyer and Indigenous rights activist Michael Mansell has found that trying to raise criticism of Bruce Pascoe leads to being lumped in with right-wing reactionaries like Mark Latham.
We must learn to see the corruption that pervades Australian public life, and restructure it
Australians, and especially our governing class, have normalised soft corruption. If we want things to change, we need to bring back the outrage.
How to end corruption? First break down the code of silence allowing it to thrive
The culture of silence that permits the soft corruption and alleged abuse witnessed in Parliament cannot be allowed to endure.
Solutions to corruption: a voters’ strike to end political donations?
Refusing to vote? Maybe. But there are other ways to clean up Australian politics.
