Red tape crackdown renewed: Morrison prefers ‘animal spirits’ to endangered animals Monday June 24, 2019 By Stephen Easton Economy & Industry Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reinforced his intention to remove “regulatory and bureaucratic barriers” that increase costs for companies, closely guided by common complaints about… Read more
Re-elected Prime Minister's public message to department heads Thursday May 23, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal Prime Minister Scott Morrison brought department heads out in front of the media cameras on Thursday and told them not to get in the way… Read more
Public servants hastily polish up the blue books as new Morrison ministry takes shape Wednesday May 22, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal A who's-who of the members in contention for Coalition ministerial positions in the days after the 2019 federal election. Read more
The government's biggest challenge? Avoiding a recession Tuesday May 21, 2019 By Peter Martin Economy & Industry For six months, the Australian economy has been growing at an annualised pace of just 1% – way, way short of its potential. Scott Morrison… Read more
Unexpected election result means public servants know what to expect Monday May 20, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal After an unexpected result in Saturday's federal election, members of the Australian Public Service have a good idea of what to expect going forward. Read more
One in five business owners don’t know who Bill Shorten is Wednesday May 8, 2019 By Dominic Powell Federal Is small business out of touch with politics? A new survey of Australian small-business owners by accounting software provider Xero has found, despite being in… Read more
Lawyers, guns, money – and politics, part 2 Friday May 3, 2019 By Scott Hamilton & Stuart Kells Case studies The second article in a three-part series on the formulation of Australia’s firearms policy; across the decades, Australia remains unified on its national gun laws. Read more
The federal election campaign through the 'distorted prism' of social media Tuesday April 30, 2019 By The Mandarin Communications & Technology Home Affairs head Michael Pezzullo has described social media as a “cesspit” while former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Peter Varghese warned it… Read more
And now for a newsflash: politicians actually do keep their promises Wednesday April 17, 2019 By Andrea Carson and Andrew Gibbons Features Are broken promises really to blame for falling levels of public trust in politicians? An accounting for the disconnect between perceptions and reality. Read more
Why people with disabilities want former public servants to resign from royal commission Tuesday April 9, 2019 By Stephen Easton Community & Social Almost 60 groups representing people with disabilities say public servants are too conflicted to be effective as royal commissioners tasked with shining a light on… Read more
View from The Hill: NSW result gives federal Liberals a boost in the mind games Monday March 25, 2019 By Michelle Grattan New South Wales The Liberals would delude themselves if they took too much heart from NSW. But at a psychological level it will lift the spirits of their… Read more
Targets work for Indigenous procurement, but Closing the Gap is a whole other ballgame Friday February 15, 2019 By Stephen Easton Community & Social The Prime Minister wants the public service to spend vastly more with Indigenous-owned suppliers, hoping to double down on the success of affirmative action in… Read more
Morrison vows to hold on till May, rallies the border troops against a 'psychological' threat Wednesday February 13, 2019 By Stephen Easton Federal For all the sound and fury in parliament, late changes mean the contentious medivac bill does not threaten the minority government’s control of the nation’s… Read more
Morrison's decision to recognise West Jerusalem the latest bad move in a mess of his own making Monday December 17, 2018 By Tony Walker Features Prime Minister Scott Morrison will have learned a valuable foreign policy lesson in the past day or so as it relates to the Holy Land. Read more
From one general to another: David Hurley lined up to replace Peter Cosgrove as G-G Monday December 17, 2018 By Stephen Easton Federal Retired Army general David Hurley will become the 27th Governor-General next June, having served as New South Wales Governor since October, 2014. Deputy opposition leader… Read more
