The revelation of 1.9 million temporary unskilled and insecure workers does not look like the makings of a wage explosion.

With its continuing rate increases, the RBA is not being cruel to be kind. They are the result of an unquestioned dogma.

Migration and changing attitudes of the young will ensure fewer conservatives with the power to cling to Australia’s colonial past.

If Peter Dutton takes the Coalition back to the Abbott era, then more of their seats will tumble to the teals next time.

The ACTU must realise that many of the proposals in a major new Productivity Commission report will align with its own goals.

A Coalition campaign against a broken election promise might be enough to plunge Labor into minority government and destroy any chance of getting unpopular economic reform through parliament.

While arguments will persist about Gough Whitlam’s economic performance, it is his social and environmental reforms that have created an enduring legacy for Australia.

The central bank should pause and look at the lagging data. But it is unlikely to find evidence of an inflation problem from another era.

Free trade is under attack everywhere, but the ideal is as valid now as it was when David Ricardo and Adam Smith first theorised about it.

This budget won’t fix the problem: but ageing- and productivity-related problems are increasing funding pressures, and the tax system isn’t up to the revenue task.

The Hawke and Keating governments created a reforming narrative of banana republic turned clever country. Anthony Albanese could do the same with the climate revolution.

There are no wage or currency pressures that would justify the RBA following the Fed into aggressive rate rises.

Anthony Albanese’s consensus politics and deep divisions in the Liberal Party mean Labor may no longer just fill the interludes between Coalition governments.

Cynics are describing the jobs summit as a talkfest before it even starts. But the common ground on migration and skills has already been made clear.

Governments are largely focused on adding no further pollutants to the atmosphere. But we need to think about removing the carbon that’s already up there.

The RBA is not infallible, and the Prime Minister cannot remain silent if its powerful officials are wreaking harm with bad calls.

The raucous opponents of the Albanese government resetting the relationship are playing a dangerous game with Australia’s foreign policy and ambitions for a peaceful, prosperous and stable region.

Smashing the demand for groceries in order to fix a supply side problem is a wrong-headed monetarist solution.

Battery investment has been mishandled by Coalition governments. Fortunately, there are plenty of small-scale options available.

The former Morrison government’s sidelining of public servants meant that Australian politics lost the benefit of their ideas and corporate memory.