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A little after 1pm today, one of the set pieces of Australian political theatre will get underway when journalists, influencers and lobbyists enter the lock-up for the federal budget at Parliament House in Canberra.
We’ll hand in our mobile phones, switch off wifi and be sealed off from the outside world – reading hundreds of pages of documents before Treasurer Jim Chalmers officially hands down the budget at 7.30pm.
Of course, much of the detail has already been released: tax changes are coming for negative gearing, the capital gains tax discount and trusts. Chalmers has flagged fresh spending on priority areas such as defence and health, while making cuts elsewhere including the runaway growth in the NDIS.
The treasurer faces conflicting pressures: the community wants to see more government spending on cost-of-living support, but the Reserve Bank worries this could fuel inflation, as Stephen Bartos writes. Against the backdrop of the largest fuel shock in 50 years, that makes this year’s budget a tricky high-wire act.
We’ll bring you detailed analysis from experts of what it means for you in our special newsletter this evening.
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Victoria Thieberger
Business and Economics Editor
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Stephen Bartos, University of Canberra
The government is under pressure to spend more on cost-of-living help. Getting the balance wrong could trigger further interest rates hikes.
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Claire Fitzpatrick, Edith Cowan University; Emily Foley, Flinders University; University of Canberra
Social media ‘influencers’ were dismissed in some quarters when they were allowed into the budget lock-up. But they carry huge clout, and are here to stay.
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Anthony Scott, Monash University
Specialist doctors have the highest incomes in the country and run the most profitable business. But patients often can’t afford their fees.
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Emma Bradshaw, Australian Catholic University
Not having a clear plan for after school is normal. It is totally unrealistic to think you will know all the answers to these questions at 17 or 18.
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Julien Cooper, Macquarie University; Maël Crépy, Université Lumière Lyon 2 ; Marie Bourgeois, Université Lumière Lyon 2
The circular mass graves were filled with the bones of people and animals, often carefully arranged around a key person at the centre.
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Julienne van Loon, The University of Melbourne
Siri Hustvedt is writing for her own survival in Ghost Stories, an extraordinary new grief memoir.
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Politics + Society
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John Kerr, University of Otago; Mathew Marques, La Trobe University; Matt Williams, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Surveys may overestimate belief in conspiracy theories because of trolls and jokers – but genuine believers can still cause real-world harm.
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Helen Stenger, Monash University
My research shows that gender-responsive rehabilitation programs are essential for the successful reintegration of ISIS-associated returnees.
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Sarah Cameron, Griffith University; Ian McAllister, Australian National University; Juliet Pietsch, Griffith University
Voters have been growing dissatisfied with the major parties for decades. And they are no longer as willing to be told where to send their preferences.
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Deborah Te Kawa, University of Canterbury; Barbara Allen, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The public sector is being encouraged to embrace AI. But can the largely voluntary governance framework we’re building to manage the technology be trusted to work?
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Health + Medicine
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Fernando Sousa, Monash University; Joshua Zadro, University of Sydney; Peter Malliaras, Monash University
Older women and people with diabetes are much more likely to develop this condition. So do physio or steroid injections make a difference? What about surgery?
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Catharine Fleming, Western Sydney University
Teenagers often love chocolate bars and hot chips. A paediatric nutritionist explains how we can help them make healthier choices.
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Business + Economy
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Sharon Kaye Parker, Curtin University
Australians’ sense of job insecurity is now as bad as it was in COVID, when unemployment hit 6.4%. Yet there are steps that can help turn fear into action.
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Environment + Energy
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Thomas Longden, Western Sydney University; Debasish Das, UNSW Sydney
Like solar, the first households to embrace home batteries have been wealthy. We need to move away from first-come, first-secured schemes.
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Kimberley Reid, The University of Melbourne
It’s been a very warm and dry autumn for much of southern Australia – and winter looks set to be similar.
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Science + Technology
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Joel Scanlan, University of Tasmania
This shift is a clear reversal of Meta’s privacy-first posture, which Mark Zuckerberg announced back in 2019.
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Arts + Culture
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Miniature Malekpour, University of Sydney
These groundbreaking films by Iranian women directors explain the deep-rooted origins of the Iranian feminist movement.
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Kat Henry, The University of Melbourne
Melbourne Theatre Company’s version of Tennessee Williams’ play invites real experimentation back into the Melbourne main stage conversation.
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Books + Ideas
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Ruth Balint, UNSW Sydney
In Raven Mother, Jane Messer writes of the grandmother she never knew: a woman who defied expectations but was undone by war, displacement, exile and separation.
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Series finale of the podcast
"The final episode of The Making of One Nation lived up to the standard of the series. The rise of One Nation has important lessons for Australian democracy. It is not just One Nation but also the Coalition that runs on grievance politics. It should not surprise that the Coalition saw its future in moving further to the right even if that meant endorsing One Nation type policies. After all, Murdoch's Fox News was critical in getting Trump reelected in the US. Why couldn't he do the same thing here with Sky News TV? As a nation we have two things going for us. One is the Australian electoral system. The other is organs like The Conversation to make sure that truth isn't
totally extinguished."
Gary Barnes, Mosman NSW 
War on the ocean
"What I’ve seen nothing about and find distressing is the thought of what may be happening to the undersea ecosystems in the Strait of Hormuz. Deep sea trawlers are destroying the ocean floor; plastic pollution is killing sea birds and fish, krill (which is more important than most people realise) is being frighteningly overfished and blue whales have gone silent! Now there’s war in the Persian Gulf with ships and oil tankers being attacked. What else is happening to the earth’s liquid lungs that we depend on?"
Linda Payler-Kemp, WA
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your thoughts on our stories and each day we'll publish an edited selection.
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Swinburne University of Technology
Hawthorn VIC, Australia
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Full Time
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