Rear Vision

PNG has hundreds of languages groups, almost a thousand tribes and is one of only four nations globally that doesn’t have any women in parliament. Over three weeks the country is holding its national election – the 10th since it gained its independence from Australia in 1975. The PNG political system, like Australia’s, is based on a Westminster model but that’s just about where the similarities end. How do PNG elections work, who are the key political figures and just how free and fair have their elections been over the past 50 years?

Australia has everything it needs to produce electricity - coal, gas, sun, and wind. Yet we've wound up with energy shortages and huge price hikes. How did we get here - why is our energy system in such a mess? And what can we do to fix it?

The selection of a new justice to the United States Supreme Court is frequently controversial and almost always political. It’s a 'captain's pick' for the US president and one that can shape American society long after the president’s gone.

None of us need to be told that prices are going up or that interest rates are following. We are clearly now in a period of inflation which may or may not lead to a recession. But what exactly is inflation, why does it occur, how does it relate to interest rates and what if anything can we learn from past inflationary periods?

Despite being the closest of neighbours, for the last decade there’s been a worsening Trans-Tasman spat as New Zealanders in Australia are refused basic services and often deported. The new Albanese government has signalled this may be about to change, but what caused the spat in the first place, and was race the underlying issue?