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Election Diary: Albanese promises 30% discount on household batteries in latest energy bill help

Election Diary: Albanese promises 30% discount on household batteries in latest energy bill help

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

With US bombers at the ready, can Trump cut a deal with Iran and avoid a war?

Amin Saikal, Victoria University

With US bombers at the ready, can Trump cut a deal with Iran and avoid a war?
Albanese and Dutton both say they will return the Port of Darwin to Australian hands

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Albanese and Dutton both say they will return the Port of Darwin to Australian hands
Hackers have hit major super funds. A cyber expert explains how to stop it happening again

Toby Murray, The University of Melbourne

A phone screen showing the Australian Super logo on an orange background.
Heroin found in cocaine and ‘ice’, and snorting a line can be lethal
Hand holding plastic baggie of white powder, with powder on black surface

Trade war

A ship with cargo is docked at The Port of Oakland in Oakland California

No, that’s not what a trade deficit means – and that’s not how you calculate other nations’ tariffs

Peter Draper, University of Adelaide and Vutha Hing, University of Adelaide

Trade war: trying too hard for a special tariff deal with Trump could be the wrong way to go

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Trade war: trying too hard for a special tariff deal with Trump could be the wrong way to go
Trump’s trade war will hurt everyone – from Cambodian factories to US online shoppers
Attendees listen during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House
More than just chips: Trump tariffs could disrupt lots of ‘made in Taiwan’ imports

Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University

Container ships sit in port.
Ancient Rome used high tariffs to raise money too – and created other economic problems along the way
A low relief depicts ancient Roman commerce activities.
New modelling reveals full impact of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs – with the US hit hardest
New modelling reveals full impact of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs – with the US hit hardest
What Donald Trump’s dramatic US trade war means for global climate action
wind turbines at sunset
More on tariffs

Federal election 2025

What’s it like to be showered with Trump dust? Election special podcast
Listen

What’s it like to be showered with Trump dust? Election special podcast

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Gender played a significant role in the 2022 election. Will it do the same in 2025?

Michelle Arrow, Macquarie University

Voting at the Strathfield North Public School polling booth on Federal Election day, 2022
How might the House of Representatives shape up after the 2025 federal election?
The House of Representatives debate issues during Question Time
Labor leads in three recent national polls, four weeks from the election
Anthony Albanese smiles in front of a crowd
State of the states: six politics experts explain the key seats across the country
animated gif of marginal seats
Full election coverage

More top stories

Guwatjurumurru (Giddy River), in East Arnhem Land

After 91 years, there are still more questions than answers over the death of Aboriginal man Dhäkiyarr

Daylight saving time ends Sunday. Why do we change our clocks? And how does it affect our bodies?
Woman stretches after waking to daylight
Myanmar military’s ‘ceasefire’ follows a pattern of ruling generals exploiting disasters to shore up control
A man in military garb stands on a military vehicle.
If a child has extra needs, support can be hard to find. This new approach can help make it easier and quicker
Young children stand in a line kicking balls on a field.
Friday essay: why it’s time to ditch the myth of the heroic billionaire

Carl Rhodes, University of Technology Sydney

Friday essay: why it’s time to ditch the myth of the heroic billionaire
No one knows why the nine-year-olds are dying. Chris Flynn’s novel invites us to question existence itself
Book review
No one knows why the nine-year-olds are dying. Chris Flynn’s novel invites us to question existence itself
Russia and China both want influence over Central Asia. Could it rupture their friendship?
Russia and China both want influence over Central Asia. Could it rupture their friendship?
Yes, data can produce better policy in NZ – but it’s no substitute for real-world experience
Rows of binary code on a blue background
Get big or die trying: social media is driving men’s use of steroids. Here’s how to mitigate the risks
A muscular man looks at himself in the mirror.
A close up image of a hoverfly with stripey eyes on a yellow flower.

Flies are masters of migration – it’s about time they got some credit

Will Hawkes, University of Exeter

It’s not easy being a street tree, but this heroic eucalypt withstands everything we throw at it
A yellow gum stands on a street
An exotic escape, or empty illusion? How The White Lotus exposes the contradictions of luxury travel
An exotic escape, or empty illusion? How The White Lotus exposes the contradictions of luxury travel
‘Curiosity-driven research’ led to a recent major medical breakthrough. But it’s under threat
A young girl looking at a yellow flower through a microscope.
1 trillion species, 3 billion years: how we used AI to trace the evolution of bacteria on Earth
Microscopic image of lots of green lines and four brown circles.
Flu vaccines are now available for 2025. What’s on offer and which one should I get?
A bandaid is placed on a person's upper arm.
Good news, beach lovers: our research found 39% less plastic waste around Australian coastal cities than a decade ago
A man's hand reaches for an empty discarded plastic bottle on a sandy beach, with the sun and sea in the background
5 years on from its first COVID lockdown, NZ faces hard economic choices – but rebuilding trust must come first
Well wishes in chalk on a residential fence
Chinese barges and Taiwan Strait drills are about global power projection − not just a potential invasion
A bridge extending from a barge in the water.
Person holds an ultrasound wand

Why do women get ‘reassurance scans’ during pregnancy? And how can you spot a dodgy provider?

Front view of a motorcylist on a curving highway.

In Australia, 1 in 5 road deaths is a motorcyclist. We can make them safer

‘How was school today?’ How to help kids open up and say more than ‘fine’
A woman holds the hand of a young child in school uniform.
‘Australia doesn’t care about me’: women international students suffering alarming rates of sexual violence
A group of university students walk down the hallway
Scientists worked with Warlpiri to track down bilby poo – and uncover clues to help conserve these iconic animals
People search for kuna
Astronomers listened to the ‘music’ of flickering stars – and discovered an unexpected feature
Illustration of a fiery star floating in space
Is TikTok right? Do I need to eat more protein?
Man cooks
People are getting costly stem cell injections for knee osteoarthritis. But we don’t know if they work
A man on a path in a park holding his knee.
Can you tell the difference between real and fake news photos? Take the quiz to find out
Interactive
A person in a Pikachu costume waving a Turkish flag amid a group of protesters.
An AI companion chatbot is inciting self-harm, sexual violence and terror attacks
Repeating image of skulls with increasing doubling, blurring, ghosting, pixelation, and horizontal glitching.
More top stories

Scientific misconduct

Medical tools against a red background.

Flawed medical studies can end up in doctors’ advice. We developed a tool to stop it

Show your working: how the ‘open science’ movement tackles scientific misconduct
Open sign in a window in red and blue neon light.
Scientific misconduct is on the rise. But what exactly is it?
Glass pipette distributing liquid into test tubes.
Peer review is meant to prevent scientific misconduct. But it has its own problems
Collage of lots of eyes looking at a person.
Academic publishing is a multibillion-dollar industry. It’s not always good for science
Top view of books with colourful covers opened on their side.
Read the whole series

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New research

Invisible losses: thousands of plant species are missing from places they could thrive – and humans are the reason
view of bushland in australia.
Global warming of more than 3°C this century may wipe 40% off the world’s economy, new analysis reveals
woman in mask stands in front of screen showing stock values
Cancer patients from migrant backgrounds have a 1 in 3 chance of something going wrong in their care
A woman in a headscarf listens to music while receiving an infusion.
Fitting the ‘missing puzzle pieces’ – research sheds light on the deep history of social change in West Papua
An archaeological excavation at Mololo Cave in West Papua.
More new research

World

Faced with new tariffs and a truculent Trump, Japan and South Korea toe a cautious line

Sebastian Maslow, University of Tokyo and Paul O'Shea, Lund University

Faced with new tariffs and a truculent Trump, Japan and South Korea toe a cautious line
Living in ‘garbage time’: when 500 million Chinese change their spending habits, the world feels it
The Chunxi Road pedestrian street is filled with fashionably dressed young people.
Thousands are feared dead in Myanmar’s quake. Trump’s USAID cuts will cause even more unnecessary deaths
Thousands are feared dead in Myanmar’s quake. Trump’s USAID cuts will cause even more unnecessary deaths
‘Signalgate’ was damaging to the Trump administration. It could be deadly for Yemeni civilians
‘Signalgate’ was damaging to the Trump administration. It could be deadly for Yemeni civilians
More world

Sport

Using tranquillisers on racehorses is ethically questionable and puts horses and riders at risk
A vet injects a grey horse.
Step length, a devastating finish and ‘springs in his spikes’: the science behind Gout Gout’s speed
Gout Gout powers through the finish line during a 200m event
Not just the stadium: what Brisbane Olympic organisers are planning for
The planned athletes village within the RNA Showgrounds as part of new infrastructure for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
How will the history-making new Olympics boss shape sports worldwide, and in Australia?
Kirsty Coventry speaks after she was announced as the new IOC President
More sport

Australia's quarter-century of change

In 2000, Australia was defined by the Olympics, border politics and reconciliation. So what really has changed?
In 2000, Australia was defined by the Olympics, border politics and reconciliation. So what really has changed?
25 years into a new century and housing is less affordable than ever
A composite image of housing with a computer error message
Australia may no longer be ‘deputy sheriff’, but its reliance on the US has only grown deeper since 2000
A composite image of two 2000s computer windows with men in suits in them
Despite some key milestones since 2000, Australia still has a long way to go on gender equality
A composite image of a computer search window with Julia Gillard on YouTube
Read the whole series

Scam factories series

‘We could hear the screams until midnight’: life inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds
A man looking out a window
From empty fields to locked cities: the rise of a billion-dollar criminal industry
Satellite photos of scam compound being built over 4 years.
Are they victims, perpetrators, or both? For scammers, freedom comes at a cost
Balconies of scam compound in Southeast Asia.
Scam Factories: three-episode podcast series
Listen
A row of apartment blocks with a red coloured sky in the background and the text 'Scam Factories' in front

Climate

Torrential rains created devastating inland seas in outback Queensland. Soon, they will fill Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre
flooding outback queensland
The 2025 budget has few savings and surprises but it also ignores climate change
The 2025 budget has few savings and surprises but it also ignores climate change
Rain gave Australia’s environment a fourth year of reprieve in 2024 – but this masks deepening problems: report
waterway and red dirt australia from above.
Southern elephant seals are adaptable – but they struggle when faced with both rapid climate change and human impacts
A male southern elephant seal on Kerguelen Islands
More climate coverage

Podcasts

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kos Samaras on polls and the people who’ll decide this election
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kos Samaras on polls and the people who’ll decide this election
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Barbara Pocock on the Greens’ policy priorities
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Barbara Pocock on the Greens’ policy priorities
COVID modelling reveals new insights into ancient social distancing – podcast

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

A reconstruction of a Trypillian settlement
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Peter Dutton on why he’s not Australia’s Trump – ‘I’m my own person’
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Peter Dutton on why he’s not Australia’s Trump – ‘I’m my own person’
All episodes of Politics with Michelle Grattan
All episodes of The Conversation Weekly

Reviews

New NZ TV series Happiness gives us an engaging musical peak behind the amateur theatre curtain
Three people on stage in a Trojan Horse musical.
‘Shame, disgust, horror’: Kate Grenville faces her family history of stolen land in Australia – and asks us to feel it with her
‘Shame, disgust, horror’: Kate Grenville faces her family history of stolen land in Australia – and asks us to feel it with her
The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival
Review
The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival
Nerve-wracking twists, remarkable stardom and jet-black comedy: the 5 best films of the 2025 French Film Festival
Film still: a gathering of friends at a party in 20th century France.

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Most read this week

1.
LA is on fire. How will Australia cope when bushfires hit Sydney, Melbourne or another major city?

David Bowman, University of Tasmania

LA is on fire. How will Australia cope when bushfires hit Sydney, Melbourne or another major city?
2.
Can Peter Dutton flip Labor voters to rewrite electoral history? It might just work

Mark Kenny, Australian National University

Can Peter Dutton flip Labor voters to rewrite electoral history? It might just work
3.
Everything you say to an Alexa speaker will be sent to Amazon – starting today

Kathy Reid, Australian National University

Everything you say to an Alexa speaker will be sent to Amazon – starting today
4.
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor on tax top-ups and budget bottom lines

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor on tax top-ups and budget bottom lines
5.
Election Diary: Albanese promises 30% discount on household batteries in latest energy bill help

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Election Diary: Albanese promises 30% discount on household batteries in latest energy bill help

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Events

Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia Short Course

UNSW Sydney

Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia Short Course
These Entanglements: Ecology After Nature

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These Entanglements: Ecology After Nature
Workshop series: Making effective submissions to public inquiries

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Workshop series: Making effective submissions to public inquiries
LGBTQIA+ Leadership & Allyship Summit 2025

The Hatchery

LGBTQIA+ Leadership & Allyship Summit 2025
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