I’ve just published my annual reading list for 2023 here, as I’ve done for over a decade. Do check out the whole thing, but here are a few of my particular favourites from this year’s list, which, as always, is a bit of an eclectic mixture.Continue Reading
I’m going to be voting Yes in the referendum about the Voice to Parliament. Making decisions about people without giving them a say is not a great way to make great decisions. And it hasn’t worked.
To illustrate, I’m going to talk about a measure I do know a lot about – mortality. The life expectancy of indigenous people in Australia is much lower than for all Australians. And the gap is growing.Continue Reading
Annually, the government here reports on whether it is “closing the gap” betwen indigenous and non indigenous Australians. A key measure is mortality, and the gap between indigenous and non indigenous mortality rates is widening, rather than narrowing.Continue Reading
I’ve just published my annual round-up of my non fiction reading for last year here. Do go and read the whole list, but here I’ll just mention my absolute favourites for the year (or at least the ones I keep telling people to go and read). A variety of topics, from history, to feminism, politics and risk culture, so I hope you’ll find one you like. From each of the main themes I read this year, I’ve chosen one or two that I really loved.Continue Reading
As COP 26 finishes up, where have we got to? The world’s promises, if they are kept, have improved the likely outcome by nearly 1 degree Celsius. So far, though, most countries have made promises, rather than committing to legislation or policy.Continue Reading
As Australia has its annual debate about whether it is appropriate to have our national day on the anniversary of the day when a British naval officer planted the British flag, and claimed half a continent for Great Britain, ignoring the people who already lived here, I’m looking at someContinue Reading
Can contact tracing reduce or remove the need for physical distancing? Contact tracing, when done quickly and effectively, removes some transmission, but not all of it. And the more cases there are, particularly in an environment without much physical distancing, the more the chances of a superspreader that will causeContinue Reading
While Australia’s case numbers are getting worse, increasingly public health commentators are asking whether we should aim for elimination of the virus when we get case numbers back under control, rather than opening up when numbers are low as we did last time. It is helpful to think of thisContinue Reading
With the benefit of hindsight, I’ve looked at Victoria’s community transmission of Covid19 in the last six weeks. If this happened in NSW, how should we know when to take action earlier? And if so what action should we take? If we could rerun history, maybe a testing blitz aContinue Reading
This week, I’ve been looking for evidence that the Australian justice system is racist against Aboriginal people. Given Indigenous people are locked up at 11 times the rate of non Indigenous people, racism seems likely to be at least some of the reason. Where statistics exist (and I’ve found some),Continue Reading