The Point

As Centrelink penalties resume this week, @antipovertycentre.org has launched a new survival guide to help welfare recipients understand their rights and protect themselves from unfair treatment. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/Spnhj3iD

It's not just political rhetoric that's boiling over Cartoon by @fionakatauskas.bsky.social View the cartoon on The Point: https://sbrew.link/ok1x3HwZ

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led tributes to Dr Haines in Parliament on Monday, saying the shock from what happened last week was “like a stone in our hearts”. Read the full piece on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/new/261027-tributes-flow-for-helen-haines-hailed-as-a-force-for-change

"A deep dive into what I found out - and what remains secret - after my 13 freedom of information applications relating to the AUKUS pact over the past five years" writes Daniel Hurst, freelance journalist. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/8vawUhiC

Australia’s hunger crisis is spreading to middle-income households, with new research revealing 3.6 million are struggling to put food on the table. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/cbEss9oj

In 2024–25, Sportsbet, Tabcorp, bet365 and Ladbrokes won a whopping $5.5 billion from Australian punters. Despite these big winnings, they reported a profit of just $0.4 billion, resulting in tax payments of $0.09 billion. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/gkTT9ARv

Environmental groups warn the practice can deprive downstream rivers and wetlands of vital water before summer. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/ZrKXbDHl

"But the restaurants are about to start charging by the plate, which means the cost of using AI is about to skyrocket" writes Thanh Hang Bui. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/tE8DfEcl

"Haines has high expectations of herself as a member of parliament, and of the government and parliament itself. She believes change is necessary and not only that, absolutely possible" writes @amyremeikis.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/jiADRRIX

“Politics should be a contest of ideas, not who can whip up the most hate or spread the most misinformation,” said @davidpocock.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/o08O1AhL

"If the projections are anything to go by, Australia will export a total that will cause about 11 gigatonnes of emissions by 2031" writes @ketanjoshi.co Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/WXZu9BvZ

"We have normalised a system where money buys faster access to treatment" writes @lukeslawomirski.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/261023-the-latest-debate-about-private-health-exposes-that-our-health-system-is-not-as-universal-as-we-think

In an address this week, former High Court Justice Michael Kirby argued that poverty wasn’t simply an economic issue but a fundamental human rights matter that was holding people back from participating in democracy. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/FLYSzBP4

"This week, we look at the Senate race in Michigan, how Europe is dealing with a cruel and vindictive president, and political violence" writes @emmashortis.bsky.social Read the latest Shorter America column on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/new/261023-shorter-america-this-week

"Australia should back Pacific-led electrification with affordable finance, local skills and measurable benefits" writes @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au and Professor Peter Newman AO. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/to8hxNrD

Senator David Pocock (@davidpocock.bsky.social) warned Australia risked repeating the same mistakes of the resources boom by failing to make multinationals pay their fair share. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/jVbLbBdF

"If you weigh perpetrators of political violence only by their politics, then it is not the impact to people you prioritise, but the score" writes @amyremeikis.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/4lHGzk3H

Taylor and Canavan are simply restating one of the most pervasive lies in Australian public debate: if we don’t dig it up, someone else will. Read the full factcheck on The Point: https://sbrew.link/7axq6Urb

Independent MP Allegra Spender has introduced a private member’s bill to amend the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work acts. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/7Vf9DPli

"The charge is the mining withholding tax, and it has been quietly eroding Aboriginal capital since 1979" writes Jon Altman, emeritus professor at the Australian National University. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/eMisSh7J

“We now need to make sure new protected areas reach the species and landscapes that need them most" said Dr James Fitzsimons, the review’s lead author and senior advisor for global protection strategies at The Nature Conservancy. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/7wBBSh0i

"There is no youth discount on rent, food or petrol. There shouldn’t be a youth discount on the safety net either" writes Paul McDonald. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/Rgvd5Yob

"Who says inequality's a bad thing?" a new cartoon from @fionakatauskas.bsky.social See the cartoon on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/261022-who-says-inequalitys-a-bad-thing

“Unlike any technology we’ve ever dealt with, the business model of AI is to generate mass unemployment. That is not an unintended consequence; it is the business model" said @richarddenniss.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/SLTqXFbC

"Make no mistake – this was a big win by community groups against a government and industry that had already decided what they wanted" writes @rodcampbell.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/u1DhDRPr

"In the space of a few days, the Senate rejected a motion to look at taxing our resource wealth, and the government introduced its long-promised gas reservation scheme" writes @louisemorris.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/OTV5G4bV

“I think people aren’t just angry. They’re also scared. They’re really scared and their trust in the system is collapsing,” said @auspoldaily.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/new/261021-cost-of-living-pressures-declining-trust-driving-public-anger

“By making this cartoon, One Nation didn’t just make light of my own medical struggles, but those of so many other women who have experienced reproductive health issues." Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/qRptVsVt

Cancellations for people who fail to reconnect with employment services within four weeks are set to resume on October 26. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/PpyjPUed

"Patients were promised meaningful consultation on reforms to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). It never happened" writes Maddison Teigan. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/AoHokvha

"A tribute to Helen Haines" a cartoon by @fionakatauskas.bsky.social View the cartoon on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/new/261020-a-tribute-to-helen-haines

The annual Stanley Awards, Australia’s premier awards for cartoonists, has announced its shortlist for best climate cartoon honours. See the shortlist on The Point: https://sbrew.link/cLyvCXUy

More than 23,000 hectares of land earmarked for the national park will instead be designated regional parkland, where car rallies could continue with government approval. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/vimExDQN

"Halfway through President Surangel Whipps Jr’s address at the ANU, the alarms went off. The auditorium paused. Someone in the room remarked that, given the subject, the timing was entirely appropriate" writes @louisemorris.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/Ia9JotY9

Senator Barbara Pocock used the Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit to call for sweeping tax reform, arguing that corporate power, tax avoidance, and generous concessions for property investors are fuelling the nation’s wealth divide. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/FuQ50Pf7

"Double standards are pretty standard in Australia – so standard that the past couple of weeks have been full of them in politics and barely an eyebrow has been raised" writes @amyremeikis.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/yn5Rjtea

"The (gas)Light on the Hill" a new cartoon from @fionakatauskas.bsky.social See today's cartoon on The Point: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/261015-the-gaslight-on-the-hill

Jim Chalmers used his speech at The Australia Institute’s Bernie Fraser Oration to acknowledge that rapid changes in technology, industry, energy and geopolitics had “shifted the ground under people”. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/Johoueh2

"The social security system has intentionally been designed to reflect the manufactured view that if you’re in poverty, it’s your own fault" writes Jay Coonan, co-coordinator at @antipovertycentre.org Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/hoT9OuUI

The controversial Switzerland-based company has a reputation for involvement in corruption, tax avoidance and environmental scandals globally. Glencore’s arrival on the ASX brings risks for investors, according to @accr.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/vn7uZYVS

"There is something deeply circular about asking multinational technology companies what national security risks Australia faces, whether we urgently need their products and how their industry should be regulated" writes Darcie Newland. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/6PKYkU9b

Support for tougher controls goes well beyond traditionally progressive voters, with a majority of Coalition and One Nation supporters also backing restrictions. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/5IKeLADJ

Bernie Fraser, who held the top job from 1989 to 1996, drew on his own experience last night to argue the RBA was “over-preoccupied” with inflation at the expense of its other responsibilities, including employment. Read the full report on The Point: https://sbrew.link/Jv2LVpLr

"But leaving aside the risks to humanity, democracy and the health and financial systems, the one thing that everyone agrees on is that AI is designed to cause mass unemployment" writes @richarddenniss.bsky.social Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/av4WPSiA

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has flagged another round of budget savings before Christmas as inflation rises again and mounting cost-of-living pressures continue to squeeze Australian households. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/NIO7o831

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie will introduce a bill this week requiring the government to cover reasonable legal costs if it challenges a freedom of information (FOI) victory in the Federal Court. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/2W8AZDLq

"Australia does not lack funds. The problem is how we measure investment performance, allocate risk and decide who receives the gains when public policy makes an investment viable" writes Ray Wills, Howard Buckley & Peter Newman. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/PwafmC70

"We are making progress in the transition to renewable energy at home, while remaining the world’s second-largest exporter of fossil fuels by climate-pollution content" writes Tejopala Rawls, Executive Director of ARRCC. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/d0RasZuG

The alliance fears the government has already weakened its proposal, leaving loopholes that could allow gas producers to prioritise lucrative exports over Australian homes and businesses. Read the full piece on The Point: https://sbrew.link/bf1uZVx8

On ABC's 7.30, @sarahhansonyoung.bsky.social said Labor was “walking back and watering down” their gas reservation policy and instead endorsed the “bigger and simper” alternative of a 25% tax on gas exports. Read the full factcheck on The Point: https://sbrew.link/A2tqHMGt