Australia

Adrian Esterman, University of South Australia Compared to many other countries around the world, Australia and New Zealand have done an exceptional job controlling COVID-19. As of May 7, there were 794 active cases of COVID-19 in Australia. Only 62 were in hospital. The situation in New Zealand is similar, with 136 active cases, only two of whom are in …

The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the tourism sectors in New Zealand and Australia and worldwide. Travel underpins the highly valuable two-way trade and investment relationship. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, New Zealand was the most popular outbound travel destination for Australians with 1.5 million visiting in 2019, and trans-Tasman travel accounting for 40% of all foreign visitors here. Likewise, …

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, University of South Australia and James Higham, University of Otago We are hearing increasing talk about a trans-Tasman “travel bubble”, which could see Australia and New Zealand open their borders to each other. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was a special guest at Australia’s national cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which discussed the possibility of setting up a …

Hongzhi Gao, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Monica Ren, Macquarie University When it comes to our economic over-reliance on China, New Zealand consumers need look no further than their most popular big box chain, The Warehouse. The familiar “big red shed” sourced about 60% of its home brand stock from China in 2017 – and a …

Ian Lowe, Griffith University Documentary maker Michael Moore’s latest offering, Planet of the Humans, rightly argues that infinite growth on a finite planet is “suicide”. But the film’s bogus claims threaten to overshadow that message. Planet of the Humans is directed and narrated by longtime Moore collaborator Jeff Gibbs. It makes particularly contentious claims about solar, wind and biomass (organic …

Dave Heatley, Principal Advisor, Productivity Commission   “Shut the borders” is a natural first reaction to an external threat. It makes a lot of sense in the early stages of a pandemic, when those arriving at the border are more likely to be infected than those within the country. But what if that’s no longer the situation? After a country …

Neil Warren, UNSW and Richard Highfield, UNSW Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr famously observed in 1927 that “taxes are what we pay for civilised society, including the chance to insure”. Whilst tax as a price for civilised society is well understood, less appreciated is the second part of his observation – that tax provides a chance to insure against a crisis. …

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra After the COVID crisis, what will be the “new normal” in Australia’s relations with China? The short answer is, probably both worse and more complicated than pre-COVID. This week has seen a fresh low point, with the Chinese government threatening economic retribution in response to the Morrison government’s call for an independent international inquiry into …

Tony Walker, La Trobe University Australia’s relationship with China is fractured. Arguably, this is the worst moment in Sino-Australian relations since Gough Whitlam normalised ties on his election in December 1972. The Chinese saying “kill the chicken to frighten the monkey” would seem applicable in Beijing’s reaction to Australia’s push for an investigation into the operations of the World Health …

Stefan Volk, University of Sydney As governments look to ease general social-distancing measures and instead use more targeted strategies to stop coronavirus transmission, we face a social dilemma about the limits of cooperative behaviour. Consider the controversy over contact-tracing phone apps, which can help authorities identify people with whom someone diagnosed with COVID-19 has recently come into close contact. Oxford …