Politics

  Listen to the full episode of Q+A in the podcast below

Richard Shaw, Massey University New Zealand’s general election is currently set for September 19. Under ordinary circumstances, campaigning for the election and two referenda that will take place alongside would be heating up by now, but the country is three quarters of the way through a comprehensive level 4 lockdown. The first question is whether the election should take place …

Alexander Saeri, Monash University; Emily Grundy, Deakin University; Liam Smith, Monash University; Michael Noetel, Australian Catholic University, and Peter Slattery, Monash University More Australians are worried about the longer-lasting, societal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – specifically that the health system could be overburdened and the country could enter a recession – than they are about the more immediate changes …

Scott Morrison indicates ‘eliminating’ COVID-19 would come at too high a cost Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra Scott Morrison has made clear his view that any attempt to eliminate COVID-19 entirely in Australia would carry too high an economic cost, while Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy says such an aim would require “very aggressive” long-term border control. The national cabinet …

Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Governments across the world have rolled out extensive financial packages to support individuals, businesses and large corporations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Equally, central banks have decreased their lending rates to almost zero, and have announced extensive and previously untested direct lending to private corporations and financial companies. In many …

Massey University’s Suze Wilson explains why she believes Jacinda Ardern’s coronavirus response has been a masterclass in crisis leadership Imagine, if you can, what it’s like to make decisions on which the lives of tens of thousands of other people depend. If you get things wrong, or delay deciding, they die. Your decisions affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands …

There is an ongoing debate amongst experts about how effective masks are when used by the general public – particularly those that are not of surgical grade. This has been accelerated by cases demonstrated internationally where healthcare workers have been infected with the virus due to asymptomatic patients in the GP waiting room. The US Centers for Disease Control and …

Monash University’s Paul Strangio explains why the most perilous peacetime challenge Australia has faced in living memory will make Scott Morrison a significant Australian prime minister. One of Australia’s preeminent historians, Stuart Macintyre, once observed of John Curtin, the Labor Party leader revered for navigating this nation through the dangers of the second world war, that he would have made …

Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University looks at the political strain Coronavirus is putting on leaders across the globe. Leaders of the world’s largest economies came together at a virtual G20  this week to “do whatever it takes to overcome the coronavirus pandemic”. But the reality is that global capacity to deal with the greatest challenge to …

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra Scott Morrison will urge big businesses to display “patriotism” as Australia grapples with the coronavirus crisis, which he warns could hit the economy harder than the global financial crisis. Addressing a business audience in the run up to this week’s stimulus package, Morrison will say large companies have “a huge role to play”, telling them …