Dominic O’Sullivan, Charles Sturt University It looked just like any posed political picture. The politician, in this case the National Party’s newly elected leader, Todd Muller, standing by a bookcase. So far so normal. It wasn’t even a new photo. Except that clearly visible in the lower left-hand corner was a powerful piece of political symbolism – a red Make …

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra Scott Morrison says it is vital to get the Australian economy “out of ICU” and “off the medication” of government support “before it becomes too accustomed to it”. In speech on his government’s plans to reset economic growth over the next three to five years, Morrison says, “We must enable our businesses to earn our …

Rory Horner, University of Manchester The biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, known as “big pharma”, are American and European. The top five are Pfizer (US), Roche, Novartis (both Swiss), Merck (US) and GlaxoSmithKline (UK). Yet these companies – and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole – rely on global supply chains. And China and India play key roles in …