The Conversation - Australia

Jim Chalmers is facing his toughest tests since he became treasurer. As he squares up for them, his state of mind won’t be helped by Sunday’s Newspoll showing he is the minister people are most dissatisfied with. But that’s what happens to treasurers when things go bad. Chalmers’ immediate test comes on Tuesday if, as expected, the Reserve Bank increases interest rates for the fifth time this year. He will have to respond to a barrage of questions about how the government will set about getting

Chip Somodevilla/Getty On Tuesday, voters across the United States will cast their votes in the 2026 midterm elections. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate are on the ballot. Forecast models give Democrats about a 95% chance of winning a majority in the House. The Senate is a closer race, but Democrats go into Election Day with the edge. But the vote itself may not be the end of the story. Earlier this year, more than a dozen election officials fro

One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and party director James Ashby have both said they won’t run against Nationals leader Matt Canavan in the seat of Capricornia. This makes it a near certainly that Canavan, who lives in Yeppoon in the central Queensland electorate, will have a smooth transition from the Senate to the lower house. On Monday, Canavan formally confirmed he will contest Capricornia at the 2028 election, following the recent announcement by Nationals MP Michelle Landry that she will retire

Jorg Greuel/Getty Images Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are more widespread than ever, and one of the functions they offer is fast, real-time translation. Some people are even questioning the need to ever learn another language, if near-instant translation is so widely available to all of us, often for free. However, those translations are far from perfect. While AI translations are very fluent, fluency doesn’t equal accuracy. Even proficient bilinguals can overlook errors hidden

Labor’s primary vote dropped two points to 27% in Newspoll, equalling the mid-September Newspoll for their lowest this term. It’s one point off Labor’s record low in 2011. Pauline Hanson’s net approval jumped eight points to -1. There have been three other recent federal polls, from DemosAU, Essential and Morgan. The total vote for One Nation and the Coalition was 49% in Newspoll (up one), 50% in DemosAU (up four), 51% in Essential (up four) and 46% in Morgan (up 0.5). Economic problems are prob

Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of international leadership in improving health security, from nuclear disarmament to pandemic control. But recent decisions – including the outgoing coalition government’s apparent retreat from supporting global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response strategies – threaten that reputation, and potentially the population’s safety. In March this year, citing concerns about national sovereignty, the government formally rejected the latest revision of

GettyImages Two contrasting polls were released last week giving very different indications of what might happen at this Saturday’s election. The Verian poll for 1News showed right-wing parties (National, ACT and NZ First) further ahead of the left-wing parties (Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori). That gave the right a lead of 9.1 points, enough to win a majority of seats even if the centrist Opportunity Party’s 6.3% was added to the left’s total. The right had led by 7.3 points in the previo

Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au. Monday November 2 “Your article ‘Friday essay: forget Big Brother, propaganda is now a form of hybrid warfare’ was sobering. It describes the erosion of democracy, as shared public spaces are replaced by the isolated virtual villages we now inhabit, increasingly filled with propaganda. Yet the author concludes by advocating 'common sense and a commit

Daniiielc/Getty A breath of fresh air does wonders for the body and mind. In some areas, however, the air may not be as clean as it seems. This may be due to pollution or natural hazards such as bushfires and dust storms. If you’re worried about air quality in your local area, there’s no shortage of apps and websites promising to help. But which should you choose? And can you trust the information they offer? Where to start In Australia, the most reliable place to start is your state or territor

An artist's impression of the little brown bandicoot. Nellie Piese / WA Museum A ten-year scientific investigation of museum specimens has uncovered two previously unrecognised bandicoot species, expanded the known range of the iconic quenda (or southeastern brown bandicoot), and reshaped understanding of one of Australia’s native mammal groups. Our new study examined hundreds of historical and modern specimens from museum collections around the world. The findings have led to the recognition of

Will the gnomes kill everyone in the rural Australian town of Nompton? Will Carrie get her revenge on her classmates? Will the traitors be identified? This month, our expert watchers are recommending everything from an Australian stop motion film about a snail, to a new adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, to a couple of feminist dramas and a documentary about the manosphere. If you’re looking for a Sunday film, or your new binge-worthy series, here’s what to watch in November. Memoir of

Phynart Studio/Getty Images As a high school or uni student, you might sometimes find yourself putting off study to do other tasks even when an important assessment deadline or exam is looming over you. This can look like doom-scrolling, texting friends, or checking emails for the seventh time. You might even turn to tasks you usually avoid, such as cleaning, to put off study. After procrastinating, you may feel more negative, guilty, or stressed because you know the task you put off is importan

Ana Klipper/Unsplash, CC BY-NC About 757,000 Australian children aged under 15 lived in poverty in 2022-23 – more than all the people living in cities of Geelong, Newcastle and Wollongong combined. That’s about one in six Australian children, according to the latest estimates from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and UNSW Sydney. But what happens to these children as they grow older? Do the disadvantages of growing up below the poverty line disappear as they finish school, find j

Have you ever gone to your GP to find out why you’re always tired, only to be told to lose weight? Or perhaps you’ve joined a gym hoping to move more, only to be bombarded with messages about “burning fat” and achieving the “ideal body”. These experiences reflect a common approach to health promotion that treats weight loss as the primary pathway to better health. But decades of research shows that focusing on weight worsens weight stigma. Weight stigma refers to negative attitudes or behaviours

In a politically polarised American electorate, it can be hard to find bipartisan consensus on many issues. Ahead of the US midterm elections, however, there is one thing almost everyone can agree on: concern about government corruption. A record 89% of Americans recently said in a Gallup poll that government corruption is widespread, with Republicans, Democrats and independents all in agreement (ranging between 83-91%). This marks a significant increase from 73% in Gallup’s polling from 2024. O

In a politically polarised American electorate, it can be hard to find bipartisan consensus on many issues. Ahead of the US midterm elections, however, there is one thing almost everyone can agree on: concern about government corruption. A record 89% of Americans recently said in a Gallup poll that government corruption is widespread, with Republicans, Democrats and independents all in agreement (ranging between 83-91%). This marks a significant increase from 73% in Gallup’s polling from 2024. O

As each new environmental assessment shows, the impacts on New Zealand’s natural and urban areas are only compounding. The government’s most recent national snapshot describes polluted rivers and coastal waters, declining biodiversity, poor air quality in some communities and greenhouse gas emissions that remain high by international standards. Increasingly extreme weather is exposing the consequences of how we manage our land. Flooding and landslides have devastated communities, while damage ca

Pauline Hanson has accused Anthony Albanese of “grubby dealings” after he offered an extra staffer to One Nation’s David Farley, and the government allegedly held out the prospect of grant money for water, a central issue with the MP. But the government and some in One Nation itself quickly pointed out the offer to Farley is in line with what was provided to Barnaby Joyce after he defected from the Nationals to One Nation. Farley has been left in an awkward position. He has rejected the offer bu

What’s that chirping sound coming through the detector? Did you feel something whiz past? Those are just some ways people react when they encounter microbats for the first time. Microbats are small, mostly nocturnal mammals that use ultrasonic sounds to navigate and hunt at night. They do this through echolocation, producing calls and listening to the echoes that bounce back from objects and prey. Their nocturnal habits, small size and fast flight can make them uniquely difficult to find and stu

Yuting Gao/ Pexels For most of the year, parents teach children not to talk to strangers, not to accept things from people they don’t know, and to take care when crossing the road. Then Halloween arrives, and suddenly we’re knocking on strangers’ doors, accepting handfuls of lollies from them and wandering the streets after dark. How can you help your children have a safe Halloween? Are there more injuries at Halloween? US data suggests children experience more injuries around Halloween. This in