Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Is the Willy Beach Lifesaving Club set to become Australia’s most expensive?

Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 7d

Three more reasons to object to the proposed over-development of Williamstown’s historic life-saving club:

1. Taxpayers’ money being used for private facilities

2. The ‘Members Only’ fence

3. A footprint that extends well beyond the club’s current fence line

thewestsider.com.au/is-the-willy...

Jason Bryce asks community to become engaged in the discussions over the new plans for the Williamstown lifesaving club.

thewestsider.com.au

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Reposted by Paul Austin

Grattan Institute @grattaninstitute.bsky.social · 11d

Sydney remains ground zero for Australia’s housing crisis.

Our housing policy expert Brendan Coates gives the NSW government credit for acting to get more housing built – and identifies what should happen now.

#auspol #nswpol

grattan.edu.au/news/sydney-...

Sydney remains ground zero for Australia’s housing crisis - Grattan Institute

The NSW government deserves credit for taking steps to get more housing built. Here’s what it should do next.

Under Trump, America’s descent into authoritarianism may be unstoppable

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 20d

Gradually , then suddenly.

Jacqueline Maley charts America’s descent into authoritarianism.

#Trump #freedom #democracy

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...

Like the famous Ernest Hemingway quote, the demise of American democracy has happened gradually and now, all at once.

www.smh.com.au

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 21d

Comedy, power, and democracy.

Steve Vizard rises to the occasion.

#JimmyKimmel #Trump

www.afr.com/politics/jim...

Jimmy Kimmel’s demise exposes how power fears ridicule

Comedy is not a sideshow. It is part of the main act. When comedy vanishes, rulers mistake themselves for the nation.

A step up in action to hit the 2035 emissions target is urgently needed

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 23d

‘This week has been a watershed on Australia’s hard road to net zero. The main game now is implementation, as the spectre of climate change awaits.’

The verdict from Grattan Institute energy policy guru Tony Wood in the Financial Review

#auspol #emissions #targets

www.afr.com/policy/energ...

This week has been a watershed on Australia’s hard road to net zero. The main game now is implementation, as the spectre of climate change awaits.

The Albanese government has finally set a 2035 climate course – and it’s a mission Australia must accept

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 23d

The Albanese government has finally set a 2035 climate course – and it’s a mission Australia must accept.

By Tony Wood from the Grattan Institute in The Conversation

#auspol #NetZero #emissions #targets

theconversation.com/the-albanese...

The target seeks to balance positive action with pragmatism. Achieving it will requires a major policy step-up.

theconversation.com

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 23d

‘The similarly ageless Patrick Dangerfield leaves divots, bruises, and trauma. Scott Pendlebury doesn’t leave a trace. He hovers above the game, popping in where he sees fit.’

Jonathan Horn on Pendles

#AFL #Collingwood #GoPies

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

From the Pocket: they may be old but Scott Pendlebury’s Collingwood are wily and hungry

The Magpies’ core group of self-driven, physically and mentally resilient senior players eat up the hard work to maintain high performance

www.theguardian.com

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 23d

Grattan talks to Grattan.

Michelle Grattan, doyen of the parliamentary press gallery, talks to Tony Wood, energy and climate change policy guru at the Grattan Institute, about net zero, 2035, 2050, and all that.

#auspol #climate #targets

theconversation.com/politics-wit...

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tony Wood on ‘politics trumping climate policy’ and the hard road ahead

The energy expert says Australia’s only on track to cut its emissions by around 50% by 2035 – ‘so we’re going to have to step up the pace’ in the next decade.

theconversation.com

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 26d

‘Getting shit done.’

Joel Deane on Dan Andrews.

Typically insightful.

#auspol #springst

www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/12/c...

What Albo can learn from Dan 'getting shit done' Andrews

Much of the praise and criticism of Dan Andrews — who, like Kennett, incited adoration and hatred — is one-eyed, if not cross-eyed. Andrews was neither dictator nor saviour.

www.crikey.com.au

Why the case for a corporate tax cut is tricky

Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · 27d

The business case for corporate tax reform needs to be rather more sophisticated than just ‘cut our taxes’.

Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally writes for the Financial Review

#auspol #ausecon #GST

www.afr.com/policy/tax-a...

If business wants change, it needs to do more than just call for “lower taxes”. It needs a clear model, a credible way to fund it, and a persuasive case.

Senior Liberal’s luxury hotel TV gaffe

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Sep 10

Dan. Mate.

www.afr.com/rear-window/...

Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan outed his upscale accommodation while on a privately funded nuclear junket.

‘Well off the pace’: Grattan expert slams weak student improvement targets

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Sep 6

The old man could play

#AFL #AFLfinals #GoPies

Rhett Bartlett @rhettrospective.bsky.social · Sep 6

The 1993 Peter Daicos "Hot Shots" commercial #afl

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Sep 6

‘Well off the pace’

Grattan Institute education policy expert Amy Haywood slams weak student improvement targets

#auspol #schools #funding

educationhq.com/news/well-of...

Education ministers have set the achievement bar too low for Australian students, with current improvement targets at risk of locking in underachievement across some jurisdictions, experts from Gratta...

educationhq.com

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Sep 6

‘We’re going to have to break a few eggs’

Grattan Institute housing policy expert Joey Moloney on the dearth of social housing in our most desirable suburbs

#auspol #springst

www.theage.com.au/property/new...

Melbourne suburbs that boast the most amenities – but lack one type of home

Some of Melbourne’s desirable inner-city and south-eastern areas have the best access to local services, but new research shows what’s missing.

www.theage.com.au

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Sep 4

The age of incrementalism

Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally reflects on why big bang policy reform seems so hard these days

#auspol #ausecon #productivity #tax

grattan.edu.au/news/age-of-...

The age of incrementalism - Grattan Institute

Big bang policy reform may be out, but there are still ways to make Australia fairer and more prosperous.

Fixing the workforce gender balance is in everyone's interest - Grattan Institute

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 31

Australia’s workforce is almost evenly split between men and women. Yet fewer than 1 in 4 Australians work in a gender-balanced occupation.

Jessica Geraghty from Grattan Institute shows why this is bad – for workers, businesses, all of us.

#auspol #gender #jobs

grattan.edu.au/news/fixing-...

Turns out, gender-imbalance at work is bad for workers, businesses and the economy.

Local journalists and fixers are dying at unprecedented rates in Gaza. Can anyone protect them?

Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 31

‘dying’

theconversation.com/local-journa...

Palestinian journalists do not have access to the same training, equipment or pay as foreign correspondents, despite the fact their lives are on the line in Gaza.

theconversation.com

The Australian concept of a ‘fair go’ is a furphy – especially when it comes to tax, education and care

Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 30

‘The clear analysis of the failings of the tax system presented by Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally at the roundtable did not deserve to be dismissed by the PM as academic talk.’

Julianne Schultz on the fate of the fair go.

#auspol #inequality

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

For years, policymakers and politicians thought they could square the circle: a market-driven economy with a robust social safety net. But that has become harder

www.theguardian.com

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 30

‘Politicians love to talk about how education has the power to change lives. They're right. But Australia's young people are relying on these leaders to believe what they say and deliver what they promise.’

By Jordana Hunter and Nick Parkinson from Grattan Institute

grattan.edu.au/news/school-...

School report: not good enough - Grattan Institute

Education ministers should lift their ambition for our children.

Net zero: from ambition to action - Grattan Institute

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 29

‘For Australia to seize the opportunities that net zero brings, Australians must feel that net zero is theirs. Something done by them and for them, not to them.’

Alison Reeve from Grattan Institute on Australia’s net-zero challenge

#auspol #climate #farmers

grattan.edu.au/news/net-zer...

Industry policy and carbon policy will be keys to Australia's great net zero transformation.

Picture perfect? How one of the best tennis photos of all time was taken at the US Open

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 29

Photo

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/a...

Photographer Ray Giubilo’s half terrifying, half sublime one-in-a-million image of Jasmine Paolini had more than an element of fortune to it

www.theguardian.com

Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 28

Net zero: why and how

Terrific lecture by Alison Reeve from Grattan Institute

grattan.edu.au/news/net-zer...

#auspol #energy #climate #coal #solar

Net zero: from ambition to action - Grattan Institute

Industry policy and carbon policy will be keys to Australia's great net zero transformation.

Tax reform is not all about hiking taxes - Grattan Institute

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Paul Austin @paulnaustin.bsky.social · Aug 28

‘Tax reform is hard, not least because of the wall of noise that confronts any attempt to improve the system’

In today’s The Australian, Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally tries to break through the wall and put the case for a better tax system

#auspol

grattan.edu.au/news/tax-ref...

Tax reform is not all about hiking taxes. It’s about seizing the opportunity to have a tax system that better supports growth.