Alice Grundy

The Floor I Crossed Was Between Fear and Freedom The point.com.au

"I realised then that bravery is not about having all the answers. It’s about making the hardest decision in the loneliest room and walking out still able to look yourself in the mirror."

Senator Fatima Payman on crossing the floor. The first extract from A Time for Bravery, up for preorder now

In one case it could be as much as quadruple! www.instagram.com/reel/DQ8mHWV...

Meanjin was closed – but new Australian literary journals are springing up around the country Literary journals are breeding grounds of talent – including the new Splinter, rebooted Southerly, and First Nations journal Sovereign Texts, launching next year.

The abrupt and indefensible closure of Meanjin makes me ask, what can be done to shore up the future of literary journals in this country? How about funding the arts to the OECD average. That would mean an extra $5b per year.

With thanks to @jocaseau.bsky.social for her ever-excellent edits on this

Did Kath and Kim come from the mother daughter duo in Patrick White’s Twyborn Affair or is that just a coincidence? An idle google bore no fruit

End of fossil fuel era inches closer as Cop30 deal agreed after bitter standoff Wealthy countries agree to triple funds for countries to tackle climate impacts, but deforestation and critical minerals blocked from final deal

"Countries meeting in Brazil for two weeks could manage only a voluntary agreement to begin discussions on a roadmap to an eventual phase-out of fossil fuels, and they achieved this incremental progress only in the teeth of implacable opposition from oil-producing countries."

COP failure delivers a billion dollar opportunity to finally deliver for Pacific family New analysis of Australia's foreign aid spending recommends a more direct way to help our Pacific neighbours, following the failure to win the right to host next year’s COP climate talks.

What if we took the billions saved by not hosting the COP and gave it to the Pacific who we keep saying the COP was supposed to help? #climate

thepoint.com.au/news/251121-...

Photo taken just before the press conference announcing the creation of the bloc.

This morning at #COP30 in Belém, Australian joined a group led by Colombia that will plan a fossil fuel phaseout outside the UN process, with the first meeting to be held next year in Santa Marta. It is the most significant statement AUS has made on future of fossil fuels to date.

Story to come.

We're having the wrong conversation about unemployment The point.com.au

"Our national debate pretends as though all jobseekers can simply try harder and land a job. It is an argument that wilfully ignores the reality of a labour market where entry-level jobs have nearly collapsed." Kasy Chambers on @thepointau.bsky.social today

If you're feeling despondent about the world right now, this is the antidote.

New from Australia Institute Press, a book on what it looks like when Australians are brave with contributions from @amythunig.bsky.social, @amyremeikis.bsky.social, Amy Coopes, and lots of people who aren't called Amy.

Adani have scammed Qld out of $100s of millions and the LNP Gov are fine with that.

Great to see Labor and Greens pursuing this in QParl and the media.

Features numbers from @australiainstitute.org.au research.

Yes! These are definitely people I’ve met

CSIRO to slash hundreds of jobs in cost-saving drive The staff association at the nation’s leading scientific research organisation says the latest round of cuts marks “a sad day for publicly funded science”.

That's more than 1,100 jobs lost at the CSIRO over the last two years.

"Combined, the staff association estimates that equates to cutting the agency’s size by a third."

This is more cuts to the CSIRO than was attempted by the Abbott government.

www.smh.com.au/national/csi...

#AusLit

Just a reminder - even if the LNP had not decided to dump the net zero target, they would still be irrelevant to what the Govt can do.

Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia's future

Interested in the future of higher ed and Western Sydney? You should probably come to this chat on Wednesday in Parramatta with Profs George Williams and Azadeh Dastyari and local member Andrew Charlton (and me)

Copyright is dead. When it comes to AI my property has been stolen all the same The point.com.au

@marquelawyers.com.au with a take you need to read on copyright and AI on @thepointau.bsky.social

The big warning for Albanese in Mamdani’s win Centre-left parties that built post-war success on broad coalitions are being hollowed out from the left; Labor must offer radical solutions that show they’re serious.

Kos Samaras in the AFR last week

"the landlord pricing [Gen Z] out of housing and the property developer sitting on land banks are local elites, not foreign workers. When conservatives try to redirect economic anxiety toward xenophobia – the playbook that worked brilliantly with older voters – Gen Z simply doesn’t buy it."

Back when they armed the police: an interview with Humphrey McQueen - Overland literary journal In this interview with Rock Chugg, commissioned some twenty years by then-editor Nathan Hollier for a monographic issue that didn't eventuate, Australian historian Humphrey McQueen discusses the armin...

We have put a lot of effort recently in making available the entire archive of OVERLAND’s 70+ year history.

In that spirit, on the penultimate day of Subscriberthon we bring you this previously unpublished interview with historian Humphrey McQueen on state violence and the arming of the police.

Big thanks to the folks over at Global Roaming pod for their Aiming Higher shoutout!

In the latest Vantage Point essay, Professor George Williams unpacks the necessary changes to Australian higher education to tackle the big issues of the future!
🧑‍🎓🧑‍🎓🧑‍🎓
#auspol

PM Albanese’s culture of secrecy, in three charts If he doesn’t change course, the Prime Minister may end up leading exactly the kind of 'shadow government' that he derided his predecessor for.

"PM Albanese’s culture of secrecy, in three charts"

Damning work by @skyelark.bsky.social on this govt's secrecy
#OffTheCharts #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

Current Issue In this special issue of Australian Book Review, we look at the future of the book in Australia. What do the rise in audiobooks, Silent Reading Clubs, and Gen Z’s preference for physical books tell us...

If you're trying to puzzle out the future of books as we see more mergers, cost of living pressures, changing habits and the behemoth of AI, you should read the new issue of @austbookreview.bsky.social
You'll find @millicentweber.bsky.social, Melissa Lucashenko, Elizabeth Weiss & me (among others)

Every four hours a gun is stolen in Australia: new research Gun violence has been in Australian headlines regularly in recent months.

The main source of illegal guns in Australia isn’t 3D printers or imports, it’s thefts from Australian homes. And the more guns there are in our homes, the more guns get stolen…but decades after Howards gun reforms there is no national register of legal or stolen guns
thepoint.com.au/news/251031-...

New Australia Institute research shows that the theft of legally owned guns is the cause behind the high number of illegal firearms.

More than 2000 guns are stolen every year in Australia. That’s one every four hours.

📺Research Director Rod Campbell on 7.30

@rodcampbell.bsky.social #auspol

Read it here first kids. Next stop: restaurant insurance

Here's ten articles on democracy & governance that you can read right now on @thepointau.bsky.social:

1/ "New research on proposed FOI laws show it would block access to even more documents" --

Going against the Robodebt Royal Commission's recommendation. thepoint.com.au/news/251007-...

New from your friends @australiainstitute.org.au: The Point! Get the news, fact checks and explainers you need on everything from international relations to climate change.
thepoint.com.au

AUKUS remains a ghost fleet for Trump and Australia The inescapable reality is that there are still plenty of off-ramps for future administrations to break the pledge to transfer the nuclear-powered submarines in 2032.

The ever-sensible James Curran poured some cold water on the AUKUS excitement in the AFR today.

He reminds us of "The inescapable reality is there remain plenty of off-ramps for future administrations to break the pledge to transfer the nuclear-powered submarines in 2032"

"What this Bill would do is make it harder and more expensive for Australians to get information from the government."

"FOI is not perfect, but this bill would make its issues much, much worse."

- Australia Institute Researcher Skye Predevac
#auspol @skyelark.bsky.social