The dire outlook should prompt the Treasurer to take drastic steps to turn around the economy, but there’s little faith he has the guts to do what must be done.
MARK RILEY: Donald Trump started the war in Iran, but Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers will wear the blame for the pounding it is unleashing on the Australian economy.
The difference between serious industrial policy and the approach currently fashionable in Canberra is the difference between protecting national capability and pursuing political symbolism.
In Iran I fear we may be retreating even further from the principles we once proclaimed, loosening the shackles that civilised nations place on themselves to protect our shared humanity.
It seems unthinkable that we would refuse a US request as it takes on the burden of a war. So why won’t the Government tell us what the US wants and what we have done about it?