Donald J. Trump has been many things to many people over the four years of his presidency. For members of his cult, who have remained astonishingly steadfast and seem even to have enlarged their numbers, he has been an object of adulation. For those unsusceptible to his peculiar charms, he has been variously and simultaneously a clown, a flagrant misogynist, a not-so-secret racist, an outrageous liar, a national embarrassment, a dangerous demagogue, an ignorant policy-maker, an irresponsible leader, an incipient autocrat, and ― above all ― a malignant narcissist.

But while he has always been a boor, it was not…

by Professor John Kane

Trump is said to have cancelled a planned move to Mar-a-Lago in favour of staying in Washington to fight on. He has developed, one aide said, “a bunker mentality.” And indeed it is amusing, and perhaps instructive, to note the parallel unrealities afflicting the current White House and a certain bunker in Berlin in April 1945.

Hitler, after the December failure of his Ardennes Offensive (the Battle of the Bulge) and with much of Germany lying in ruins, broadcast in January that:

“However grave the crisis may be at this moment, it will, despite everything, be…

by Griffith University Yunus Centre

Anchor institutions are large organisations — businesses, universities and hospitals — that are based in, and have a long-term commitment to, a suburb, town, city or region. They also demonstrate that commitment by intentionally using their long-term, place-based economic power to strengthen their local community.

Anchor institutions are vital to their communities because they:

• are often the largest local employers
• own and/or manage important local infrastructure and assets
• procure and invest locally
• contribute to local development, revitalisation and economic growth
• support local social, sporting, cultural and environmental activities.

by Professor Susan Harris Rimmer

In Australia the Commonwealth and state governments are responsible for keeping people safe, and the role of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is to protect the nation. But how these two roles fit together is not always so clear.

After a tumultuous year of bushfires and the ongoing pandemic, we need a more fundamental conversation about the role of the ADF in responding to domestic emergencies.

The Morrison government has introduced a new bill that would give the ADF more power to respond to emergencies. …

On 7 November, it seemed all over. The US election was called for Biden and a major part of humanity breathed a huge, collective sigh of relief. There was dancing in American streets and in hearts around the world. True, there had been no ‘blue wave’ such as polls had indicated, but there had been a wave ― of eligible people voting at the highest rate in 100 years. If the win was not as overwhelming as many had hoped, it was nevertheless a win.

Or so Democrats assumed.

Fears inevitably persisted about the defeated incumbent’s behaviour during the residue…

by Professor John Kane

Both Democrats and Republicans know that turnout is almost the whole game in the present US election. Each have urged their followers to vote by calling it ‘the most important election of our lifetimes’. Their reasons for believing it so are, of course, very different. Democrats have cast it as an election for the very ‘soul of America’, for the survival of American democracy as such. For Republicans it is rather about the survival of the Republican Party itself after an abject four-year surrender to ‘the worst president in US history’.

For many lifelong Republicans of previously high standing, the…

by Professor Scott Baum

There is unlikely to be a clear winner when polls close on Saturday 31 October. But when the Queensland parliament regroups, those charged with governing the state have an opportunity to make a real difference. The difference being to make all Queenslanders a priority.

Coming into the election, 198,000 Queenslanders were unemployed. Will promised job packages mean all these people will have a job? Even before the current economic slowdown 15.3 per cent of Queenslanders (773,000 people) were living in poverty. …

by Professor Emeritus Poh-Ling Tan

Water is critical to life and jobs, and large infrastructure projects tend to sway voters at the polling booth. Paired together, it’s easy to understand why the New Bradfield Scheme (the Scheme) is central to the Liberal National Party’s platform in the 2020 Queensland election. This article aims to provide a nuanced conversation over the Scheme. The major issues fall into two broad categories: policy considerations and regulatory controls to protect the environment. The article then considers the success or otherwise, of drought proofing projects in Australia

What is the Scheme?

A vast engineering project, estimated to cost about $15 billion, it aims to…