In Our Place, Matt cuts through the noise, showing exactly how our housing system broke. Drawing on the latest research, he reveals that although social housing tenants, renters and first-home buyers are worst affected, the whole of society suffers in a housing crisis. From the rise of far-right politics to intergenerational inequality, the housing crisis is reshaping the nation.
To solve the crisis, he argues, we need to think bigger – much bigger. Our Place shows how a bold national housing plan could:
- End homelessness by 2045
- Provide the next generation with appropriate rental standards and an affordable path to home ownership
- Create thriving urban centres away from the capital cities
- Place housing at the heart of an ambitious plan for a fairer and more prosperous Australia.
The tools are within reach. What’s missing are leaders willing to rethink the economic and political assumptions that got us here.
Statement by the Monetary Policy Board: Monetary Policy Decision
— Organisation: Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) —Good International Citizenship
— Organisation: Per Capita —Per Capita’s 2026 John Cain Memorial Oration was delivered by Professor the Honourable Gareth Evans AC KC on Tuesday 22 September at the State Library of Victoria. Prof Evans spoke on the subject of good international citizenship. You can find the text of his Oration below.
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Good International Citizenship: Recapturing the Decency Dimension in Australian Foreign Policy
John Cain is one of the most unequivocally decent persons ever to have held Australian public office, and it’s a privilege to have been invited by Per Capita – an NGO which understands better than most what decency in public policy is all about – to give this annual oration in his honour.
I first became aware of John’s quality – his commitment to progressive values, humanitarian instincts, courage in taking on formidable political opponents and total incorruptibility – when watching at a distance the leadership role he played, with a group of Melbourne Labor dissidents, in working with Gough Whitlam to overturn the hopelessly-dysfunctional, dinosaur-Left then leadership of the Victorian Branch of the ALP, which had made the party unelectable not only in this State but nationally.
When it comes to international law, we can talk the talk, but can we walk the walk?
— Organisation: The Australia Institute —Australia is once again pushing for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, alongside Finland and Mongolia, because ‘a safer world is one governed by rules, not power and force alone’. While Australia consistently talks the talk on supporting the international rules-based order, it only walks the walk occasionally.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the pitch for the Security Council with a simple vision: ” We listen with respect, we partner as equals and we protect what matters most.” The trouble is, on many issues the Australian government appears to hear, but not listen to its allies and neighbours. And when it comes to protecting what matters most, the Australian government appears to stand up for international law selectively, not consistently, when it comes to two issues in particular: climate change and US military interventions.
Placid Trump-Xi summit bucks Washington ‘consensus’ of ever-rising tensions
— Organisation: The Australia Institute —On this episode of After America, Professor James Laurenceson joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the latest US-China leaders’ meeting, why the Biden administration’s hawkish approach to China may not be coming back, and what it all means for Australia.
This episode was recorded on Monday 28 September.
Guest: James Laurenceson, Professor and Director, Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney // @j-laurenceson
Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @emmashortis
Show notes:
Trump on throwing a state dinner for Xi Jinping, Mother Jones on Bsky (September 2026)
As fears of China wane, Americans favor greater engagement with Beijing, Chicago Council on Global Affairs (September 2026)
Trump dismisses China spying concerns after reports they provided Iran with Jordan airbase images, The Hill on YouTube (September 2026)
The Historic Value of the Seigenthaler Bridge
— —What’s Really Fueling Anti-Data Center Sentiment
— Organisation: The Claremont Institute —Increasing numbers of Americans are deeply opposed to building more data centers.
Over the summer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro imposed the strictest data center rules in the country, Kathy Hochul ordered a statewide moratorium on hyperscale construction, and Greg Abbott paused new approvals in Texas pending a grid audit. At the local level, dozens of county and municipal fights have followed no reliable partisan pattern. Polling from Heatmap and Embold, collected by the anon Cremieux, shows data center popularity plummeting over the last year.
Though Cremieux argues the opposition is fundamentally driven by NIMBYism, I’m unconvinced. The polling seems to follow the pattern you’d expect if NIMBYism were the primary driver, but posing the problem as a generic national issue produces substantially less opposition. Something else is going on that NIMBYism can’t fully explain.
What’s the point of inflation?
— Organisation: The Australia Institute —On this episode of What’s the Point?, Richard Denniss explains what’s really driving inflation in Australia and why interest rates aren’t actually the only way to control it.
This episode was recorded on Friday 11 September.
More Fool Me: How the gas industry tricked Australia by Richard Denniss, the latest Vantage Point essay from Australia Institute Press, is available now.
Use the code ‘FOOLME’ on a four-edition Vantage Point subscription to receive a free copy of Richard’s book, Econobabble.
Read more on The Point.
Host: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Officer, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss
Host: Anna Chang, Managing Editor, The Point // @annachang
Show notes:
Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP | Bernie Fraser Oration 2026, the Australia Institute
