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The national accounts, published once every quarter, provide the most comprehensive reading we have on how the economy is travelling. Usually, the direction of travel is pretty clear.
This time, the September quarter report shows a mixed picture; annual growth was a respectable 2.1%, but the quarterly result was disappointing. While consumer spending was solid, most of this went on essentials rather than discretionary items.
What does it mean for interest rates? With inflation running hot again, the Reserve Bank’s path is less clear. No move is expected at next week’s RBA meeting but as Stella Huangfu writes, there is growing speculation the next move will be up.
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Victoria Thieberger
Business and Economics Editor
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Stella Huangfu, University of Sydney
Households are spending more on essential goods rather than discretionary items.
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Sally Larsen, University of New England
Yesterday we got the results of how individual schools performed in this year’s NAPLAN tests.
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Nicholas Coppel, The University of Melbourne
The elections are a clear attempt by the regime to gain legitimacy and sideline the government in exile. But they open the possibility of some diffusion of power.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The industry minister denied Australia’s adopting a ‘light-touch’ approach on AI – and says he’s working to make sure data centres are ‘not a drain on resources’.
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Deanna Grant-Smith, University of the Sunshine Coast; Jessica O'Bryan, University of the Sunshine Coast; Scott Harrison, Griffith University
The music industry relies on a huge, highly-skilled workforce. But it’s often undervalued.
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Cameron Webb, University of Sydney
Insect repellents are the most common way to prevent mozzie bites. Here’s what the science says about their safety profile.
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Charles Barbour, Western Sydney University
The internet offered a world of connection and cooperation. What we got was a world of ruthless monopolies and oligarchs.
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Vaughan Cruickshank, University of Tasmania; Brendon Hyndman, Charles Sturt University; Tom Hartley, University of Tasmania
Playing Test cricket at night dramatically impacts the game, with bowlers thriving and batters struggling.
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Politics + Society
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Adrian Beaumont, The University of Melbourne
The US president’s net approval has recovered slightly from the November low.
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Health + Medicine
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Sarah Hellewell, Curtin University
Here’s what these brain ‘holes’ and the scans that found them really mean.
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Environment + Energy
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James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
A burst of early-summer thunderstorms has swept across NZ, fuelled by unstable air and a shifting seasonal pattern. Here’s what it means for summer and beyond.
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David Masters, The University of Western Australia; David Lemon, CSIRO; Dianne Mayberry, CSIRO; Sonja Dominik, CSIRO
Australia’s dietary guidelines will soon consider environmental impacts. We need locally relevant indicators to support more sustainable food production.
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Science + Technology
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Bram Servais, The University of Melbourne
‘Organoid intelligence’ is still in its early stages, but it’s already raising tough questions.
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Daniel Featherstone, RMIT University; Kieran Hegarty, RMIT University
Cheaper, more reliable satellite internet is transforming internet access in remote communities – for those who can afford it.
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Tristan Salles, University of Sydney; Laurent Husson, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Coral reefs have shaped Earth in much deeper ways than we usually appreciate.
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Arts + Culture
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Will Jeffery, University of Sydney
The horror film genre is driven by sound as much as image. Anxiety thrives not in what we can see, but in what we can’t.
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Jye Marshall, Swinburne University of Technology
Will the luxury fashion house rivals be able to survive each other’s style?
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David Marshall, Deakin University
The actor who plays Hopper, David Harbour, has been the subject of negative press in recent weeks.
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What “youth crime”?
“Your article on the politicising of youth crime is enlightening. Have any of the politicians done a 'value for money' analysis? How much does it cost to keep them incarcerated? What is the recidivism rate? What is the comparative cost of redirecting them to training programs? Politicians are selling an erroneous message and costing the taxpayers. Don’t they read your articles?”
Paul Campbell, QLD 
Growth versus space
“We have been promised for 25 years that overseas migration will solve the ageing crisis but we still have one. We have been promised for over 30 years that we need migration to solve the skills crisis but we still apparently have one. If growth is good (which is questionable and unproven) with decades of growth, how is it we have a housing crisis? What is wrong with one country in the world having lots of space and not many people?”
David Oliver, Oxley ACT
What's "far-right"?
“The article about normalising far-right elements winkling their way into our politics tells part of an important story. It is fundamental that we understand what those people are. Far-right is not the same as conservative, not even the same as very conservative. Far-right is extremism, on the same level as terrorist fundamentalism. To the extent that any right wing party becomes far-right, they leave the Australian way of life behind.”
Kym Houghton
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your thoughts on our stories and each day we'll publish an edited selection.
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Charles Darwin University
Alice Springs Northern Territory, Australia
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