The Bearing

Regulation

Why AI regulation is already obsolete before it's written

Every parliament on earth is racing to regulate AI. The problem isn't the urgency — it's that legislation is the wrong instrument entirely.

Regulation

Senate to think about how to take tax from modern punters

Australia collects $10 billion a year from gambling taxes — so when the Senate debates protecting punters, whose interests is it really serving?

technology

Governments feel the need to ‘prioritise’ AI too.

Victoria has a new AI minister and no transport infrastructure minister. The question is whether that trade-off reflects a genuine plan or just a different kind of symbolism.

Energy

Government expands solar subsidy to larger businesses to fix a glaring problem

Australia's grid already drowns in midday solar. So why is the government subsidising businesses to add more — on top of tax breaks they already get?

Fiscal Policy

Not always cheaper overseas

Australian import prices just recorded their biggest quarterly jump in years — and the cause reveals something uncomfortable about the economics of making things overseas.

Housing

Housing code simplification might actually make more homes

Queensland's planning rules haven't been updated since 2010 — and three-quarters of councils ended up with different standards for essentially the same building problem.

party-policy

The traditional media haven’t been the gatekeepers for a while now

Hanson banned three major outlets from her press conference. They reported the story anyway — and that tells you everything about who actually lost power.

Health Policy

An actual AI benefit could be restricted.

More than 40% of Australian doctors use AI scribes — but neither they nor their patients can find out where the recordings go.

Health Policy

An actual AI benefit could be restricted.

More than 40% of Australian doctors use AI scribes — but neither they nor their patients can find out where the recordings go.

Taxation

ATO struggles to enforce small business tax

The ATO has $35.9 billion in collectable small business debt and an enforcement rate that has more than halved — and the auditors want to know why.

Energy

The common link between fertiliser and fuel

A urea plant and an oil refinery seem worlds apart — until you trace both back to the same gas field and the same approvals queue.

Energy

Queensland’s critical minerals plan skips something critical

Queensland has the geology, the global demand is real — so why are investors still hesitant about the state's new critical minerals strategy?

Labour Market

Less people are changing jobs, and that’s bad.

Australia's labour market is running at its lowest job-switching rate since 1972 — and the cost isn't showing up where you'd expect.

Education

Queensland government leads the AI hype bubble

Queensland has promised a precise 25% cut to teacher red tape using AI. The private sector, with far more flexibility, still can't tell you what AI will deliver.

Government Spending

Audit finds government aren’t good at building homes.

Australia's flagship $10 billion social housing program is three years in — and 96 per cent short of its target. The ANAO has now put that on the record.

party-policy

The real outcome of banning auctions

Banning street auctions sounds like it helps first home buyers — but does changing how homes are sold actually change what they cost?

Regulation

Could the Government sue Telstra for what is said on the phone?

Australia's eSafety Commissioner is taking Telegram to court — but the legal theory being tested could reach well beyond one messaging app.

Banking

Most Aussies aren't getting the offset account savings they think they are

ASIC reviewed 204,000 home loans and found offset account failures at every major bank — raising a question millions of Australian households haven't thought to ask.

Taxation

Full-price fuel is back baby!

Treasury is warning of rising oil price risks — and the government just chose this week to end its fuel excise discount.

Fiscal Policy

The inflation threshold no one talks about: what RBA data reveals about rate rise decisions

The RBA doesn't have a secret inflation trigger point — so why do Australians keep treating one number as if it does?

Housing

Rent-freeze fallacy. Legislating prices doesn’t change costs

Australia's renters are being squeezed by 3.6% rent rises inside broader inflation above target — but the Greens' emergency fix may leave the next renter worse off than the last.

polling

When politicians are 'one the nose' there's not much they can do

Victoria's 2026 election is shaping up as a test of whether twelve years in power is simply too long — regardless of the policy record.

Taxation

Why tax brackets matter more than you think: the progressive versus regressive divide that shapes who pays

Australia's income tax looks progressive — but fuel excise, the GST, and property concessions pull hard in the other direction. Who really pays?

Fiscal Policy

High inflation causes interest rates to rise. Politicians don’t like that. But it’s all you need to know

Most Australians think rate rises make inflation worse. The RBA knows this — and it changes what rate rises can actually do.

Energy

Batteries have come down in prices faster than anticipated

Battery costs have collapsed 99% since 1991 — but the dynamic driving that fall is about to matter far more than the number itself.