Australia is spending $600 million to stop cocaine crossing the Pacific — but the question no one in government is answering is why it keeps coming.

Victoria wants prisoners mowing verges so skilled crews can fix potholes. The budget logic works — but what happens to the contractors who do that work for a living?

South Australia says a two-hour alcohol delivery wait will reduce domestic violence. The behavioural logic is shakier than the headline suggests.

Victoria's new family violence laws close specific loopholes that perpetrators had learned to exploit — but how well does each mechanism actually hold up?