Does Labor have ‘total control’ in Western Australia?

By John Phillimore, Executive Director, John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University

Just before the Western Australian state election in March 2021, the then leader of the Liberal Party did an unusual thing. He conceded defeat – but then asked voters to stop premier Mark McGowan’s Labor Party from achieving “total control” of the state.

The appeal failed spectacularly. McGowan won 53 of the 59 seats in the legislative assembly and a majority for the first time ever in WA’s upper house, the legislative council.

The Liberals, shattered, were reduced to just two seats in the assembly.…

Read complete article

~	How visas for social care workers may be exacerbating exploitation in the sector

~	Why the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service should be designated as a provincial police service

~	Detaining migrants in prisons violates human rights and risks abuses

~	Granting legal ‘personhood’ to nature is a growing movement – can it stem biodiversity loss?

~	Friday essay: Project 2025, the policy substance behind Trump’s showmanship, reveals a radical plan to reshape the world

~	Longer-lasting ozone holes over Antarctica expose seal pups and penguin chicks to much more UV

~	New rock art discoveries in Eastern Sudan tell a tale of ancient cattle, the ‘green Sahara’ and climate catastrophe

~	Will checking character references really help you find the best candidate for a job?

~	China’s money only goes so far – Kokoda shows why history binds PNG and Australia in a far deeper way

~	We spoke to young people about sexual consent. They understand the concept, but don’t always ask in the moment