Originally published by the Huffington Post

It’s confronting to consider that in a prosperous nation like Australia, nearly three million people, including 730,000 children, live below the poverty line.

Originally published by the Chifley Research Centre

Wilful ignorance is a powerful state of mind that triggers some pretty absurd behaviour. It stops someone with worrying symptoms from visiting a doctor; it allows a shopaholic drowning in credit card debt to justify buying a new outfit; it makes a cash-strapped uni student ignore the worrying rattling sound coming from their overworked and underserviced 1974 Datsun 180B.

Originally published by the Huffington Post

Almost a week on, the world is still coming to terms with Donald Trump’s shock US election victory. For so many people it was a demoralising result.

Originally published by the Labor Herald.

Let’s not stuff around: politics has gone mad. ‘The Donald’ toyed with inviting Gennifer Flowers to the presidential debate.  Jeremy Corbyn increased his internal majority in British Labour, despite probably having next to no chance of winning an election.

Originally published by ABC's the Drum. 

The Prime Minister has, for all intents and purposes, pulled the trigger for this year's federal election. But while those of us in the political world prepare to contest a federal election, our Olympians and Paralympians are preparing for Rio.

Originally published on the Lowey Interpreter. 

Last month’s Shanghai meeting gave more ammunition to critics of the Group of 20. Its meagre outcomes bolstered the argument that while the G20 was extraordinarily successful in spurring the decisive and coordinated international action necessary to survive the global financial crisis, its post-crisis role is much diminished.

Originally published by Huffington Post.

Are you one of the 690,000 or so Australians who weren't paid superannuation correctly last year? Most of us can depend on our employers to do the right thing and contribute quarterly to our retirement savings, but if you're the one in 15 Australian workers, you might be missing out.

Originally published in the Australian. 

Choice in the superannuation system is one thing, but we have to be careful about who is doing the choosing.

Originally published in the Labor Herald.

We got another taste of the critical relationship we have with our big banks as they recently jacked up their mortgage interest rates. But like them or not, banks and the broader financial system are a crucial part of our everyday lives.

Originally published in the Australian Financial Review. Written with Clare O'Neill. 

Earlier this year, we asked a group of Sydney bankers whether exporting financial services to China was part of their growth strategy. Their laughter was enough to reveal that without language expertise, regulatory networks and deep cultural understanding, they considered the China opportunity just too murky, complex and risky.