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On the surface, the latest inflation report looks like good news: headline inflation slowed to 4.0% in the year to May. But that decline was mainly due to a drop in volatile petrol prices – nearly everything else we pay for kept rising, including rent, health, education and eating out. A key measure of underlying inflation, which strips out volatile items such as petrol, actually rose in May. As Isaac Gross explains, this homegrown services-driven inflation is exactly what the Reserve Bank is worried about. And it means another interest rate hike is possible. Mortgage rates have already been lifted three times
this year, reversing last year’s three rate cuts. That has pushed new homeowners in particular closer to mortgage stress, as Rachel Ong ViforJ writes. P.S. If you’ve been thinking of contributing to our fundraising campaign, there are a few days left to make a tax-deductible donation. Every gift helps.
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Victoria Thieberger
Business and Economics Editor
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Isaac Gross, Monash University
The latest figures show petrol prices are down – but nearly everything else is still rising.
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Rachel Ong ViforJ, Curtin University
Australia has long romanticised home ownership. But with evidence linking mortgage stress to poor mental health, we can’t forget people once they get the keys.
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Euan Ritchie, Deakin University
The arrival of the H5N1 strain may threaten our most vulnerable species.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The head of ASIO, Mike Burgess, has outlined Australia's security situation in his annual threat assessment.
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Benjamin T. Jones, CQUniversity Australia
Post-truth politics means emotions trump facts. The major parties would be wise to remember this when trying to combat the rise of One Nation.
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Vince Craig, Australian National University; Noura Alzaidan, Australian National University
Nanobubbles are invisible, mysteriously stable, a thousand times thinner than a human hair, and surprisingly versatile.
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Simon Bowmaker, New York University; Paul Wachtel, New York University
The Fed chair who served under five US presidents was more practical and less ideological than his detractors claimed.
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Claudia Bull, Deakin University; Daryl Higgins, Australian Catholic University
New research shows despite increased government funding, Australia’s child protection system isn’t getting better outcomes. Here’s why.
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Konstantine Panegyres, The University of Western Australia
Among the Romans, fathers had complete legal control over their sons and daughters. This included the right to inflict capital punishment.
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Politics + Society
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Antje Deckert, Auckland University of Technology
A proposed law change would introduce a new category of low-value theft. Penalties would affect women more than men and put their daughters at higher risk of sexual harm.
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Health + Medicine
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Morgan Carpenter, University of Sydney; Bonnie Hart, University of Southern Queensland; Ingrid Rowlands, The University of Queensland
People born with variations of sex characteristics have bodies that are a little different to social and medical expectations.
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David Menkes, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Doctors working in palliative care see promise in emerging therapies involving psychedelic drugs, but say many questions still need to be addressed.
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Ria Aiyar, Adelaide University ; Nicolas Reid, Adelaide University
Good oral health is more than having healthy teeth and gums. Indigenous people told researchers why it’s central to their wider health and wellbeing.
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Environment + Energy
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Juliana Neild, The University of Melbourne; Alexander Borowiak, The University of Melbourne; Andrew King, The University of Melbourne; Linden Ashcroft, The University of Melbourne
Australia’s weather extremes are increasingly arriving back-to-back in a ‘weather whiplash’.
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Manoj Bhatta, Menzies School of Health Research; Gloria Baliva, Menzies School of Health Research; Supriya Mathew, Menzies School of Health Research
Climate change is disproportionately affecting remote First Nations communities. Three experts explain.
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Science + Technology
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Neil Lu, Australian National University
For the first time, scientists have gained information from the very surface of a newborn black hole.
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Chris Kirkland, Curtin University
The oldest known impact structure on Earth has been confirmed in outback Australia.
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Victoria’s logging industry
“Re: the ongoing schemozzle and obfuscation over native forest logging in Victoria, David Lindenmeyer and Chris Taylor’s article is a beacon of logic, excellent compilation of data and good writing. It should be compulsory reading for all Victorian politicians. It also highlights the need for strengthening information literacy and statistical understanding in our schools. We really have an enormous educational challenge in schools and in public education.”
Carmel McNaught, Emeritus Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong 
Australia’s adversaries
"David Kilcullen writes: 'In Australia’s case, our adversaries also need things we can control, such as raw materials, sea lanes, supply chains, financial resources or data links.' Who are these hypothetical adversaries? Surely the answer to this question should be the first step in any defence planning. The assumed but unspoken potential adversary is China. No evidence is adduced to support this supposition. We have a strong mutually beneficial trade relationship with China. Maintaining this relationship would be better and cheaper in every respect for China than any attempt to invade or overpower Australia."
Charlie Carter, Alice Springs NT
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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