The Point

Last year, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain decided to boycott the 2026 Eurovision song contest. That was after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the competition, decided to allow Israel to compete. Late last year, hundreds gathered outside SBS’s Melbourne headquarters, calling on them to join the boycott. SBS has refused, claiming that “Eurovision was created to bring people and cultures together through music” and that “making a decision to be involved based on the inclusion or exclusion of any country would undermine SBS’s editorial independence and impartiality”. Excluding Israel would not be unprecedented – the EBU announced that Russia would no longer be allowed to participate three days after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, as its inclusion “would bring the competition into disrepute”. Implicitly, SBS’s decision relies on the idea that Eurovision is an apolitical competition, a space about music and cultural connection outside the context of the world around it. But this idea ignores the competition’s history intertwined with the politics of the continent that it’s named after. Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“The first film’s commentary on the fashion industry’s effect on body image, beauty standards, and the lives of its own employees has all but disappeared.” “In its rush to position thinly-veiled stand-ins for Jeff Bezos and other tech billionaires as villains, The Devil Wears Prada 2 erases the hard edges of fashion.” “The corporate structures and figures which the first film criticised are the sequel’s heroes, battling against tasteless, quarter-zip vest-wearing nouveau-riche men of tech.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“It is easy for progressives to find things to complain about. It’s not because we are miserable, but unfortunately, we are too aware of the realities of life for many who never get a voice, aware of the crisis of climate change, and aware of the inequalities in the system that prevent a better society” writes Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute. “So, when a government does a good thing, we should take a moment to celebrate – especially when it means a long and hard-fought fight has been won. The Australia Institute first attacked the possibility of a capital gains tax discount back in August 1999 – a month before the Howard government made the change.” “The topic has never been far from our minds.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“The fallout from the Supreme Court’s evisceration of the Voting Rights Act continues. War continues in Iran and Lebanon. The President is quickly losing interest. And the rest of us are left with the mess” writes Dr Emma Shortis, Director of the International and Security Affairs Program at the Australia Institute. Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“In a move some described as ‘cowardly’ and ‘strange’, the report on the government’s proposed gambling reforms was tabled while journalists were literally locked up (in the pre-Budget lockup)” writes Martin Thomas, CEO of The Alliance for Gambling Reform. “It reflects the ambiguity of a government that hails its gambling reforms as ground-breaking but appears determined to avoid scrutiny.” “While the reforms themselves are half measures and timid and will not protect Australians from gambling harm, particularly our children, there were some elements that should be acknowledged and applauded.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“The media applies a double standard when deciding which broken promises are forgivable. Peter Dutton’s pledge to hold a second referendum on Indigenous recognition was broken just two days after Australians voted down the Voice referendum. The NT Country Liberal Party broke its emissions reduction promise after winning election” writes Bill Browne, Director of the Democracy and Accountability Program at the Australia Institute. “There was little criticism of either. Rather than core and non-core promises, there are sacred ‘promises to property investors’ and then there are disposable ‘promises to Indigenous Australians’ and ‘promises to future generations’.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

Shares in some of Australia’s biggest banks fell sharply in the wake of Labor’s sweeping housing tax reforms, with economists hailing the measures as a potential turning point for Australia’s runaway property market. Speaking at The Australia Institute’s post-budget Politics in the Pub event in Canberra, Chief Economist Greg Jericho and Senior Economist Matt Grudnoff described the government’s changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount as among the most ambitious housing reforms in decades. Matt Grudnoff said the market reaction reflected growing expectations that house price growth would slow significantly under the new tax settings. Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

‘As the old Irish saying goes, if I were trying to design a better electricity supply system for Australia, I wouldn’t start from here. Australia took a wrong turn in the early 1990s, when it became feasible to build a single grid connecting the largely separate state systems of the eastern states (including South Australia)’ writes Professor John Quiggin, Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland. ‘With neoliberalism at its zenith, governments trusted our energy future to markets, privatisation, and competition. The core of the system was (and remains) the National Electricity Market (NEM).’ Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“The Treasurer was forthright about the costs and the impacts of that war, and about the uncertainty that continues to surround it on Budget night. What the Treasurer was much more reluctant to state plainly was…who did start the war, and who has control over ending it” writes Dr Emma Shortis, Director of the Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs program at the Australia Institute. “That brazenly illegal war was started by Australia’s most important security ally. It was started by President Donald Trump. And President Trump is continuing it.” “It’s not unreasonable for the Treasurer not to name Trump specifically. Why provoke him, when that would only end in unnecessary pain and distraction? We know how Trump responds when allies do something he doesn’t like.” “But while that might be understandable, the actual, material response to that “global uncertainty” is only making Australia more vulnerable to said global uncertainty. Arguably, it is encouraging it. We are fighting the costs of war on the one hand and contributing to them with the other.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“Everyone on Earth takes a private vote by pressing a red or blue button. If more than 50 per cent of people press the blue button, everyone survives. If less than 50 per cent of people press the blue button, only people who pressed the red button survive. Which button would you press?” writes Amy Remeikis, Chief Political Analyst at the Australia Institute. This is the “red/blue button dilemma. “In short – which are you putting a primacy on? Individuals or the collective? Would you stake your life on people caring about more than themselves?” “The response to the overdue structural changes to the housing tax concessions announced in Tuesday’s federal budget seems a real-world red/blue button question.” “The number of people jumping to ‘I’m screwed’ because they’ll have to pay slightly more tax on any potential sale, based on any gain – the profit – they made on their purchase, is as individualistic as you can get.” Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

“Labor are slapping themselves on the back this morning. Well, how dare they,” said Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John. “How dare they celebrate the devastation of the NDIS and the defunding of so many vital community supports.” The Antipoverty Centre labelled Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s fifth budget as ‘the cruellest act of the Albanese Government’ “The Albanese Government has never been afraid of policies that kill people who need support, and the unfathomable size of these NDIS cuts is the most egregious example yet,” said Kristin O’Connell, an Antipoverty Centre spokesperson. Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio

From ‘Jim’s guide to lying’ to ‘The Jim Reaper’, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute Greg Jericho reviews newspaper front pages from across the country after Budget night — and gives each an unhinged score out of 10. Read the full piece on @thepointcomau ➡️ link in bio