THE dust is just starting to settle on a federal election won by a Labor Party that stood on a platform of climate change, cost of living, gender equity, and building Australia's skills base.
Given the looming commodities shock, rising interest rates and inflationary pressures, the May 21 election is increasingly looking like a contest worth losing.
The third Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change review of climate science was released just one week before the start of the federal election campaign, and it makes for sobering reading.
The federal budget includes $1.6 billion in tax relief to small businesses, encouraging investment in technology and training, but some opportunities were missed.