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Kate Macdonald

Associate Professor, Political Science, The University of Melbourne
I joined the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne in January 2009. Before coming to Melbourne, I did my DPhil in the Department of International Development at Oxford (jointly supervised in the Department of Politics and International Relations), and I worked as a Fellow of Government (Global Politics) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the Australian National University and a Research Officer at the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University.

My research focuses on transnational governance and accountability systems, especially in relation to transnational business regulation, and accountability in the international development sector. I have conducted research and consultancy work on these topics for a range of Australian and international organisations including the Forest Stewardship Council, Amnesty International, ActionAid Australia, Oxfam Australia and the UK’s Corporate Responsibility Coalition, and I am currently on the advisory board of the Jubilee Australia Research Foundation.

Economy

US-Iran Ceasefire Deal Extends Peace Talks and Eases Oil Trade Restrictions

The United States and Iran have reached an interim agreement aimed at extending peace efforts in the Middle East and reducing tensions following months of conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that the deal...

Japan Trade Deficit Narrows as Exports Surge in May

Japans trade deficit narrowed more than expected in May as strong export growth continued to support the countrys economy, driven by steady demand from key markets including the United States and China. According to...

Dollar Slips as U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Optimism Boosts Risk Appetite Ahead of Fed Decision

The U.S. dollar edged lower on Tuesday, extending its losing streak to a fourth consecutive session as investor sentiment improved on growing expectations of a peace agreement between the United States and Iran. Market...

Gold Holds Gains as Oil Prices Retreat and Fed Decision Looms

Gold prices edged higher on Tuesday as declining oil prices and growing optimism over a potential U.S.-Iran peace agreement supported investor sentiment. However, gains remained limited as markets awaited the Federal...

Oil Prices Recover Slightly as U.S. Crude Inventories Fall, But Iran Deal Caps Gains

Oil prices moved modestly higher during Asian trading on Wednesday, recovering slightly from sharp losses in the previous session. However, crude prices remained near three-month lows as investors continued to assess the...

Politics

G7 Explores AI Access Deal With U.S. Amid Anthropic Restrictions

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations are discussing a proposal that could give selected trusted partners access to advanced artificial intelligence models developed by U.S. companies such as Anthropic, according to...

Trump Invokes Defense Production Act to Boost U.S. Weapons Manufacturing

U.S. President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) to address growing challenges in the countrys weapons manufacturing sector, according to a memorandum released on Tuesday. The move aims to...

Lee Jae Myung Urges Trump to Lead Peaceful Efforts on North Korea at G7 Summit

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on U.S. President Donald Trump to take a leading role in pursuing a peaceful resolution to tensions with North Korea during a brief conversation at the Group of Seven (G7) summit...

Trump Open to Congressional Review of Iran Deal as Lawmakers Seek Details

U.S. President Donald Trump said he is willing to submit his proposed agreement with Iran to Congress for review, responding to growing pressure from lawmakers who say they have received little information about the...

Trump Urges Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal as G7 Leaders See New Hope for Ending War

U.S. President Donald Trump called on Russia to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine following what he described as a very good meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains,...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Trump Administration Delays DeepSeek and CXMT Trade Blacklist Designations Amid U.S.-China Tensions

The Trump administration has postponed plans to add Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek and memory chip manufacturer ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) to the U.S. Commerce Departments Entity List, according...

SpaceX Surpasses Amazon in Market Value as Post-IPO Rally Accelerates

SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) continued its remarkable post-IPO surge on Tuesday, climbing 4.83% to close at $201.80 per share and pushing its market capitalization to approximately $2.65 trillion. The milestone allowed SpaceX to...

Microsoft Taps AWS to Support GitHub Amid AI Coding Boom

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is reportedly turning to Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), to help address growing infrastructure demands at GitHub as AI-powered software development...

SoftBank Vision Fund CFO Navneet Govil to Exit After Decade-Long Tenure

SoftBank Groups Vision Fund investment division is set to undergo a key leadership change as Navneet Govil, Chief Financial Officer of SoftBank Investment Advisors, prepares to leave the company after nearly a decade,...

OpenAI's $34B Spending Pushes AI Market Leadership Ahead of IPO

OpenAI invested approximately $34 billion in 2025 as it intensified efforts to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence market ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO), according...