Peter Scammell

Democracy: a game of Blind Man's Buff

25 May 2022 4:00 am

This week’s election results should be of little surprise to those who pay attention to trends. I am referring particularly…

Sovereignty to sizzle out on Saturday?

20 May 2022 12:00 pm

On Saturday we are compelled to vote – by law. In Australia, three things demonstrate that we are no longer…

Responsibility on the march

21 November 2021 2:53 pm

Saturday, November 20 2021 should be recorded as a day of significance in Australia’s contemporary diary. It was a day…

Whatever happened to responsibility?

31 March 2021 4:00 am

In 2009, I became aware, via media reports, of the death of David Iredale, a perfectly fit and healthy 17…

Covid confusion and the vagaries of values

17 January 2021 12:24 pm

The covid wars continue unabated, with border closures mid-flight and arguments about whether a cluster is the same as a hotspot?…

Happy New Year and do what you’re told

2 January 2021 2:03 pm

While taking a rare trip one day on a suburban bus, I noticed a very small discreet sticker on the window…

Borderline decisions

11 September 2020 1:11 pm

On June 14, 1883, a momentous event took place on the border between New South Wales and Victoria. The opening…

If we outsource our thinking to artificial intelligence will we also surrender responsibility – and more?

21 August 2020 4:15 pm

Artificial Intelligence can’t come soon enough, especially if one considers the behaviour of some people in the middle of the…

Wattle load of nonsense

2 July 2020 4:00 pm

The following is a summary, as best as I understand it, of the process of rebranding Australia. When reading it,…

Privacy fears over the corona app? We lost our privacy long ago

24 April 2020 2:08 pm

All this carry-on about the corona app is way too late. Worrying about our privacy? We lost that a while…

The getting real we had to have

28 March 2020 4:37 pm

Something had to happen, it couldn’t go on forever. Coronavirus was unplanned but it will turn our world upside down.…

A Christmas Message

20 December 2019 6:08 pm

As a quiet Australian, it seems that hardly a week has gone by this year without someone telling me I’m racist,…

“In any weather you will see us with a grin, risking head and shin”

30 September 2019 6:20 pm

As the roar of the crowd and the smell of the liniment fades into memories, it occurs to me that…