Writing about leaders
Historian Chris Wallace, who currently holds a professorship at the Faculty of Business, Government and Law at the University of…
Not camping out
As is the case with one of my favourite Australian writers and playwrights, Louis Nowra, Sydney is also my adopted…
Unrepresentative Victorian swill
Preference trading corrupts Victorian politics
Atomic reading
So you think you know the story of Britain’s notorious atomic tests in Australia? In that respect, the name of…
Blowing in the wind
He’s still smiling but Scott Morrison might not be after reading this revealing book. If he reads it that is.…
History on the side of Barnaby Joyce
The ambush on Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison at his Canberra Press Club address last week was extraordinary. So too…
Ukrainian roulette
The West is paying the price of constant appeasement
Communists down under
When I was a fifteen-year-old student at Melbourne High School, I tried to join the Communist Party of Australia. One…
Josh Frydenberg: the man who would be king
He’s the man who would be king, but Josh Frydenberg originally wanted to be a tennis pro rather than a…
The Coalition has surrendered its key point of political differentiation - debt and deficit
There were a heap of euphoric headlines in response to the federal budget. And what’s not to like in a…
Body politics
It’s my observation that most women come at politics from a fundamentally different perspective than men – as they do…
We’ve got the vaccine, but what will fix our sense of nationhood?
With Covid jabs now beginning to roll out, my sense is that we’ll soon declare victory over the pandemic and…
Twelve months is enough: we need a clear lead from the PM on freedom of movement
In 2019, the last full year before the pandemic, there were almost 22 million international arrivals into Australia. That’s Australians…
Deadly virus kills our freedoms
It has been fascinating to watch how different countries have dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic. Some nations have been nothing…
Born comics die laughing
Evolutionary theory is primarily about survival but, as Jonathan Silvertown makes clear in this intriguing book, as well as having…
Portrait of the piss artist as a young man
Being the son of the revered John Olsen has often been intriguing, and sometimes difficult. Olsen, 92, is arguably Australia’s…
Covid notes
I’m at risk, but I don’t want lockdowns It’s hard to credit in a democracy like Australia, but five and…
This isn’t leadership
It’s time to get a sense of proportion about the virus
The so-called National Cabinet
This is no way to produce sensible policy
Bedwetter’s lament
The trouble with political memoirs is that it’s very hard to get the balance right between the book-length version of…
A smaller man
Never trust a person who keeps a diary. After all, who keeps a diary other than someone who wants subsequently…
Recognising China (for what it is)
Scott Morrison’s recent speech to the Lowy Institute was the most important prime ministerial foreign policy announcement in some years.…
Vengeful pygmies
It says almost everything that needs to be said about Niki Savva’s latest book that its original title was Highway…
Libs must now lead
The euphoria is understandable. After trailing Labor in the polls throughout the last parliament, the Liberals can be forgiven a…
Gladys throws the Libs a lifeline
The return of the Berejiklian government demonstrates that good governments can win a third term, despite self-inflicted wounds. That will…
