Gambling — and losing — on bleeding hearts
Priya and Nades Murugappan, the Tamil couple from Biloela in Queensland, and their unfortunate children must wish they had not…
Press freedom – is the ABC self-censoring to advance its own agendas?
Much has been said about the freedom of the press in recent weeks. There have been several important confabs about…
Kashmir in happier times
In the nineteen-thirties, my parents, middle class, mixed-race Burghers from then-Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, honeymooned in Kashmir. It was a…
Public servants who serve? Ministers who lead? Very courageous, Prime Minister
In 1980 when Laurie Oakes, was leaked the Budget papers in the Treasury car park and revealed his trove on…
A soirée with the Steggalls
Australia is the Big Country. Yet, in some ways, in some Sydney circles, it’s very small. Members of the Australian…
The public service are about to be told: pull your weight
The unexpected May 18 election results sent a chill through the ranks of Canberra’s public service class. Now, the Secretary…
Goodbye, Hong Kong?
I worked as a journalist, both in print and radio, in what used to be the British Crown Colony of…
KBO, ScoMo. KBO
“He’s his own man now, not beholden to anyone or any faction.” The words, spoken mournfully, came from a rusted-on…
With media mates like this it’s no wonder Labor lost
It’s ironic that Labour’s defeat may be sheeted home to some of its strongest, most vocal allies; the supposed national…
Bob Brown’s Adani convoy: an invasive species on the move
Australia has, throughout our history, been subjected to invasive species. Rabbits, cane toads, prickly pear and Indian mynah birds are…
Election 2019: A song of Lies and Ire
The dragons are back – as is Cercei, Jon Snow, Danerys Targeryn, Sansa and Arya Stark and the rest of…
Quit ya whinging, Turnbull
There is a long-held tradition that Australian notables do not criticise their country, its leaders, government or policies when overseas.…
She’s tackled everything, but can Ita tame the ABC?
In the halcyon days of magazines in Sydney in the seventies, one name was spoken with admiration tinged with –admit…
The media won’t tell you, but it’s the middle-class rioting in France
One less-reported fact about the Paris ‘yellow vest’ riots is that they have sparked by small business traders, petit bourgeois,…
Truth tellers, beware
“Tell the truth and shame the devil,” the Inquisitors would say But for some truth tellers, misery – even death…
Paris is burning
Paris burned. The ‘jaune gilet’ (‘yellow vest’) mobs tore through the heart of Paris, trashed the Champs Elysee and graffitied…
Journos are only human, so forgive us our press passes
Journalists are human. That is an undisputed fact, though many in Canberra – not necessarily politicians- regard them as the…
The Mark & Malcolm show
Harold Macmillan, British Tory prime minister, asked by a journalist what had caused the downfall of his government reputedly responded,…
Kristallnacht in Canberra
Peter Witting of Yarralumla, Canberra, 10 years old in 1938, remembered leading his nine-year-old sister to school, past destroyed shops…
Victoria’s secret
Our federal parliamentarians – even Labor, since this is new territory – have been caught off-guard by reports that Victorian…
The Bosphorus option
Failed leaders or pretenders to the throne in the old Ottoman Empire received no mercy. Having failed the test to…
Hell hath no fury like…
‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Or so Lord Byron said – and if anyone would know, it’s…
Bring back those dark, satanic mills
Once upon a time – actually, not that long ago, think the seventies — we actually had reasonably good, working…
At least the au pairs don’t want subsidised housing
A pretty young woman asking a favour, a deputy prime minister pleased to grant it – we’re looking back in…
Sorry, Cory, but I’m giving ScoMo a go
Politics takes unexpected turns. Last week saw a female NewsCorp journalist publicly regret that she had backed Malcolm Turnbull and…
