In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
We reap what we sow
You reap what you sow, as St Paul once said. Thanks to Israel Folau, we know that St Paul said…
Ron DeSantis will save conservatism
There is an inevitability to Ron DeSantis’ rise to power that terrifies Democrat leaders. He is not an unstable political…
McGowan’s bid for total control
It is to the 19th century British historian, politician, and moralist Lord Acton that we owe the phrase: ‘Power tends…
The leadership qualities of a long-dead parrot
‘Be careful what you say,’ said my friend, ‘this guy is fanatical about the local colony of parrots and if…
Suing child gender clinics may be harder in Australia
It would probably be illegal for Victorian families to do what their British counterparts are doing, and sue LGBTQ+ child gender…
Howard still prefers Bush to Trump
If you have read The Australian recently, you would have discovered that ex-Prime Minister John Howard does not like Donald Trump. Reading…
We need to talk about Sam Harris
Stunned silence was my immediate reaction to author and philosopher Sam Harris’ comments on a recent Triggernometry podcast. ‘At that…
AIMS reef monitoring the most extensive in the world
I write to firmly contest the claims of last week’s opinion article regarding the annual survey of the Great Barrier…
Sir David Smith’s final bow
With the impeccable timing only senior vice-regal staff truly understand, former official secretary to various Australian Governors-General, Sir David Smith,…
Do we fill job vacancies with pensioners or migrants?
The Albanese government is demonstrating a truism in Australian politics: no matter what party you vote for, you’ll get rapid…
Trump in chains
For all their affectations to equality, republicanism, and the eschewing of class systems, Americans nonetheless respect hierarchical privilege. No ‘class’…
Chairman Trudeau’s digital fortress
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn’t exactly been a pillar of liberty and democracy over the last two years. His…
A mild case of split portfolio disorder
As a one-time senior public servant, I find the debate over Scott Morrison’s supposed power seizure of separate ministries to…
China Rising: taking politics out of national security
[ This is part 4 of a series. Read part 1, part 2 and part 3 ] Part three of…
Good riddance to Liz Cheney
The Left is running the West – economically, culturally, and politically. Even when we have a right-wing national leader in…
Rain rain, go away!
The Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite showed that the greatest methane emissions are from the tundra in Canada and Russia, and the…
ScoMo’s secret dysfunction
Revelations that former Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly had himself sworn in as minister in five key portfolios, namely: Treasury,…
RAF: the virtue of racism
Western civilisation routinely boasts about being the most ‘progressive’ and ‘intellectually evolved’ society in existence. A society, it appears, that…
Queen Elizabeth I was a woman
I’m old enough to remember when girls were allowed to reject stereotypes and just be themselves. If girls wanted to…
Matthew Guy is literally history
The Victorian Liberal Party is very likely to change leaders, again, roughly 100 days out from the Victorian state election…
How the Liberals stuffed up the Senate
In March 2016, the Turnbull Liberal government joined forces with the Greens to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act and abolish…
A bigger problem than Morrison’s predilection for portfolios
We must correct the secrecy and overreach of power seen in the pandemic
Self ID ‘wild card’
The Herald Sun is reporting that the women in the Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre in Victoria are objecting to what they call…
Eat what we tell you
Carbon ratings, meat taxes, and lump sums to allow the poor to 'buy animal products'...
The dangerous zealotry of trigger warnings
The toddlers who attend our sandstone creches to earn their arts degrees – all the while feigning hurt from micro-aggressions…