In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
What Men’s Sheds and the Gay Games have in common
Recently, I was one of four female panellists at a Menzies Research Centre event in Melbourne. Our discussion point was…
‘We’ll get you there, though some people may die’
Like-a-Virgin Airlines has launched a new advertising campaign to encourage people to travel overseas despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The “We’ll…
Australian political journalism is crap
‘The Coalition has abandoned debt and deficit in a monumental shift to its political narrative.’ That’s the refrain we’ve basically…
The woke comes preassembled at IKEA
For those of us who are still sane, we fully expect the lunar left to doggedly push ever more insanity…
Stop the shaming of boys in schools
Another week, another shaming of boys in schools. Last Monday a teacher at Como Secondary College in Perth stormed into a change room…
Auntie’s fudge
I saw this on Twitter. It led me to a Guardian piece: ABC demands rightwing thinktank correct ‘misleading’ claims on public…
WA Labor’s cynical power grab
I grew up in a small town in regional Western harvesAustralia. When I was a kid, we had a doctor in…
Thanks, Joe Biden
Is there no end to the litany of cock-ups that can be laid at the feet of the 46th President of the United States of…
How accurate are PCR tests?
With the revelation that passengers were barred from boarding the first repatriation flight to Australia from India on the basis of…
Spectator Australia TV: The budget horrow show
Today on Counter Culture we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the horror show that is this week’s…
Towards a kinder, woker Queensland Police
Criminals have described a decision to scrap gender quotas designed to get more women into the Queensland Police Force as…
Throw another bundle of banknotes on the barbie
If I may plagiarise Anthony Albanese — who plagiarised Michael Douglas in The American President — “In Australia, we have…
Tough love: we are letting ourselves get really dumb.
A regular series of rules for life by Pete Shmigel, a former senior state and federal political advisor and CEO…
Why does the Left keep making the same mistake?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It’s a cliché and it’s misattributed…
No, the government can’t sprinkle sherbet on everything
I love the federal budget. And I’m unapologetic about it. But there is one part of budget week that annoys me…
Adam Bandt’s drink problem
Is this why is Adam Bandt in parliament? Because he failed as a sommelier? One might think so from his…
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…
The World Health Organisation had one job…
A review of the initial response to the Wuhan virus by an independent panel, co-chaired by former New Zealand prime…
The age of entitlement is back
I want to share with you the two best pieces of analysis about the 2021-22 federal budget delivered last night…
How even Xi Jinping gets something this budget
In all the lists of budget winners and losers, one name has been missing: Xi Jinping. Yet China’s President for…
What’s going on in our universities? Don’t ask
If you’re lucky enough not to receive the daily briefing from The Conversation website, that showcase for the creme of…
Battlelines
There can be little doubt that last night’s budget sets the stage for an election before the end of the…
Oh my Josh, it’s the Oprah budget
Pop culture obsessives will never forget the famous episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show where the queen of America gave…
Generation Z: Stalin’s little helpers
Gen Z are the source of Cancel Culture. They are the generation that pride themselves on a heightened state of…
Daniel Andrews and hotel quarantine: the case for the prosecution
We’re at the stage where another day is almost guaranteed to reveal another disaster for Victoria’s hotel quarantine scheme; another…
