In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
What would Winston do?
The end of the month marks 55 years since Winston Churchill’s death. With an estimated 10,000 books on the great man, one…
EXCLUSIVE: There’s no masking it – coronavirus panic is here
There’s no hiding from the truth. Australia is being hit by a fully-fledged panic over the coronavirus — and those…
Jihad by fire?
Here is a basic question: Would it be possible to assume that deliberately setting fires in Australia could eventually become…
Want to boost productivity? Fix education, stop the buck-passing – and cut energy costs
One thing on which almost all economists can unite is that Australia’s productivity performance for the past dozen years has…
Why I’m over Australia Day
So Australia Day has come and gone for another year. Yet again we had the Lay On the Guilt With…
My delightful Australia Day message from Clementine Ford
I love this country. I am extremely proud to live here and call it home. I will never apologise for that.…
Coronavirus: keep calm and carry on?
Since the Wuhan coronavirus was first brought to the public’s attention, Australian government health authorities including the nation’s Chief Medical…
Forget about “noisy Australians”. What about self-absorbed, obsessive-complusive Twits?
After the bushfires, the Australia Day bashing brigade kept pretty quiet this year. Other than the lunatic fringe, most of…
The Greens: fingers on the pulse
If you live outside Sydney’s inner-west and don’t follow the internecine warfare between the Watermelons and Deep Greens of the…
Don’t tell us when or what to celebrate. It’s our day, Australia Day, January 26
Change the date on this one and it will be a win for those people who hate Australia and all…
Bushfires and the big truths about big charities
An important thing to remember about large parts of the government bureaucracy and the not-for-profit/community sector is that they are…
The six shades of Australian fire lighters
Australian fire-lighters come in six colours – yellow, black, white, blood red, dark green, and light green. All are relevant…
It’s time to end the madness passing as politics
No one who was in Parliament House on the morning of October 3, 1997, will forget when they heard a…
Gillian Triggs is now at the United Nations – UN for unreliable on human rights?
How would you feel discovering that your local or state government had entered into an agreement with, say, McDonald’s to…
How to keep our values in the face of China’s challenge
Australia and New Zealand face a geopolitical predicament as a consequence of China’s rise. How do we preserve our Western…
Forget climate change and bushfires, Malcolm. What about your memory?
So the miserable ghost has been off rattling his chains yet again, this time to the BBC. He’s worried about…
The backlash builds against Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s taxpayer grant
Not everyone is delighted at the news that Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been awarded a $20,000 taxpayer-funded cash grant and residency…
Blunderbuss Bridget’s boondoggle blasts back
Once the Bridget McKenzie grant approval story broke a week ago, it was never going to go away. The revelation…
How activists and media made a tourism industry firestorm
Where the bloody hell are you? Not in Australia apparently. While no official figures are available yet, anecdotal evidence from…
Ten reasons to stand tall on Australia Day – 10 reasons and one extra
As another Australia Day approaches and the inevitable wagons of shame begin to circle, it’s worth touching on the things…
How opponents of vaping aid and abet Big Tobacco
Many opponents of vaping think the practice is a big tobacco conspiracy to keep people smoking and hook more kids.…
Bushfire inquiry No. 58, pre-empted
Politicians hide behind enquiries – their magic answer to all problems, especially bushfires. Announcing enquiries give the impression of decisive…
How good are Canberra hailstorms?
Forget the weird weather. What about this week’s weird politics? Yesterday morning, the Prime Minister did an “I’m in charge”…
Economics: throw out the male, pale and stale and we’ll have utopia. Apparently…
The latest stroke of identity politics disingenuity is directed at the study of economics. In a self-flagellating piece written for the…
Better sharpen up, Scotty. Albo’s in a fighting mood
In recent days Anthony Albanese has announced major shifts in the policy and ideological stances of the Labor Party, ditching…
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