In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
Indigenous leasing limbo
When picturing Indigenous land rights and economic development you typically conjure images of remote outstations, the challenges of developing infrastructure…
The stone-deaf politics of #MeToo
Immature argument thrives on one side voicing its opinion, and then shoving fingers in their ears while the other side…
If you don’t fight, you lose
A concatenation of events can sometimes resolve a conundrum, and that happened when, on Sunday, I was watching Sky News’s…
The war on LGBTI conservatives
At the start of the academic year I turned up at the University of Sydney Camperdown/Darlington Campus carrying two corflutes. Printed…
Reverse racism and sexism? They don’t exist!
This sort of thinking is not new, but is now getting more and more widely accepted: So, if you discriminate…
Tariffs and trade: not that simple
The attention attracted by US import duties is important on many dimensions. Alan Kohler, in the process of suggesting that…
Transgender contenders
Sport, from the suburban backyard to the manicured turf of the MCG, has always been recognised as a defining aspect…
Speaking freely on China
Last November, Australian academic Clive Hamilton made headlines around the world when news broke that publisher Allen & Unwin had…
Australian free trade must trump protectionism
With the Trump administration pledging to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports to the United States, the spectre of…
#MeToo, U2?
As Glenn Reynolds likes to ask, why are lef-wing institutions such cesspools of sexism and abuse: The anti-poverty campaign co-founded by Bono is…
What’s Left to like at the ABC?
I was doing some research on an article for what I actually like at the ABC—I think it might have…
The Benedict option revisited
Given a year has passed since the New York publication of Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option, in March 2017, and…
The Victorian Liberals wake-up call
Yesterday’s Newspoll, showing the Victoria’s Labor government of left-winger Daniel Andrews has an election-winning lead of 52-48 two-party preferred, was…
The NAPLAN nervous ninnies
NAPLAN results are out and high gain schools are receiving their just recognition. Yet, critics are calling for a review…
“I’d like to ask a question not about women”
Fast-forward several years there will be no men allowed in National Press Club: rampant sexism will mean it’s simply not…
More hot air on climate change from the ABC
Australian politicians, and the media they fund have been throwing their hands in the air and screaming unprecedented climate change…
Glitter bombs, smashed equipment, condom balloons and respectful free speech at Sydney University
“I think that ultimately a stall like this has no place in a university. This is supposed to be a…
If you want a politician, get a dog
Down in Melbourne we have unleashed Dog Man. The controversial bronze statue by Australian artists Gillie and Marc that upset…
Should people with ‘addictions’ be euthanased?
For all those who don’t think that the “slippery slope” argument is valid, just consider this. In Belgium and the…
Is it the ABC or A Current Affair?
Forget the old “Is it butter or margarine? I just can’t tell!” We’ve got a new test for you. Is…
The Snowy scam, the Donald and death of Australian industry
It seemed too good to be true: Snowy being bought by the Commonwealth from state governments in what appeared as…
A nice night’s entertainment: Kill Climate Deniers
Just two generations back, in the 1960s, mainstream Australian society shunned both unmarried pregnant women and also homosexuals. They were…
The Donald of la dolce vita
It is a historical fact little remarked upon nowadays, but for much of the last quarter century, Italy has been…
Let’s be kind to Dobbin and send him to a knackery
It’s a scene all Melbourne residents will recognise; the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages going by, the sight of red-coats, top…
Mardi Gras: coming soon to a shoppingtown near you
Long before the floats paraded down Sydney’s Oxford Street, Maxi Shield and her ‘Queens’ were prancing through Pitt Street Mall.…