In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
The left’s exotic Venezuelan romance meets reality
In London’s posh South Kensington on Sunday afternoon I witnessed anti and pro-Venezuelan government protests form outside the Venezuelan embassy.…
Faith, family, violence and the ABC’s smears
I grew up in a family that was, as they say, less than ideal. Not only was it a long…
Why is our national broadcaster bagging our national day?
What’s wrong with the headline below from the clickbait-farm-come-Game-of-Thrones-recap-service formerly known as the Fairfax press (hint — the title to…
Waleed Aly: now nailing Australia in America
I miss the regular nailing. No, this is not a line I just saw on a Tinder profile. It’s an…
Malcolm Turnbull is either condoning bad behaviour or has lost control
How can Malcolm Turnbull lack the ability to pull his own MPs into line when it’s needed? If you’ve got…
Time to rethink tax reform
Tax reform is an important area of public policy and one in which neither major party can hold its head…
“Shocking statistics” or propaganda?
Supposedly “shocking” stats have been released about sexual assault on Australian university campuses. The Human Rights Commission’s nationwide university sexual…
Since when was same-sex marriage a local government concern?
Woollahra Council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs is the latest to join a growing chorus of local councils around Australia to…
“An excuse to celebrate maleness”
Some have already called it a strong contender for the most stupid tweet of the year: That’s quite a call…
Won’t somebody please think of the children!
Most of us have memories of walking to school. It was a small step towards independence on the long journey…
What makes a state?
The New York Post’s recent write-up on the budget allocations of the Palestinian Authority makes for disturbing if not wholly…
Why the Andrews euthanasia bill is all about suicide
It’s difficult to talk about suicide. There won’t be a person reading this who hasn’t been touched by a suicide…
Wage inequality: us vs the bureaucrats
Note to Labour: One reason why the income gap widens in times of slow economic growth, I suggest, is surely…
Why January 26 matters
Symbolism and imagery are important for a nation. They are important as focal points where our history vividly comes to…
Would another Arab state be any different?
In the latest act of rank hypocrisy from Labor, this weekend the NSW and Queensland branches of the Labor Party…
The future of learning and the independent scholar
When the British historian, Christopher Dawson, received the Christian Culture Award in 1951 from a Canadian university, he called his…
No, Premier, we will not get out of the way
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has formally accepted the recommendations of the Ministerial Advisory Panel that he set up in December…
Inside the Hillary book
Exciting news for fans of the president who never was, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yep. The inevitable has happened. She’s got…
Importing China’s poison
There is an engineering company in Brisbane with about 30 employees which used to do a lot of work in…
Everyone hates political correctness: official
A swag of media outlets have run a yarn along the lines “Older Australians say political correctness is running society”…
I’m an atheist and against euthanasia
Some prominent Australians who favour a change in the law on assisted dying seem so anxious to implement it that…
No, men are not more of a threat than terrorists
When does a “comment” piece stop being comment and become a short work of fiction? The answer lies in the…
The (new) God Delusion
Richard Dawkins has discovered that it’s trendy to be an atheist – but only if you are an exclusively Christian…
Gillian Triggs: the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
In today’s Australian Chris Kenny has a wholly accurate piece on Gillian Triggs. Kenny sets out the ways in which Triggs…
A brown coal plan that’s worse than Finkel?
The Victorian Government’s new Statement on Future Uses of Brown Coal, released earlier this month, is further proof that there…