In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
Black gold
Last Wednesday, attentive readers may recall, Prime Minister Turnbull gave a Press Club presentation designed to re-start his government. It…
Revealed: how your taxes fund the 18c Fan Club
One of the most obvious features of the parliamentary inquiry into section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act has been…
The Nauru deal: don’t say we didn’t warn ya
Back in November, just after the presidential election, Neil Brown wrote a cracker of a column for the Speccie. It…
Worst. Phone call. Evah. Really?
It’s impossible to say for sure whether this business about a phone call between Turnbull and Trump is true. It smacks of…
Renewable energy targets? Just say no
How will you be able to look your grandchildren in the eye and tell them you didn’t do anything about…
The Left aren’t just giving Australia Day the arse…
Last Friday, the University of Western Australia Student Guild voted overwhelmingly in favour of changing the date of Australia Day and proposed to…
Youngstown: Springsteen’s or Trump’s?
Bruce Springsteen offered a sombre and evocative description of the toll taken on the typical rustbelt community by decades of…
A new idea for schools that doesn’t involve more money? Outrageous!
An education policy that doesn’t include lavishing more money on schools? Outrageous! That’s been the common response to the federal…
Wristband paedophilia?
If you’re not wearing the wristband, do you really believe in it? It’s an existentially fascinating question in our age…
Borrowing binge raises the debt roof
Scott Morrison returns to his desk this week with enthusiasm for company tax cuts reinforced by impressions gained from an overseas…
Trump is simply following John Howard over borders
BOSTON, UNITED STATES — The anti-Trump alarmism is getting a bit tiresome. At this point, we have to assume the…
Renewables, 18c and the many paradoxes of Tony Abbott
In his address to the Young Liberals in Adelaide over the weekend, Tony Abbott once again demonstrated how wonderful he is…
Murder by euthanasia: a warning from the Netherlands
Once you create a situation at law where killing of another person is allowed in certain circumstances, not only will…
Trump’s temper might just make him a great president
The hope of last resort amongst the chattering classes was that having won the election, Donald Trump would relax into…
Wish him naught as we wave him goodbye
David Morrison crawled away from his Australian of the Year role as he performed it, self-aggrandising, unapologetic and intellectually irrelevant.…
Another wrong note from the Australian Republican Movement
My compliments to the Australian Republican Movement for their smashing new advert. It was heartening to see so many Australians…
Don’t begrudge Gillard her gong
In her Australia Day column for the Herald-Sun, Rita Panahi decried the giving of Order of Australia honours to former…
I was a teenage white invader
I have a confession to make: I’m one of the invaders. My ancestors did not come to these shores with…
What’s so bad about January 26?
This week, Warren Mundine proposed that Australia Day should be moved from January 26 to January 1, because the 26th…
Fairfax celebrates Australia Day
Fairfax is celebrating Australia Day in its own inimitable style. Here’s a screenshot from The Age’s website from early this…
The Order of Australia: still a substandard product
At a conference of the Samuel Griffith Society in August 2014 Sir David Smith KCVO, AO delivered a paper entitled…
Time to expose the public health boot boys and their media droogs
This week the public health Pooh-Bahs opened self-righteous fire on yet another front. A public health Pooh-Bah is a self-appointed…
Forget the Australia Day stunts, let’s just celebrate
Be warned. In recent years it has become the custom to spoil what would otherwise be an enjoyable Australia Day…
But they’re not honourable…
The Honourable Andrew Fisher, prime minister on three occasions between 1908 and 1915, was one of the very few politicians…
Follow Trump: dump the renewable energy target
The Trump victory came with his pledge to take the US out of the Paris agreement on climate change. This…
Editor’s picks
Magazine
Net zero bandwagon’s wheels are wobbling
As Bowen heads off to another pointless Cop gabfest
Trigger warning: common sense outbreak at UN!
United Nations calls out trans threat to women’s sports
