In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
Shorten surfs the Orlando wave
Surf’s up and Bill Shorten is taking off on a pink set he hopes will carry Labor back into government…
The Greens soft drinks tax: illiberal, ineffective, regressive
This Greens’ proposed soft drink tax is not only an affront to individual choice, it would do little to address…
The Greens flag in the final fortnight
“Dear friends,” the invitation email to the Greens campaign launch from Richard Di Natale began. “I don’t know about you,…
Labor can still steal this election
Less than a fortnight from polling day, the latest national Newspoll has the Coalition and Labor at 50:50, while Newspolls…
Get over it!
As someone who managed to move from enfant terrible to grande dame without ever being a proper grown-up, I must…
Australian notes
The pundits keep telling us that this is a dull election. But imagine what it would be like without the…
Brown study
It would be odd if this column did not make some comment on progress in the federal election campaign which,…
The Super Debate (cont’d)
One of the joys of writing for this publication is that it is such a broad church. And that’s the…
Farm
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Alice
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Trans
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Tennis
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Restaurant
The post Restaurant appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Pooh
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MP
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Leningrad Lip
I had intended this week to write about the surprise surge by Mamedyarov which overturned all expectations in the elite…
The Redeemer
The political trigger for the Ring was the 1849 Dresden uprising, when the young freedom fighter Richard Wagner financed the…
Double speak
Tom Fletcher, a young star of the Foreign Office, made his reputation last year when he blogged his ‘valedictory despatch’…
Strange sightings in Essex
I suspect some readers might be too cool for this lovely book, partly because, despite its gothic horror set-up, it…
The folly of youth
Let’s start with arithmetic. Edmund White’s 11th novel is a book about age and ageing. The young man of the…
Manhattan transfer
Good historical fiction takes more than research. Henry James once said that writers needed to shed everything that made them…
Time trials
What are ‘lost time accidents’, apart from something on building-site signs announcing hours lost to worker injuries? In this novel…
The pursuit of happiness
There is a wonderful portrait of Kenelm Digby by Van Dyke. He is dressed in black. His hand is on…
Out of this world
It is London in the summer of 1871. Queen Victoria has just opened the Royal Albert Hall in memory of…
Split decision
In 1992 I wrote a column that was published under the headline ‘It’s Time to Split the Tate’. To my…
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