In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.
A month of Pride but no Australia Day
For months – not days – capital cities across Australia were wrapped in glitter and rainbows to service the feelings…
Matt Thistlethwaite: the man with the flag
The British Locomotive Act of 1865 stated: …while any locomotive is in motion, [a person] shall proceed … on foot…
Make civics education great again
The unveiling of the 2003 Howard Government Cabinet records last week is more than just a revelation of political decisions…
Of course test cricket is dying … Western Civilisation is dying
Reports of the death of test cricket have, for some time, been greatly exaggerated, but last week saw the kind…
Time to rethink Australia’s energy strategy
The initial stages of cleantech in Australia were filled with enthusiasm and good intentions, steered by visionary entrepreneurs and venture…
The Royal Commission Australians deserve … this is your chance to have a say
When the Senate Select Committee on Covid handed down its final report in April 2022, several failures in Australia’s pandemic response…
Defence disaster
The Australian Defence Force is a disaster at present… It is somewhat of a paper tiger with a proud and…
In pursuit of health…?
Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘You can fool all people some of the time and some people all the time, but…
No one is indigenous to the Moon
The American-based Navajo Nation has raised an objection to the latest ‘space funeral’, calling for the mission to be delayed…
A splinter in life
My feet had become so white and feminine that I committed myself to walk around barefoot as much as I…
A festival of exclusivity
For many, it was to be a respite. An escape. A place to unwind and be among nature, music, dance,…
CSIRO: tipping the scales on cost?
To better understand how the internet came into our lives, I recommend reading Michael Hiltzik’s Dealers of Lightning and Weaving the Web by…
One Life film review by a child of a Holocaust survivor
The film, One Life, tells the relatively unknown, but powerful story of Nicholas Winton. Nicky is played by the brilliant Academy…
Rebutting Charles vs Rand
I was intrigued to discover a recent piece loosely comparing Ayn Rand with His Majesty The King, and was disappointed when…
Epstein didn’t kill himself
After a lot of ‘will they, won’t they’ speculation, the notorious ‘Jeffrey Epstein’ documents have entered the public domain and…
‘Who’ matters
Perhaps the only positive to come from the Israel-Hamas war and its upheavals is that it has opened up space for an…
Brewing truth: climate doomsayers’ cooked-up coffee crisis
Every day, people across the world wake up to news about climate change affecting their lives. With the seeming randomness…
Bowen’s homemade recipe for an energy debacle
Rewiring the nation won’t happen by rewriting history. Markets work best through light regulation and promoting competition. Government has a…
20 years since John Howard’s renewable energy policy
It is now just over 20 years since John Howard introduced a renewable energy policy which required wind/solar-generated electricity to…
Green Day: the end of punk rock
Green Day’s middle-aged, middle-finger to middle America shows the band known for political irreverence has become politically irrelevant. Once anti-establishment…
The real pandemic
We were told that Covid was a pandemic: and yet less than 1,000 died of Covid prior to the introduction…
Music and the well of human spirit
Amongst the huge volume of online viewing options that dominate our televisions these days, occasionally there are gems that speak…
Life’s too short to battle public health puritans – I’m over it
When I’m not compiling the Morning Double Shot email, or talking on the radio, my professional role is as a…
Clover Moore’s ‘Blak power’ New Year’s Eve fireworks (for kids?)
The ABC has been dragged from one end of social media to the other after the appallingly political and nauseatingly…
The haunting certainties of Australian Digital ID
Of what can we be certain regarding the two Digital ID Bills opened by our federal government to public comment…