Flat White
What’s to gain from an Australian republic?
On New Year’s Day, the Prime Minister was goaded into commenting on the prospect of opening up the debate on…
Manufacturing climate consensus
Just out, the first book to be published by the US-based Global Warming Foundation is by the Australian writer/researcher Bernie…
Stop this volunteering nonsense now II
Federal MP Tim Wilson has labelled this article by Catherine Walsh from Friday’s Sydney Morning Herald, “peak stupid” on Twitter. And…
Stop this volunteering nonsense now I
In last Friday’s Fairfax papers, Catherine Walsh called on Australians to “stop volunteering”. Why? She believes volunteering is a faux help, not resolving…
Ambitions closer to home?
There used to be rules about diplomatic postings, rules ancient, arcane and complicated. Fluency in the language of the host…
Golden Globes: black is the new black
The stars have all arrived at the red carpet for the 75th Golden Globe awards, most of them wearing black…
The fine art of political juxtaposition
We all have that friend who we hang out with because they make us look better than we actually are…
The day The Sydney Morning Herald turned into New Idea
This is it. The point of no return. There’s no going back. The once-mighty Sydney Morning Herald — and its…
There’s no participation trophy in real life
There has been a trend afoot for a number of years to give people participation awards, particularly to children in…
Where it’s silly season all year long
Boy. Boy oh boy oh boy. Sorry for being so gender specific, so emphatically binary — let alone using the…
Spiking Milligan
7.30’s new Melbourne-based investigative star and Walkley Award winner Louise Milligan reports on “African” gangs: Funny, that. Ah, so now…
Turnbull is not out of the woods
The by-election wins in New England and Bennelong are cause for celebration in the Turnbull camp. Quite obviously, a crisis…
Our major parties need more conservative voices
Less than three weeks ago the people of Bennelong went to the polls to decide their next Federal Member. The…
Another year, another failure to close the gap
A new year typically brings optimism, hope and a sense of progression. However, for the most disadvantaged Indigenous people, 2018…
African community leaders can’t shift the blame
This is how I would like you to think of the growing youth crimes from a small group of young…
Transtrending: the real transgender madness
The concept “transgender madness” is a misnomer. The phrase ‘transtrender madness’ would more fairly represent the madness in question. So…
Will 2018 see GST magic?
Reforming the system of GST distribution among the states – horizontal fiscal equalisation, or HFE – is unlikely to be…
2018 will see modernisation of the monarchy – or its doom
Our Royal Family can either be traditional or modern, that is to say, it can either survive or pursue its…
Republic calls based on a blatant untruth
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Proverbs 26:11 This biblical proverb is,…
In defence of Israel
Gough Whitlam coined a memorable political phrase when he said, “only the impotent are pure”. It’s memorable because it’s so…
Not another postal ballot?
Barely had the last flutes of champagne been emptied, the last fireworks burst over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but a…
Gangsta rap and our African crime wave
In 2007, the then minister for immigration, Kevin Andrews, banned from entry into Australia famous gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg on…
Give us the tools to tackle terror
The recent terrorist outrage in Melbourne, as well as the too-frequent rampages by immigrant criminal gangs in that city, will…
The Week Before Christmas
T’was the week before Christmas And all through the House No person was stirring, not even a mouse. The files…
2017: a year to acknowledge the leaven of faith in Australian politics
With Australian politics becoming somewhat top-heavy with careerist party-hacks and apparatchiks who view power for its own sake as the…
