Why President Sleepy Joe will keep Australia up at night
Anthony Albanese’s conduct confirms he’s a joke, not a leader
Australia and the United States share a history marked by many similarities and some stark divides. Over more than a century, however, our…
Malcolm and Kevin, don’t you have homes to go to? Several homes?
At a time of record levels of government spending and intrusion, it is perhaps timely to consider the words of…
Honk – sorry – bonk if #YouStandWithDan
Logic, Danandrewstan-style. A quick glance at the updated coronavirus “roadmap” for reopening released by the Chairman today tells that even…
Coronavirus is fading, but not Daniel Andrews power lust
Declarations of Joe Biden’s victory overshadowed yet another press conference by Daniel Andrews — not that the Victorian Premier will…
Departures all round?
Shocking Chinese whispers came out yesterday that Vladimir Putin – supreme leader of Russia’s ‘totally not a dictatorship’ dictatorship –…
Anthony Albanese warns the Tsar
Some people have something to say and other people just have to say something. Anthony Albanese is firmly in the…
Aussie winds, republican kite-flying
Today, November 6, marks the twenty-first anniversary of the 1999 republic referendum. Two decades on, republican lobbyists are on the…
Why President Sleepy Joe will keep Australia up at night
It’s not yet certain, but it is looking likely that Joe Biden will be the next President of the United…
How will the Trump presidency end?
Donald Trump will not go quietly into the good night. In fact, he seems determined to leave the office with…
Deplorables don’t riot
For months, the media has warned us that a narrow Joe Biden victory in the presidential election could lead to…
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: 1948-2020
The former chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, died yesterday at the age of 72. In an article for The Spectator, republished here, he wrote…
Joe Biden wins the election
Four days after a (much closer than predicted) election, American networks have called the race for Joe Biden, who has secured more…
Human rights discarded at the Gates of Hell
Dr Chris Williams, of Public Health Wales, solemnly told the BBC on 29 October: ‘Every time you stop and talk…
The demonisation of Sir John Kerr
As we approach the 45th anniversary of the Whitlam government’s dismissal, the recent release of Sir John Kerr’s Palace correspondence…
One-of-a-kind warrior
It was former US Speaker Newt Gingrich whom I first heard describe Donald Trump as sui generis, at a thinktank…
Dig coal, not dung
Hell hath no fury like an environmentalist scorned. Like lead in its saddle bag, Labor dumped its Green policies before…
Structural racism is a fraud
Last year I was lucky enough to spend a year on sabbatical, half in London at King’s College Law School…
The Left: where ‘anti-racism’ has become antisemitism
Finally, the great lie has been exposed. The foul stench of antisemitism given off by the postmodern Left was not…
2019 Thawley Essay
From where I sit in Darwin, the greatest Australian defence scandal of the 20th century was the lack of Spitfires…
On the Vatican and China
The central message of the Christian gospels is love and forgiveness. In various parables, Jesus upsets the strict Judaic laws…
Sean Connery
Sean Connery outlived all of them, those great British actors who came to such prominence in the early Sixties: Richard…
Simon Fieldhouse Mozart Statue, Vienna
Simon Fieldhouse is a Sydney- based artist who has developed a very particular area of expression. Typically, he uses watercolour…
Rebecca
Imagine daring to make another version of Rebecca. Hitchcock’s 1940 film is the version that is bound to overshadow any…
Neil Armfield’s Dream
Benjamin Britten’s setting of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an outstanding achievement. In Australia, we have experienced two exceptional…
Born comics die laughing
Evolutionary theory is primarily about survival but, as Jonathan Silvertown makes clear in this intriguing book, as well as having…
A love story — with clothes as heroes
On the weekly ‘opinions’ afternoons, the public would arrive with carefully wrapped parcels holding items to be identified, writes Claire…
The ruthless politics of Pakistan — and the curse of being a Bhutto
Hours after Benazir Bhutto arrived back in Pakistan on 18 October 2007, two bombs exploded near the bullet-proof truck carrying…
Lionel Barber leaves the pink ’un in the pink
As Lionel Barber recounts unrolling his pitch to replace me as editor of the Financial Times to the newspaper’s proprietor…
A literary scoop: the passionate correspondence between R.L. Stevenson and J.M. Barrie
This book has appeared with no fuss or fanfare and yet by any account it is something of a scoop.…
Sybille Bedford — a gifted writer but a monstrous snob
Sybille Bedford died in 2006, just short of 95. She left four novels, a travel book, two volumes of legal…
Gift books for Christmas — reviewed by Marcus Berkmann
We have a fine crop of Christmas gift books this year, so good that some of them actually qualify as…
Where time stands still: a Himalayan pilgrimage
The region of Dolpo in Nepal forms part of a border zone between that country and China in the central…