Ruled by fools
Forget multiculturalism
The best of British culture has been on display these past ten or so days. We can use words like…
The domestic violence gravy train
Vimala, a retired Indian university lecturer, looked forward to spending time with her son, a Sydney-based doctor, his wife, and…
Our collective immortality
Over the last week many patients – I suspect, upon hearing my accent – have asked my opinion of the…
Until we meet again
Red roses hit the side of the state hearse as the Queen’s coffin was driven from London to Windsor at…
Greens: a masterclass on how to fail at identity politics
Imagine being a political party that obsesses about identity-driven virtue signalling as the most important qualification for Parliament – and…
The most important reform in 20 years
Stage three income tax cuts represent Australia’s most important piece of microeconomic reform in 20 years. From 2024, the marginal…
Menzies 2.0 – starting the journey
What does Menzies 2.0 look like in 2022? No one disputes that conservatism in Australia is in a parlous state…
Ruled by fools
Australia has become a nation ruled by fools. We have surrendered power over every aspect of our lives and industry…
The complete guide to the Queen's funeral
Today, the world says farewell to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. World leaders, including US president Joe Biden, French president…
What the Queen’s funeral tells us about Britain
State funerals say a lot about the country in which they take place – and one of the things in…
How The Spectator covered the deaths of previous British monarchs
To commemorate the 70-year and-214-day-long reign of Queen Elizabeth II, this week’s issue of The Spectator is the first ever…
The midlife crisis spread: why are the affluent so depressed?
‘You are here’, as those signs in windswept carparks unhelpfully point out. Yup. No mistaking it, you will tend to…
Godzone is coming to Oz
Back in the 70s, I lived in New Zealand, (known locally as God’s own country, or ‘Godzone’ for short). A…
Will New Zealand ever become a republic?
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday that her government will not be pursuing any moves toward changing…
Political dystrophy
The contempt in which so many hold politicians is unfair to those with integrity and high ideals. However, the revelation…
A very talented family
What happens when democratic principles collide with cultural values and political self-interest? In New Zealand, that’s starting to look like…
Business/Royalty, etc.
The death of Queen Elizabeth brings some historical warnings as Charles becomes the third king to bear that name. While…
Robin Hood, Robin Hood
When I was a young girl, we didn’t have a television. My parents were slow adopters. But it was OK…
The elites united will never be defeated
D.H. Lawrence was an English novelist, poet and essayist. He was the fourth child of a north Midlands coal miner…
Death by carrot
A private Facebook group about people who died suddenly is growing suddenly. It had less than 10,000 members in early…
How to go to war
The reverberations continue from Scott Morrison’s secret business with serial swearing in to multiple ministerial portfolios. It’s past time for…
Putin has already lost
Russia’s 24 February invasion of Ukraine, writes Philip Short in his expansive new biography, Putin: His Life and Times, was…
‘Quick, somebody call a Diversity Officer!!’
It is not just young and impressionable university students who are being compelled to attend virtual re-education camps before being…
Elizabeth the Great
The almost universal sadness on the passing of Elizabeth II has come as a surprise to those who think the…
A god of fury and destruction
David Hare is the most eminent British dramatist of the generation that includes the man we have to learn to…
Just yesterday
The death of Mikhail Gorbachev last week transcended politics because it was a reminder of how the culture of the…
Where art and pleasure collide
The morality of art always seems like such a simple thing. The Greeks want back the so-called Elgin Marbles pilfered…
His lightning art
The combinations and permutations of different forms of artistic activity are always weird. Stacks of people will want to see…
The sheer tedium of life at Colditz
They say each generation needs its own biographies of Cleopatra, Joan of Arc and Napoleon, not just when more evidence…
James Bond and the Beatles at war for Britain’s soul
‘Better use your sense,’ advised Bob Dylan: ‘take what you have gathered from coincidence.’ John Higgs is a master of…
An outcast in Xinjiang: The Backstreets, by Perhat Tursun, reviewed
Like Dostoevsky’s Underground Man, Perhat Tursun’s unnamed protagonist is an outcast. A young Uighur in an increasingly Han city (Urumchi,…
Back on the road: Less is Lost, by Andrew Sean Greer, reviewed
Get ready for more of Less: Andrew Sean Greer’s hapless novelist is back on the road. First things first: you…
A character assassination of Rudy Giuliani
Lord help me I love a hatchet job, and you’ll have to too if you want to make it through…
The Index of Prohibited Books makes a fine reading list
In a classic paradox of bureaucracy, the Index of Forbidden Books only really hit its stride when its original task…
Mad men plotting: The Unfolding, by A.M. Homes, reviewed
Fifteen years ago, A.M. Homes published The Mistress’s Daughter, an explosive, painful account of how she met her birth mother,…
A translator’s responsibilities are as formidable as a transplant surgeon’s
When asked what it is we do, translators often resort to metaphors. We liken the act of translation to performing…