These are exciting times to be a reader of, and subscriber to, The Spectator Australia, not to mention being its editor. After twelve successful years since the introduction of the Australian edition of the magazine, which every week combines the British ‘mothership’ print magazine with Australian and New Zealand political, analytical, cultural and lifestyle columns, we have attracted a steady stream of new readers who are looking for well-written, pithy, insightful, provocative and engaging voices in lieu of the bland and humourless offerings of the cloyingly ‘woke’ mainstream media.

As we have grown we have introduced new products. In 2016 we launched Flat White online with its own stable of hard-hitting and thought-provoking writers to complement those of the print magazine. Flat White’s editorial team has a well-earned reputation for breaking agenda-setting stories, such as Daniel Andrews’ omnibus bill and its indefinite detention provisions, not to mention its quirkily addictive Quick Shots, such as this recent gem:

Albo’s rooted. We have never seen the leader of a major national political party do the ‘turning up at the St Vincent de Paul men’s shelter for the free Sunday roast’ look before. We trust Albo had the proper accessories to complete the outfit; a tattered and much-marked copy of Best Bets and a half-empty bottle of Aldi $5.00 wine sticking out of his jacket pockets. ScoMo does the daggy dad act… Albo is dressing like a dero in a desperate bid for sympathy.

Subscribers also enjoy access to The Spectator UK website, Coffee House and Spectator USA via our World section. We also have weekly emails highlighting local and World coverage.

On Australia Day this year we launched an exciting new product to add to our stable in the form of a must-read daily newsletter which arrives at sparrow’s in your in-box. Edited by Terry Barnes, the Morning Double Shot more than lives up to its name, providing an insightful and comprehensive jolt of up-to-the-minute local and international news to wake you up, plus links to the best analysis from the Speccie Brekkie stable around the world and must-read commentary on the major topic of the day, penned by Terry with his trademark wit, insights and flair.

Here’s just a small taste of a recent early morning double shot:

Mr Zuckerberg did not anticipate the tenacity and obstinacy of Mr Frydenberg. When it came to the Battle of the Bergs, one mountain had to be more immovable than the other, and that proved to be Mr Frydenberg…. When a senior adviser to John Howard, Mr Frydenberg had a reputation as being ambitious, intellectually brilliant and charming. But he was also regarded by many as something of a dilettante…. Mr Frydenberg has matured well: his fortitude in the thankless role of Malcolm Turnbull’s energy minister; his leadership as Treasurer through the worst of the Covid pandemic; and now his winning over a fair play principle that counterparts around the Western have not dared fight for, collectively have buried any such lingering perceptions.

If you’re not already receiving your Morning Double Shot, simply go onto spectator.com.au and fill in your email address, or even better, why not do so for a friend or colleague?

And this week comes even more exciting news as we announce our latest addictive product, a weekly Spectator Australia TV YouTube show. In conjunction with the Institute of Public Affairs, Spectator Australia TV is hosted by the irrepressible and talented Gideon Rozner in a weekly one-hour must-watch program and podcast called ‘CounterCulture’, that combines commentary by Spectator Australia and IPA writers with interviews, analysis and fiery debate all laced with the Speccie’s trademark irreverence and humour. ‘CounterCulture’ debuts this week, and you can watch the first episode simply by going to Spectator Australia TV on YouTube.

Increasingly, even the so-called conservative or centre-right mainstream media stare like rabbits in the headlights of an increasingly intimidatory cancel culture, intolerant wokeness and political correctness that only ever favours the hard left. When a senator chairing a committee on ‘media diversity’ angrily insists that ‘climate change is fact, not opinion’, we know we have a major problem with intellectual, academic and scientific debate and freedoms in our modern society.

As your editor, I promise we will always seek to get to the truth at the bottom of the complex and often infuriating issues facing us every day. In print, online, in your daily email and now on YouTube.

If you haven’t already, simply go to spectator.com.au to join us. I was almost going to say ‘join us on our journey,’ but pulled myself up just in time. No wokespeak or trite PowerPoint jargon around here, no Sirree!

And if you are already a Speccie subscriber, allow us to say, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. The fight is just beginning. Yours,

Rowan Dean, Editor-in-Chief, The Spectator Australia