Communists down under
When I was a fifteen-year-old student at Melbourne High School, I tried to join the Communist Party of Australia. One…
Josh Frydenberg: the man who would be king
He’s the man who would be king, but Josh Frydenberg originally wanted to be a tennis pro rather than a…
The Coalition has surrendered its key point of political differentiation - debt and deficit
There were a heap of euphoric headlines in response to the federal budget. And what’s not to like in a…
Body politics
It’s my observation that most women come at politics from a fundamentally different perspective than men – as they do…
We’ve got the vaccine, but what will fix our sense of nationhood?
With Covid jabs now beginning to roll out, my sense is that we’ll soon declare victory over the pandemic and…
Born comics die laughing
Evolutionary theory is primarily about survival but, as Jonathan Silvertown makes clear in this intriguing book, as well as having…
Portrait of the piss artist as a young man
Being the son of the revered John Olsen has often been intriguing, and sometimes difficult. Olsen, 92, is arguably Australia’s…
Covid notes
I’m at risk, but I don’t want lockdowns It’s hard to credit in a democracy like Australia, but five and…
This isn’t leadership
It’s time to get a sense of proportion about the virus
The so-called National Cabinet
This is no way to produce sensible policy
Bedwetter’s lament
The trouble with political memoirs is that it’s very hard to get the balance right between the book-length version of…
A smaller man
Never trust a person who keeps a diary. After all, who keeps a diary other than someone who wants subsequently…
Recognising China (for what it is)
Scott Morrison’s recent speech to the Lowy Institute was the most important prime ministerial foreign policy announcement in some years.…
Vengeful pygmies
It says almost everything that needs to be said about Niki Savva’s latest book that its original title was Highway…
Libs must now lead
The euphoria is understandable. After trailing Labor in the polls throughout the last parliament, the Liberals can be forgiven a…
Gladys throws the Libs a lifeline
The return of the Berejiklian government demonstrates that good governments can win a third term, despite self-inflicted wounds. That will…
Abbott – the next Liberal leader?
It might be a little unfair to describe the announced departures of very senior Liberals Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne…
The man the Left fears most
The seat of Warringah, on Sydney’s northern beaches, has never been marginal and has always been held for the conservative…
Clive spends big on Clive
Is it possible to buy your way into the federal parliament? It seems that we are about to find out…
If the Libs don’t represent the right, someone else will
Among political insiders, I detect some relief that the two-party-preferred Newspoll gap between the Turnbull government and the Shorten opposition…
Turnbull, winner?
It may be far too early to declare Malcolm Turnbull a potential winner of the next federal election but it’s…
Opposition to e-cigs is running out of puff
In 2003 Hon Lik, a Beijing pharmacist, developed an electronic cigarette which attracted interest from industry. Decades before, Hon Lik…
Three billboards outside Canberra, ACT
Back in 2009, when Malcolm Turnbull lost the federal Liberal leadership, the feisty Bronwyn Bishop said that the members had…
Re-discovering Cook
Despite an unpleasant resurgence of anti-British, anti-European political correctness, Captain James Cook (1728-1779) remains one of the world’s greatest explorers.…
Australian notes
Shorten must be stopped For once, Malcolm Turnbull’s current travails are not all his own fault. The Prime Minister could…
