Thank you, Sir Paul McCartney
We were all delighted to see our old friend Bill. After 27 years of globetrotting, this happy soul joined a…
‘Our ABC’ was, and still is, a disgrace
Almost all my friends with daughters, have convinced me that girls need never go to drama college, as acting is…
Why are we ignoring nuclear? The answer is Bowen in the wind
Right before my very eyes, was a most wonderful sight that stopped me in my tracks. Towering above the rabble…
And the 2023 ‘Voice’ award goes to … the Scots
For sure, if there was an award for the nation that contributed the most to Australia, it would definitely go…
Braveheart re-emerges in Fiji
Experienced taxi drivers are a good sounding board regarding the state of a nation. After some years of assorted opinions…
Sinking the nation
The Korean Ferry Sewol, at 20 years old, had already been on the Incheon to Jeju run for just over…
The diminishing bank of mum and dad
Like many parents in the 80s and 90s, I had a T-Shirt that read: ‘I’M YOUR DAD, NOT YOUR ATM!’…
We can’t afford nonsense anymore
It was instilled into me from my labor-voting Dad, a Presbyterian carpenter with a fairly black-and-white view of life, that…
Only dead fish go with the flow
‘Australia is a great place to live!’ I would tell my audiences. ‘But it only has one major problem, it…
Changing tides: a return to Australia’s shipping industry
From 1851, paddle steamers could transport up to 2,000 bales of wool along the Murray River, with engines that were…
Sea level rises?
Who would believe that the whole world has just woken up to the fact that climate changes? It changes constantly…
Sea life: cruising after Covid
The former Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, probably never wanted to see the Ruby Princess again. Three years…
A lesson for Lismore
The Green anti-dredging cult has destroyed Australia’s ports and endangered riverside towns
‘Bubonic plague’ preferable to union rule
The Christmas and New Year family feasts were still ambling their way through my digestive system when I noted (from…
The leadership qualities of a long-dead parrot
‘Be careful what you say,’ said my friend, ‘this guy is fanatical about the local colony of parrots and if…
Australia cannot ignore the submarine wars
On my first trip to sea as a 16-year-old cadet, I was on the main deck observing the ship gracefully…
The Pacific wants cash, not ‘gifts’
My favourite grandson, Asher, outspokenly declared to me at the age of 8 what he didn’t want for his Christmas…
Nuclear: a powerful future
As a Merchant Navy navigator, I knew the range and durability of my ship were intrinsically limited to the fuel…
Aussie life
Indulge yourself with a fascinating read of Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson’s 1911 recommendation for the protection of Australia’s coast. This…
Selling Queensland down the river
How environmentalists and politicians helped cause the floods
Politicians are talking a lot of ship!
Who would believe that Australia, with 60,000 kms of coastline ranking in the top seven in the world for coastline…
Defending Australia from itself
World War I saw a significant tactical blunder by the Commonwealth countries in regards to Gallipoli where 480,000 allied forces…
ScoMo doesn’t need to go to Glasgow. I grew up there and can tell him all he needs to know
I grew up close to Glasgow on the River Clyde, and from our kitchen window you could predict the weather…
Tasmania invades!
For decades they were the butt of jokes and derisory remarks for being the worst State in Australia in having…
Wizards of Oz revisiting UK
Late in 1969 in Australian ports I was one of the many deck officers in the merchant navy in a…
