Guest notes
London notes
Against common perceptions most political functions are drably catered affairs. Cheap wine, nuts, chips, maybe of the gourmet Red Rock…
Euro notes
There are currently 27 members of the European Union and there are applications to join from eight additional countries –…
Dis-con notes
Labor’s Voice – going down together Appraising Peter Dutton’s performance here a fortnight ago (Return to the Fray, 7/01/23), I…
Dis-con notes
A broad church is needed to win government
CPAC notes
Some readers may recall that a few weeks back I told you about Canada’s new conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.…
Royal notes
Everyone has said it by now, but this changed and confusing world makes it all the more extraordinary. It seemed…
Summit notes
The death last week of Mikhail Gorbachev was an apt precursor to the Jobs and Skills Summit, Australia’s attempt at…
Sino notes
Two weeks ago, the Chinese ambassador to France asserted, ‘After the reunification with Taiwan, the Taiwanese population must be re-educated’.…
UK notes
Would the United Kingdom be better off without Scotland and Northern Ireland? This question arises in the light of the…
Dis-Con notes
Watching results on Saturday night, my chief thought was less ‘Who’s going to win?’ than, rather, ‘Thank God that’s over.’…
Dis-Con notes
In the Australian recently ‘a senior Liberal front-bencher’ reportedly said that voters ‘want to return us to office, but they…
Dis-con notes
How often recently have you heard that ‘Ukraine has changed everything’? It has certainly changed my previously intended vote in…
Euro notes
Putin’s brutal imperialism Putin signalled early during his rule his fury that Moscow’s former empire had slipped the leash. After…
Euro notes
Putin’s poker game If the latest warnings of a Russian invasion of Ukraine prove right, you’ll be reading this as…
Euro notes
Testing times for the second Covid Christmas Those like me inclined to whinge about Europe’s reaction to Covid are regularly…
Literary notes
The new self-effing help books In a bookshop at Adelaide airport last Christmas I saw a well-dressed woman, seemingly in…
Covid notes
The worldwide spread of Omicron Indulge me for a moment and imagine the following scenario. A new Covid-19 variant originates…
Euro notes
Tories all at sea on boats On hearing France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, on why so many would-be migrants cross…
Euro notes
The green zealot in number 10 After opening the Glasgow eco-jamboree, Boris Johnson did something which once would have been…
Dis-con notes
ScoMo will lose, thanks to net zero Last week I focused on the media noise over AUKUS and nuclear-powered submarines.…
Cultural notes
Heroes and villains According to a paper published by the Australian Institute of Criminology in 2020, it would seem that…
Dis-con notes
Two revolutionary ideas to keep our subs afloat In June 1989 Paul Keating memorably said, ‘I guarantee if you walk…
Euro notes
Merkel’s woeful legacy How ironic but unsurprising that Angela Merkel, for sixteen years leader of her country’s once-conservative Christian Democrats,…
Euro notes
App-artheid europe Here’s an interesting thought. Imagine Australia’s state premiers were put in charge of Europe. How would our politicians…
Aukus notes
The lost decade Australia should buy or lease a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to replace the calamitous Collins Class boats…
