Boris hints at a ‘no jab, no job’ policy
The most striking moment of Monday night’s press conference was Chris Whitty’s declaration that it was the ‘professional responsibility’ on…
Kamalamania: prepare for President Harris
Kamala Harris was always going to be a most prominent Vice President. When Joe Biden’s campaign called a midmorning ‘lid’…
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…
Joe Biden, the background-noise president
I’m not in the habit of feeling sorry for Joe Biden, but for a few minutes last week, it was…
Obama’s coup
In his riveting but deeply disturbing new book, The Permanent Coup: How Enemies Foreign and Domestic Targeted the American President, investigative journalist…
Our staffer brats are just part of a deeper political malaise
It’s a pleasant surprise to read “The rise of the staffer brat” and see that at least someone agrees with…
Do we really want lockdown to end?
Despite it being highly unfashionable to change your opinion, my lockdown stance has shown agility. For most of last year…
The Australian Open booing: Daniel Andrews’ Ceausescu moment?
That barrage of boos echoing around Rod Laver Arena last night was the sound of propaganda meeting reality. Tennis Australia…
You what, Tanya?
For the Twitterati, it’s just a given. Either Tanya Plibersek or Penny Wong is the righful prime minister. The Twitterati…
Why we need an inquiry into January 6
I support Nancy Pelosi’s call for a ‘9/11-style inquiry’ into the mêlée at the Capitol on January 6. I do so…
WA stink?
The 1980s in Western Australia were heady days. Riding off the success of winning the rights to host the America’s…
Harvard study: reparations for slavery would reduce COVID-19 infections
Throughout the dark years of the Trump administration, brave, isolated voices in America’s richest, most liberal cities needed a means…
Can Italy’s arch Eurocrat save his country?
The world these days is so blasè about the destruction of democracy that no one even thinks it worthy of…
Israel’s vaccine passports could be a model for the world
In early February I received my green-coloured vaccine certification for having two jabs in Jerusalem. Now Israel is rolling out…
Princess Eugenie and the perilous business of baby names
Naming a child turns out to be one of the hardest things you can do. The secret to nailing it…
The terrifying development of AI warfare
The Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in France contains some of the earliest known Palaeolithic cave paintings, including those of lions, bears, and…
Can Labour capture the spirit of the post-war era?
The right is usually much better than the left at harnessing the awesome power of the folk memories that surround…
Vaccination offers us a road out of lockdown. Let’s take it
As an epidemiologist and doctor who volunteered to return to the frontline in both waves, I have seen first hand…
The good news on climate
As I watch the snow blow past my window, it’s hard not to scoff at the idea of a ‘climate…
An infectious history of Australia
Epidemics and pandemics of infectious disease have always played an important part in Australia’s history. Even so, until the advent…
Danandrewstan: where journalists now get arrested
The nation has had enough time over the past 12 months to form a clear impression of Victorian Premier Daniel…
India caged by China’s belts and roads
Joe Biden’s decision to consider lifting sanctions on terrorist-operated Iran has lifted plenty of eyebrows. The Iran nuclear deal never…
The monarchy failed Harry and Meghan
It will be a saddened Prince Harry who will digest the verdict of much of the British media on the…
Inside the Tory party’s China split
Back in 2005, Boris Johnson wrote that among geopolitical gloomsters, China was becoming the ‘fashionable new dread’. They were obsessed…
From the archive: The rise of the staffer brat
This article on the conduct of ministerial advisers first appeared in October 2016. It made such a mark that it…
