Against ethical veganism
Ethical veganism, which is commonly motivated by the minimisation of animal suffering or injury (an ideology which is often linked…
The sorry sorry business
In December 1970 the then Chancellor of West Germany, Willy Brandt, while on a visit to Poland went down on…
Conservatively speaking: an exclusive interview with Cory Bernardi
Reminding Canberrans and visitors alike that Parliament House is not actually part of Australia but a strange sort of parallel…
Barnaby must go
Like a lot of other observers of politics, I am convinced that Barnaby Joyce, the Deputy Prime Minister, should go.…
Magda’s “mandroid” madness
Remember when they said last year that if we re-defined marriage then nothing was going to change? Well, from one…
Shock, horror: there’s humping on the Hill
Sometimes you need to take a step back from the rapid, racing political commentary and chuckle at the bogus make-believe…
Conservatives as conservationists
There appears to be a general consensus among self-described conservatives that environmental protection should be placed way down any list…
Tanya, what “sexist double standards”?
All over the world, every minute of every day, men have affairs. Women, strangely enough, also have affairs. And so…
Whether it’s Barney or Barbara, we’re the bad guys again
How did news of Barnaby Joyce’s shambolic personal life, dodgy boss behaviour, and the Canberra media contingent’s ongoing collective sidestep…
Trumping Obama
From Fox News: Campus Reform’s Cabot Phillips talked to students at New York City’s John Jay College, reading them quotes…
Even a magic nanny would struggle with childcare policy
The threat by childcare union, United Voice, to strike next month over low wages reflects a bizarre belief that government…
What would happen if church schools closed?
I’m told, on good authority, that bed-time stories in the house of some school principals include a retelling, in hushed…
Baby blues
This is a story about a senior media figure and a younger woman who discovered, perhaps to her dismay, that…
Pardoning the Breaker is unpardonable
There is an awful lot of ignorance about the English-born mercenary Henry Harbord Morant. Morant was executed for murder in…
Richard Di Natale turns pestersome popinjay
The Greek historian, Thucydides, who lived through the Peloponnesian wars, wrote that: “The bravest are surely those who have the…
Screwing the crew
If politics is, as some maintain, Hollywood for ugly people, then lots of ugly people are having lots and lots…
This crash is just a return to normality
It is easy to mock the most strident critics of capitalism, like Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn. It’s harder to…
Civil partnerships for all and the Queen’s swans dying of bird flu
Home Stagecoach and Virgin could only manage to run the East Coast rail franchise for a few more weeks, Chris…
Joan Collins: Want to know why all the Oscar films are boring? I’ll tell you
I’ve been meaning to write a Spectator diary since the summer but as a Gemini with Aries rising I find…
Corbyn is the master of ‘raising issues’ – with no result in sight
Jeremy Corbyn is the master of ‘raising issues’. He received an obscure prize last year for his ‘work for disarmament…
Dire warnings of a Brexit university brain drain? They’re a myth
How to sell snake oil Ex-cabinet secretary Lord O’Donnell accused Brexiteers of ‘selling snake oil’. How do you sell snake…
Letters: Leave Theresa May alone – she’s doing her best
Stop knocking May Sir: I find this knocking of Theresa May increasingly depressing (‘Theresa’s choice’, 3 February). She has a terrible job…
Women’s suffrage was just part of a huge shift in the idea of who should vote
A reader writes: ‘In my last letter, I called you a numbskull. However I should have qualified this with “sometimes you…
Brexit belongs to the Tories — whether they like it or not
The Tory party is the party of Brexit, whether it likes it or not. The referendum was called by a…
Sometimes men deserve to be paid more
It is 100 years since women got the vote and I have been joining in the celebrations, on public transport…
