Point of no returnbull
The first duty of a leader is to keep the team together. This is Malcolm Turnbull’s biggest failure. The federal…
Verwoerd looking
The late Allister Sparks (1933-2016), veteran political reporter and book author, in the year before he died, reflected on some…
Low life
Up on the fifth floor the wind was like thunder. Wild gusts shook the window glass so violently I thought…
Clichés
The most tired cliché in English, suggests Orin Hargraves, the American philologist, is at the end of the day. I’ve…
Real life
Last night, I had dinner at the M25 services. I don’t mean I stopped for a break mid-journey. I mean…
Democratic notes
Young Liberals let us all rejoice, for we are young (and free?) Well, when I found out I was speaking…
Portrait of the week
Home Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, urged colleagues to make the case for ‘sound money’; he said, ‘We…
“Guten tag! Welcome to Hamburg!”
“Really Lucy, it’s quite frustrating. I was hoping to get away … get away from we-know-who and his rants, I…
The Donald delivers the speech we’ve been waiting for
Aficionados of The Spectator will know that entries in the 2017 Thawley Competition have opened, with a tasty $5000 prize…
Is Turnbull planning a lightning strike against Abbott?
The Tony Abbott insurrection against the moderate overlords of the parliamentary Liberal party continues. ‘I am a member of the…
Julia Gillard, you’re fired
It was ridiculous before it began: then she began and it spiralled into something hideously currish. Julia Gillard is not…
Does losing faith in religion really mark a new dark ages?
There are so many things that we lose on our passage through life: innocence, virginity, youth, looks, patience, temper, love,…
Gratuitous advice from a humble Liberal branch member
Dear Malcolm As a conservative member of the Liberal Party, I want you to succeed. I genuinely do. The alternative…
Gillard’s Trump Twitter claim leaves mental health lobby beyond blue
Newly appointed Beyond Blue chair Julia Gillard is already embroiled in controversy. Discussing Donald Trump’s Twitter habits on ABC’s Lateline,…
Letters
The wrong choice Sir: Sebastian Vella’s new-found interest in politics is to be commended, but he has made the wrong…
no. 464
Black to play. This is a position from Carlsen–Vachier–Lagrave, Paris blitz 2017. Carlsen was winning this game but has just…
Repo women
Aren’t you getting a little sick of the white cube? I am. I realised how sick last week after blundering…
Judgment of Paris
This year’s Grand Chess Tour started in Paris, continues in Leuven (Belgium) and will go on to St Louis and…
Male suicide has nothing to do with politics. Apparently…
The Sydney Morning Herald has been quick to report a half-yearly update on domestic violence. In a blizzard of statistics, there…
Dear Prince Harry, about those worries…
Last week I was detailing to my uncle the current Prince’s malaise with his occupation, my uncle replied with at…
Multiculturalism as a weapon
For most average people in the street, including most of the ordinary proponents of it, multiculturalism simply means more of…
Football violence is a crime
It’s time to stop pretending in Australia in the twenty-first century that an assault on the football field is anything…
If only Trump were Australian
Amongst the recent brouhaha about US President Trump’s late-night tweeting habits, a lot of people missed a major speech he…
