by SCOTT JOHNSON – HISTORICALLY, political participation in Australia by the common folk was somewhat “verboten”. The laid-back “No worries, mate – she’ll be right” attitude of the Aussie larrikin at a barbie skulling beers is a caricature but was also normalised…
by ROGER CROOK – NOW that the long-awaited meeting between Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump didn’t turn out to be a three-ring circus; let’s hope Labor starts to address the major challenges facing Australia. This might be wishful thinking, given the…
by FRED PAWLE – COMPULSORY superannuation has been infantilising Australians for 33 years. It’s time we grew up. If COVID revealed that most Australians were happy to outsource basic health decisions to the State, then compulsory superannuation continues to reveal the same…
by PAUL COLLITS – WHY are so many women now leading most of our public-facing institutions and why are they so bad at it? These two questions keep arising for anyone who reads the news. Just look around. The new Archbishop of…
by JOHN MIKKELSEN – WHO’D have thought tax could potentially be an issue for the Sex Discrimination Commissioner – or an example of women’s rights breaking an acceptable nexus between male and female? I know many politicians and bureaucrats struggle to define…
by CRYSTAL-ROSE JONES – ABORIGINAL patients presenting to Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital are given a “category 3” priority, meaning they must be treated within 30 minutes. Former nurse and now-shadow Victorian health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier has called hospital rules designed to prioritise…
by PETER RIDD – THE latest 2025 statistics on the amount of coral on the Great Barrier Reef show the reef is still doing fine despite having six allegedly cataclysmic coral bleaching events in the past decade. There should be no coral…
by FRED PAWLE – The Indian Diwali festival, that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness every October, is morphing into an annual celebration of immigrants triumphing over dim-witted Australian politicians. Our so-called representatives increasingly flock to such festivals in the gormless…
by PAUL COLLITS – I HAD two immediate thoughts when I purchased Tony Abbott’s new history of Australia. The first, was, what a great range of encomia on the back cover. John Howard. Expected. Andrew Roberts. A great historian saying good things…
IF I WAS advising Andrew Hastie, I’d say, when the decision comes down and the Liberals bed-wet on net-zero and every other policy – I’d say, Andrew, don’t become leader of the Liberal Party. This was the advice given by former Liberal…
