by PAUL COLLITS – THOSE who questioned the power of the State and were sceptical of its claims were once taken seriously, even lauded – whereas now they’re routinely pilloried by those under the State’s thumb. I had never heard of Kelly…
by DAVID FLINT – PRIME Minister Morrison’s curious accretion of portfolios, in itself no formal breach of the Constitution, raises a fundamental issue exposed by the pandemic. This is the whittling away of the checks and balances on the exercise of executive…
THE COVID State, apart from its destruction of lives, societies and economies, has caused a rethink of our explanations of political life. What we assumed to be the basis of liberal democratic polities, the social contract, if you will, has been rendered…
by PAUL COLLITS – THE recent, unnerving revelations by Politicom’s Sean Burke about unvaccinated Environment Protection Authority staff being forced out of their jobs were jolting for many in NSW. It begs the question, just how widespread are employment-related vaccine mandates in…
BACK in the day, real (State) police used mockingly to call the Australian Federal Police the “plastic police”, such was its reputation for useless endeavour, surplus to requirement, and with toothless capability. In recent decades, the AFP’s most noteworthy contributions to Australian…
THE Australian Federal Police has admitted deploying weaponry to inflict permanent physical injury against peaceful protesters in Canberra last week. The use of these weapons, believed to be a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) – or sonic cannon – has raised “deep…
WHEN he was minister for health, Tony Abbott drew up a plan to deal with future pandemics which attracted international praise. Sadly, the Abbott plan is gathering dust somewhere in Canberra. Where to next? The answer is to develop with widespread public…
by DAVID FLINT ~ HAVING the honour of addressing a citizenship ceremony a few years ago, I told the new citizens that the country whose citizenship they had just received was one of the world’s oldest continuing democracies. Given that we have…
