November 2024
Vale Tom Hughes: Distinguished last cab off the rank
A giant of Australian law, reforming attorney-general and a powerful behind-the-scenes figure, Tom Hughes leaves behind a remarkable legacy.
May 2024
Reform GST to abolish stamp duty: Liberal MP
Newly elected Cook MP Simon Kennedy says states and territories should compete for housing and infrastructure funding.
April 2024
A governor-general from the Chairman’s Lounge
The PM is truer than he knows when he says Sam Mostyn represents modern Australia. It’s a nation of talkers, not doers.
January 2024
History damns John Howard on Iraq war
Even when released, the cabinet documents relating to the 2003 Iraq war will not reveal the impulses that drove John Howard into a disastrous commitment.
December 2023
Is Australia’s delay on US warship request dithering or prudent?
The opposition accuses the government of dithering. But it would be a dangerous mission, and there are powerful historical precedents.
Ron Walker’s mansion clearance sale ‘as good as it gets’
The auction of the former F1 boss’s Huntington home items had a low estimate of $93,000, but drew unparalleled interest and a bidding frenzy that totalled $419,250.
November 2023
Albanese’s pressing task to hold us together in a fractured age
The prime minister faces growing currents of economic and social disaffection. But is he up to the task of navigating a way through?
October 2023
Vale Bill Hayden, a complex high achiever who helped shape Australia
Moody and often difficult, Bill Hayden played a major role ushering in reforms including Medicare, opening up the economy, and Australia’s engagement with Asia.
Savage Club coup elevates pedigreed artist
David McCubbin’s election at the Bank Place institution has caused all manner of tut-tutting among more respectable parts of the membership.
September 2023
Post-Voice Australia faces a rocky road
Labor’s campaign may be heading for failure, but potential post-referendum pitfalls are not confined to the Albanese government.
August 2023
How a Labor hero allowed himself to be beaten by Menzies
The conventional wisdom that Liberal leader Robert Menzies used the Petrov defection to deny H.V. Evatt the Lodge is a myth, writes a historian.
July 2023
Generation left: why the right side of politics has a problem
Young people are now less likely to vote for the Coalition than to watch free-to-air TV, while older people are less likely to shift from left to right.
June 2023
Australia’s glorious history of policy failure
The Commonwealth was founded through a dodgy deal between colonial politicians, and went downhill from there.
April 2023
Letters: Budgets and a need for balance
Victorian finances; stage three tax cuts; careless use of language; the Voice and Liberal values; bank transaction charges; university research funding.
January 2023
NSW Labor can’t stand in the way of social justice on pokies
It’s the conservative side of politics that is taking the lead on a pokie plague that has alarmed communities and voters.
September 2022
The Queen’s royal tours of Australia remembered
The Queen maintained an extraordinary royal connection with Australia through numerous tours, starting with a 1954 visit that “stopped the nation”.
What now for Australia and the monarchy
Queen Elizabeth was respected and adored. With her death comes questions about the British monarchy’s role as Australia’s head of state.
June 2022
Daily doom prompts politicians to promise miracles
No wonder we think governments aren’t as good as they used to be when hyperbolic media reporting about almost every event is fostering expectations that can never be met.
Letters: Best to avoid the populist road
Peter Dutton’s political direction, skills shortages and immigration, construction costs, teals’ social media campaign, cost of climate inaction, cryptocurrencies.
May 2022
Liberal ‘broad church’ is now an inter-faith dialogue
Robert Menzies didn’t start the Liberal Party to fight for the forgotten people in harbour mansions.