Conservatism in Australia is indeed in crisis. The reputation of its two constitutive institutions - the churches and the banks - have been greatly tarnished by royal commissions, just as another royal commission has failed to discredit the trade union movement. Climate science and the population's growing environmental awareness have also pulled the rug from under yet another pillar of conservatism: extractive industries, especially coal mining, on which the country's wealth depends.
Some time ago, I wrote a piece about how the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) was being ‘dumbed down’, as part of a process which will end with the organisation being…
Angela Williamson used to work for Cricket Australia (CA) as the manager of public policy and government relations, but she was sacked for tweeting in support of abortion reform in…
Given the Turnbull government’s attitude to energy generation, the name of the department that hosts the energy.gov.au website is oxymoronic in that it is the Department of the Environment and Energy….
Since the five by-elections held last weekend, the Murdoch ‘ruperters’ seem to have lost their minds completely. They seemingly cannot believe their numerous ‘Kill Bill’ stories had little or no…
After Georgina Downer’s defeat in the Mayo by-election last Saturday, Alexander Downer, Gerorgina’s father, spat the dummy and said that Ms Sharkie’s supporters had brought “horrible hate to our district”…
Now that I have calmed down, I feel I can write this without launching into expletives. It is easy to understand a sociopath like Peter Dutton using the dog-whistle to…
In March, after the self-absorbed, venal nature of Barnaby Joyce became plain for all to see, I argued that like Joyce, the National Party has sold out to big coal,…
A month and a half ago, I wrote a piece about the suppression of dissent, including the government’s pretence at having whistleblower protections, exemplified by the prosecution of Bernard Collaery…