The three-body problem
When one major party is in government in Australia, the most significant figure of the opposing party is usually the opposition leader.
Articles from Politically homeless
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Arsey: Seven weaknesses of the Ramsay Centre
The Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation aims to educate Australians not only in the facts of Western Civilisation, but also in its beauties and wonders and its enduring relevance to Australian life going forward. Can it succeed in those aims? No.
Flinching at the future
I look to the future it makes me cry
But it seems too real to tell you whyFreed from the century
With nothing but memory, memoryAnd I just hope that you can forgive us
But everything must goAnd if you need an explanation
Then everything must go- Manic Street Preachers Everything must go
Constant Constance Face
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance should be a politician at the top of his game. He is the steward of several large transformative infrastructure projects, and a former state Treasurer: all that, and not yet 45. In his current predicament he is more like someone at the top of that slow initial climb of a roller-coaster, just before plunging and being jerked this way and that before eventually being returned to where he started.
Join the queue
Recent comments by Peter Dutton on Sudanese crime in Melbourne, in support of the Victorian Liberals' attempts to court that old political tart Laura Norder, underline two failures of strategy: in his portfolio, and within the Victoria Liberals in their quest for state government this November.
The end of Peter Dutton
For much of the past 12 months, the press gallery has agreed that the power of Peter Dutton has grown within the government, possibly to the point where he could challenge Turnbull for the Liberal leadership and hence become Prime Minister. It's time to call bullshit on that, and to point out that the more enthusiastic advocates for Dutton (or those most hungry for stink) aren't helping us understand how the government works.
So close, and yet so far
There was a time when to be the best male Australian tennis player was to be the best at that sport, to be able to beat any man in the world anywhere in the world. Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, and John Newcombe, along with supporting players like Ken Emmerson or Tony Roche, dominated the sport as it transitioned from an amateur era to a professional one.
The choice of Joyce
But look, oh look, the Gothic tree’s on fire
with blown galahs, and fuming with wild wings.
The hard inquiring wind strikes to the bone and whines division.- Judith Wright For New England
The press gallery seems to be of one mind that Barnaby Joyce will win the New England byelection handily on December 2. Tony Windsor isn't running, PHON and ShooFiFa aren't running, therefore Joyce will win it in a canter, won't he?
Marriage Equality 1: Accepting our way of life
We search for leaders on our hands and knees
- Richard Clapton Best years of our lives
Marriage equality will happen, sooner or later, by any one of what seem now like a variety of political means.
Submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Future of Public Interest Journalism
The Senate established a select committee to investigate the future of public interest journalism. Its terms of reference are here.