I write in defence of the memory of the Australian Jesuit priest Patrick Stephenson and in support of my friend Charles Moore’s campaign to honour the life of the British Anglican bishop George Bell. Both men have been accused, decades after their deaths, of sexual impropriety with unnamed minors. I knew, but did not like, [...]
In 1916, Easter was about as late as it can be. The Easter Rising in Dublin, which was celebrated in Ireland last weekend and is being commemorated at the State Library of Victoria, took place on Monday, April 24, a century ago. The Easter Rising was an undemocratic act in a nation that was part [...]
Followers of the thought of Waleed Aly no doubt will regard this week’s homicide-suicide attacks in Brussels as another manifestation of what he has termed a “perpetual irritant”. This is how the Monash University academic and Fairfax Media columnist responded to news of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. At the time, Aly suspected (wrongly as [...]
Discussion of Australian politics tends to be leadership-centred. So it came as no surprise when the media focused on two aspects of John Howard’s most recent entry into the political debate. Namely, Howard’s reflections, as the second longest serving prime minister in Australian history, on politics, with particular reference to the government he led between [...]
The evidence suggests that Justice Peter McClennan QC, AM, chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, has undergone a legal conversion sometime during the past quarter of a century. In 1991, Peter McClellan QC barrister at law (as he then was) wrote an article titled “ICAC: A Barrister’s Perspective”, in [...]
Morale was high at the dinner held in Parliament House on Wednesday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the election of the Howard government. In respect to John Howard’s term as prime minister between March 1996 and November 2007, that is. There was a degree of tension between Tony Abbott, Australia’s 28th prime minister, and [...]
GERARD HENDERSON’S MEDIA WATCH DOG – ISSUE NO. 306 04 MARCH 2016 The inaugural issue of “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” was published in April 1988 – over a year before the first edition of the ABC TV Media Watch program went to air. Since November 1997 “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” has been published as [...]
GERARD HENDERSON’S MEDIA WATCH DOG – ISSUE NO. 305 26 FEBRUARY 2016 The inaugural issue of “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” was published in April 1988 – over a year before the first edition of the ABC TV Media Watch program went to air. Since November 1997 “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” has been published as part [...]
Welcome to what passes for justice and due process in contemporary Australia. Last Saturday, the Herald Sun in Melbourne led with the screaming page one headline: “Police probe Pell: top secret investigation into sex abuse claims against cardinal”. The story broke on heraldsun.com.au at 7.45pm the previous day. Cardinal George Pell, the third most senior [...]
GERARD HENDERSON’S MEDIA WATCH DOG – ISSUE NO. 304 19 February 2016 The inaugural issue of “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” was published in April 1988 – over a year before the first edition of the ABC TV Media Watch program went to air. Since November 1997 “Gerard Henderson’s Media Watch” has been published as part [...]
