Where’s the Australian Republic Movement when it might be relevant? There was no sign of the normally loquacious Peter FitzSimons, the ARM’s chairman, after Prince Charles gave his interview with BBC climate editor Justin Rowlatt last Monday (London time). Strolling through the gardens of the royal family’s estate in Balmoral, the Prince of Wales saw [...]
It seems that the advent of Dominic Perrottet as Premier of NSW has placed Nine newspapers between The Rock and a contemporary sectarian hard place. How else to explain the article by Stephanie Dowrick (aka The Reverend Stephanie Dowrick) in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Monday? Dowrick’s piece – which was titled [...]
Some Australians may regard it as amazing that Laura Tingle remains as the chief political correspondent for ABC television’s 7.30 program with regular appearances on Insiders, despite having accused the Scott Morrison-led Coalition of “ideological bastardry” in a late-night tweet not so long ago. For her part, Tingle told 7.30 viewers on Wednesday that former [...]
It was one of the more extraordinary interviews of recent memory – which was barely covered in the media. On Monday, Stan Grant interviewed Victor Gao on ABC television’s China Tonight program in the wake of the decision that Australia would purchase nuclear-powered submarines from the US or Britain under the new AUKUS trilateral security [...]
If Industry Minister Christian Porter is forced to quit the ministry on account of accepting anonymous donations to cover personal legal costs, then only super-rich politicians will be able to defend their reputations by means of defamation actions. The likes of Clive Palmer, who held the Queensland seat of Fairfax for the Palmer United Party [...]
Just when you thought no further apologies or settlements would be required by the ABC for some time at least, the ABC communications department was busy again this week. On Tuesday, ABC communications released a document by Peter Munro titled “ABC Statement on Ms Represented”. The documentary, which aired for a total of two hours [...]
Queensland – beautiful one year, closed for business the next. This could be the new slogan that defines what some call the Sunshine State if Queensland’s Labor Party Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk stands by her statements of last Wednesday. Addressing the Queensland parliament on Wednesday, Palaszczuk said: “You open this state and you let the virus [...]
Contrary to some claims, the US’s abandonment of Afghanistan this month is not comparable with the US’s abandonment of South Vietnam in April 1975. It’s worse. However, Australia’s response to the humanitarian crisis that followed the defeats of the governments in Kabul and Saigon is far better today than it was almost a half-century ago. [...]
Tony Abbott is the most recent of the four Liberal leaders who have led the Liberal Party-Nationals Coalition to government from opposition. The others are Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies (1949), Malcolm Fraser (1975) and John Howard (1996). Consequently, Abbott has some authority to speak to Coalition supporters. Discussing national politics during a podcast interview [...]
ABC management, along with many of its journalists, proclaims the ABC is Australia’s most trusted news source. This despite the fact, on the main evening TV news bulletins, the ABC regularly comes in third behind Channel 7 and Channel 9. It’s a matter of conjecture about why, if the ABC is correct, Australians prefer to [...]