opinion

Like others among the mystically inclined, Christians can be prone to portents. Ominously for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a flash storm last weekend tore apart the oak tree opposite The Lodge’s day-to-day working driveway on Canberra’s National...

Historians and political scientists have classified recent world history into two distinct periods, with the end of World War II as the dividing line. The period from 1901 to 1945 was marked by aggressive nationalism – trade wars, high tariffs,...

For much of human history, economic growth puttered along slowly – so slowly, in fact, that shops would sometimes carve prices into their stone walls. Then, in the late 1700s, one of the most dramatic transformations in world economic history took...

There’s a line of Shakespeare that has been running around in my head over the past few days. Mind you, when I say “days”, I really mean nights, particularly in the wee small hours. The line that keeps ringing in my tired brain is, “Sleep no more,...

During the 18th century, a European travel writer visiting the colonies in what is now South America was astounded to stumble upon a town where a biracial governor was casually going about his business. More astounding still was how completely...

Drought is ravaging the land. Large swaths of eastern Australia are experiencing some of the worst seasons on record. Frosts have wiped out large areas of crops in Western Australia, southern New South Wales and Victoria. Hail has beaten crops into...