opinion
opinion
letters July 13, 2019
Yes, the Laffer curve is a laff-a-minute, a total concoction, and it is as nasty as you portray it (Editorial, “Destroying Australia”, July 6-12). But for the Grattan Institute to buy into the “pay for” austerity myth just means an inadvertent...
diary July 13, 2019
Gadfly: Gus’s power play defused
Fantastic Angus has been so busy with explanations about the poisoning of endangered grasslands on a family spread that he’s taken his eye off the ball. Both carbon emissions and power prices have gone in the opposite direction to that promised by Schmo Morrison’s junta. Emissions are up, up, up, and so too are power prices. Fantastic. Great move. Well done, Angus.
religion July 13, 2019
Scott Morrison, prayers and Hillsong
Rapturous applause welcomed Scott Morrison to the annual Hillsong conference. Twenty-one thousand delegates bowed their heads as the prime minister led them in prayer for our nation – for veterans doing it tough, young people considering suicide,...
editorial July 13, 2019
The photo is red earth and a line of bodies, snaking the length of the frame. Climbers locked shoulder-to-shoulder in a desperate push to summit. They fill the surrounding campgrounds, and every motel for a hundred kilometres. Their rubbish on the roadside, their black waste dumped in the backyards of unsuspecting properties. For so long, the Anangu people have asked visitors not to climb Uluru. They never banned the practice, asking only for respect, “that, as a guest on Anangu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing”. Wanyu Ulurunya tatintja wiyangku wantima.
religion July 13, 2019
What Scott Morrison’s faith means
On Tuesday night, Australia’s prime minister was praying for some “very important things”. He began to pray “for all of those veterans in our country who are doing it tough”, asking for protection and “peace over them”. His prayer continued: “We...
letters July 6, 2019
Having just read Karen Middleton’s article “Scott Morrison’s inner circle” (June 29-July 5), I am bemused at the plotting, scheming and protestations of loyalty, followed in short order by betrayal, of the various Christians in the Liberal Party...
diary July 6, 2019
How good is Australia? Gadfly returns home after three weeks on a global escapade and finds nothing whatsoever has changed. Schmo Morrison, Fantastic Angus and Benito Dutton are still strutting their half-baked stuff, and on we stagger. The only noticeable excitement on the horizon is that Schmo has his ears back for a good old beano with Iran.
editorial July 6, 2019
And so it passes, the greatest assault on the safety net from which Australian life is built. Scott Morrison’s tax cuts are through and the revenue base that provides for health and education and social welfare is shredded. The legacy of the 46th parliament is there in its very first week: the destruction of the social compact that made this country stable.
religion July 6, 2019
Faith and tax cuts as 46th parliament begins
In politics, so the wisdom goes, “perception is reality”. And this week, with the opening of the 46th parliament, the perception and the reality of the federal election hit home, particularly for the vanquished Labor Party. But for the victors, not...
politics July 6, 2019
Money, votes and the ‘pendulum’
What if money didn’t matter much in Australian politics? Clive Palmer just spent $53 million on ads for his United Australia Party and had zero candidates elected. The Greens spent about $320,000 and elected six senators and Adam Bandt in the lower...
diary June 29, 2019
Gadfly: Taking a punt on political football
This week, the story that combines Australia’s favourite pastimes – brutal team sport and painful culture wars – continued, after sacked rugby player Israel Folau was booted from fundraising site GoFundMe.
