opinion
opinion
editorial October 19, 2019
No one saw it coming, though the signs were there. They stacked up quietly, covered only on the business pages and the financial cable news shows with their meagre viewerships. Mortgage lenders filing for bankruptcy; house prices beginning to slip. Then, everything went quickly. And when Lehman Brothers collapsed on September 15, 2008 – bloated with debt – the firm dragged the sharemarket down with it.
politics October 19, 2019
PM under the pump over drought and economy
For Scott Morrison, God obviously votes Liberal – that’s how he explains his “miraculous” win in May. His mother-in-law confirmed on election night the family had all been praying for the result they got. On Tuesday, at the National Prayer Breakfast...
law & crime October 19, 2019
Me Too movement’s where to moment
In the flood of disclosures that followed revelations about Harvey Weinstein’s decades-long abuse of women, there was hope for change and reform. Hope that individuals and institutions would finally be held accountable for their role in perpetuating...
letters October 19, 2019
The West is the most effective fighting force in defeating ISIS (Jamie Williams, “I fought with the Kurds; they are not the enemy”, October 12-18). The Kurds are abandoned by the United States to face a Turkish military onslaught; this after already...
diary October 19, 2019
The talking points from the PM’s office that this week plopped accidentally into the inboxes of “undisclosed recipients” are designed so that a chorus of government parrots can squawk in the same tune. Bubble people in Canberra shrug off these revelations as uninteresting fare – yet for non-bubble citizens they provide a depressing insight into the contrived nature of our politics, the thin veneer of what passes for policies and the mind-numbing banalities deployed to prop them up.
politics October 12, 2019
I fought with the Kurds; they are not the enemy
First, I think I should introduce myself. My name is Jamie Williams. In 2014, I attempted to travel to Iraq and then on to Rojava, the Kurdish-controlled and ethnically Kurdish region of northern Syria. My plan was to volunteer for the Kurdish...
environment October 12, 2019
The hot topic of climate change
The ghosts of leaders past are haunting the political firmament as climate change, the one issue that played a major role in their demise, flares spectacularly. While Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten ruminate on their contributions to...
editorial October 12, 2019
At best, larrikinism is a cover for the worst aspects of the Australian character. It excuses poor behaviour and indulges second-rate talent. It is a particular kind of unseriousness that avoids difficult questions and laughs at those who try to ask them.
diary October 12, 2019
The dazzling Athenian sunshine caught the highlights of Kevin Andrews’ luxuriant crop of Grecian 2000-enhanced hair as he took coffee at a footpath cafe in Skoufa, close to the Greek capital’s embassy district. But hold on, there was an even bigger distraction. Pauline Hanson, that heart-throb of menopausal males from the boondocks, was perched close by. Quite the strange pairing to spot on holiday together in the Mediterranean.
letters October 12, 2019
Rick Morton gives a valuable perspective on the crisis facing aged care (“Exclusive: Aged-care sector at risk of collapse”, October 5-11). It’s valuable as it shines a light on providers such as Bupa, considered too big to fail despite facing...
law & crime October 5, 2019
The untold stories of family violence
Domestic violence is the most important story in Australia. As Margaret Simons, associate professor of journalism at Monash University, has said, “The statistics alone tell us this is Australia’s biggest crime, health and human rights story. It is...
