By this author
Margaret Simons and the Australian
If you are not a reader of the Australian, you will find the story I am about to tell difficult to believe. On October 26 last year a member of the secretariat of the Finkelstein media inquiry, Brian Kelleher, phoned and then emailed …
The Long Goodbye: Explaining Gillard’s Collapse
Labor Party
Almost every political observer recognises that unless something altogether unexpected happens, by late 2013 Australia will have an Abbott government. The more contentious question is what has gone wrong for Labor. This piece is offered as a contribution …
One morning with Malcolm Turnbull
essay
On life in politics
Payback: The Bullying Tactics of the Murdoch Press
The Australian newspaper
The Australian is not a subtle newspaper. But it certainly has a genius for timing. Within hours of the publication of the Finkelstein report, which documents the widespread public disillusionment with the ethical standards and the political …
Lord Monckton and the Future of Australian Media
Fairfax
In July 2011, one of the most extreme climate change denialists, Lord Monckton, accepted an invitation to take a trip to Australia – a country that matters greatly in the struggle against global warming because of its vast deposits of coal. According …
The Second Rudd Government?
Julia Gillard
For better or for worse, unlike most commentators, my judgments about Australian politics are generally formed not by conversations with Canberra insiders but almost solely by reading history books, listening to radio, watching current affairs television …
The Search for the Least Bad Asylum Seeker Policy
Asylum seekers
“When the facts change I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?” – John Maynard Keynes On the weekend perhaps two hundred asylum seekers bound for Australia perished off the coast of Java. One key question about Australia’s asylum seeker problem …
How can climate change denialism be explained?
Climate change
For several decades I have engaged in ideological disputes. The first dispute involved a disagreement with the Left over the nature of communism. I found it difficult to understand how people of good heart were unable to see what was in front of everyone’s …
Does the Australian Parliamentary Left have a Future?
ALP
The opinion poll results over the past eight months are as bad for an Australian government as any I can recall. As measured by Newspoll, Labor’s primary vote has been hovering around 30%. Between early July and late October it was consistently in the …
Notes on Evidence Given to the Media Inquiry
Australian media
Somewhat to the surprise of the head of the media inquiry, Ray Finkelstein, I had drawn only two main conclusions in my recently published study of the Australian, “Bad News”. Firstly, the paper would only change as a consequence of courageous …
Category Error or Cardinal Mistake?
blog
Three telling opinion pieces on climate change have been published in the mainstream media in Australia in the past few days. One was alarming. One was fascinating. And one was unusually foolish. On the Drum of 26 October, Stefan Rahmstorf, Professor …
“Name Ten”: The journalism of Andrew Bolt
Stolen Generations
On 28 September 2011, Andrew Bolt was found to have committed an offence under section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. He had written two articles in the Herald Sun which had the capacity to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate …
Out of Control: More Bad News
News Limited
Before my Quarterly Essay on the Australian was published there was some discussion about what it should be called. Before “Bad News” my preference was for “Out of Control”. A brief account of how the Australian …
