Yesterday
South Australia is now like a one-party state
One Nation’s SA election success has not just decimated the Liberals, but more importantly, it has gutted effective opposition and undermined democracy.
The same alliance from 1979 is happening again. History cannot repeat
Two strange bedfellows are getting together for another round, ignoring the lessons of what results when principles are traded for short-term alignment.
This Month
An entire generation is losing faith in Australian democracy
The crippling economic inequality between the young and old, especially for housing, is starting to show in attitudes towards the system of government.
February
The Epstein files could destroy the global ultra-elite
The British monarchy won’t escape the reputational stain of Andrew’s complicity in one of the defining cases of moral bankruptcy in the 21st century.
This billionaire has been jailed for 20 years. We should all be outraged
Human rights issues typified by cases such as the media mogul’s are not distractions from more important business. They are the important business.
Victoria is what happens when Labor governs unchallenged
Without a robust sparring partner to take on Labor, we are left with the soft tyranny of unchecked power and the inevitable decline of the state.
Jimmy Lai’s 20-year sentence should trigger an investor reckoning
You may be tempted to see Lai’s persecution strictly as a human rights issue, with little relevance to Hong Kong’s business environment. That would be a mistake.
Australia thought it had solved immigration. It hadn’t
The hard-won “Tampa settlement” of the Howard era has now all but fallen apart. It’s no longer enough to be tough on borders.
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison
The treatment of the Apple Daily founder and Chinese Communist Party critic shows the decline of press freedom and Beijing’s tightening grip on the region.
January
Fear after Bondi is putting free speech on trial
Instead of rushing to add new laws to an already swollen statute book, we should enforce rigorously and without hesitation the laws already in place.
Chaos in Iran as fears grow over mounting death toll
Germany’s chancellor predicted the regime was “effectively finished” as reports of hundreds of deaths began trickling through from Iran.
Iran opens fire on protesters despite Trump threat
The US president had warned Iran earlier that Washington would “rescue” demonstrators if Tehran killed any more anti-regime protesters.
December 2025
I was detained and deported for opinions Trump’s America didn’t like
The message for visitors to the US is clear from Donald Trump’s new social media rule: self-censorship is your ticket to ride.
The tech elites starting their own for-profit cities
Silicon Valley CEOs want to escape regulation and “failing” democracy. But critics say they are more opportunistic than libertarian.
November 2025
Hanson’s burqa antics dodge hard questions on multiculturalism
We should be having a mature discussion about secular governance and religious diversity, but discourse has only become more heated, polarised and superficial.
The Mamdani revolution is the death of politics-as-usual
Australia’s major parties could treat this as a curiosity of US midterm politics – a byproduct of the Bronx rather than Bankstown. That would be a mistake.
Message behind Mamdani should worry investors, CEOs and politicians
Zohran Mamdani’s win on the back of support from young voters shows how anger over intergenerational inequality will fuel policies that hurt markets and business.
October 2025
Learn from Spain on gas pricing
Readers’ letters on gas pricing distortions, renewable and nuclear energy, Abbott’s lack of vision, Ley’s T-shirt tantrum and the need for a letter writers’ cabinet.
September 2025
America’s slide into autocracy is accelerating
The idea that disaffected voters will clip Donald Trump’s wings in the midterms is quixotic. What might he do in the next 14 months?
Jimmy Kimmel’s demise exposes how power fears ridicule
Comedy is not a sideshow. It is part of the main act. When comedy vanishes, rulers mistake themselves for the nation.
