Other Politics

Rape at Parliament house, sex in prayer rooms, male prostitutes, staffers masturbating on desks – what the hell is going on? This government, led by the most religious Prime Minister we’ve ever had, looks like a Viagra-fuelled party scene from Animal House right now. If this was the management of a fish and chip shop you wouldn’t let your daughter pick up the dinner. Corrupt and feckless governments often reach a moment of critical mass when the sheer volume of…

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The adding of Alan Jones to Sky News’ evening roster puts yet another piece into position, as Australia’s political and media recalibration continues at a pace undaunted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Jones, who was finally prised from his seat at 2GB in May, will join Peta Credlin, Chris Kenny and Andrew Bolt in what is fast becoming as stellar a conservative line-up as Sky’s spiritual sibling, Fox News in America. The alignment of these bombastic right-wing voices on Australia’s leading…

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As this summer’s devastating fires have finally brought climate change to the centre of Australian public discourse, universities have found themselves at the forefront of the response. Australian universities already employ climate change professors and researchers, and offer bachelors, masters and PhD courses studying a wide variety of climate change impacts. From a research perspective, climate change has been in the mainstream for some time, but when the government ignores the evidence science becomes political, and universities have found themselves…

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So, Scotty – hell of a summer eh. You spend the spring happily debating religious discrimination and cutting medical care for refugees, hop on a plane and all hell breaks loose. ‘Events, dear boy’, and they’ve made you look a bit foolish. Kipling said that you should ‘trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too’. Wise men learn to question their assumptions, so perhaps time will show that you are the one with the…

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On 25th April 2006 the Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania collapsed. One man was killed and two others trapped nearly a kilometre below the ground. Recognising the incident as a moment of national importance and tragedy, then-AWU leader Bill Shorten flew back from Canada to get to Beaconsfield. Although Shorten wasn’t involved in the mechanics of the rescue effort, he understood that one key aspect of political leadership is presence – being there allowed Bill Shorten to understand what was…

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