Year: 2026

What Australians were told was “normal”, what we experienced instead – and why the old model no longer works For a long time, the Overton Window was a useful way to describe Australian politics. It […]

When does the rot start in a politician? For some, it commences the moment election to office is confirmed. Others need to become cabinet ministers before being wholly blighted. UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood may […]

As the Liberal Party’s leadership circus pitches its tent on the edge of irrelevance, the real drama isn’t who wins, it’s whether Australia can afford the show at all. From the Cayman-stained ledgers of Angus […]

Dateline: January 2026 For months, a narrative has been assembling in plain sight. It does not involve soldiers in the streets or a declaration of martial law. Instead, it unfolds in court rulings, cancelled cultural […]

I once believed, naively, that adulthood would be defined by grander thresholds. Love, perhaps. Or grief. Or some moment of professional arrival, a door opening, a hand extended, a sentence beginning with; “We’d like to […]

As I’ve grown older, I’ve seen that in tough times, the United States often puts its own interests before its promises to allies or countries with shared goals. For instance, the Nixon Doctrine of 1971 […]

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has reported on its annual economic survey of Australia, and in it has made several recommendations. Three important ones are: Increase the GST Do more to reduce […]

By Denis Hay  Overview The Australian Parliament has passed new hate speech laws aimed at strengthening protections against vilification and serious threats. While the legislation is narrowly framed, its real-world impact will depend less on […]

Karoline Leavitt proudly declared that Donald Trump’s Davos speech “got rave reviews.” Which is true – provided you’re willing to broaden the definition of rave to include confusion, suppressed laughter, and the collective facial expression […]

Having been involved with numerous community recovery committees, emergency management boards and committees, and bushfire preparedness, response, relief, and recovery organisations, as well as having living in bushfire prone areas for most of my adult […]

In Part 2 of The Blue Bacillus: An Anatomy of the Liberals’ toxic DNA, the focus shifts to the arithmetic of decline, to borrow a John Howard phrase – and the numbers are shocking. When voters see through […]