Whistleblowers jailed as US and UK attack press freedom Julian Assange is in jail in London and Ms Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, is in jail in Alexandria, Virginia. Assange is an Australian-born journalist and founder of Wikileaks while Private first class Manning is a transgender American soldier, turned whistleblower. Together they blew the lid…
Bye bye Sydney Morning Herald – Hello dumb-ass television The front pages of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne told the story: the plundering of Australia’s two most venerable newspapers by Channel Nine and Rupert Murdoch media is done and dusted. The newspapers, with a collective history of news reporting of more…
Rupert Murdoch poised to raid the ABC Media oligarch Rupert Murdoch believes that the ABC is the best training ground for reporters and technicians. It is a lesson he learned from his fellow tycoon, the late Kerry Packer. When the ABC created “stars”, Packer would swoop with his chequebook. Packer preferred the national broadcaster to…
How Brexit and Trump changed the world Two unrelated events on either side of the Atlantic – Britain’s referendum vote to leave to European Union (Brexit) on June 23, 2016, and Donald Trump’s presidential election victory five months later on November 8 – have changed the face of global economic and politics. Commentators have treated…
Mark Latham: from Labor hero to One Nation rat Mark Latham, leader of the Australian Labor Party (2003-2005), has joined Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and will lead her team in the March 2019 NSW Election. Surprised? From becoming the 18th leader of the Federal Labor Party to the leadership of NSW One Nation is a…
America at the crossroads: Mid-term vote and Saudi murder Americans are faced with two epoch-making decisions and the rest of the world is breathlessly awaiting the outcome. At stake is whether the USA is a humane society or an inhumane one. Whether it is civilised or uncivilised. Whether it is guided by culture and science or…
Liberal Party philistines back Opera House vandalism Pastor Scott Morrison, Australia ’s latest Prime Minister, has found himself in trouble again due to his Pentecostal verbosity. Giving strong support to advertising horse racing on the sails of the Sydney Opera House Morrison said the decision was “a no-brainer”. He’s right, of course. No one with…
Why a vote for Kerryn Phelps is a vote for the Liberal Party in Wentworth by-election Kerryn Phelps, past president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), is an “independent” candidate at the by-election in Wentworth, Australia’s wealthiest per capita electorate on Saturday, October 20. Who wins the seat, previously held by ousted prime minister Malcolm…
Two coups, two victims – what’s going on? Two major public figures have been executed in recent coups in Australia – Malcolm Turnbull was despatched as prime minister on August 24 and Michelle Guthrie as ABC managing director on September 24. In subsequent media coverage the executioners could not, or would not, explain why Turnbull…
Why conservative parties have become basket cases A common feature of today’s political environment is the identity crisis in conservative parties that have ruled much of the Western world in the post-war years. For example, Christian Democratic parties that blossomed in Europe and Latin America after World War Two are now struggling for survival. In Australia…
