Aussie billionaires James Packer, Rupert Murdoch and Frank Lowy reorganise their family fortunes Australian politicians and regulators queue up to make life easier for billionaire casino owner James Packer. They can’t do enough for the louche playboy and son of the late Kerry Packer. Take the gambling report commissioned by the NSW Coalition Government into…
Global war fever grows – who should we attack first? Confused? I am. Citizens around the world are being told every day that they are surrounded by “enemies” and should prepare for war. The potential “enemies” cover every corner of the globe. Take your pick. Do you believe that war is overdue against North Korea, Iran, Russia,…
The naming and framing of actor Geoffrey Rush The Sydney Theatre Company is responsible for naming and framing actor Geoffrey Rush as a sex predator. In doing so, it has behaved disgracefully and probably illegally. We don’t know what offences, if any, he is accused of and we don’t know the name of his accuser. Nor…
Euthanasia: Victoria’s MPs declare it lawful but NSW MPs keep it criminal Victoria is the most politically and culturally progressive State in Australia while NSW runs a poor third or fourth. Melbourne is a cultured city of booksellers, restaurants, galleries, parks, gardens, the MCG and coffee. Sydney is obsessed with wealth as social status, real estate prices,…
Roll up, roll up and see the world’s fastest disappearing Prime Minister In Washington DC at the end of October, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told journalists: “I have never had more fun in my life.” Turnbull’s extraordinary remark bewildered his supporters as well as his opponents. I wonder whether he was still “having fun” this week…
Murray Sayle and Phillip Knightley – Legends of Journalism recognised Two Sydney-born journalists, Murray Sayle and Phillip Knightley, were posthumously inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame on Friday, 10 November 2017. The Melbourne Press Club, organisers of the black tie and cocktail dress event, officially recognised Sayle and Knightley as “Legends of NSW Journalism”. To…
Remembering Martin Luther – rebel priest who led the Reformation It is 500 years since Martin Luther, a professor in moral philosophy and an ordained monk, nailed his Ninety-Five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, to the door of the Castle Church in the German town of Wittenberg. His dissertation, written in Latin, was…
Goldman Sachs in bid to take over the world Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former top executive of Goldman Sachs merchant bank, has appointed another Goldman Sachs executive as the next chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). He is James Shipton, formerly the bank’s managing director and head of government and regulatory…
US at the crossroads: it means we are too Americans, all 323 million of them, are living on the brink of major decisions. Do they make war on North Korea or Iran? Do they overthrow the government in Cuba or Venezuela? Do they declare China and Russia are “enemies of freedom” or keep talking to them?…
This week I travelled to Mullumbimby in the Northern Rivers region of NSW to discuss the future of the media with Chris Graham, publisher and editor of the news-breaking and opinionated website New Matilda. The Politics in the Pub night was organised by Dr Richard Hil and his partner Jennifer who have miraculously gathered an…
