This week’s “exclusives”: 1) Canberra Press Gallery stuffs up; 2) Trials and tribulations of Mr Assange; 3) Whatever happened to Ellen Fanning? 4) The Marise Payne & Stuart Ayers Show; 5) Frank Lowy: billionaire ex-terrorist; 6) Shock-horror: Irish MP blasphemes; 7) Albanese Quote of the Week Press Gallery in major stuff-up The 1,000-odd accredited members…
The Question of Albo A small but loud-voiced number of subscribers wrote to me after I assessed Anthony Albanese – that’s him, the new ALP leader – a dunce as a politician, Cabinet Minister, Shadow Minister, Deputy Leader and now Top Dog. I checked with very well-informed contacts in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane to discover…
My Weekly Notebook and John Gorton series have been suspended temporarily. I regret the need for this and plan to resume them when circumstances allow. Last week I underwent eye surgery to remove a cataract from my left eye. The operation was successful, however the treatment will continue for several weeks. I am currently wearing an…
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…
