Category: Media

  • The Weekly Notebook – Brexit and Trump change the world

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – Latham the One Nation rat

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – America at the crossroads

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – Liberal philistines vandalise Opera House

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – a vote for Phelps is a vote for the Liberals

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – two coups

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – conservative basket cases

    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…

  • The Weekly Notebook – happy clapper in the Lodge

    Scott Morrison: happy clapper in The Lodge On entering Federal Parliament in 2008, Scott Morrison, the newly-elected Member for Cook in southern Sydney, delivered his inaugural speech on February 14 (St Valentine’s Day). He chose to discuss at length his deep devotion to his Christian religion and paid tribute to his mentors in the born-again…

  • The Trump stories not covered in Australia

    Donald Trump’s latest madness goes unreported in Oz media … NSW voters deluged by Coalition drought scam … Police “God Squad” unmasked … Liberals bring back greyhound racing (we pay for it) … It’s a divided world: Saying “Thank you, driver” is good manners on the bus; saying nothing is selfishly bad mannered. Two of the…

  • The end of Fairfax

    What’s behind the end of Fairfax Media … When will Rupert Murdoch make his play? … Arts Minister Don Harwin caught pink-handed … Women’s prison reform goes backwards … Apartheid laws passed in Israel. The end of Fairfax The name Fairfax has been eliminated from Australia’s media landscape. After 177 years as a major player in…