David Hickie, former editor-in-chief of the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald, looks beyond the headlines in the coverage of crime BOOK REVIEW: Murder in Melbourne: The untold story of Aiia Maasarwe by Alex Mitchell (2020) DAVID HICKIE WRITES: Over Xmas/New Year I read Kate McClymont and Vanda Carson’s forensically detailed tome Dead Man Walking: The murky world of…
Struggles for Personal and National Identity BOOK REVIEW – Murder in Melbourne: The untold story of Aiia Maasarwe by Alex Mitchell (2020) STUART REES WRITES: In courts of law, defendants appear before a judge, police and lawyers, each party pondering an individual’s identity. One question affects deliberations. Is this person worthy or unworthy? In university…
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…
Why Captain Cook is lionised in London and on the nose in Australia … Magnetic Island revisited … Joe Hockey’s “US mateship” stupidity … NSW drought goes from tragedy to farce … Regime change becomes US domestic policy … Cricket as a history lesson … When schools taught manners … Over in London members of…
Exploring Australia-China history Canberra writer and journalist Rob Macklin has written a highly relevant, timely and utterly riveting book on the intricate relationship between Australia and China. Over the years, I’ve read most of Macklin’s 28 books but this is his best. It’s a cracker. With China established as Australia’s major trading partner, and the Beijing…
False choices: the faux feminism of Hillary Rodham Clinton ed Liza Featherstone, Verso, London & New York 2016 No one wants to see a fascistic, racist, misogynist blowhard in the White House – no one, that is, except some dangerous groups of right-wing fanatics, half the Republican Party and some millions of deluded, uneducated (not…
Why Scientology enjoys hidden protection from Oz politicians …Senator Nick Xenophon is the sole exception … how Rupert Murdoch became scientology’s public enemy No 1 … Israel’s nuclear arsenal revealed … Great Crashing Bores continued …. US cult’s dream run in Oz SOUTH Australian Senator Nick Xenophon this week launched “Fair Game – The incredible…
Hamilton Hume The Life and Times of Our Greatest Explorer By Robert Macklin Hatchette Australia 2016 A comprehensive biography of the explorer Hamilton Hume is long overdue. His outstanding contribution to Australian history has been scandalously neglected: most versions of 19th century colonial exploration were written by supporters of the pro-British and pro-colonialist ascendancy. Hume’s…
